Mainlining cannabis is a high-stress training method that turns a single seedling into 8, 16, or 32 perfectly symmetric flowering colas through a series of binary topping cuts: 1 stem becomes 2, then 4, then 8, and so on. Each cut splits every existing branch into exactly two equal branches, which forces uniform nutrient and hormone distribution across the canopy and produces nearly identical cola sizes at harvest.
Mainlining is not the highest-yielding training method, but it is the highest-uniformity method. It demands 8 to 10 weeks of vegetative time, photoperiod seedlings (not autoflowers, not clones), and discipline at every cut. This guide walks through every step, every wait window, and every common mistake.
Mainlining cannabis is the most structured form of plant training in the entire training cluster. Where low-stress training bends what already exists and topping doubles your growth sites once or twice, a true mainline rebuilds the entire architecture of the plant from the ground up. The result is what made the technique famous: a flat, symmetric canopy where every cola produces almost identical bud size, weight, and density.
If you would rather see the full method in real time, watch our full Mainline Tutorial on YouTube. Otherwise, this article walks through every cut, every wait window, and the reasoning behind each step. Mainlining is an advanced move, so if you are still learning how to grow weed step by step, get a simpler grow under your belt first and come back to this.
What Is Mainlining Cannabis (And Why Growers Do It)
Mainlining cannabis is a high-stress training technique that uses successive binary topping cuts to transform one main stem into 8, 16, or 32 perfectly symmetric flowering colas. The term was coined by the grower Nugbuckets in the early 2010s, and the method has been the gold standard for canopy uniformity ever since.
The defining feature of a mainline is the doubling progression: 1 main stem becomes 2 branches at the first topping, those 2 branches each get topped to become 4, those 4 each get topped to become 8, and so on. Every cut is binary - each branch splits into exactly two new branches, which mirror each other in length and angle.
This is what separates mainlining from the closely related manifold method. A mainline doubles at every cut (1 to 2 to 4 to 8 to 16). A manifold, by contrast, splits the main stem into 4 branches in a single aggressive cut (1 to 4 to 8 to 16). Both methods produce a symmetric canopy of equal colas, but the mainline progression is slower, more controlled, and gives the plant more recovery time between cuts.
The reason mainlining produces such uniform buds comes down to plant hormones. When you remove the apical growing tip, the auxin gradient that was suppressing axillary buds collapses, and the lateral nodes immediately below the cut start producing their own auxin as co-dominant tops. Because each cut creates exactly two new growing tips at the same node height, the hormone signal redistributes equally between them. After several rounds of this, every branch on the plant has nearly identical hormone, nutrient, and water supply, which produces nearly identical buds.
Mainlining is not the highest-yielding training method - that title still belongs to a well-trained high-yield grow with topping plus LST. But mainlining is the highest-uniformity method, and the highest-discipline method. Done right, it teaches you more about how cannabis responds to structural intervention than any other technique. It is, as one grower put it, bonsai for weed.
When to Start Mainlining and What You Need
The first mainline cut happens when your seedling shows its 5th node clearly emerging from the apical growing point. This typically falls around 3 to 4 weeks after germination, depending on light intensity, strain, and growing medium. Topping before the 5th node has fully emerged stresses the seedling unnecessarily; waiting much longer wastes the energy the plant already put into growing taller.
Plan for 8 to 10 weeks of total vegetative time for an indoor 8-cola mainline. Outdoor 16-cola and 32-cola mainlines extend that window by another 2 to 4 weeks. This is why mainlining is incompatible with autoflowers - they simply do not have the veg time to handle the recovery cycles.
What you need
- Photoperiod cannabis seedling in its final pot, with the 5th node visible
- Sharp pruning shears or thin-tip scissors for clean topping cuts
- A reinforced fabric grow pot with anchor points, like the BudPots, or a standard fabric pot with 8 holes punched around the rim
- Soft plant ties like the BudHuggers, or any rubber-coated training wire (never thin string or bare wire, which cuts into the stem)
- LST clips like the BudClips for main-stem and upper-branch training in the later stages
- Plant repair tape like the BudTape in case a branch snaps under tension during aggressive training
Quick facts before you start
- Experience level: Intermediate. Beginners should run a standard the complete training guide first.
- Indoor space needed: 2 by 2 ft per plant for an 8-cola mainline, or 3 by 3 ft to push to 16 colas indoors
- Outdoor space: 8 by 8 ft per plant is common for full 32-cola mainlines
- Autoflowers: Not recommended (not enough veg time for recovery)
- Clones: Not recommended (uneven node spacing inherited from the mother plant breaks the symmetry)
FREE CHEAT SHEET
Where exactly do you cut?
Every cut, the node to cut at, the wait window after each one, and the three defoliation passes that come after. Two pages, free.
Send me the Cheat SheetThe Mainlining Method: Step-by-Step
The full mainline process takes about 16 to 20 weeks from seedling to harvest, broken into 5 to 7 cutting events plus the flowering and finish stages. Watch the full method below before your first attempt, then come back to the written guide for the timing, reasoning, and edge cases the video does not have time to cover.
▶ Watch the full mainline tutorial on YouTube
Step 1 - Prepare the Final Pot
When: Before you plant or transplant your seedling.
Mainlining demands a fabric grow pot, not a hard plastic container. Fabric pots air-prune the roots at the sidewalls, which produces a denser root mass and reduces the risk of root circling. Cannabis with a stronger root system tolerates aggressive training far better, which matters when you are about to top the plant 3 to 4 times in succession.
You also need anchor points around the rim of the pot. The mainline method depends heavily on training branches outward and downward, and you will be tying branches to the pot in nearly every cutting stage. Punch 8 holes evenly distributed around the rim with a hole punch or sharp knife, or use a training pot with built-in grommets like the BudPots, which already has reinforced eyelets in place.
Plant on the edge, not in the center. Before placing your seedling, position it about 1.5 inches from the pot wall rather than dead center. This is a subtle detail that pays off later: when you bend the main stalk sideways across the pot in Step 3, having extra horizontal stalk length lets you anchor the bend more securely without sharp angles that risk snapping the stem. Read more on planting position in the pot.
Step 2 - First Topping: Creating the Y Base
When: The 5th node has clearly emerged from the apical growing tip.
This is the cut that defines a mainline. Many growers wait far too long to top because they are afraid of removing too much, and by the time they cut, they are slicing through a thick woody stem and wasting weeks of growth the plant already invested. Top as soon as node 5 pokes its head out.
The cut itself happens directly above the 3rd node. Make a clean horizontal cut with sharp pruning shears, removing nodes 4 and 5 entirely along with everything above them. Then remove all growth sites and shoots on nodes 1 and 2 (the small lateral shoots emerging from the leaf axils, not the main fan leaves). This leaves the plant with only the 2 growth sites at node 3, which will become the 2 main branches of your future mainline.
You can leave the fan leaves on nodes 1 and 2 in place, but the growth sites must come off. The whole purpose of this cut is to force the plant to commit all of its rebound energy into the 2 branches at node 3 - leaving extra growth sites lower on the stem creates competition for resources and breaks the symmetry.
Give the plant 10 to 15 days to recover and grow out the 2 new branches before the next cut.
Step 3 - Second Topping Plus First LST (2 to 4 Colas)
When: 10 to 15 days after the first topping. The 2 new branches should be 3 to 4 inches long, with 3 to 5 nodes each.
By this point your plant has a clean Y-shape with two equal branches. Now you double again. Top each of the 2 branches at the same node height - if you cut above the 1st node on the left branch, you must cut above the 1st node on the right branch too. Symmetry is the entire game. Any asymmetric cut here cascades through every subsequent stage and breaks the uniformity that mainlining is built around.
This is also the first round of low-stress training. Once the 2 branches are topped, gently bend them outward toward the pot rim and anchor them with soft plant ties like the BudHuggers, attached to the pot grommets or to anchor stakes pushed into the medium. The goal is to spread the 2 branches into a horizontal plane so the 4 new growth sites at their tips can grow vertically with full light access.
If your branches are still short or thin, you can skip the LST in this round and just do the topping cut. Then run LST during the next 10-day wait window once the branches have thickened up. If a branch ever cracks under tension, repair it immediately with plant tape and the plant will recover within a week.
Step 4 - Third Topping Plus Second LST (4 to 8 Colas)
When: 10 to 15 days after the second topping. The 4 new branches should be 3 to 4 inches long.
This is the final topping for an 8-cola indoor mainline. Top each of the 4 branches at the same node height - same rule as before, symmetry above all. After this cut, your plant has 8 main growing sites that will become the 8 final colas.
By now the canopy is large enough that the manifold base of the plant is fully visible: one main stalk forks into 2, each of those forks into 2, and each of those forks into 2 again. From above, the plant looks like 8 even points distributed in a circle.
Continue training. The 4 main branches still need to be held outward to keep the canopy flat. As the new 8 growth sites grow upward, use LST clips like the BudClips on the main stalk and on the upper branches to keep everything spread evenly. The BudClips are designed for exactly this stage - they hold the main stalk down without slipping and they reposition easily as the plant thickens. For the outer 8 growth sites, use soft plant ties anchored to the pot grommets.
Step 5 - First Defoliation Plus Third LST
When: 5 to 10 days after the third topping.
Before the plant flips to flower, run a defoliation pass. Remove every yellowing leaf, every leaf that sits below the canopy line and receives no real light, and every leaf that obstructs airflow through the middle of the canopy. This is also the moment to remove any small dwarfed growth sites that did not develop into proper branches - they will steal resources during flower without contributing real bud weight.
The principle is energy reallocation. Every leaf the plant supports costs sugars and water; leaves that receive less light than they consume are net drains on the system. Removing those leaves at this stage lets the plant commit its remaining vegetative resources to the 8 productive growing tips. For a deeper breakdown of timing and the underlying source-sink dynamics, see our full guide on how to defoliate cannabis.
Once defoliation is complete, reinforce the LST one last time. Every cola should be pointing straight up at the canopy plane, and the 8 tips should be roughly the same height. Let the plant recover for 3 to 5 days, then flip to a 12 and 12 light schedule and trigger flowering.
Step 6 - Mid-Flower Defoliation
When: After day 21 of flowering (end of the stretch phase).
The stretch is over when your plant has roughly doubled in height from where it was at the flip. At this point the plant stops gaining vertical growth and starts allocating resources to bud development. This is your last chance to influence canopy structure before flower fills in.
Do a second defoliation pass, removing every yellowing leaf, every leaf below the canopy line, and every leaf blocking airflow at the center of the plant. Leave enough canopy coverage that there are no large bare spots over bud sites.
This is also when the trellis net goes up if you are using one. A horizontal net stretched above the canopy supports the 8 colas as they put on weight over the next 4 to 6 weeks. Without a trellis, large colas can flop sideways and disrupt the symmetric structure you spent 8 weeks building.
If any colas are still slightly uneven in height, use BudClips on the main stalk to drop the taller branches and even out the canopy plane one last time. After this point the stems thicken and lock into place, so any branch you want to reposition has to be repositioned now.
Step 7 - Pre-Harvest Defoliation
When: 1 to 2 weeks before harvest.
The final defoliation pass happens with most pistils brown and trichomes turning milky and amber. Remove every fan leaf that has no trichomes on it - if a leaf is just plain green and not coated in resin, it has no value at this stage. Anything coated in trichomes (sugar leaves) stays attached or gets set aside for hash. Use scissors only, not hand-pulling, because hand-pulling at this stage tears skin strings from the main stalk and damages the lower buds.
This step does three things: it exposes the lower colas to direct light for a final maturation push, it creates mild stress that signals the plant to commit remaining resources to the buds, and it cuts post-harvest trim time roughly in half. The full method is covered in detail in our defoliation guide.
Step 8 - Harvest, Dry, and Cure
When most pistils have browned and trichomes are 70 to 80 percent milky with a few amber, the plant is ready to come down. See our full guide on when and how to harvest cannabis for the readiness checks.
The drying stage is where most growers quietly destroy weeks of careful training work. Hang dry at 60 to 65 percent relative humidity and 60 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 to 14 days, then jar-cure for at least 21 days with daily burping. See our complete guide on how to dry cannabis correctly.
Scaling Up: 16-Cola and 32-Cola Outdoor Mainlines
The 8-cola version above is the standard indoor mainline. Outdoor, where space and time are less constrained, you can keep doubling. After Step 4, wait another 10 to 15 days and top each of the 8 branches again to create a 16-cola mainline. Wait another 10 to 15 days and you can hit 32. Each additional doubling adds 2 to 3 weeks of veg time.
This Bruce Banner plant grown outdoors in 2020 went to 16 equal colas and yielded 8 ounces. Mainlining is not a yield-maximization technique - the same plant trained with topping and LST would have produced more weight in less time - but the uniformity of the colas is what you cannot get with any other method.
This Cheese strain went to 32 main colas the same year and finished at 1 pound 2 ounces. The plant could have been pushed to 64 colas with another topping round, but the diminishing returns past 32 are real - colas above 32 tend to be smaller because the plant cannot keep up with the canopy demand.
These are our own grow results, not lab-controlled trials. Yield numbers will vary heavily based on strain genetics, light intensity, nutrient program, and climate. Treat them as illustrations of what is possible with the method, not as benchmarks to expect.
For indoor grows, stop at 8 colas unless you have at least 15 square feet of canopy space per plant. Pushing to 16 indoors under typical LED footprints (1000 watts or less over a 3 by 3 ft canopy) usually results in 16 smaller colas rather than 16 large ones, because the light cannot keep up with the canopy area.
Mainlining vs Topping vs LST vs Manifolding
Mainlining is one of several structural training methods. Each one trades off differently between yield, uniformity, veg time, and stress level. The right choice depends on your space, your light, your veg-time budget, and what you want to optimize for.
| Method | Cola count | Veg time added | Stress level | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainlining (1 to 2 to 4 to 8) | 8 indoors; 16 to 32 outdoors | +3 to 4 weeks | High | Symmetry-focused photoperiod grows |
| Manifolding (1 to 4 to 8) | 8 to 20 | +2 to 3 weeks | Medium to High | Faster path to a symmetric canopy |
| Topping plus LST (the high-yield approach) | 8 | +1 week | Medium | Highest-yield photoperiod option |
| Pure LST | 4 to 6 | None | Low | Autoflowers and beginners |
| ScrOG (with topping) | 8 to 12 | +1 to 2 weeks | Medium | Single-plant max-yield indoor grows |
The honest position on yield: mainlining is not the highest-yielding method on the list. A well-executed topping plus LST grow (the high-yield approach) typically out-yields a mainline by 15 to 25 percent because it spends less time in veg and more time in flower, and because the plant is not recovering from as many topping cuts.
What mainlining wins is uniformity. Every cola is the same size, the same density, and ready to harvest on the same day. That matters for growers who want consistent buds for commercial-grade product, for canopy photography, or simply for the satisfaction of building something perfectly symmetric. For raw weight, run a full high-yield grow. For canopy precision, run a mainline.
The autoflower exception: mainlining and any other high-stress method are off the table for autoflowers because they cannot extend their veg stage to recover. Pure LST is the only structural method that works reliably for autos.
Common Mainlining Mistakes
Four mistakes account for the majority of failed mainlines we see at BudTrainer R and D. None of them are obvious if you have not been told.
- Topping too early: Topping before the 5th node fully emerges over-stresses a seedling that has not yet built the root mass to handle aggressive cutting. Wait for the 5th node.
- Asymmetric cuts: Cutting at different node heights on opposite branches is the single fastest way to ruin a mainline. The whole method depends on identical hormone signals on both sides; an asymmetric cut sends more growth to one side and the plant never recovers symmetry. Always cut at the same node on both sides.
- Mainlining autoflowers or clones: Autoflowers do not have the veg time to recover from 3 to 4 cutting cycles. Clones inherit uneven node spacing from the mother plant, which breaks the symmetry from cut one. Mainline only photoperiod seedlings.
- Not enough veg time: Flipping to flower before the plant has completed the full topping schedule produces a small, half-finished mainline with underdeveloped colas. Plan for 8 to 10 weeks of veg minimum before flowering.
Why You Cannot Mainline Autoflowers
The mechanical reason autoflowers fail at mainlining is recovery time. Each topping cut sets vegetative growth back by 5 to 10 days because the plant has to rebuild its hormone gradient and grow out new branches before the next cut. A full 8-cola mainline requires 3 topping rounds plus 5 to 10 days of post-recovery vegetative time after the last cut - call it 30 to 40 days of recovery total. An autoflower's entire vegetative stage is only 4 to 5 weeks. There is no time budget for the recovery cycles.
The alternative for autoflowers is pure low-stress training: bend branches outward without cutting, and let the plant build its canopy on the natural growth schedule. At most, you can do a single light topping at the 5th node if the strain is known for vigor, but a true mainline structure is mechanically out of reach.
Why You Should Not Mainline Clones
Clones inherit the node geometry of their mother plant. Cuttings taken from a top branch produce uneven node spacing as the clone establishes its own apical dominance, and that asymmetry compounds through every mainline cut. Even if the first topping looks clean, the resulting branches will diverge in length and angle within a week. Use clones for LST or topping plus LST, where minor asymmetry does not undermine the technique.
The Science Behind Mainlining
The plant biology behind mainlining is well understood. The applied yield research, less so.
Apical Dominance and the Doubling Effect
Cannabis grows as a single dominant apex by default. The apical meristem - the active growing tip - produces high concentrations of auxin (specifically indole-3-acetic acid), which is transported downward through the stem and suppresses the outgrowth of axillary buds at every node below it1. This is the hormonal reason an untrained cannabis plant ends up tall and skinny with one main cola and weak side branches.
Removing the apical tip collapses that suppression. The axillary buds immediately below the cut start producing their own auxin and grow as co-dominant apexes1. When the cut is made cleanly above a node with two opposite growth sites, both sites receive the de-suppression signal symmetrically, and both grow at the same rate. This is why mainlining produces equal branches: not because of the cut itself, but because of how the auxin gradient redistributes immediately afterward.
Source-Sink Allocation with Symmetric Branches
Plants distribute photosynthetic products (sugars manufactured in the leaves) from source tissues (mature leaves) to sink tissues (growing points, fruits, or flowers) based on demand signals2. In the cannabis flowering stage, buds are the dominant sinks. When all 8 buds are at equal canopy height and receiving equal light, they exert equal sink demand on the source leaves, and the plant distributes sugars roughly equally between them. The result is uniform cola development, which is the structural goal of mainlining.
What the Research Does Not Settle
The honest framing: there is no peer-reviewed controlled trial comparing mainline yield to topping plus LST yield in cannabis specifically. Most claims about mainline yield come from grower forums and YouTube channels, not controlled studies. The strongest cannabis-specific evidence we have is a 2019 meta-analysis showing that environmental and structural management (light, canopy density, training) accounts for the largest controllable share of yield variation in cannabis3 - but the meta-analysis does not break out mainline as a distinct treatment.
What the literature does support is that more topping events are not categorically better for yield. Each topping cut costs 5 to 10 days of vegetative growth as the plant rebuilds its hormone gradient1. The more cuts you make, the more recovery time accumulates, and at some point the recovery cost outweighs the gain from additional bud sites. This is why we recommend stopping at 8 colas indoors and not chasing more cuts under typical home-grow light intensities.
For a deeper read on how cannabis canopies develop and the underlying physiology, see our article on canopy physiology and structure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is mainlining the same as topping?
No. Topping is one cut that splits the main stem into 2 branches. Mainlining is a sequence of 3 to 4 successive topping cuts performed symmetrically, with each cut doubling the previous branch count (1 to 2 to 4 to 8). All mainlining involves topping, but most topping is not mainlining. The defining feature of a mainline is the binary symmetric progression and the use of LST between cuts.
Is mainlining worth it?
Worth it for canopy uniformity and discipline; not worth it for raw yield. A well-executed topping plus LST grow typically produces 15 to 25 percent more weight in less veg time than a mainline because it avoids the cumulative recovery cost of multiple cuts. Choose mainlining if you want every cola to be the same size and want to learn precise structural training. Choose topping plus LST if you want maximum yield.
Does mainlining increase yield?
Mainlining produces more yield than an untrained plant, but typically less yield than the equivalent grow trained with topping plus LST. There is no peer-reviewed cannabis study comparing mainline yield against other training methods directly. Anecdotally and from our own R and D grows, a mainlined plant produces roughly equal total weight to a topped plant in less veg time, with the difference being that the mainline weight is spread evenly across 8 equal colas instead of unevenly across mixed-size colas.
What does mainlining actually mean?
Mainlining is a cannabis training technique that uses successive symmetric topping cuts to transform one main stem into a perfectly equal multi-cola canopy. The name comes from the grower Nugbuckets, who developed the method in the early 2010s. The mainline refers to the symmetric central manifold that forms after the first few cuts: one main stalk feeding 2, 4, or 8 equally-sized branches.
What is the difference between mainlining and manifolding?
Both methods produce a symmetric multi-cola canopy, but the progression is different. A mainline doubles at every cut: 1 stem becomes 2, then 2 becomes 4, then 4 becomes 8. A manifold reaches 4 branches in a single more aggressive first cut (1 directly to 4), then doubles to 8 from there. Mainlining is slower and more controlled; manifolding is faster but stresses the plant harder at the first cut. See our full guide on the manifold method.
How long does mainlining add to my veg time?
An 8-cola mainline takes about 8 to 10 weeks of total vegetative time, which is roughly 3 to 4 weeks longer than a standard topping plus LST grow. A 16-cola outdoor mainline adds another 2 to 3 weeks, and a 32-cola mainline adds 4 to 6 weeks on top of that. Plan your seed-start date around the total veg window plus your expected flower duration.
Can you mainline an autoflower?
No. Autoflowers have a fixed vegetative stage of 4 to 5 weeks, and a full mainline schedule requires 8 to 10 weeks of veg time including recovery between cuts. There is no time budget for the recovery cycles. Use pure low-stress training for autoflowers instead, with at most one light topping at the 5th node if the strain is known for vigorous growth.
Can you mainline a clone?
Not effectively. Clones inherit the node geometry of their mother plant, which means the node spacing on the cutting is usually uneven by the time the first topping cut comes around. Mainlining depends on symmetric node geometry to produce symmetric branches, and that symmetry is hard to recover once it has been broken in the parent. Use clones for low-stress training or for topping plus LST grows.
How many colas should a mainline produce?
An indoor mainline typically caps at 8 colas due to space and light constraints. With 15 or more square feet of canopy space, you can push to 16 colas indoors. Outdoor mainlines commonly run 16 or 32 colas, and exceptional outdoor specimens have been pushed to 64. Past 32 colas, returns diminish quickly because the plant cannot keep up with canopy demand at most home-grow light levels.
When do I make the first mainline cut?
The first cut happens when the 5th node has clearly emerged from the apical growing tip, typically 3 to 4 weeks after germination. Make a clean horizontal cut directly above the 3rd node, then remove all growth sites and shoots on nodes 1 and 2 (the lateral shoots emerging from the leaf axils, not the main fan leaves). This leaves the plant with 2 growth sites at node 3, which become the 2 main branches of the mainline.
Why are my mainline branches uneven?
Uneven branches almost always trace back to an asymmetric cut at one of the earlier toppings: cutting above a different node on each side, or making cuts at slightly different angles. Once a branch falls behind, it cannot catch up because the dominant branch grabs more of the hormone signal and resource flow. Other causes include uneven LST tension on opposite sides, light hitting one side of the plant harder than the other, and starting with a clone or autoflower that had uneven node geometry to begin with.
Should I use LST clips on a mainline?
Yes, especially in Steps 4 through 6. The mainline structure puts the main stalk under significant horizontal tension once the 4 main branches are trained outward, and LST clips like the BudClips are the cleanest tool for holding the main stalk down without slipping. They also work for spreading the 8 upper-branch growth sites during the final pre-flip canopy adjustments. The outer 8 branches are usually better handled with rubber-coated training wire tied to the pot grommets.
Next Steps
The hardest part of mainlining is the discipline at each cut. The technique itself is mechanical, but the symmetry is fragile - one asymmetric cut at week 4 cascades through every subsequent stage. Get the early cuts right and the later cuts almost run themselves.
Once your plant is flowering and the canopy structure is locked in, the rest of the grow lifecycle takes over. See our guides on harvesting cannabis at peak ripeness, drying without losing terpenes, and trimming and curing for the steps after harvest.
If you are still building your training fundamentals, the training cluster hub covers every method side by side, and the topping guide and LST guide are the prerequisites that every mainline depends on. Once your colas are evenly spaced, you can ScrOG those even colas to hold the whole canopy at one height through the stretch.
If this is your first mainline, watch the full Mainline Tutorial on YouTube alongside your first attempt. Having the video open on a second screen while you make each cut is the fastest way to build the muscle memory.
The toolkit we use for every mainline at BudTrainer R and D is the same one outlined in the tools section above: a fabric grow pot with built-in grommets for anchoring branches, LST clips for main-stem and upper-branch positioning, soft rubber-coated plant ties for the outer branches, and BudTape on standby in case a branch snaps under tension.
FREE CHEAT SHEET
Where exactly do you cut?
Every cut, the node to cut at, the wait window after each one, and the three defoliation passes that come after. Two pages, free.
Send me the Cheat SheetReferences
- Beveridge, C. A., Rameau, C., & Wijerathna-Yapa, A. (2023). Lessons from a century of apical dominance research. Journal of Experimental Botany, 74(14), 3903-3922. https://academic.oup.com/jxb/article/74/14/3903/7080155
- Marcelis, L. F. M., & Heuvelink, E. (2019). Achieving Sustainable Greenhouse Cultivation. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.1201/9780429266744
- Backer, R., Schwinghamer, T., Rosenbaum, P., et al. (2019). Closing the yield gap for cannabis: A meta-analysis of factors determining cannabis yield. Frontiers in Plant Science, 10, 495. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpls.2019.00495/full
About the Author
Henrique Dias is the CEO and co-founder of BudTrainer. He is a mechanical engineer who also holds a graduate certificate in Commercial Cannabis Production from Niagara College in Ontario, Canada - the first college-level cannabis cultivation program in North America. Before founding BudTrainer, Henrique worked with Health Canada licensed cannabis producers, where he gained hands-on experience in cultivation, processing, and post-harvest management of cannabis at commercial scale. He started BudTrainer to bring that same level of craft to home growers through better-designed gardening tools and clear, science-backed education.
DISCLAIMER: Everything taught and sold by BudTrainer® is to be used strictly for legal purposes. We do not endorse the production of illegal substances and it is your duty to ensure that you are complying with the law. The words "hemp," "cannabis," "weed," and "marijuana" are used interchangeably to refer to the same plant (legal hemp with less than 0.3% THC) for the purposes of this lesson.
