Making the most of your grow space with LST

Added on 05 May 2023

Tags

Making the most of your grow space with LST

Growing plants comes with a major learning curve, which means the more patient, curious, and consistent the grower is, the better the results will be. And when it comes to curious patience and consistency, low-stress training (LST) is one of the best approaches for allowing plants to thrive.

Similar to bonsai techniques, LST is a plant training method that involves bending and/or tying your plants’ stems with growing tape or duct tape to gently guide or redirect their shape. This ultimately allows plant growers to expose different parts of the plant to air and light, resulting in a higher yield overall when done properly.

What is Low-Stress Training (LST) on cannabis?

So—how does low-stress training tie into cannabis plants?

Cannabis cultivators will opt for this training technique for the exact same reason any other type of plant grower does: to increase yield, which is essential for the still-expanding, ever-demanding national market where margins can be razor thin.

Of course, LST applies to each type of plant somewhat differently, depending on the structure. For cannabis, one large main stem will develop first, eventually creating an elongated cola, which coexists alongside your eventual side branches where your plant’s buds sites will live.

Apical dominance is prominent in cannabis plants, which is defined as the tendency of a plant to grow in a Christmas tree-like shape with thinner sections toward the top. This growth shape will occur naturally, blocking sunlight from reaching the entire plant with a counterproductive effect on growth and yield.