The BudTrainer Method⢠Lesson #4
When & How to Train Cannabis
Written and edited by Henrique Dias on June 20,2024
The Easiest Way To Increase Your Yields - Plant Training
Did you know that 95% of commercial cannabis producers provide some form of training to their plants? They wouldnât be doing it if it wasnât increasing their yields.
We know it all too well because weâve made the mistake of NOT training our plants, until we took to plant science and commercial cannabis production to create a training method that works on both photoperiods and autoflowers, and that increases your yields at home no matter what.
Welcome to BudTrainerâs Lesson #4, where you will learn how to train your marijuana plants like a pro.
Tools & Materials
- BudClips or other LST clips
- BudPots or other fabric pot (from transplanting)
- BudHuggers or other garden wire
- Gardening pruners with thin tip
When Is The Right Time To Train Cannabis?
Cannabis plant training has 3 stages, which will be described below. But the short answer is: 1 to 2 weeks after topping.
Please note: in order for The BudTrainer Method to work, you MUST top your plants according to Lesson #3: How to Top Cannabis Plants. This means topping above the 5th node and removing the 1st node, leaving behind a total of 4 nodes, or 8 growth sites. If you are not topping your plants, we recommend you follow BudTrainerâs LST Method.
3 Stages of Cannabis Plant Training
The BudTrainer Method⢠has three stages of training.
The first two stages are meant to help you manipulate your plant to maximize its light exposure and airflow, thus increasing photosynthesis.Â
The last stage, on the other hand, is meant to help you provide the necessary support for your buds so they can grow into large and juicy colas.
These stages are called:
- Main Stalk Setup
- Branch Management
- Bud Support
1. Main Stalk Setup
When: 1 to 2 weeks after topping
Stage 1 is all about optimizing for bud size. Itâs 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.
2. Branch Management
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.
3. Bud Support
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 donât support your buds during the flowering stage, your plant will get floppy and fall over to the sides.
How to Train Weed Plants | Stage 1
The first stage of marijuana plant training is meant to transform the small growth sites on your main stalk into thick branches that grow sideways, thus increasing your plantâs canopy area and light exposure. The best time to do this is when the top growth sites are around 2 inches long.
Step 1. Training the 1st Node
With your 1st BudClip, attach one pin to the MAIN STALK, just below the 5th (top) node. Gently bend the top branch past the other BudClips pin to see if it is flexible.
Please note: if you donât have the BudClips, you can accomplish a very similar result by using only the BudHuggers and attaching them directly to the BudPots.
If the branch is flexible enough to make it to the 2nd pin of the BudClip, like the branch above, go ahead and attach it under the second pin as shown below.
BudTip: The Branch Squeeze
However, if you feel like your branch is going to break, STOP, and do a âbranch squeezeâ: gently squeeze your branch with your thumb and index finger, where the curve of the branch will be sharpest. By squeezing these fibers, you are preventing your branches from breaking when you bend them. And donât worry if you squeeze your branch flat: they will form a knuckle and get stronger later on.
Please note: this plant didnât need the branch squeeze, but it was done to help you better understand this lesson. When in doubt, a squeeze is always better than a break.
Once the branch is soft from the branch squeeze, you may train it under the 2nd pin of the BudClips
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 âknuckleâ that is not only stronger but also thicker than the rest of the plant.
Branches Too Hard to Bend?
If your main stalk is already too thick to fit the BudClips or too hard to even do the branch squeeze, you can attach your BudClips higher up on the branches and not have them interlock on the main stalk.
Here is what your plant will look like 1 week after being trained this way: your branches will thicken in place and create a perfect manifold structure to hold your big buds
Step 2. Training 4th Node (2nd From Top)
Once you are finished with the 5th (top) node, itâs time to train the 4th node the same way: either by interlocking your BudClips on the main stem, or, if the branches are too hard, which is usually the case with the second node, using the BudClips higher up on those branches, where they are bendy.Â
Please note: if you donât have the BudClips, you can accomplish a very similar result by using only the BudHuggers and attaching them to the BudPots, as you will learn to do in Step 3.
To accomplish this, attach the pin closest to the main stalk, then attach the upper pin of the BudClips second, by bending the branch with your other hand.
BudTip: How to Fix a Broken Branch
Donât sweat it! Breaking branches is a rite of passage in cannabis cultivation, and we STILL break branches to this day. In fact, thatâs what happens when you are pushing the limits of how big your buds can be.Â
A broken branch, while not ideal, will not take that much away from yield. Cannabis plants have very fast metabolisms, and they will channel energy to the branches that are left instead - reconstructing your plant in a way that will still produce lots of buds!
To fix a broken branch simply use some tape around the broken area, connecting both ends of the broken branch, and make sure that both sides of the broken tissue are touching.
You can add a drop of honey to help both sides âglueâ back together. If your branch is heavy, make more rounds of tape until it provides enough structure, but not too much to squeeze the branch.Â
1 week later, your plant will be fully healed and you can remove the tape to allow your branch to continue growing.
Step 3. Training Remaining Nodes
Now that your top 2 nodes are trained, itâs 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.
1st Scenario: Bottom Branches Tall Enough
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 itâs 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.Â
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 BudPotsâ 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.
2nd Scenario: Bottom Branches Too Short
The only time it is not recommended to train your bottom branches is if they are not making their way to the top of the canopy. If trained they will become even weaker than the upper branches since they will be shaded by other leaves.
If this is the case with your plant, do NOT train the bottom branches down. Instead, use the BudHuggers and BudPots to shift them from left to right. This is your opportunity to spread the bottom branches out to promote as much light exposure and airflow as possible, like taking them out of the shade by training them sideways instead of down.
Please note: if you donât 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.
How to Train Weed Plants | Stage
2
The second stage of plant training is meant to help you organize your grown branches in such a way that maximizes your budsâ exposure to light and airflow, and increases consistency. It has 3 main steps that you will need to cover: a light defoliation, topping for a 2nd time, and training your branches further.
The second stage of training can be repeated many times over, every 1 to 2 weeks from the previous training session, as long as your plant is still in the veg stage. This is great for growing marijuana outdoors, when you have a few months of growth in the vegetative stage and your branches are growing in every direction. Training every week or two will allow your weed plant to be distributed more evenly, yielding multiple buds of a similar size instead of a few big ones and a number of small ones.
Step 1. Initial Defoliation
At this point, your plant will be in weeks 5 to 8 of the vegetative stage, and some of its young leaves will be older than 30 days. This means they will start consuming about as much energy from the plant as they produce, so they are not that useful anymore. In fact, the older they get, the more energy they consume, which is why removing them is a good idea. Our next lesson, Lesson #5: How to Defoliate Cannabis covers this topic in more detail, but for now you can go ahead and follow the steps below.
Please note: if your plant is suffering from nutrient deficiencies, do not defoliate and skip this step instead.
Removing Main Stalk Leaves
The main stalk leaves are the oldest leaves on your plant, and as much as they might look plump, massive, and beautiful, itâs time to remove them so that your plant can pump those juices to the other leaves. In fact, after removing these large and old leaves, your other ones will become twice as large in a matter of only 1 to 2 days.
In order to accomplish this, simply pick up your leaf by the petiole (the small stem that attached them to the main stalk), and pull it down until you feel a crack. This means the leaf is broken. Now you can simply pull the leaf away until the last piece of skin tears. And thatâs it! You can do this to all 8 leaves from your first 4 nodes.
Removing Shaded Leaves & Branches
Another type of leaf that is just consuming energy away from your plant is the leaf in the shade. Just imagine what would happen to a solar panel that is installed UNDER the roof, and not on top? The same is true for those small, shaded leaves and branches.
Not only are they already small now, but they will continue to grow small, only sapping energy away from the good ones. In fact, if you allow those small branches to go into the flowering cycle, they will become small, larfy popcorn buds.
Please note: this plant didnât need the branch squeeze, but it was done to help you better understand this lesson. When in doubt, a squeeze is always better than a break.
Step 2. Topping Again (Not For Autos)
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 shouldnât 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.Â
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 âcatch upâ. 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 âmultiplyâ your plant. The plants below, for example, were topped a total of 4 times using the mainline training method.
BudTip: Always Prune Dwarfed Branches
Before topping your plant for a second or third time, remove any growth sites where the node is either shaded, or has a large and a small growth site. By removing the small growth site from the pair (as pointed by the white arrow below) you help your plant focus its energy on the larger growth site, instead of wasting it on a small branch that will never grow past the top of the canopy.
Step 3. Training Branches
Once your plant is âcleanâ of old and shaded leaves, and small branches, you can start doing two things: re-training your old branches from the week or two before, and training the new branches that already grew off of them. You will be using both the BudClips, and the BudHuggers and BudPots combo.
Top 2 NodesÂ
Since you used the BudClips on your top 2 nodes during Stage 1 of training, now it is time to reapply the BudClips higher up on the branch in order to continue training it sideways. It is very important to remove your BudClips once the branches become thicker, otherwise they will start getting squeezed if you donât.
Please note: if you are using the BudHuggers to tie the top branches to the BudPots, simply reattach them further up on each branch in order to continue training it sideways.
After you finish the top 2 branches, you can repeat the process with the 2 branches just below it. In total, you will have moved 4 BudClips higher up on the branch, as shown in the image below.
Extra Branches
At this stage, your plant may already have big growth sites coming out of the main branches, which are already long enough (2 to 3 inches) to get trained with the BudClips. If this is the case, simply attach your BudClips to these new branches in such a way that provides your plant with maximum light exposure and air circulation.
Bottom 2 Nodes
During Stage 1 of training, you used the BudHuggers to train your bottom 2 nodes. Now it is time to remove the BudHuggers from where they were, and move them higher up on the branch, pulling it down and to the sides even further. This will help you gain a few extra square inches of canopy area.
Please note: if the bottom branches are already below the canopy, do not pull them down. Instead, you may train the bottom branches from left to right, in such a way that they will be under direct light and away from the shade.
You Are Off To Growing Massive Branches
Now that you trained your plant during both stages 1 and 2, it will be ready for the flowering stage. All of your branches will continue to grow and thicken up from this point on, making way for the largest buds you ever grew. After Stage 2 is complete, wait 3 days in order for your plant to fully recover, and then switch it to the flowering stage with a 12h ON/ 12h OFF light cycle. You can start Stage 3 of training as soon as the 3rd week of flowering is complete.
How to Train Weed Plants | Stage 3
Please note: the third stage of training is to be performed right after the mid-flower defoliation (AKA âlollipoppingâ) 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 wonât fall over to the sides, like the plant on the right, below.Â
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 wonât be able to move your plants until harvest.
1. Garden Ties (BudHuggers)
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 canât 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.
2. Trellis Netting
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 âtuckingâ 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 âtuckâ 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.
You Are Off To Growing Massive Buds
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.
FAQ
Q. What is the difference between training indoors vs outdoors?
Veg Training
Since outdoor plants flower automatically after late July/August, you can train your plants as much as you would like until that point on Stage 2. Indoors, however, it is not recommended to veg your plants for longer than 7 or 8 weeks, which means you only get to train your plants once on Stage 2. Growing outdoors also requires constant defoliation, which is the topic of the next Lesson #5: How to Defoliate Cannabis, while indoors only requires a few leaves to be removed.
Airflow
As we have seen before, airflow is essential for plants to absorb CO2. For this reason, it is equally important to train indoor and outdoor plants to maximize airflow around the leaves. The main difference, however, is that outdoors plants have the extra pressure from pests while indoor plants generally donât. This is why we highly recommend defoliating outdoor plants at least once a month to clear out all old leaves that are turning yellow, not catching any more light, or that are blocking airflow to the middle of the plant. As long as you donât create pockets of clustered leaves, you should be safe from pests.
Support
When growing cannabis indoors, we never have to worry about strong winds breaking our stems. But outdoor growing is a different story. We personally have friends who lost entire plants because of strong winds that broke them at the stem. This is not an uncommon story. Many growers fail to train their outdoors plants and instead let them grow naturally into the Christmas tree shape. The problem with this is that, after flowering, the untrained plant gets very heavy at the top, and any strong wind can break its main stem in half. This is why it is crucial to give your outdoor plants the side support they need in order to survive strong winds. You can do this with tomato wires, garden stakes, garden ties, trellis nets, and ropes.
Q. What is the difference between training indicas and sativas?
Q. What is the difference between training indicas and sativas?
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).
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About The Author
Henrique, the CEO of BudTrainer, is a mechanical engineer with a commercial cannabis production post-grad, and is also a former commercial cannabis consultant.Â
H takes plant science principles and breaks them down into simple steps for home growers to achieve the same results as the pros and grow the highest-quality cannabis.
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