Growing Chemdawg with LST

Growing, buying or possessing cannabis and seeds is legal only in some places. Check the law where you live before acting on this information.

What LST is

Low-stress training (LST) is the practice of gently bending branches outward and downward and securing them, rather than cutting them off. The goal is to break apical dominance — the plant's hormonal tendency to grow one tall central stem — so that lower branches rise to the same height and receive comparable light ^[1][2]. Unlike topping, FIMing, or super-cropping, LST does not wound the plant, so there is no recovery period and no significant stress response Strong evidence.

Chemdawg is a notoriously tall, lanky cultivar with a strong central cola and pronounced flowering stretch ^[3]. Left untrained in a 4×4 tent, it will commonly hit the light before flowering is half done. LST is the standard, low-risk solution for height control in confined spaces.

Why growers use LST on Chemdawg

Three concrete reasons:

1. Height control. Chemdawg typically doubles or triples its height during the flowering stretch Weak / limited. Bending the main stem horizontally early in veg purchases headroom you cannot recover later in flower.

1. Even canopy = even light. Cannabis yield correlates strongly with intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) ^[1] Strong evidence. A flat canopy with multiple colas at the same height puts more bud sites in the high-intensity zone directly under the light, compared to a single tall top surrounded by lower branches in dimmer zones.

1. No wound, no setback. Unlike topping, LST does not pause vegetative growth, which is valuable for slow-finishing cultivars like Chemdawg (typically 9–10 weeks of flower) ^[3]. You retain momentum through veg.

What LST does not do: It does not change cannabinoid content, terpene profile, or potency. Claims that training 'stresses the plant into more THC' are folklore with no controlled evidence No data.

When to start and stop

Start when the plant has 3–5 nodes and the main stem is still flexible—usually 2–3 weeks from seed, or 1–2 weeks after a clone has rooted. Young stems bend without snapping; older, woody stems do not.

Continue throughout veg, retying every few days as new growth lifts upward. Chemdawg responds well to a long veg with progressive bending. Each bend creates a new hub of lateral branches.

Stop new aggressive bends around week 2–3 of 12/12 flowering, when the stretch phase ends Weak / limited. After that, branches become brittle and buds are heavy enough that forceful bending risks breakage and bruising. You can still add gentle support ties to hold heavy colas upright and prevent them from drooping onto lower branches.

How to do it, step by step

1. Wait for the right stage. 3rd or 4th node, stem slightly flexible, not yet woody.

1. Identify the main stem. This is your first bend target—the tallest, thickest vertical shoot.

1. Anchor your tie point. Use the rim of a fabric pot (push a tie through the weave), a stake or stick in soil, or purpose-drilled holes in a plastic pot. Avoid tying to another part of the same plant—this transmits force to the root ball and can stunt growth.

1. Bend gently and horizontally. Push the top of the main stem sideways and down until it is roughly level with the lower branches. Secure with a soft plant tie (coated garden wire, velcro plant tape, or stretchy plant wrap). Never use bare wire on stems; it will cut into the tissue as the stem thickens.

1. Wait 1–3 days. The tip will turn upward toward the light. This is the desired response and means the plant has adjusted to the new position.

1. Repeat on side branches. As lower branches grow up, bend them outward in a gentle wheel-spoke pattern. The goal is a flat, even canopy with no single dominant leader.

1. Tuck and retie every 2–4 days during veg. Check ties weekly for tightness; loosen if they are restricting growth.

1. Defoliate sparingly. Remove only fan leaves that are clearly shading active bud sites in the canopy. Heavy defoliation is a separate, more controversial practice and is not required for LST to work Disputed.

1. Transition to flower with the canopy already flat. Add a SCROG net at this point if you want to lock everything in place and prevent any further upward growth ^[2].

A single Chemdawg plant trained this way will typically fill a 2×2 or half of a 4×4 footprint with 8–15 evenly-sized colas instead of one dominant top and a cluster of smaller, shaded branches.

Common mistakes

• Bending too late. Once the stem is woody (usually after 4–6 weeks of veg), you will hear an audible crack. At that point you are performing super-cropping, not LST, and the plant will heal in the bent position rather than gradually adjust.

• Using thin wire or twist ties directly on the stem. These cut in as the stem thickens. Use soft, wide ties and inspect them weekly for bite marks. Loosen or reposition as needed.

• Tying to the plant itself. Pulling one branch with another transmits force to the root ball and can cause stem breakage or roots to tear. Always anchor to a pot rim, stake, or external support.

• Over-defoliating to 'help' LST. LST works because of light geometry—a flat canopy puts more sites in the bright zone. Stripping too many fan leaves slows photosynthesis and stalls the plant Weak / limited. Remove only obviously shaded leaves.

• Bending during flower stretch and then stopping. Chemdawg keeps stretching for ~2 weeks of 12/12; if you tie it flat on day 1 of flower and do not touch it again, you will be retying frantically and breaking branches on day 14. Plan for continued growth and adjust ties as needed.

• Assuming LST fixes a bad environment. If your VPD, light intensity, or nutrients are off, training will not save the grow. Fix the fundamentals first Weak / limited.

Related techniques

LST is one tool in a family of canopy-management techniques. Combinations worth exploring:

• Topping / FIM: Cutting the apical tip to force two (or more) main colas. Higher stress than LST, but pairs well with LST on vigorous cultivars like Chemdawg. A single top followed by LST is a common, effective pairing.

• SCROG (Screen of Green): A horizontal net that mechanically enforces a flat canopy throughout flowering. Essentially LST at larger scale and with less hands-on adjustment.

• Super-cropping: Pinching and bending stems until the inner tissue collapses, then letting them heal in the new position. Higher stress and risk than LST; most useful late in veg when stems are woody and you need rapid height control.

• Mainlining / manifolding: A structured protocol combining early topping and LST that produces a symmetrical 8- or 16-cola plant. Requires more planning and patience.

For Chemdawg specifically, the most practical pairing is top once early + LST throughout veg. The top forces two main colas; LST keeps both at the same height and trains the lower branches outward. This gives you the height control of multiple management techniques without stacking too much stress, and leaves room for Chemdawg's long flowering window to finish properly.

Sources

How this page was made

Related

• Air Circulation in Grow Rooms — Moving air inside your grow space to prevent disease and improve plant health.
• Chemdawg — Legendary 1990s hybrid with diesel aroma and cerebral effects; key ancestor to OG Kush and...
• Growing Headband with SCROG — A practical SCROG guide for managing Headband's stretch and maximizing canopy uniformity.
• Growing Northern Lights with Mainlining — Structured topping technique to create symmetrical, evenly-lit colas on Northern Lights.
• Growing Wedding Cake with LST — Low-stress training flattens Wedding Cake's apical dominance and maximizes canopy light ex...
• VPD (Vapor Pressure Deficit) Basics — How to use vapor pressure deficit to manage plant transpiration and prevent humidity-relat...