LST Cannabis: How Low Stress Training Boosts Your Yield

LST, or low stress training, is a technique where you gently bend and tie down a cannabis plant's branches so it grows wide and flat instead of tall, spreading the growth across the side branches to get multiple colas instead of one main top. Since nothing gets cut, it's easy on the plant, and more light reaches more bud sites, which means a bigger harvest.

The technique puts very little stress on the plant because it doesn't involve any pruning. That said, you can combine it with pruning methods like FIM for even better results.

Why use LST on cannabis?

LST goes after two things:

• First, cannabis naturally wants to grow in a "Christmas tree" shape, known as apical dominance: one big main stem that develops a single long, fat cola. With LST, the goal is to break that apical dominance and flatten the canopy so everything grows at the same height.
• Second, you want to expose the secondary shoots to more light. To do that, you bend the tallest branches down and tie them to the container, so light hits the whole plant and not just the main top. The goal is to bend all the tallest branches until everything sits at the same height: the main stem plus the primary and secondary branches.

LST cannabis: what you'll need

To LST your plants properly, you'll need the following gear:

• Rubber-coated plant wire or soft plant ties
• Thin wooden or bamboo stakes
• A small hand drill
• Tape

LST doesn't take much, but we don't recommend using regular string to tie down your plants. Plain string or wire is often too thin or too stiff and can cut into the stems, doing more harm than good.

Go gently with LST so you don't risk snapping branches. You can tie them with garden twine, but there are also anchors made specifically for this, available at any grow shop. They stake into the growing medium and have a hook on top you can run the branch through, bending it however you want.

Bend the branch as close to the tip as you can, so you open the plant up nicely without risking the stiffer parts. If you're planning to LST, it's best to plant the seed near one side of the container rather than in the middle, then bend it toward the opposite side once it has 3 to 4 nodes.

Benefits of low stress training

The benefits are plenty. LST lets you pull denser buds off the lower branches. It also keeps your grow's vertical footprint down, which makes it more efficient and helps you control plant size.  Indoors especially, it's a real yield booster.

LST indoors... and outdoors?

Some people think LST is just for indoor growers, but that's not true. Low stress training isn't anything new; it actually started out as an outdoor method.

For growers in colder climates, outdoor LST can be a great way to boost yields over the summer, even if you don't live somewhere with tons of sun.

LST is also handy for keeping outdoor cannabis plants as low-key as possible. So the payoff is double: not only will you get better yields, but your plants will draw a lot less attention than a towering weed plant.

When should you start LST?

As for when to start LST, the obvious answer is as soon as you can. Many growers start training their plants when they have 3 to 6 nodes or a couple of sets of leaves. During this early growth phase, the stem is flexible and easy to shape, with basically no risk of snapping. Even once your cannabis has settled into the vegetative stage, it'll be ready and willing to be trained.

Ideally, don't start before the plant has put on a few good nodes, but don't wait too long either. There's only one time when low stress training gets tricky: once your plant has entered flowering. At that point, the stems can be too stiff to bend, and you risk breaking a branch that's holding your precious buds. Other than that, you can start LST pretty much any time during veg. The sooner, the better.

Another take on the technique: LST with weights

Another cool way to do LST and improve your bud quality uses small weights hanging from the tips of the branches to pull them to the angle and direction you want.

This lets you shape your plants gradually, opening them up so lots of shoots can soak up the sunlight and toughening them up to carry the weight of the buds once flowering arrives. Besides working well indoors, this method is especially good outdoors, because the branches can sway in the wind with no problem while it strengthens their structure.

Pro tip to keep stress to a minimum and get the most out of LST: do your training at dusk, or right when the lights go off indoors, so the plants can recover overnight. Usually, the next day you'll see the tips of the branches you bent pointing back up, reaching for the light source.