Questions about LST

I am new to growing. I have 2 auto plants that are 24 days from seed that I started doing LST on last week. I first tied the main stem down to the back of the pot then like every 2 days after that I have been trying to tie the main stem in a circle around the pot by tying the main stem as it gets a little longer every 2 days around the side of the pot. Is that how you do LST? Do you keep tying the main stem around the outside edge of the pot or am I doing it wrong? Is the goal to try to circle the outside edge of the pot with the main stem or do you only tie the main stem the first time then wait a few days until different stems are taller then tie them down on there?

I have watched videos on youtube and the videos I found look like they have what you do with the first tie down and then what it looks like at the end but I have not really found anything for the middle of the LST the steps between the first tie down and when you finish the LST work on there.

Autos do not fair well with toping and LST.

U can train using low stress training (tying the branchs down), supercroping or even topping. (i mix both styles), just keep in mind lower branchs wont get much light so better not training it to much, i usual stop at flowering since it delay flowering time. Since autos has diferent time of life it depends in wich strain.

... from here @ICMag "top after 4th node between day 14/20 only" Keep lights at 18/6

Thanks.

I don't ever top autoflowers, they don't veg long enough to fully recuperate. There are many ways to Low Stress Train. The main goal is to open up budsites to the light from above. Training the main stem in a corkscrew shape is definitely doable, but you lose light to the inside of the corkscrew. You can also try like "elbowing" it, let the main stem continue in 1 horizontal direction, and pull all the side branches down to like flatten the plant, the main stem looks like a big elbow coming out of the ground then all the side branches are kind of flattened like a table. That works better with plants that aren't gonna double in height in flower. This is not an autoflower, but it's my favorite LST I did so far.

Thanks. The 1 main reason I tried the spiral with it is the main stem keeps getting longer after the first tie down and figured why not move it around the outside of the pot. What do you think about not planting the seed in the middle of the pot to allow for the longer main stem and instead planting the seed near 1 end of the pot then tie it down to the opposite end of the pot then tie the branches off that stem down like you detailed on there?

The123321 said:

Thanks. The 1 main reason I tried the spiral with it is the main stem keeps getting longer after the first tie down and figured why not move it around the outside of the pot. What do you think about not planting the seed in the middle of the pot to allow for the longer main stem and instead planting the seed near 1 end of the pot then tie it down to the opposite end of the pot then tie the branches off that stem down like you detailed on there?

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Yeah it just keeps growing till after the flower size burst. And that sounds like it would be good idea for the autoflowers, plant them offcentered so you get a little more area to tie down to the pot. You don't have to tie down to the pot though. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BAHR2Q/ I use those underneath the pots in 1 of my tents, and it's easy to put a screw or 5 into the plastic, then use that as the tie down. I don't have any pics of that setup cause the flower tent is just 1 big gorilla glue at the moment.

Thanks. I may try that for the next 1 I do on there.

Good luck!

Thanks.

I'mback said:

Autos do not fair well with toping and LST.

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Top, NO!!!!! LST, gently bending branches, main stalk, or SCROG......YES! I know some auto growers swear by topping....you can do just as well, gently lowering branches and stalk...cotton string, t shirt material. Topping stresses plant.

LST stands for Low Stress Training and that means you are training your plants with the least amount of stress. There are also High Stress Training methods like Topping and Pruning but they are not for autoflowers as they tend to stunt the plants growth for a while and for autos you can’t take that risk as you have a set time period when you plant will finish its life cycle with or without that stunning.

If you perform LST you can get many top buds from one auto plant and all of them will be of the same size as well as density and you will get much more grams per plant comparing when you let the cannabis grow one big main bud and small side colas. Usually Autoflowering cannabis produces one main cola at the very top of the plant, all the side branches have weak light penetration and they stay small, producing small flowers. There are also some autos that can produce one big cola and almost no flowers and resin on side branches.

How and why autoflower LST works?
Cannabis plants are made to produce as much branches and leafage as they can and their main goal is to create more flowers that can collect pollen and produce seeds. Flowers are usually created at the tops of the main shoots and the largest amount of flowers are at the main cola that stretches towards sun to make the most out of all the sunlight it can get. In nature Autoflowering plants are made to produce one large bud with some smaller buds along the sides. Because the main steam is the one who gets the most sun it will produce the most amount of flowers that can potentially produce seeds and these seeds will reproduce new ganja plants in the next year. All this process is driven by cannabis hormones called auxins.

These Auxins can be found throughout the entire plant but the biggest amount is at the top of the main shoot that is the closest to the light source. Auxins are there because they help cannabis plants to grow and where the most auxins are the most vigorous growth happens. So if you train your main shoot down and it is at the same height as the other branches then the autoflowering cannabis plant will start to send those auxins at every shoot that is closest to the light source and they will start growing faster. As you train those shoots that have grown upwards you trick your auto in thinking that it’s main shoot is gone and it will try as much as it can to grow those other branches to maximize the chances of survival as in nature the tallest and most powerful female plant with the most flowers will probably catch the most male pollen and produce biggest amount of seeds so it will produce the greatest amount of offsprings.

There is no point of training your plant if you don’t understand this and when you do understand the principle of the Low Stress Training you can do it in a way you feel the most comfortable and get the result you want.......
https://www.autoflowering-cannabis.com/autoflower-lst/

Thanks. When using lst why is it not more often recommended in these guides to plant the seed off center near 1 side of the pot to be able to tie the main stem down at the opposite end of the pot? With the seed in the center of the pot when I lst it looks like most of the plant is on that side of the pot now. Here is an image of my plants that I planted the seed in the center of the pot and I have tied down the main stem to 1 end of the pot but the plants now are bushy on that half of the pot.



If you plant the seed off center near 1 side of the pot to give it most of the pot width to the opposite side of the pot to tie it down to that end of the pot would the roots still develop as good as if you had planted the seed in the center of the pot? Is there any reason not to plant the seed near 1 side of the pot instead of the center of the pot on there?

You've got a problem with nutes- suspect lock out.
Below, LST techniques. Good luck!

Thanks. I watered the plants today with 1-2 gallons of ph calmag water and drained the runoff. I ended up breaking the top off the main stem of the top plant in the image. I hope that the plant is ok with it on there.