Just flipped two days ago after six weeks of mainlining. Happy with the way this Gelato Sunrise photo has responded. It took a shipload of time though!!! Any ideas of the cost benefit analysis of mainlining?
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No cost benefit in my opinion, Manifolds or mainlines allow you to grow more plants in the grow space versus a few spread out and trained 
6 Nebula Manifolds in a 2 x 4, I normally grow 2 plants topped with LST
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Day 11 in the Garden…things are looking lush. Been keeping night temps within about 3-5 degrees of day temps to limit stretch.
Just read GDP flowers in 70-77 days making my medley atm to be needing four distinct harvest times–55 days for Pineapple Donut; 56 days for Gelato Sunrise; 63 days for Cheddar Cheese; and 70-77 days for GDP.
Going to buy a cheap 2x2x4 tent specifically for drying. Anyone have any drying tent tips out there?
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Don’t know about any cost analysis but your plants look good.
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Mainlining can yield higher-quality buds and even light distribution, but the time investment is significant. The cost-benefit depends on your goals—max yield in limited space may justify the effort, but quicker methods suit fast harvests. Looks great, though! 
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But don’t you feel the output with eight main colas easily spreadable like fans or spokes on a malleable wheel or something, all of them equidistant from the root mass, is greater then what somebody would get just using LST and maybe topping once alone? I do feel there’s a great investment in terms of time, however, which is money in our arena, of course. Topping two extra times and removing all leaves and lateral meristems/growth tips from below the topped node served to add two-three weeks to the process. I just feel like what you get for your time and efforts is so rewarded by the following:
- greater yield from greater square footage due to the spacing of colas and training thereafter (my secondary buds along the bottom half of each plant are giving the tops of the colas a run for their money)
- very little to do manually weeks 4.5 through 8/9/10/11/12… basically passive income
- much greater ease for drying, as the length and bulk of the colas are more uniform to one another
- greater ease when trimming as you’re not dealing with larfy scrub due to those little secondary meristems that shoot out randomly when growth tips have been left below the first node from which all the colas generate
- higher bag appeal as you’ve got nugs that are all bulky main colas and uniformly sized
What do you think, @Ogilvie1960 ?
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First: Jan 1 (day -8)
Second: Jan 10 (day 2)
Third: Jan 23 (day 14)
Fourth: Feb 1 (day 23)
Fifth: Feb 7 (day 30)
I’ve never had a manifold put out more yield than leaving the 3rd and 4th nodes (Quadline) I mainifold the plants because it keeps the structure narrow and allows me to grow more of a variety in the same grow space. The pic above is 6 plants in 1 gallon vessels
Here’s 2 plants in 3 gallon pots with only the 3rd and 4th nodes growing. Less veg time waiting for the additional topping needed on a manifold
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