LST my Autoflowers

Hi All. A friend recently gave me some labeled strain auto seeds. I planted a few and this is my 2nd attempt at LST autos. The first yielded 14ozs from a WW. These all germed the same day and are 3wks from germ. They are all speed bud strains with an estimated yield of 30-90 grams per plant. I’m going to see if I can double or triple that est yield. Grown org soil mix, distilled and ph’d water. Used a small amount of sorghum in water at 2wks. All should finish by xmas ! Yepyep lol

All but 3 have entered full flowering.

8 Likes

LST.?..what is this please ?..

Low Stress Training, it’s a training technique where you gently bend the stems to allow more light to penetrate.

1 Like

Zsitchin,

thank you for your reply, it would have been a lot easier if this was taught in university as a module back a zillion years ago !
toking in West Wales :cowboy_hat_face:

3 Likes

Hey James LST is tech term for bending your main stem and other stems in such a manner as to let them all grow to same heights kind of fooling the plant into thinking it’s got more than 1main cola. They all receive the same amount of light and doing this you can produce 2-3xs the bud this way over just letting them grow into the typical Xmas tree shape ( for autos I wait until 2-3wks from germ before I begin). I’ve also begun LST at 1 wk as well with no ill effects. Just don’t squeeze the stem and try to do it while stems are still pliable also depends on strain as to how much I can do with them. You can also tuck the larger fan leaves down out of the way to allow more light to reach desirable buds etc especially the roots. I don’t recommend much pruning at all. Each leaf removed removes a thc producing factory and removing too many will greatly affect the potency of your final product. I’ve found by using LST and my own technique of SOG SCROG my est yield can triple even quadruple. Great article in ILGM grow guide section. Hope this helps and god luck. What ya got growing by the way

1 Like

in awe in what I have just read in your post, what do you bend them on , a matrix frame setup ?

Nah nothing fancy like that. These smal autos just need a little LST with some tlc lol. Larger plants I tend to train my stems in a haphazard manner. I use coated wire to tie them down the side of grow container. By drilling 1/4 holes every 2-3 inches around the container I can train it anyway I want and move it if it gets tangled with another. I can use or save more smaller branches this way and turn them to produce another cola. I think most guys remove anything under the “screen”. LST doesn’t require removing anything of consequence. That’s just my perks lol. You will develope what works best for you.

1 Like

Zsitchin

very interesting, do the stems bend back to their original shape?

J68

Yes !! Hell yes lol I’ve bent them over to 120* and have them recover in 4 hrs. So rather than gently crushing the stem as some do, I cut wire to the lengths I need to hold the branch at the angle and position I want. I use paper straws cut to 2” and place over the wire where it contacts the stem/branch. The top of this branch will recover quickly and look toward the light source so you move the wire accordingly to keep the branch where and at the position you want. I do this every day until about 2-4wks into flowering. In this way there really isn’t a recovery time for the plant , because I’m not crushing the stem to achieve my goal of LST. The way I look at it is it’s No Stress Training. Lol This recovery time is especially true for quick flowering autos.

2 Likes

I grew 2 sets (5 each) of WWA, one LSTed and not. I was not happy with the way the untrained grew, I had to do a lot of trimming to keep main kolas fed. I also liked that the trained plants had a lower profile, important when growing outdoors in unfriendly state.


I actually used wire and lug nuts as weights to keep the branches bent, it worked really well.

@Zsitchin, crushing the stem is Supercropping. That is more invasive and take longer for plant to recover from.

4 Likes

thank you for the info, my next crop will be bent as per your method…
J69

1 Like

Cool. Keep in touch and we can share methods and results.

1 Like

Those look great ! It’s a small world indeed. Ive used lug nuts and a variety of bulsht to hold them down too lol. I prefer the wire/straw method lol. Your correct with crushing/supercropping. Ive the combined these methods before and I just associate them together. Preferring no crush on autos but I will crush the inner structure of stems on my photos that I let mature to 8-9wks before 12/12. More recovery time

1 Like

It’s been a week since last post. I was gone for 6 days and when I returned a surprise awaited me. Not only had they tripled in size in 6 days but 3 of the Kush had serious nitrogen issues ( bottom leaves yellowing dying ) which, I addressed immediately with organic N Ca Mg 3-3-1 I’ll wait 24-36 hrs for recovery. If that doesn’t occur I’m in deep $#!+ again lol. I didn’t want to go away :sob:. I left my girls unattended. Back to the sitrep. I topped one haze picture included. If I caught the nute issue in time I’m sure they’ll recover but yield will suffer. I’m still striving for 100-120 grams and more per plant. These are speedbud strains. Completing cycle germ to harvest in 50-65 days.

2 Likes

Boo Hoo…they will recover, they have survived for millions of years…it will probably be a crazy smoke…Nitro Strain…stay POSITIVe…:dancing_women:

:slightly_smiling_face:Your right I need to have a better attitude. However, lol and, even though I know better I have a propensity for zealous activity resulting in one or more girls having serious issues about this time lmao. It’s post nute time for those affected I’d say 24 hrs now so , I think I should see some color change back toward normal ? I’ll look later today.

Hey any luck on light splitters with the 110/240 units ?

After many trials and tribulations in learning the zen art of weed growing, one of the most important thing ( I am being serious here) is that the gals pick up on your vibe …

The force that through the green fuse drives the flower is you. :seedling:

toke up prior to reading this Welsh poem

3 Likes

Hi
I was thinking what I could upcycle around the old rancho for bendy weights for next season and I came across a bunch of old worn out windshield wipers and lo and behold there is a thin stainless steel strip inside which proved to be nigh perfect to use as weights for the method you so well described.

It bends and cuts to size easily and a paper straw fits over it also… its maximum fun and budget friendly. :seedling::man_farmer::rainbow:

2 Likes

Yes my friend, I am ordering them this week,Yay! :smile:

Awesome !! :+1:t4: For reference I used 2 3000 lumen 27k LEDs quite heavy at about a 1/2 kilo ea ( aluminum heat fins) with 5 2850 lumen CFLs ok well anyway, it was heavy enough to pull the socket free ( split the small rivet strips inside socket that hold it in place ) and fell on the plant lmao. I was giving it thought as to that prospect as I hung it lol and wham damn down it came as I attended another. Well, needless to say I held my girl consoled her and said don’t worry darln this just means I won’t be bending and twisting you anymore the light did a fine SOG for me ha lol

1 Like