Is Mainlining worth it?
- Thread starter Jimdamick
- Start date
That’s another way I’ve yet to try
Jimdamick
Well-Known Member
Yea really
Mainling slows the shit out of finished product.
I did it once for shits & grins, never again.
Not worth the time or effort in my opinion, now I don't fuck with the plant
I don't even top now, I just let my plants grow naturally.
This song sums up my philosophy
Love itYea really
Mainling slows the shit out of finished product.
I did it once for shits & grins, never again.
Not worth the time or effort in my opinion, now I don't fuck with the plant
I don't even top now, I just let my plants grow naturally.
This song sums up my philosophy
Dank Bongula
Well-Known Member
Mainline for life! Best method for the personal, lazy grower who hates maintenance and trimming.
Current Blueberry run. Start of week 6 after flip. 8 week veg.
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ComfortCreator
Well-Known Member
I have manifolded all but one run for myself.
There are a lot of guesses from many that havent done it.
If you have a plant count limit you are working within, it can be a big advantage to manifold or mainline.
Nugbuckets original idea was to get multiple "top" colas from one plant. It was not to max yield or grow as fast as possible.
What can you do with these methods?
1. There are no rules. Just because nug kept only the main colas doesn't mean it has to be that way. What I do instead is make a 8 mini-plant plant. Each spoke on the manifold is like a plant of it's own, with side branches and if done right, zero larf. I have never yielded less than 4oz but with most strains get anywhere from 6 to 12oz easily in an indoor setting.
2. The point of the concept is that one plant can yield more top quality colas than an untrained plant. There is a difference betweeen 8 colas that are almost equal, and one top cola with side branches. And his idea was that even just topping a plant will not get the same quality result as topping using the specific sequence and training.
None of this is to say the yield is better overall than if you veg shorter, grow more plants or use a SCROG.
I think of it as a way to get a lot more yield from plant without SCROGGing, which I dont want to do. But the point of doing it isn't to be pretty or prove anything. A couple extra weeks of veg is nothing to the average home grower.
If I grew outside and had lots of veg time, it would be one of many styles I would try to increase yield.
One last thing to remember is that before legalization everywhere, there used to be a big demand for large colas. Outdoors, it often was the case that the bigger tops got more sun and were stronger. I know that 10+ years ago a lot of people wanted huge buds/colas. Today's fast growing styles dont offer that as much and demand has gone away as THC levels have increased in general over time.
Mostly, it is one of several great strategies for those keeping a plant count.
There are a lot of guesses from many that havent done it.
If you have a plant count limit you are working within, it can be a big advantage to manifold or mainline.
Nugbuckets original idea was to get multiple "top" colas from one plant. It was not to max yield or grow as fast as possible.
What can you do with these methods?
1. There are no rules. Just because nug kept only the main colas doesn't mean it has to be that way. What I do instead is make a 8 mini-plant plant. Each spoke on the manifold is like a plant of it's own, with side branches and if done right, zero larf. I have never yielded less than 4oz but with most strains get anywhere from 6 to 12oz easily in an indoor setting.
2. The point of the concept is that one plant can yield more top quality colas than an untrained plant. There is a difference betweeen 8 colas that are almost equal, and one top cola with side branches. And his idea was that even just topping a plant will not get the same quality result as topping using the specific sequence and training.
None of this is to say the yield is better overall than if you veg shorter, grow more plants or use a SCROG.
I think of it as a way to get a lot more yield from plant without SCROGGing, which I dont want to do. But the point of doing it isn't to be pretty or prove anything. A couple extra weeks of veg is nothing to the average home grower.
If I grew outside and had lots of veg time, it would be one of many styles I would try to increase yield.
One last thing to remember is that before legalization everywhere, there used to be a big demand for large colas. Outdoors, it often was the case that the bigger tops got more sun and were stronger. I know that 10+ years ago a lot of people wanted huge buds/colas. Today's fast growing styles dont offer that as much and demand has gone away as THC levels have increased in general over time.
Mostly, it is one of several great strategies for those keeping a plant count.
Willy B. Goode
Well-Known Member
Indoors, I would argue that the yield is better because you have more mains exposed to the light as opposed to one main with smaller side branches that don't receive as much light.
ADDITION: I guess the best test would be to grow three clones. Leave one alone, top one once, and the third one 2x. Assuming nothing bad happens to any of them and they all finish incident-free, the yields will speak for themselves.
This has been my experience, especially indoors, as multiple mains are each receiving the same amount of light. I always only top 2x and it is indeed like having four plants in one. Also once topped, the lower node's side branches take off and those I cut for clones.
ADDITION: I guess the best test would be to grow three clones. Leave one alone, top one once, and the third one 2x. Assuming nothing bad happens to any of them and they all finish incident-free, the yields will speak for themselves.
My man look at that …. Nice lookin buds
Milky Weed
Well-Known Member
I feel like scrogging may be faster and produce near same results if done right
Willy B. Goode
Well-Known Member
Good to know. Running two Cryptic Labs GG4 x UBC Chemo. Both are at ~40 days and squat with short internodal spacing so hoping for two girls. Going to top for mainlining as well as for cuttings/cloning as I mentioned in my previous post.
Cannabinoid Froyd
Well-Known Member
For myself, I saw strict mainlining as taking too long vs lst which imo is too messy/bushy. So I went with topping once and going with 6 mains, instead of 2, THEN applying lst for the remainder of grow. I took out the inner most node side shoots from all 6 allowing them to reach the outer edge of the pot faster while leaving the fan leaves in tact. From here I will let what branches grow, grow. Really trying to nail it down between what I believe to be the 2 best training methods and taking the best from both and apply it to the grow. I only have 200w so I imagine my yield will suffer from that but we will see what I can do.
I love growing!!!
I love growing!!!
ComfortCreator
Well-Known Member
I grew GG4 and another hybrid of it this last round and manifolded both. They came out spectacular. Gg4 isnt particularly strong as a young plant but really blows up nicely once it has good roots.
ComfortCreator
Well-Known Member
I think this is true. It is a similar idea and may produce even better results potentially. Both work and are very different. Manifold/mainline allows for a lot more mobility and access would be the main advantages.
Cannabinoid Froyd
Well-Known Member
I appreciate the fatter stem that mainlining creates. Kind of like a 2 lane highway for nutrients is turned into a 12 lane freeway. All sorts of room for nutrients allowing for better(larger/more dense) flower propagation. I've never done this though. Maybe someone could chime in on that?
Willy B. Goode
Well-Known Member
Interesting observation. I actually never thought about that. Makes sense, though.
Dank Bongula
Well-Known Member
Much appreciated, thank you. This morning when I went to check on them, the blueberry smell had just begun and a few phat colas we're starting to tip so had to tie up to the ring. Gonna be an exciting 6 more weeks to go (at least).
It is definitely faster, but the results are different. Scrog can certainly give you more yield, but there's a bit of a tradeoff in regards to ongoing work/maintenance, lack of mobility, arguably a lack of airflow in the lower canopy in comparison, general plant inspection, and post harvest work like trimming - to me that is the biggest selling point; you're trimming mains, easy, clean and not time consuming as with tons of branches everywhere.
ComfortCreator
Well-Known Member
When you top it into 8 tops, there is a definite increase in yield and vigor that comes from the extra veg time and larger root mass and bigger stems.
At 16 you can see the results diminish in size and overall yield from 8...they are similar overall results one (the 16 plant) having more smaller colas.
At 32 it happens again and I feel it is not worth it. 8 is ideal and 16 or in between are also good if you need to top individual branches to keep an even canopy.
The increase in yield all comes up to the 8 tops. Above that number not much if any yield increase unless you veg longer (which is not a fair comparison but could be done to create a monster plant).
calvin.m16
Well-Known Member
I went back to topping and lollipopping up to the top 2 nodes of each branch on day of flip. Way faster results and less technical and risky. I've had mainlining hermie plants that otherwise grew fine just being topped. I'm on a 30 day rotation of 12 plants in a perpetual grow so I don't have time to wait for mainlined plants to grow. I can get an extra 2 crop cycles in a year topping vs mainlining so its worth the small decrease in yield.
I've pulled the same yield off completely unmolested plants as I have off mainlined plants so don't get too far into the hype. If you know how to train the plants and have good genetics you'll get good faster results just topping. Mainlining doubled our veg times and increased likelihood of herms with our new genetic runs..
I've pulled the same yield off completely unmolested plants as I have off mainlined plants so don't get too far into the hype. If you know how to train the plants and have good genetics you'll get good faster results just topping. Mainlining doubled our veg times and increased likelihood of herms with our new genetic runs..