Using several methods, nothing wrong with mixing it up. Typically use LST and FIM on pretty well every plant, sativas more so as I like to shape them into bushes vs letting them go wild.
I use these methods as follows:
- LST, early on I start to shape the plant and spread it out. From about 5-6" tall and 4-6 nodes I install small 5" training "rings" that I buy at the dollar store - 5x for $1
- Once they to around 8-10" I LST more to shape them and spread out across the pot, open up the centre and let additional shoots pop up from the centre
- At this point I also FIM every branch that has a shoot coming in, repeat every 10 days or so until about a week before flipping them to 12/12
- Once they hit around 12"-14" I'm super-crop them (on purpose now, had mainly done it by fuck-ups like dropping shit on them!). Using the super cropping and LST together I bend/tie the super-cropped branch to fill in holes, new shoots come up around the knot and fill in the holes
Typically like my current round with LST and FIM only I'll end up around 8 nice large colas
Hoping to take that to 12 or so next round by adding super-cropping
This current round I added some tomato trellises when I put them into the flower room. This allowed me to run the colas through the trellis. It served me well, nice open areas to get lots of light to the centre/bottom. As well, now that the buds are getting heavier, the trellises are providing support and allows me to tie the centre colas to the trellises. You can see my results in my current CMH thread, this was just LST and FIM, next one should be better and produce more bud areas. My avatar is what I like them to look like before going into flowering, relatively short, round bush with lots of bud areas.
It's all preference and what you're trying to accomplish really. They all serve to manage canopy, increase shoots/colas, in the end any of this training produces more than just letting the plant go wild/natural. LST is probably the easiest and least amount of stress. FIM or topping are easy as well.Super-cropping takes a bit of a leap of faith if you haven't done it before as it's higher stress and can be daunting at first, but these plants can handle a lot of bending/twisting and even breaking, yet recover well and fast.