A Closer Look At LST

High Everyone :wave: Here is a little something ive been working on :D

From seed to flower, you will see a plant's response to LST as I manipulate its branches. The pictures will show you first hand the cause and effects of LST.

A Brief Review:The main idea behind LST is to keep the top growth and side nodes low to the ground. These simple procedures have a profound effect on the plant.

The plant hormones at work here are the Auxin.
"Auxin participates in phototropism, geotropism, hydrotropism and other developmental changes. The uneven distribution of auxin, due to environmental cues such as unidirectional light or gravity force, results in uneven plant tissue growth. And generally auxin governs the form and shape of plant body, direction and strength of growth of all organs and their mutual interaction." (Efflux-Dependent Auxin Gradients as a Common Module for Plant Organ Formation).

In theory, the movement of auxin to the nodes trick the lower branchs or side branches into thinking they are a top cola. Some growers report increased yields of 200%. However, the relationship between LST and increased yields is still debated.

What is certain though, is that LST can create a perfect and even canopy. Therefore, the canopy and buds can receive equal amounts of light, resulting in maturation of buds at the same pace. The equal amount of light a LST'd plant gets is far superior than the "christmas tree" plant (New innovations of vertical lighting challenge this) But The problem of two part harvests or immature popcorn buds are resolved with LST done right.

There are many methods or ways of doing LST (i.e. egg crate method, pipe cleaner, string method, etc...) This paticular LST method bends the plant's main stem around the container, until the plant does a full rotation, or fills up the entire pot. (I used paperclips, they work perfectly) Once you have a healthy set of top nodes you can begin flowering (You can really start flowering whenever.) In flowering you must still maintain the now very large bush of weed. (Keeping adequate airflow)

I believe the pictures are pretty self explanatory, look for the bends and notice how the top growth tries to straighten back up. Further along notice the amazing amount of side growth.

Check it out




First bend.


















This is when i added a screen and started flower. Once you are done with veg, its up to you what you want to do from there. I had a 3 gal so it was pretty cramped. Decided a screen would be my best bet.








And there you go! Hope you guys enjoyed this and maybe helped you better understand LST in a visual interpretation.
 

fatboyOGOF

Well-Known Member
good job! it's nice to see the whole grow in one post! saves on reading! :)

"A Brief Review:The main idea behind LST is to keep the top growth and side nodes low to the ground. . "

the other major reason is multiple bud sites.
 
good job! it's nice to see the whole grow in one post! saves on reading! :)

"A Brief Review:The main idea behind LST is to keep the top growth and side nodes low to the ground. . "

the other major reason is multiple bud sites.
I meant the main idea, as in what you do to lst not why you do it. What you do is keep the nodes low to the ground and this creats a bush w/ multiple colas, shorter plant, yada yada yada.
 
The red thing is a maybe 18 inches idk.

I vegd for 9 weekks but I had a mite prob end of veg and I had to go almost two weeks longer than I wanted for recovering time and to make sure the mites were dead. She hermied a little into flower so the smoke wasn't to great
 

ClamDigger

Active Member
looks great!
is your concept based on Hobbes Crop Circle Of Bud?
https://www.rollitup.org/newbie-central/360125-new-growers-needed-grow-lab.html

Crop Circle Of Bud

Simple and Easy Low Stress Training

I do CCOB, like an inefficient scrog without the screen but the plants are movable. I top my plants once; veg each side of the stem to 22" in a 6" pot; transplant to a 5 gallon pot on an angle; bend the stems around the bucket rim. The branches grow up and the stem acts like a hydro tube feeding each small cola.

The stems virtually stop growing when they're bent horizontal, so I have to veg the plants so they will bend all the way around the 38" bucket rim. A single 38" stem is thicker and harder to train; two 22" stems crossed at the bottom and following the natural curve of a topped plant will train much quicker and easier. I often put two 14" topped plants in the same bucket, great results.

This is a 1 stem Kali Mist at 35" and a 2 stem Flo (18" & 19"). The stem is much thicker and more difficult to bend and train. We need to get the stem around the 38" of the bucket rim to get as many branches as possible, so two thinner, shorter stems are much easier. The stems virtually stop growth and stretch when bent horizontal, many more branches than a vertical plant of the same stem length. The Flo trained in about 15 minutes and the Kali Mist took days.

Flo - Kali Mist



.

This Bubblegum's stems weren't crossed and took over a week to train. If crossed I could have done it in a few hours.





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Flo



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Kali Mist



.

A Flo (left) and a Bubblegum. The Flo has another week or three, the Bubblegum should harvest in the next week. The Flo is a knarly plant, twisty leaves, small hard buds. This is my second time around for the Flo, the last hermied and I burnt it with Dutch Passion Penetrator. The smoke was so beautiful I had to run it again, this time just a few pre flower pods and bananas on the lower nodes. I picked them off and the plant has been perfect since.

Note: I'm running my last Dutch Passion Flo this flower. I've got 3 DJ Short Flo from seed in my veg room, another 6 weeks and I'll have them in flower. It's that good that I wanted to get the best. DJ's version might rival Kali Mist as my favorite strain.


(all pics and info belong to hobbes, from link at top of page)

Hobbes is a GOD!
 

ClamDigger

Active Member
one of my favorite tools for LST is Twist Tie on a roll. 1$ for TWO rolls at your local Dolla Store.
sell_garden_twist_ties.jpg
Swiss Cheese (Nirvana)
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:hump:
 

hyroot

Well-Known Member
one of my favorite tools for LST is Twist Tie on a roll. 1$ for TWO rolls at your local Dolla Store.
View attachment 1839904
Swiss Cheese (Nirvana)
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:hump:

be careful with those twist ties... its still thin sharp metal under the plastic. after a while the stalk or branch gets thick and if you don't pay attention to how tight the twist tie is it will start to cut into the stalk or branch as it thickens. i had that happen twice. one time it cut in but it healed. the other it cut the plant in half. it was still in veg.. I like to use hemp twine more
 
Yeah and even if your using string, don't tie it too tight around the stem or be prepared to loosen it every week. That's one of the reasons I chose to use paperclip hooks instead, don't really have to worry about circulation being cut
 
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