Indoor LST Hub

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BigBuddha

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Hi folks,


I'm starting this thread to discuss and investigate various aspects of LST (Low Stress Training). There are other good threads on this already but none I could find that talk about Plant Auxins (hormones) and how they play a huge effect in LST (basically, WHY it works).

The below is the first article I'd read on LST and it was what drove me to try it out and see if it worked. It did, and I've been hooked ever since.

Anyway.. what I'd like to do in this thread - rather than debate if LST is any good or not - is spawn some sort of central point for those interested to learn some new things about LST'ing; t assumes that you’re interested in it by the fact that you’re here with the rest of us.

I'm far from an expert myself so I hope to learn too from the LST masters, but I have a fair bit of experience in LST'ing since I've never grown a weed plant and not trained it (yet).

If you have pictures of your own LST skills they'd really add a complete visual feel to the thread, no matter how simple.

Also, if anyone's interested in having a mad discussion about LST'ing from a more spiritual angle or whatever (you know.. connecting with the plants etc), I'd be happy with that, or if you want to just find the craziest LST snaps off the web.. add them.

If anyone new to LST has any questions about LST, why we do it, what we get out of it, what our favourite methods are, what are the best materials to use, when do we start it and when do we end it etc.. I'm happy to tackle as many of those as I can but it would be really great if other LSTers chimed-in too as my methods aren’t the only ones out there.


You get the point of the thread, right? It's all things LST and hopefully some of us will walk away with new skills and some us will walk away with better ones.






So, to kick things off, here's the article on Auxins and their role in LST:


First off I want to thank the creator of the mighty LST thread started by Caprichoso (LST training in detail. Why bushes are better) as it is highly informative and a wonderful collection of pictures of the LST process.

Not too long ago I did not even know what LST was until I started researching it. Now, however, it is apparent from some of the more recent comments (and some of the older comments) in the LST training thread, that there is a basic lack of understanding when it comes to LST. More than a few people are just imitating pictures and going "WOW! That worked really well!"


Hopefully this post (along with the research I've done) will help some people understand a few things when it comes to LST. There is a lot of information out there on how to LST but it is mostly comprised of diagrams and pictures. If you understand what LST is and what you are doing by tying down the stems of your plants, then you will know when and how to LST your plants. If you understood why and how LST worked, then you would not even need the pictures to help you in the first place.


So here we go ladies and gentleman, gonna drop a bit of info and science here from various sources and readings:


The Art of LST

What LST is
Why LST Works
How LST Works

Armed with this information, you should be able to LST until your hearts are content or learn about how to better your LST practices. Instead of looking to pictures to learn about LST, you'll be using pictures as examples of how to LST.


What LST Is

LST stands for low stress training.

When it comes to marijuana growing, LST refers to a particular type of low stress training. It appears on the outside (and to the untrained eye) that the training of a plant is simply teaching a plant to be short and grow lots of buds. It is much more important and involved than that.


Topping the plants (or chopping as it is also referred to) is actually done for similar reasons that LST is done. Even though it is a completely different method. It, too, is a form of training (a high stress one).


A lot of you might be thinking: "Topping and LST aren't even close to the same. You're full of crap. I'm done reading this post."


Well, stay with me here and you'll understand.


Why LST Works

One of the #1 things you need to understand about LST: auxins.

If you don't understand them, then you are just putting strings on your plant so they look like other plants in pictures.


Auxins are plant hormones that interact with other plant hormones to form the "plant nervous system" in the most simplest terms. Auxins are used to help stimulate nearly all facets of plant growth.


Auxins are used to help promote new root growth and is often part of what is used in rooting compounds or rooting hormones that are so popular in marijuana horticulture. There has also been research (in the 50s I believe) that indicates that levels of auxins also influence the sex of a marijuana plant. Some research has also indicated that levels of auxins also play a role in the ways flowers mature on a plant.


Most of all, auxins, in marijuana plants, are known for producing adventitious buds along the stem and in the roots. Adventitious is sort of like it sounds: it's the "adventurous" part of the plant that sprouts when the plant is wounded or trained.


With LST, it is not as simple as: "Make more auxins. Plant grow big."


So why did we learn about auxins if we're not going to be making more of them? I mean, more is good when it comes to marijuana right?!


Well: no, not in this case. This part is important so pay attention: auxins are most concentrated (and synthesized) at the apical bud or the tip of the plant closest to the light. The rest of the plant has the ability to produce auxins, but the cells must be triggered to do so. Now, although auxins are hormones essential for many facets of growth, it is also an inhibiting hormone for the other buds further down the stem. This is to prevent the plant from producing buds which may compete with the apical bud.


In other words:

The plant is very happy having one bud that it tries to stretch as close as possible to its source of energy. It will do what it can to inhibit other sprouts below it from becoming that bud as it would require the plant to push those sprouts up to that level again.

If you are still a bit confused, think of images of trees and picture the growth that they have in a cone-shaped fashion. They are working to push the apical bud up to the sky.


Now that you understand what auxins are and how they are important for growth in marijuana, you can begin to understand how LST works.


How LST Works

This is where I get to those people who were saying "Topping and LST aren't even close. You're full of crap."

When you top a plant, you are removing the apical bud (the bud closest to the light) where most of the auxin is concentrated and synthesized. The plant stresses itself out (high stress training) and eventually produces new sprouts along the stem that will form new growth so that it can get a new apical bud and send it soaring towards the heavens.


LST is helping to stimulate that growth near the bottom but by tricking the plant instead of chopping it. In nature, if something happens to a plant and the bud that is closest to the light gets blocked, it will try to move around that something. If it can't, then eventually new growth will form lower along the stem to try and send a new shoot out to head towards the light.


When you LST, the reason that you are tying the tip of the plant down is so that the plant gets confused. It is used to producing the auxins in the tip of the plant close to the light. However, because the tip of the plant is pulled down to such a degree, it is not receiving light at the very tip like it used to so it sends the auxins down the stem to produce new sprouts to become new apical buds (or so the plant hopes).


This is why some people continue training as the plant gets older, but like to start when the plant is new as auxin development starts with roots and continues through all stages of the plant. Continued training of the plant is helpful because, as you can imagine, each apical tip can be brought down to promote new growth further down the stem. Every time you bring the tip down, the plant will be fooled. As new tips of the plant are reaching towards the light, pulling them back down below 90 degrees (or close to it) will make those auxins start to flow again. This can continue on and on.


Now that you know how LST works, you don't even need a picture to look at. You just know that you need to trick the plant into thinking it's highest tip is no longer its highest tip. It's as simple as that, but it is also as complex as you want it to be.




So, what did we learn here?

1) LST can be done for all strains of marijuana
2) LST is another way of altering/stimulating the auxin hormone to produce additional growth just like other training methods
3) LST is not just for training height
4) Understanding auxins will help you understand LST
5) There is a lot of material available about this but most of it is in books which means if you really want to understand how auxins affect marijuana, you should look further than Wikipedia

I hope this information is helpful to everyone looking to figure out how to LST or why it works or when is the best time.



I couldn't find a straightforward diagram to augment that article so I knocked-up this basic one in MSpaint:

lst.jpg





But that's basically the long-and-short of the main goal with true LST - auxin redirection.

There are many methods, tips and tricks and I hope this thread acts as a sort of cyber-starbase where thousands of different species can come together and share LST methods. A bit like
Babylon 5 but about LST stuff instead of space stuff.


With us mainly growing autos here, LST is a zero-cost method for us to save on even more space and get bigger yields than before.


So what are you waiting for?


:smokebuds:
 
Thanks for the info very useful!!!I will also be trying LST with my photo's my tent is only 5' so i will need to TOP or LST to keep the sativa short enough
 
Glad it's inspired someone already. Thanks fellas.

GD.. if you're growing sats in a short space then LST is your best friend because you get the control, more light and no fucking about with scissors.


:smokebuds:
 
Here's some examples of fig 2 - the tips were trained yesterday and were pointing horizontally at the time.. but overnight they've started to grow vertically again to reach the light and in doing so creates more internodes which in turn seek the light and so on; that's where your bushiness comes from:


DSC06337.jpg


DSC06335.jpg


DSC06331.jpg







I put this in anoher thread also but for the purposes of showing how quickly plants respond to LST.. here's a comparison shot:

Yesterday:

DSC06330-1.jpg


Today:

DSC06332.jpg



As you can see it isn't a slow process and sometimes needs to take place several times a day. As you train one stem to go left, it's own nodes become stems that need redirecting, too, so you can find it's a regular affair. But just look at all those lovely bud-sites developing on a low-profile sativa-dom strain. What do you reckon... worth the effort?


:peace:
 
Excellent BigBuddha,

What is the ideal stage to begin LST. ?
Also, cant you point out some of the negatives to this process. Are there any ?
 
Excellent BigBuddha,
Cheers mate. Welcome to The Hub.

What is the ideal stage to begin LST. ?
Good question. The way I see it is this..

Since a primary goal it to redirect auxins to the lowest nodes.. I'd want there to be at least one set of nodes below the bend or there's nothing to redirect auxins to.. so a plant will dictate when that happens. In theory there's no reason you couldn't do it sooner, say if you wanted to do a super-low profile plant with one long sideways stem supporting colas.. or something like that. You'd still get the benefit of the profile-lowering of LST at the least.


Also, cant you point out some of the negatives to this process. Are there any ?
Another good question..

To date, the only drawbacks that I'm aware of are me being an idiot and breaking a stem or wotnot..

I suppose it's worth considering that training a plant - although low stress - is still stress none-the-less. That'll slightly slow-down its veg growth and with autos that has its cost.. but the opening-up of more lower bud-sites, fatter stem to uptake more nutrients and far larger quantity of colas offsets that plus some.

I can't really think of any other drawbacks but if there are any, hopefully someone will add a post to detail them.


:peace:
 
Nice one B B i'm defo gona give it a go ooooooooooooo:drool: yes
 
Cheers GD. Glad you're diggin it. I promise you won't regret joining the groovy-train.. :smokebuds:
 
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