staking vs. no stake

Will using a stake for artificial support allow a stem to grow weaker than if you left the plant unstaked and put a fan on it?

Depends on the strain.

Some of them like trainwreck grow super flimsy no matter what you do. They just flop over.

But you shouldn't need stakes unless you're growing really tall plants

I usually stake all my plants, even my short 1s will fall over occasionally from weight

I usually have a lot of them staked by the end of a run (hell, this grow I have almost all of them staked), but I don't do it until I have to. Let them get strong on their own until they start putting on so much bud mass that you don't have a choice.

This started from a discussion about whether or not staking a young plant will allow the stem to grow weaker than an unstaked plant.
I recall during the greenhouse management courses of college they explained how the fans make the stems stronger, forcing the plants to develop stronger root systems or topple over.
Something to do with the lignin in the cell walls. Can anyone help me out with this? I can't be the only one here who's worked in a commercial greenhouse.

... Your class was telling you to have lots of air movement so your stems would get stronger/thicker they did not tell you to stake your plants.

Don't use stakes or whatever until you need to (you will need to on a ton of strains but wait until you start bending/tipping/leaning and actually need support )