When: 1 to 2 weeks after topping

Stage 1 is all about optimizing for bud size. It’s meant to help you create a strong branch structure that allows your plant to grow bigger, denser buds. It is important not to wait too long before performing Stage 1 of training, otherwise your branches will grow too large and woody, and will be prone to breaking.

When: 1 to 2 weeks after stage 1 (can be repeated multiple times)

Stage 2 of marijiuana training, Branch Management is all about optimizing for bud consistency. It is meant to help you fill your entire grow space with buds of the same size. It can be done 1 to 2 weeks after Stage 1, and can be repeated a few times.

When: 3 weeks after flowering

Stage 3 of cannabis plant training, Bud Support, is meant to help your plant withstand the weight of those big, juicy buds you are about to grow. If you don’t support your buds during the flowering stage, your plant will get floppy and fall over to the sides.

Once you are finished with the first BudClip, you can do the exact same thing to the other branch. This time, in order to attach the BudClip to the main stalk, you will need to interlock it as shown below. Without this interlocking ability, the BudClips would bump into each other and you'd only be able to train one side.

After one week, this is how those small top branches will be looking: wide and strong, ready to support multiple heavy buds at the top. The area where the squeeze happened one week prior will form a “knuckle” that is not only stronger but also thicker than the rest of the plant.

Now that your top 2 nodes are trained, it’s time to take care of your bottom 2 nodes. However, there are 2 scenarios that you can run into here. The 1st is where your bottom branches are long and have made it to the top of the canopy. The 2nd is when your bottom branches are short, staying low and in the middle of the canopy.

As in the plant below, you can see that the bottom branches are long, and their tips are facing outward, almost at a 45 degree angle. This is usually how bottom branches grow - tall and off to the sides. If this is the case with your plant, it means you are doing well! Now it’s time to train them.

First, cut a 4" to 6" piece of BudHuggers and attach the first end to the grommet closest to the branch, securing it in place by squeezing it around the BudPots.

Pull the branch down to your desired height and measure where you want to bend your BudHuggers. If there are large leaves on the way, you can also pull the branch sideways and attach it to an adjacent grommet. This will allow you to train your branch down and to the side at the same time.

Please note: make sure to arrange the bottom branches at a similar height to the top branches, otherwise they will get less light exposure and become dwarfed. 

Loop the BudHuggers around your finger to create a large loop for the branch.

Release the branch in place and adjust as you see fit. Make sure to create a loop at least twice as large as the branch, otherwise it can get strangled. Repeat this process with the remaining branches, until all 8 branches are trained on the BudPots’ grommets.

When arranging your branches, organize them as symmetrically as possible - pulling opposite branches from the same node at 180 degrees from one-another, and leaving space between them.

Please note: if you don’t have the BudHuggers and the BudPots, you can accomplish the same technique by using the BudClips Just make sure that they are being used toward the tip of the branch, on the soft part and not the woody part.

Please note: skip to Step 3 if you are growing autoflowers, as it is not recommended to top them twice. At this stage, they will already be well into the flowering stage.

Topping shouldn’t be anything new to you at this point, as you already learned how to top your cannabis plants on Lesson #3: How to Top Cannabis. 

Well, this is the part where you get to top our cannabis plants for the 2nd time. When topping for the second time it is important to only top the 4 top branches, and not the 4 bottom branches, as they already have to work harder to make their way to the top of the canopy. By topping only the top nodes, the lower ones can “catch up”. To top again, simply cut the top 1 inch from each one of the 4 top branches, leaving behind 2 or 3 nodes on each (4 to 6 new growth sites each).

Can I Top More Than Twice?

Yes you can! While not recommended when growing indoors (unless you have more than 15 sq.ft per plant), if you are growing outdoors you can top your plant for a 3rd or 4th time after 1 to 2 weeks from the previous topping. This will once again “multiply” your plant. The plants below, for example, were topped a total of 4 times using the mainline training method.

Please note: the third stage of training is to be performed right after the mid-flower defoliation (AKA “lollipopping”) between day 21 and 25 of flower. To learn how to defoliate and prune your plants to increase airflow and light penetration, head on over to Lesson #5: How to Defoliate Cannabis and then come back here.

The 3rd stage of plant training is meant to help you support your buds in such a way that when they become heavy, they won’t fall over to the sides, like the plant on the right, below. 

The 3rd stage starts as soon as the third week of flowering is over (21 to 25 days into the flowering cycle), which means your plant will stop stretching upwards and start thickening up, which is when it gets top-heavy.

In order to support your buds, there are two available methods: using a garden tie, like the BudHuggers, or using a trellis net. The advantage of the BudHuggers is that they can be used anywhere, and it allows your plants to be moved around. The trellis net, on the other hand, provides better support to your buds but it needs a fixed structure in place, such as the corner poles of an indoor tent or a frame made of wood or PVC, which also means you won’t be able to move your plants until harvest.

The quickest and easiest way for you to support your buds is by tying them to one another, in a way that allows opposite branches to support the other. In order to do this, simply choose branches that are 180 degrees apart, and tie them to one-another (do not pull them together - simply leave them where they are).

You can also tie all branches together in a large loop, like a tomato cage. To accomplish this, cut a long piece of BudHuggers and create a large hoop around your plants with it, then tie it to 3 or 4 branches, such that it can’t move down. This will allow your buds to thicken up without pulling the branch down.

After attaching the top branches to one another in order to provide them support, it's time to support your main stalk. If you fail to do this, your plant may end up flopping over to the side entirely, which makes it very difficult to manage. For this, tie your BudHuggers as "guy wires" to your main stalk, and tighten them around the BudPots. At this stage, your stalk cannot get strangled anymore.

Since the purpose of this lesson is not to teach you how to build a trellis net, we will assume you already have a trellis net installed in your grow tent or outdoors. We recommend trellis netting with 3" holes, which allows roughly one large cola per hole.

Different from training with garden ties, where you start on week 3 of flower, with a trellis net you can start as soon as the flowering cycle begins. In order to support your buds using a trellis net, you will need to low-stress train each individual branch by “tucking” them under the line and through each hole. To do this, wait until the branch is 3 to 4 inches above the net, and then “tuck” it under the next line in such a way that will widen the canopy of your plant.

Once your plant stops stretching at the end of the third week of flowering, you can stop tucking the branches under, and instead just let them go. At this point, your plant will be as wide as it can be, and the net will start acting as a support for those heavy and juicy colas you are about to start growing. In a nutshell, the trellis works to keep your branches down at first, and then to keep your buds up at the end.

This is an exciting part of the growth cycle of your plant because it means you have done most of the work in preparing it for success, and now you can enjoy the results of your effort. Once marijuana plants mature toward the end of the flowering cycle, your buds will start to show those much-wanted trichomes and to put out the pleasant aromas that your terpenes produce. All you have to do now is continue watering and fertilizing, while sitting back and watching it grow.

Indicas

• Easier to train
• Requires more defoliation and pruning
• Only needs to be topped once
• Needs to be trained less frequently
• Lower profile plants

Due to their genetic makeup, cannabis indicas have a sturdy growth structure, with thick fingered fan leaves and short spaces between each set of leaves (called internodal spacing). These features make indicas great for beginners who want to practice all training techniques, including topping, low-stress training, pruning, & defoliation. Since indicas are short and stocky, they are super easy to train when compared to their tall and lanky sisters: the sativas.

Sativas

• More difficult to train
• Requires less defoliation and pruning
• Needs to be topped multiple times
• Needs to be trained more frequently
• Higher profile plants

Sativa cannabis strains have a tall and skinny structure, with longer internodal spacing (space between each node). This makes it extra important to constantly low-stress train and top them so that they stay low to the ground. We recommend topping sativas once every 2 weeks until it is time to switch them to flower. This will ensure your plants don't grow too tall too quickly and end up reaching your lights (indoors) or becoming prone to breaking under strong winds (outdoors).