lst training

hi folks iam new to lst and looking for a point in the right direction i have been following tillthedayidie guide of lst ...why do you have to tie down the side branches aswell as the main stem thanks for any help

Because you are trying to keep everything at the same level, height-wise.

Naturally, the plant will produce a growth-inhibiting hormone from the topmost shoot, causing all lower branches to grow more outward that upward, forming into a christmas tree shape.

By training, you are trying to form multiple dominant shoots by keeping them all at the same height.

I see! Thanks for the reply deflator

I like to top at the second true node then train the 4 new tops to the same height. That creates a "blown-out umbrella" shape that maximized leaf exposure and tops. Then you can train the branches from the lowest node up through the center too to join in a secondary canopy.

I'm a big fan of Uncle Ben's 4-cola topping technique combined with LST too.

Yeah, it's easy and works really well. I'm not sure what causes this, and I wish I knew because it's great, but I keep getting two-headed colas with this technique as well. They gradually split apart into two shoots, forming a Y. It's awesome...maybe someone more versed in lst could elaborate as to why and how it could be forced..

deflator said:

I like to top at the second true node then train the 4 new tops to the same height. That creates a "blown-out umbrella" shape that maximized leaf exposure and tops. Then you can train the branches from the lowest node up through the center too to join in a secondary canopy.

Click to expand...

Do you top "at", or slightly above the second node?