? for EXPERIENCED growers

Has anybody ever done a side by side with one plant LST'd and another left natural ( both clones of same mom)

Reason I ask is, Ive done some single and double cola grows and really like those big fat buds. Ive also done some LSTing and had monsters with a gazillion smaller buds. Those are a pain to trim. But what I want to know is if you had a single or double cola plant and the total bud weight from say, 2 huge buds was 4 oz (dry) and another LST'd with many smaller buds, would the total bud weight STILL be about the same? In other words, 4 dry oz....but of LOTS of smaller buds?

I guess what I wonder is, does each plant have a genetic pre-set amount of bud regardless of which way it's trained? OR, does training actually produce MORE total bud weight?

If they're the same, WTF, Id way rather have one or two big colas to trim than a hundred small one.....

Man I hate trimming.

Does anybody know?

Much appreciated.

CW

From my experience with both techniques I've found that some varieties respond better to LST and some to topping (multiple colas)..
Great results can be achieved with a combo of the two. It really depends on the strain/phenotype and your ability with the method.

i have and it depends on strain. ive done a few and sometimes plants can prefer a single large main cola not trained at all. ive had it go both ways ! definately strain dependant. ive topped and lst'd with some and there are loads of really small cola's and other time loads of monsters !

wouldnt be a bad idea if more growers tested this on all their strains and gave the results so the info was out there for the masses !!

Have you considered SCROG?

lst and topping work the same way really just toppin is more stressfull cause its cut.
all both techniques do is change chemicals, the growing tip(s) contain a high concentration of a chemical which says im the highest i get more light yee haa if you lower the growing tip "lst" or remove "topping" the growing tip says im not the highest anymore someone else has to go higher !!

its more complicated than that with lots of long words which i forget but thats the principal very simply!!
i apologise if i offend anyone trying to make everything simple ,its cause others might read this who need it explained.

stinkyg said:

i have and it depends on strain. ive done a few and sometimes plants can prefer a single large main cola not trained at all. ive had it go both ways ! definately strain dependant. ive topped and lst'd with some and there are loads of really small cola's and other time loads of monsters !

wouldnt be a bad idea if more growers tested this on all their strains and gave the results so the info was out there for the masses !!

Click to expand...

Yep. Needs to be done.
OK, I just cut nine cuttings from my Super Cindy. When they have roots, I will do this experiemnt once and for all for ALL of us.

1 I will leave natch.
1 I will LST
1 I will TOP once or twice.

We'll get to the bottom of this! LOL!

This will be a good experiment because these clones I got were from one plant that was SO special I RE-vegged her after harvest. The original gave me SIX dry oz. The other 3 plants gave me 3,3 and 4. So, I named the one special C-99," SUPER CINDY"

So, we start the experiment already knowing the mom produced 6 oz. That gives us a "base". Then, we'll compare her babies left natch, LST'd and TOP'd. The original mom was LST'd.

oh boy what fun.

CW

stinkyg said:

lst and topping work the same way really just toppin is more stressfull cause its cut.
all both techniques do is change chemicals, the growing tip(s) contain a high concentration of a chemical which says im the highest i get more light yee haa if you lower the growing tip "lst" or remove "topping" the growing tip says im not the highest anymore someone else has to go higher !!

its more complicated than that with lots of long words which i forget but thats the principal very simply!!
i apologise if i offend anyone trying to make everything simple ,its cause others might read this who need it explained.

Click to expand...

Hey, simple is good!

But what Im really after is, does each plant already have a pre-set bud weight potential due to genetics OR can we REALLY force more total weight by using various techniques?

That's the question that keeps me up nights.....

Thanks, you Growers!

CW

Charlie Who? said:

Hey, simple is good!

But what Im really after is, does each plant already have a pre-set bud weight potential due to genetics OR can we REALLY force more total weight by using various techniques?

That's the question that keeps me up nights.....

Thanks, you Growers!

CW

Click to expand...

IMO, LST and a natural grown plant should be yielding the same amount of buddage, at least if each bud site gets the same amount of light. Like if you got a weak light that doesn't penetrate as deep, training your canopy horizontally to allow more light exposure to the buds will be beneficial, but if you got tall plants that the light reaches all the way to the bottom of, theyll get as much bud (with less footprint). So imo ull be able to fit more naturally grown budsticks in a limited area than lst'd bushes, meaning more bud in total.

A little bit of LST with your plants to allow more light penetration will always help, but idk about tying the main stem all the way down making a fat bush, seems like itll just give you more popcorn and make your area into a jungle

but im no scientist, im jsut really high

wsf said:

IMO, LST and a natural grown plant should be yielding the same amount of buddage, at least if each bud site gets the same amount of light. Like if you got a weak light that doesn't penetrate as deep, training your canopy horizontally to allow more light exposure to the buds will be beneficial, but if you got tall plants that the light reaches all the way to the bottom of, theyll get as much bud (with less footprint). So imo ull be able to fit more naturally grown budsticks in a limited area than lst'd bushes, meaning more bud in total.

A little bit of LST with your plants to allow more light penetration will always help, but idk about tying the main stem all the way down making a fat bush, seems like itll just give you more popcorn and make your area into a jungle

but im no scientist, im jsut really high

Click to expand...

Those are pretty much my thoughts, too. My current 2 plants are about 10 days from harvest and I LST'd them when they were about a foot, maybe less. Those suckers.....man. They spread out like crazy.

Thanks

CW

CTSwazi said:

Have you considered SCROG?

Click to expand...

Ya know...I have considered it. Havent done a SCROG yet. I gotta get my shit together and build me a screen. There's no doubt in my mind having a perfect even canopy is ideal.

What sort of screen material is best?

CW

Subbed for conclusion of this experiment.

I would love to see the results of this. My mind goes in two different directions on this one, first of all Low stress training does not change the chemicals in a plant like topping does. It only creates an even and more importantly low canopy so that more bud sites get adequate light. So to my thinking, the plant with the most light will have the highest yield, BUT...

Since I already mentioned LST doesn't change the hormones, the top 1/3 of the plant will still be your super yielder, which makes me think maybe one or two huge buds on top may be similar...either way, you should create a grow journal to this important question!

Charlie Who? said:

Ya know...I have considered it. Havent done a SCROG yet. I gotta get my shit together and build me a screen. There's no doubt in my mind having a perfect even canopy is ideal.

What sort of screen material is best?

CW

Click to expand...

If you go to Woodsman's Scroggers Unite page....there's a huge string on what makes best screen. I used chickenwire but am told it's hard to get the plants out of at harvest. I used chickenwire so that I didn't have to build a frame for string which seems to be what most scroggers here prefer....

This is my first scrog and I gotta say...the even canopy is really nice. I would say my biggest mistake has been underestimating the sativa stretch.

Sorry for jackin the thread....just love my scrog at the moment!

YO