How to Train Marijuana Plants to Improve Yield

Whether you have a cannabis garden that is large or small or whether, it is grown indoors or outdoors, it is helpful to train those marijuana plants, just to improve its yield. The quality of your yield will also be improved. However, it is going to depend on the methods used. There are usually two distinct technique categories to consider. One is high stress training or HST and one is low stress training or LST. The low stress training will not directly damage your marijuana plants. The high stress training will involve removing or breaking off the marijuana plants.

The Objective

The objective of training your marijuana plants using any of these techniques is to change the plant's chemical balance. If it is left to naturally grow, marijuana will produce the topmost bud or one primary cola, which will reach the height that it can naturally grow. However, this may not produce the quality and yield you want. If you have a cannabis garden inside of your home or a building, you cannot bring the lighting too near to the top cola and the cannabis buds on the lower level will get less exposure to the light. When you train your marijuana plants appropriately, the exposure to lighting will be evenly distributed.

Plant Hormone

The growth of a marijuana plant is dictated by auxin, which is a special plant hormone. The auxin carries a high concentration in cannabis plants. And most of the concentration is towards the top of the plant. This prompts your marijuana plant to put more emphasis on upward growth through its main stalk. The technique used for training your marijuana plants will reduce the upward growth, encouraging even growth, which will produced more colas. Let's now look at low stress training techniques.

Low Stress Training

Low stress training or LST is going to need more of your time and effort. However, despite the time and effort, your yield will show improvement and plants will be kept healthy. LST is usually better for indoor growing. One particular method of low stress training is Screen of Green, which is used in indoor hydroponic systems for the best results. With the LST method, the marijuana plants are bent while they grow and tying the branches, if they are too long.

This results in more plant hormone being distributed throughout the plant. The Screen of Green or SCROG method involves the use of a screen, which creates a canopy. So you wouldn't tie down the plant. The plant would grow through the screen instead. When the branches grow and push through the screen, you would tuck it back into the screen. During the flowering stage, you would have a cannabis garden that is well supported and able to produce even more evenly spaced colas.

High Stress Training Techniques

The high stress training techniques are usually used in large cannabis gardens outdoors. These techniques need fewer materials and less time. This method is done primarily while in the vegetative phase. Try not to stress your marijuana plants with this technique while they are in the flowering phase. Topping is one of the basic HST techniques. You will need no additional tools. Your fingernails will work because all you are doing is removing the top of the marijuana plant. Doing so will ensure that the top marijuana buds turn into two new branches, shocking the remaining marijuana plants and thus promoting growth in the lower level branches.

Growing marijuana plants at home for a good yield can be easier than you think. To do this the right way, you can find more information online or go directly to the Cannabis Training University and enroll in our marijuana growing courses.