Training/bending/shaping outdoors plants

[Organilush]

Fellow outdoors growers....


How do YOU go about training/bending/shaping your plants outdoors?

Do you do it at all, or do you just let the plants grow into their natural form and provide some support/trellising when they pack on weight?

Are there certain strains/varieties that you do or do not train/bend, or do things a bit differently depending on the strain/variety?



This year will be my 3rd time around growing the plant. The previous two years I've just done some basic low stress bending/training.

Working with clones/teens, once they're rooted & established in their final pots (20 to 30 gal fab-pots) I bend the main stalk towards the north at roughly a 45 degree angle.

I also bend and tie down the branches downward just a bit (using bamboo/trellising), basically just opening up the plant a bit and breaking the apical dominance so the hormones & energy are distributed through out the plant and not focused on the main stalk/cola.

I "clean up" the lower and inside of the plants as well, removing some leaves and small branches that won't be receiving much direct sunlight or yield much.

After about late July I don't do any more training/bending and just let the plants do their thing into and through out flowering, just some tidying up and supporting branches as the buds pack on weight.



But I've heard some folks say that outdoors the plants don't need to be trained/bent/shaped at all because the light penetration with sunlight is more than plenty and these techniques are for indoor growers where light penetration isn't the best...?...But from my little bit of experience, it seems that the more direct sunlight hitting a bud the more resinous that bud becomes, and the buds that don't get as much direct sunlight aren't nearly as dank.

So why would I not want to train/bend a plant to open it up a bit and expose it to as much sunlight as possible and spread out the hormones through out the plant?

Another reason I was bending/training is to keep the height down since I'm a backyard grower. (legal state, but still try to keep it low-key)


I'm sure this topic has been talked about many times...but just wanted to hear how ya'll go about it and your 2 cents on training/bending/shaping plants outdoors.




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[St. Phatty]

if you have birds, they will do it for you, like Edward Scissorhand, sort of.

 

[hellfire]

I've heard people say lollipopping is not necessary outside but not exactly no training.
I like lst + scrog outside when possible. I keep the main stem clean and center cleared out a bit.

 

[PDX Dopesmoker]

If I had the space I'd train them out horizontally like they do grape vines so that everything got even sun on it, especially in the fall when it counts.

 

[romanoweed]

I never saw such a easy looking Method (and cheap) like this one with Metallwire, cause you can progressively Train them every Day Abit:

Does it really work?

 

[Pumpkin]

Depends a bit on your space and needs.

But I think plants need support more than anything. So if height and security is a non issue, you could just grow them as big as fuck and offer them support so they don't flop over or break branches in the wind.


If you have limited height, or other restrictions, you can certainly train your plants to meet those needs.

Everything and every different circumstance has different trade offs.

I hazard a guess, that the less you manipulate a plant, the more time it has to grow stress free. If you deliberately stress a plant, you lose veg time.

If you are in a situation where having a plant over 1m could be a problem, by all means, keep the fucker down in whatever method necessary. You probably won't beat in yield someone who planted at the same time and just supported their plants.

But I personally feel, that with growing outdoors, the plant is probably smarter than me with what it wants.

 

[40degsouth]

I like super cropping, in certain situations, it can force plants into a lovely globe shape and doesn’t seem to slow down growth like pinching out tops can. I think from memory the plant redirects auxins for a bit.
In other spots l like my plants to grow tall and get more light. I’ve also used long, thin spars pushed into the ground, at say, 45 degrees and tied crossmembers onto it for lateral support, i.e. tie the laterals to the cross. This works well when you’ve got two or three plants close together.
Pinning them down has also worked well in certain spots for me but can be a pain if you miss a week or two.
I agree with Pumpkin though, support is key and l wouldn’t say cleaning out the lowers is a form of training I’d call it maintenance.
Cheers 40.