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Thread: LST understanding Auxins.

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    Default LST understanding Auxins.

    This post is copied from another site but this guy has done a great job of explaining things in amature terms. Im not sure if this has been posted before on thc talk but if ther is anyone wanting to LST ther plant then read this hole page you will learn lots. without even looking at a pic.

    Understanding the Art of LST - Before You Look at Any Pics, Read This First

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    First off I want to thank the creator of the mighty LST thread started by Caprichoso (LST training in detail. Why bushes are better) as it is highly informative and a wonderful collection of pictures of the LST process.

    Not too long ago I did not even know what LST was until I started researching it. Now, however, it is apparent from some of the more recent comments (and some of the older comments) in the LST training thread, that there is a basic lack of understanding when it comes to LST. More than a few people are just imitating pictures and going "WOW! That worked really well!"

    Hopefully this post (along with the research I've done) will help some people understand a few things when it comes to LST. There is a lot of information out there on how to LST but it is mostly comprised of diagrams and pictures. If you understand what LST is and what you are doing by tying down the stems of your plants, then you will know when and how to LST your plants. If you understood why and how LST worked, then you would not even need the pictures to help you in the first place.

    So here we go ladies and gentleman, gonna drop a bit of info and science here from various sources and readings:

    The Art of LST
    What LST is
    Why LST Works
    How LST Works

    Armed with this information, you should be able to LST until your hearts are content or learn about how to better your LST practices. Instead of looking to pictures to learn about LST, you'll be using pictures as examples of how to LST.

    What LST Is
    LST stands for low stress training.

    When it comes to marijuana growing, LST refers to a particular type of low stress training. It appears on the outside (and to the untrained eye) that the training of a plant is simply teaching a plant to be short and grow lots of buds. It is much more important and involved than that.

    Topping the plants (or chopping as it is also referred to) is actually done for similar reasons that LST is done. Even though it is a completely different method. It, too, is a form of training (a high stress one).

    A lot of you might be thinking: "Topping and LST aren't even close to the same. You're full of crap. I'm done reading this post."

    Well, stay with me here and you'll understand.

    Why LST Works
    One of the #1 things you need to understand about LST: auxins.

    If you don't understand them, then you are just putting strings on your plant so they look like other plants in pictures.

    Auxins are plant hormones that interact with other plant hormones to form the "plant nervous system" in the most simplest terms. Auxins are used to help stimulate nearly all facets of plant growth.

    Auxins are used to help promote new root growth and is often part of what is used in rooting compounds or rooting hormones that are so popular in marijuana horticulture. There has also been research (in the 50s I believe) that indicates that levels of auxins also influence the sex of a marijuana plant. Some research has also indicated that levels of auxins also play a role in the ways flowers mature on a plant.

    Most of all, auxins, in marijuana plants, are known for producing adventitious buds along the stem and in the roots. Adventitious is sort of like it sounds: it's the "adventurous" part of the plant that sprouts when the plant is wounded or trained.

    With LST, it is not as simple as: "Make more auxins. Plant grow big."

    So why did we learn about auxins if we're not going to be making more of them? I mean, more is good when it comes to marijuana right?!

    Well: no, not in this case. This part is important so pay attention: auxins are most concentrated (and synthesized) at the apical bud or the tip of the plant closest to the light. The rest of the plant has the ability to produce auxins, but the cells must be triggered to do so. Now, although auxins are hormones essential for many facets of growth, it is also an inhibiting hormone for the other buds further down the stem. This is to prevent the plant from producing buds which may compete with the apical bud.

    In other words:
    The plant is very happy having one bud that it tries to stretch as close as possible to its source of energy. It will do what it can to inhibit other sprouts below it from becoming that bud as it would require the plant to push those sprouts up to that level again.

    If you are still a bit confused, think of images of trees and picture the growth that they have in a cone-shaped fashion. They are working to push the apical bud up to the sky.

    Now that you understand what auxins are and how they are important for growth in marijuana, you can begin to understand how LST works.

    How LST Works
    This is where I get to those people who were saying "Topping and LST aren't even close. You're full of crap."

    When you top a plant, you are removing the apical bud (the bud closest to the light) where most of the auxin is concentrated and synthesized. The plant stresses itself out (high stress training) and eventually produces new sprouts along the stem that will form new growth so that it can get a new apical bud and send it soaring towards the heavens.

    LST is helping to stimulate that growth near the bottom but by tricking the plant instead of chopping it. In nature, if something happens to a plant and the bud that is closest to the light gets blocked, it will try to move around that something. If it can't, then eventually new growth will form lower along the stem to try and send a new shoot out to head towards the light.

    When you LST, the reason that you are tying the tip of the plant down is so that the plant gets confused. It is used to producing the auxins in the tip of the plant close to the light. However, because the tip of the plant is pulled down to such a degree, it is not receiving light at the very tip like it used to so it sends the auxins down the stem to produce new sprouts to become new apical buds (or so the plant hopes).

    This is why some people continue training as the plant gets older, but like to start when the plant is new as auxin development starts with roots and continues through all stages of the plant. Continued training of the plant is helpful because, as you can imagine, each apical tip can be brought down to promote new growth further down the stem. Every time you bring the tip down, the plant will be fooled. As new tips of the plant are reaching towards the light, pulling them back down below 90 degrees (or close to it) will make those auxins start to flow again. This can continue on and on.

    Now that you know how LST works, you don't even need a picture to look at. You just know that you need to trick the plant into thinking it's highest tip is no longer its highest tip. It's as simple as that, but it is also as complex as you want it to be.



    So, what did we learn here?
    1) LST can be done for all strains of marijuana
    2) LST is another way of altering/stimulating the auxin hormone to produce additional growth just like other training methods
    3) LST is not just for training height
    4) Understanding auxins will help you understand LST
    5) There is a lot of material available about this but most of it is in books which means if you really want to understand how auxins affect marijuana, you should look further than Wikipedia

    I hope this information is helpful to everyone looking to figure out how to LST or why it works or when is the best time.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Bud Lightyear View Post
    Old thread worthy of a bump me thinks...


    Regards BL
    Thank you for bumping this. Very helpful for me as I prepare for my next grow with LST.

    Question though please. I often read that growers snip the top and LST. This suggests the FMing doesn't need to happen.

    Is the FMing personal preference or a more modern accepted LST technique?

    Many thanks.

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    Quote Originally Posted by DrStamets View Post
    Thank you for bumping this. Very helpful for me as I prepare for my next grow with LST.

    Question though please. I often read that growers snip the top and LST. This suggests the FMing doesn't need to happen.

    Is the FMing personal preference or a more modern accepted LST technique?

    Many thanks.
    When you top, you cut it off entirely. Pretty sure with fimming your cutting some, but not all of the top off. Idea is when you top you make the plant put effort into the nodes below it. Fimming, ya trying to creat 4+ new shoots, so the leaf that's left behind turns into 2 new shoots and then you still have the 2 below Where you cut.

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    Quote Originally Posted by MrCannab1sir View Post
    When you top, you cut it off entirely. Pretty sure with fimming your cutting some, but not all of the top off. Idea is when you top you make the plant put effort into the nodes below it. Fimming, ya trying to creat 4+ new shoots, so the leaf that's left behind turns into 2 new shoots and then you still have the 2 below Where you cut.
    Apologies I meant topping rather than Fimming.

    Do people prefer to top and LST or bend and let the auxins do their thing?

    Most diaries seem to top. I'm happy to accept this is purely a growers preference.

    Thanks

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    Quote Originally Posted by DrStamets View Post
    Apologies I meant topping rather than Fimming.

    Do people prefer to top and LST or bend and let the auxins do their thing?

    Most diaries seem to top. I'm happy to accept this is purely a growers preference.

    Thanks
    I like topping and lst. I have some I've topped a few times and lst'd. If you check the link below and look at the last cple posts you should see the lighter areas are the tops and how low and 'mostly' even they are.

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    I'm gonna sticky this and move it to an appropriate section..


    Regards BL

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    Quote Originally Posted by MrCannab1sir View Post
    I like topping and lst. I have some I've topped a few times and lst'd. If you check the link below and look at the last cple posts you should see the lighter areas are the tops and how low and 'mostly' even they are.
    I've been reading your diary and it gives me a very good idea. Thank you.

    I'm a couple of weeks from harvest of two autos and then another 4weeks for the other two in the same tent.

    I'll then start a diary attempting LST. Thanks for your advice.

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