Do you wish to twirl your magic wand and increase the yields from your cannabis plant? Thy wish is granted!
Smart Grow Tents brings you an ultimate guide to enhance your cannabis plant yield by training your plants. I am sure the first question that may have popped in your mind is- What is plant training? Training in any form of teaching something to someone. In this case, plant training means teaching (manipulating) your plants physically, so they grow more bud sites eventually resulting in better yields. What are you waiting for? Learn some hypnotics for your weed plant right away.
Topping Cannabis
‘Topping’ is to cut the growing shoot off the main central stem (leaving a tiny portion), this would result in a larger growth of the two secondary stems in compensation. Top those two stems again, once they have grown healthy.
Why: Control the plant height so that it can use all its energy to grow laterally, producing more branches and buds in turn. This is also called breaking the apical dominance.
How: Do not top the plant too early or it may not recover. For best results, wait until your plant has 4-6 nodes. At this stage, it is strong enough to grow new leaves every day and will recover much faster.
Crimping Cannabis Stems
During the seedling stage, crush the branches using your forefingers and thumb until it can be felt to give. Be extra careful when you do this else you may end up breaking the branch. Try to practice it on other plants before trying on your cannabis plant.
Why: You can improve the plant growth by significantly by increasing the flow of nutrients in the area that is crimped.
How: Pinch the plant in the stem section just below the nodes. You do not want to flatten the stem completely. Be very delicate. Similarly to topping, damaging your plant too early or too late will reduce its productivity. You want to crimp the plant when it has 3-5 nodes. If the plant is already budding, it is too late.
Screen of Green (SCROG)
A SCROG is a netting type wire or mesh screen attached at the desired height. If you leave a plant in the pot without training, it will likely develop only one central cola. However, the SCROG helps spread out light evenly across the whole plant. Every branch has the chance to grow into a decent cola. A SCROG boosts yields as high as five buds per plant.
Why: This method is ideal for indoor plants where height is an obstacle. SCROGS will help the cannabis plant grow laterally, using all its energy to grow out and yield better results. The screen of Green is useful for indoor growing because it prevents the plant from getting burnt by the light.
How: Using a SCROG is easy. Once your plant enters the vegetative stage, start weaving branches through the screen. When pruning, tuck any fan leaves under the screen. A SCROG will keep your growth even and easy to maintain.
Lolli popping Cannabis Plants
This technique is the process of removing undergrowth from the bottom of the plant. It is not getting much light and will not produce buds. Why leave it for your plant to waste energy, when they could be concentrating on producing flowers.
Why: The accessible light intensity is inversely proportional to distance. During the late flowering stage, the amount of light penetrated to the bottom 1/3rd stems and leaves is negligible. However, the plant is still using its energy to grow those parts. Remove these so that the entire energy goes into developing higher stems and leaves.
How: The timing is critical. Removing the branches too early may result in new replaced stems growth and the usage of extra energy. Late removal also results in energy wasted as the plant already spent that energy. For the best results, lollipop then just before they start flowering. Only remove the bottom third of the plant. Removing anymore will reduce your yield. An advanced level of this is ‘Lollipopping,' where the growers remove all the lateral branches leaving one huge central cola (stem). This should be done only after a good practice.
Trellising Cannabis
Trellising marijuana is a technique often used outdoor, where growers have more space and less direct influence on lighting and climate. A trellis system (purchased from any local Medical Cannabis store or any online site) is used to support the plant and make it stand erect. You can also build a basic trellis system from basic household items like bungee cords, bamboo stakes, and cotton rope.
Why: As the cannabis plant reaches the late flowering stage, it becomes heavy and is unable to withstand the weight of the buds. It starts bending before completing its growth. It needs to be tied up straight to let it grow completely.
How: When you first more your starts outside, install a tomato cage to support any initial growth. As the plant gets older, you want to install 4 T-posts around the circle of the cage. Each post can be up of 10 feet long. These support the middle branches. Finally, your vertical trellis will catch the top, most fragile branches.
These are just a few of the best techniques curated by Smart Grow Tents for our readers. You may choose If you have used any of these techniques, please let us know how beneficial were these to you. If not, let us know if there are some other means by which we can help you out.
