Cannabis Plant Training & Care
To cultivate top-quality cannabis, proper plant training and care are essential. As a grower, there are specific tools and supplies that you should have on hand to support your plants throughout their growth journey. In this article, we offer our recommendations for the best cannabis plant training and support tools, trimming snips, plant ties, watering equipment, sprayers, and more. These tools will aid you in optimizing your plants’ development and ensuring their overall health and success.
The significance of training cannabis plants cannot be understated. It involves various techniques that allow growers to shape and guide the growth of their plants, ultimately leading to improved health, performance, and practicality. While some methods may seem counter-intuitive to beginners, understanding the benefits of plant training is essential. In this article, we delve into the major advantages of plant training and emphasize why it is crucial for optimal plant development.
Enhancing Light Utilization:
The primary reason why plant training is highly effective is its impact on light utilization. By training plants, you can spread their growth horizontally, maximizing light absorption. This is beneficial for both indoor and outdoor grows, as it enables plants to efficiently capture photons from the light source. Regardless of the size or location of your grow, training your plants can significantly enhance their overall health and performance.
Training for Indoor Grows:
Indoor cultivation relies on valuable resources, particularly light. Maximizing the utilization of this resource is crucial to optimize the efficiency of your grow operation. Unused light results in wasted energy as heat, reducing overall efficiency. Hence, capitalizing on available light is in the best interest of growers. Training plants to grow horizontally allows them to make better use of overhead lighting, capturing more energy. Additionally, maintaining an even, flat canopy ensures that all parts of the plant receive adequate light, maximizing efficiency.
Training for Outdoor Grows:
While it may be less recognized, outdoor grows also benefit from plant training. The same principles that apply to indoor cultivation remain relevant in outdoor settings. Although light travels across the horizon, training plants to optimize light absorption is still advantageous. Direct overhead sunlight is the most intense, and training plants to have a broad and wide structure serves this purpose. Some growers even take it a step further by training crops into horizontal vines, making the most efficient use of available light.
Improving Plant Structure:
Training can also enhance the efficiency of a plant’s branching structure, facilitating more effective nutrient and water movement. By reducing unnecessary branches, energy expenditure on redundant material is minimized. This results in improved resource allocation and utilization within the plant.
Controlling Airflow and Humidity:
While defoliation is generally discouraged, selectively removing shaded leaves can improve airflow and humidity control. Pruning techniques such as lollipopping and targeted leaf removal can enhance air movement and reduce water loss through transpiration. These practices contribute to better overall plant performance and health by preventing stagnant air and high humidity issues.
Incorporating plant training techniques into your cultivation practices will yield numerous benefits for your cannabis plants. From optimizing light absorption and resource utilization to improving plant structure and environmental conditions, training plays a crucial role in maximizing the potential of your crop.
Equipment & Product Guide Menu
Pruning Snips
If you plan to do any topping or pruning, then you will need to get a pair of pruning snips. These will also be your go to tool for trimming the harvest!
Fiskars Non-Stick Softgrip Microtip Pruning Snips
These Fiskars snips are undoubtedly the top-notch choice for any grower in the market. Owning a pair of these exceptional snips is an absolute necessity. We have provided a link to the non-stick version, as it offers an invaluable advantage when trimming sticky resinous colas. Although the non-stick version carries a slightly higher price tag in the US and Canada compared to the regular version, the investment is definitely worth it. On the other hand, in the UK, the non-stick version comes at a significantly higher cost. Therefore, it is essential to make a wise and informed decision while selecting the most suitable option for your needs.
Plant Support & Training
In most grow styles, we highly recommend training your plants to have multiple tops. This practice involves utilizing support and training tools to efficiently control the direction in which the plant grows. By employing this technique, you not only ensure optimal growth but also provide ample support for the heavy colas as the flowers develop and flourish.
4-Foot Bamboo Poles
Bamboo poles provide a cost-effective and reliable solution for plant support and training. While alternatives like Plant Yoyos or Tomato cages exist, bamboo surpasses them with its superior flexibility and support. These four-foot bamboo poles are perfectly suited for plants in an 8′ tall grow space. If needed, they can be conveniently shortened to desired lengths using a PVC pipe cutter (found below).
Plant Ties
Plant ties are essential tools in safely fastening plants to training aids like bamboo. They effectively secure the plant without causing any harm. While alternatives such as string or yarn can be utilized from within the household, it’s worth noting that they lack the convenience offered by proper plant ties. However, it is crucial to exercise caution and refrain from using items that are excessively narrow or sharp, as they can potentially cause injury to the plant. Take care to avoid materials like fishing line, as they pose a risk of harming the plant’s well-being.
Slim Soft Ties
These are undoubtedly my preferred plant tie solution! I acquired a couple of spools several grows ago and have persistently reused the pieces in every subsequent grow. This soft coated wire possesses the perfect combination of flexibility for easy bending and shaping, yet enough rigidity to provide exceptional support and restraint for cannabis plants.
Plant Twist Ties
In my assessment, though not on par with the exceptional Soft Ties mentioned earlier, these alternatives serve me well in my endeavors. While these twist ties may lack the sturdiness of the soft ties, they excel in providing support to colas over greater distances and prove invaluable in certain early training scenarios where the soft ties’ thickness becomes a hindrance.
Repairing Plant Injuries
When you engage in the rewarding endeavor of training or nurturing your beloved plants, there is a possibility, albeit unintentional, for them to encounter unwelcome harm. It is not uncommon for occurrences such as stem splits and tears to take place during the process of low stress training (LST) or supercropping. In order to address and rectify these unfortunate injuries, an approach favored by numerous experienced growers is the application of sticky tape, often in the form of trusty electrical tape. Nonetheless, it is of utmost importance to acknowledge and heed the vital cautionary note that while it is absolutely crucial to wrap and secure the injured area, it is advisable and prudent to exercise restraint and refrain from directly affixing the sticky tape onto the delicate plant itself, as this unfortunate course of action may inadvertently lead to a further exacerbation and infliction of harm upon the cherished plant!
Grafting Tape
Grafting Tape is the ultimate horticultural solution to address this problem. Comparable to kitchen plastic wrap, Grafting Tape adheres to itself, creating an impeccably sealed yet non-adhesive barrier. Furthermore, it has the remarkable ability to expand alongside plant growth. Any dedicated grower should absolutely invest in a roll of Grafting Tape! This affordable product is precisely what is needed to assist in the recovery of injured plants and promote their healthy development.
Watering Plants
We highly recommend setting up an automatic-watering system if you are growing in Coco/perlite. Additionally, it is important to mention that even with the presence of an auto-watering system, it remains necessary to have alternative methods in place for periodic plant watering. Ensuring a consistent water supply is crucial for the overall health and vitality of your plants. For more information on this topic see our article titled, “Cannabis Feeding Fundamentals“.
One-Gallon Watering Can
A sizable one-gallon watering can prove incredibly useful in minimizing the need for frequent refills. Going any bigger than this would make it challenging to manage. For those residing in the US, I have provided a link to the specific model. Additionally, I have also considered the appropriate units for potential buyers in Canada.
Seedling Watering: 60ml Syringes
These magnificent 60ml syringes are absolutely ideal for nourishing sprouts and seedlings with utmost precision. Their design enables you to apply just the right amount of nutrient solution without causing any disturbance to the delicate plants. I personally rely on these syringes to water plants until they are transferred to their permanent containers. Moreover, these syringes prove to be incredibly handy when it comes to drawing samples of run-off from the saucers for testing purposes.
Plant Sprayers
Plant sprayers are very commonly employed to administer foliar treatments or to increase the relative humidity for seedlings. These sprayers play a critical role in the care and cultivation of plants, whether they are used in large-scale agricultural operations or in home gardening. The purpose of such sprayers is to evenly distribute various solutions, such as fertilizers, pesticides, or fungicides, directly onto the leaves of plants. This method of application allows for efficient absorption and utilization of these treatments by the plants. Additionally, plant sprayers are also utilized to raise the moisture level in the environment, particularly for seedlings. By creating an ideal humidity level, sprayers aid in the successful germination and growth of young plants. As a result, these devices contribute significantly to ensuring the health and vitality of various plant species.
Pressure Sprayer
Pressure sprayers are undoubtedly the most effective method for applying foliar treatments to plants. Notably, they generate an impressively fine mist that guarantees even distribution of the foliar treatment. Furthermore, this exceptional feature minimizes the risk of excessive droplets forming on the plant surfaces, ensuring a precise and accurate application.
Spray Bottle
A simple spray bottle proves to be quite useful, especially for delicate and small plants that cannot withstand the intensity of a pressure sprayer. These bottles also come in handy for increasing the humidity levels within humidity domes as the plants begin to sprout.
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Coming Soon – Our Plant Training Tutorials:
- How & When to Top Cannabis Plants
- Training with Mainlines &Manifolds:
- Mainlining Training Cannabis Plants
- Manifold Training Cannabis Plants
- Supercropping Cannabis Plants
- Growing a Sea of Green Cannabis
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- Cannabis Seeds
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About Our Product Recommendations
Here at 420 Grow Help, our primary goal is to assist growers in achieving the utmost success with their cannabis crops by providing accurate scientific information and sharing proven cultivation techniques. The products we recommend are the very ones we have personally chosen to purchase and use ourselves. We maintain a strict policy of not accepting sponsorships or advertising, and we only endorse products that meet our own high standards. For detailed product recommendations, please refer to our Product and Equipment Guide.
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Disclaimer:
The information presented on 420GrowHelp.com should not be regarded as financial, legal, or medical advice. It is your responsibility to familiarize yourself with and abide by the local laws and regulations pertaining to the cultivation, possession, and use of cannabis. Decisions regarding cannabis cultivation should be made in consultation with a lawyer or qualified legal advisor, while decisions regarding cannabis use should be made in consultation with a doctor or medical professional.
