There are various cultivation techniques that can be used to train a cannabis plant. This allows you to adapt the shape and height of the plant to its growing environment to take full advantage of it. If you learn to grow with these techniques, you can grow more efficiently, resulting in a higher yield. How it works and which cultivation techniques you can use to train cannabis plants, we explain here:

• Low Stress Training, LST
• High Stress Training, HST
• Topping
• Fimming
• Cropping
• SOG (Sea of Green)
• SCROG (Screen of Green) 

Low Stress Training, LST

LST is a simple growing technique for growing cannabis seeds that, as the name implies, is low-stress to the plant and easy to do for the novice grower. By bending the trunk and/or the side branches and securing them in this position with wire or rope, you manipulate the growth of the plant.

If the plant is still young and is 20 to 30 centimeters tall, bend the top part of the plant downwards. Do this gently and as far as you can go. Let the plant rest for a few days and then bend the trunk further down.

The main cola will grow less in height and the side branches will develop more. Ideal for an indoor grow because the underlying buds get more light and you grow less striking plants outdoors for a stealth grow. If you want to harvest a beautiful main bud, remove the lower side branches during growth. This is called thieving or lollipopping.

By removing the less exposed shoots and branches, the energy of the plant goes to the main buds. LST can be used to grow all types of cannabis seeds: regular, feminized and autoflowering. It does not matter which growing medium you use.

High Stress Training, HST

With HST you will cut shoots from the plant or even break branches. Due to the damage that is caused, stress can arise with all its consequences. If you apply the cultivation technique correctly, you will only benefit from it. It is not recommended to use this technique with autoflowers because of the short life cycle. So it is best to apply to the photosensitive feminized seeds. High stress training can be done in different ways, the best known are: topping, fimming and cropping.

Topping

Topping is a simple cultivation technique. It is the removal of the top shoot(s). The plant then puts the energy into the two shoots in the branch below, which then grow into two main buds. In the growth phase you can do this several times at different places in the plant. This way you grow several main buds on one plant. Topping is an ideal way to fill a grow tent well and make the most effective use of your grow surface.

Fimming

Fimming is almost the same as topping, but instead of removing the entire shoot, you only cut the top part of the branches. If done correctly, the main bud will branch out and three main buds will form on one plant. Another way is to fim the top at the beginning of the flowering phase, approximately in the second week. Doing this will give the plant the incentive to grow wider, thicker buds. This growing technique was created because someone wanted to top a plant, but did so in the wrong way. FIM is the abbreviation of “Fuck I Missed”.

Cropping

Cannabis is a plant with strong fibers and can tolerate quite a bit. Cropping or supercropping is the breaking and buckling of the trunk and branches. If you do this carefully, the fibers remain intact and the juice flow to the top continues. It is best to do this in a place in the plant that is soft and not too woody. Grab the stem with thumb and forefinger and squeeze it with a massaging motion, you will notice that the stem softens and already has the tendency to kink. Continue to do this gently to a 90-degree angle. Secure the branch to prevent it from growing upright again.

Suzy's tip: Are your plants getting too tall or stretching too much? Then apply cropping to prevent them from getting too close to the grow light.

By combining different cultivation techniques of LST and HST, you can have one or more plants bloom with a proportional canopy where most of the buds are at the same height. This is called "mainlining". The best known forms of this are, SOG and SCROG.

SOG (Sea of Green)

Sea of Green, SOG for short, is a good way to quickly generate a lot of yield per square meter. A disadvantage of this cultivation technique is that you need a lot of plants. Because a cannabis plant is not legal, our advice is just 4 plants in a small grow room to grow yourself. Growers who grow a Sea Of Green put 16 to 25 plants on one square meter. After germination and a short growth period of 1 to 2 weeks, they are put into the flowering phase.

During the first weeks of the flowering period, all lower branches and leaves are removed and the focus is on the top of the plant. Because the plants are close together, the leaves close together around the buds, creating a green sea of leaves and buds at the end of the flowering phase.

SCROG (SCReen of Green)

SCROG stands for SCReen Of Green. Growing this way involves many growing techniques. The young seedling is topped several times during the growth phase so that it will produce more side shoots. Above the plant hangs a net or a piece of gauze, a SCROG net. The sides of this net are sometimes bent upwards for a better bright spot of the grow light. The branches of the plant are guided horizontally under the net. The new shoots will then grow vertically through the net towards the light and blossom into a tasty weed bud.

The art of a SCROG is the correct distribution of the branches under the net so that here too an even canopy is created with the most buds at an ideal distance from the lamp. Here too, thieves and lollipopping are applied under the net and the shoots that receive little light are removed.

A SCROG with the strains from the Suzy's Aficionado Collection is definitely recommended, such as Suzy's Confidential or Leila Kush. The long growing time can be a disadvantage, but it is possible to produce a huge yield even with one plant.