newb trying lst, got hints for me?

cc2012 said:

Found it - (This is not my work..so Big Respect to Author)

A complete guide to topping, training and pruning

I will cover the basic idea behind topping the plant and how to apply the various techniques in combination for the best results. Keep in mind that this is only one method of growing and that there are many other ways to do it.

Topping the plant means that you remove the main shoot located on the stem. By doing so you will encourage the plant to grow into a bush with a lot of shoots, instead of one big main shoot that you get on the untopped “christmas tree”.
The reason why the plant behaves this way is because the center of growth control, the auxin transport system, is located in the main shoot apex. Sensory pigments in the leafs inform the plant of various things like how much light a leaf at a certain location gets and so on, which then enables the plant to transport energy and growth hormones to various areas.
The mechanism behind the auxin transport system is quite complex, involving various messenger molecules, growth hormones and specific proteins that trigger everything from vegetative growth to flowering in the plant. Some aspects of this mechanism are still unknown and under scientific research. What is known however is that the centre of control for this mechanism is located in the main shoot apex and that it also relies on information from the sensory pigments located in the leafs.
By removing the main shoot, the communication between the leafs and main shoot ends and the result is that the plant assigns the next shoots in line to the job. This means that the smaller shoots on the node beneath the cut starts growing faster and gain height. These shoots usually grow very slowly when the plant is left untopped.

Most of the time this transition is quite fast but some plants that respond poorly to topping might have stunted growth for a while. It is possible to top a plant many times, each time the number of main shoots will double. Give your plants some time to grow before you top them, if they are topped to early they might get stunted for a while. I do top them quite early sometimes as you can probably tell from the pictures that I have included. Go by your feeling, once the plants look strong enough you can start topping and training them.
This is a good way of training the plant if one wants to make the most out of the space available. Topping is also a good way of slowing down plants that tend to stretch a lot, as each time the plant is topped it will redirect energy to a greater number of shoots. The new shoots will never grow as large as the untopped main shoot will but they will most likely produce a larger crop.

View attachment 2852717View attachment 2852718View attachment 2852719View attachment 2852720

There is also a technique called FIM (Fuck I Missed) topping. By leaving a small portion of the growth on the main shoot intact, the plant will for some reason assume that four shoots, instead of two, are the main shoots and they will grow evenly in height. The success of this method is usually up to the luck of the draw but you should make the cut circular so that the remaining tissue forms a “cup”. The same result can however be achieved by topping the plant twice.

Topping the plant is only the first step in the process of training a plant for a super sized crop. After the plant has been topped many times over and starts to gain size, it is time to start training it.

It is not necessary to top the plant in order to start the training. Some people prefer to leave the plant untopped and tie down the main shoot at ground level instead. This will have the same effect as topping it because once again, the auxin transport system located in the main shoot will dictate how the plant grows. When the main shoot is tied down, all shoots above it will grow more rapidly as the plant now assumes that these are the main shoots.

Training the plant is this way is called Low Stress Training or LST. As long as the main shoot is kept lower than the surrounding branches, they will grow rapidly in height.

These diagrams, originally posted by big buddha, give a good picture of what I am talking about. These are excellent diagrams so many thanks to the creator.

View attachment 2852726

More to come...just rolling 1

Click to expand...