How To LST (Low Stress Training)

josh b said:

can i just tie my plant down to the side at the 4th or 5th node and let it grow from there?

To answer this question first, yes, I'm pretty sure you can do that.. but never start LST method once your plat(s) are in flowering for more than a week. Any attempt to LST a plant.. that is a few weeks into flowering.. will lead to a complete disaster. I wouldn't suggest it. But hey, its up to you.

does this involve any topping or cutting of any kind?

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LST, no. There is no cutting required bro. All you basically doing, with LST training... is using a piece of fishing line; string; or a piece of thread.. and taking that string and simply tying one end to the main stem of your plant, then gently and slowly bending the plant over to one side.. usually you want to go for about a 75degree to a 90degree angle. All this does, is bend the plant over.. and keeps the plant in the position. While stuck in the 'bent over' position (hehehe.. yeah..) the plant will slowly but eventually start growing towards the light again..

To make this simple.. think of it like this. If you put your plant(s) right under your lights.. they're going to grow straight up.. without any bending right? Right.
Well, if you were to move your plant(s).... about a foot away from the bottom of your lights... whats the plant going to do?? It's going to start bending.. towards the light... hopefully this will make it easier for some of you to understand.

It's the same concept.. to a certain point.

Hope that helped.
peace.

You can lst whenever you want to, alot of people do it in late flowering because their plant get to close to the light or they start to get outta control.
Lst is the perfect way to manipulate your plant's to fit your grow spaces.

are all those side branches growin toward the light gonna be bud?? oh man..

this is such an amazing guide. im so excited to grow now.. thanks for this great work.

This is the way I LST... just using hooks that stick in the soil. Works well enough

checked some aero garden specs.. seems like the holes are very small.

Would my idea work? I was thinking of just putting the clone I get from the club into 1 of the holes and then just insert the other 2 soil pods, but no seeds or clones- just use them for hooks.

Here's LST on my bubblegum. I used 100% wool yarn to tie them down (i don't like fishing line because it can cut into ur stem). I tied the lower branches down... you can see all the nugs on the lower part of the branch growing up ^ I hope these pics help

Wow! Just want to say a massive thanks to TillthedayiDIE for a very clear and informative post. I've been looking through the threads on this site (which i'm loving) and LST is mentioned so much, but i couldn't understand what it was or how to do it. Tried searching RIU but this thread didn't come up, nor did any giving good instruction, til i used Google. I now completely understand it and can't wait to try it for myself. I don't have a grow going on at the minute and probably won't for a while (still living with my mum and i don't think she'd be too happy about me converting the spare room into a hazy scented jungle haha) so i might just try it on my Chillis or something lol.

Sorry if i'm reviving an old topic but i'm sure there will be others who will find this info useful.

do you leave all the branches tied down for the entire grow or do you go ahead and untie everything at some point? i want to lst and then do a scrog... i only have 4 ft of height in my grow cabinet

How far should I keep my lights? I normally keep em bout 2 inches away,? Stay the same?

DJMello said:

How far should I keep my lights? I normally keep em bout 2 inches away,? Stay the same?

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yessir, sir

Ima experament with 1 first and see how it goes. seems promising man, just seems like watering could be a task toward the end

andrewmaz said:

I wonder how you could use this technique with an aerogarden. Any ideas out there? Maybe could tape the stem down to the surface of the machine?

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dude the aero garden is the worst way to grow fuckin herb, if your a newb just grow in soil outside

This is the first time i have tried LST and im loving it!! only started it at week 4 of veg, the start of flowering, and now have 8 main colla's on 2 of my k-train's, but it's not working as well on my wonder woman, i think i started to late for them, as thay are very woody,
And to make holes in my plant pot's i just use an old soldering iron, works well in plastic.

Wow that's pretty cool! I want to try that on my smaller ones.

If anyone is wondering, you can LST autos and it works a treat too. Got 14 colas off a single Ak.

Now that is probablly the best post on LSTing I have ever seen hell of a post .

Can't wait to try this!!!!!! +Rep!

Great info, can't wait to try this out!

Awesome, I was just gonna ask that question. I have 4 autos that are flowering in week 3.

I have never seen this type of question but Ive been wondering about it. At the time this was a convienent way of tying down but now its cuttin into the stem. Is this gonna detract from my plants ability to grow? Do you guys just leave some slack with room to grow or untie when it gets like this?