LHB 's 4 way LST guide

LBH's Famous 4-Way LST Tutorial (plus topping sub-tutorial)

by LBH - ScrOG and LST expert - View original article by LBH on Rollitup

4-way LST - Building the perfect plant for Scrogging

This style of LST is to increase canopy square footage, not so much to make a plant fuller or bushier although that is definitely another side benefit. This style of lst is very good for scrog grows.

This method is not possible without topping and is not for Auto's or clones. Topping and 4-way lst go hand in hand and it really does help if you have a plant of good genetics, but it works on any and all plants.

Put simply, what we are doing is taking a plant that wants to grow straight up as 1 main arm and splitting it so it becomes 4 main arms and then we train them to grow horizontally, symmetrically, in preparation to go under the screen. This ensures a proper scrog where you maximize the footprint of your light to cover a perfect blanket of bud.

First thing you do is plant a seed.

Wait! 
Can this technique be used for clones? Or just seeds?
Where can I buy seeds?
Learn how to germinate seeds

After your seed has sprouted, you will have a young marijuana seedling.

Like this

Let your seedling continue to grow until the first set of full leaves have formed (5-leaf in this case).

When the 5th leaf set starts to come up between the 4th set be prepared to begin topping, Let them (5th set) get about 1/4-1/2 inch and then squeeze the base and pluck them, both at once and this is what will be left with.

Soon, you'll see the new growth.

The 2 new main branches will grow and thicken.

Now let it grow out a bit. During this time, I like to keep a fan right on the plant, lots of movement, building that main stem nice and thick and you'll soon have a top view like this.

Now, normally, this plant would consist of 1 main with 2 secondaries coming out the sides. By topping it, we create 2 mains and by lst'ing those down, we allow those secondaries to come up and be full blown colas. So the 2 mains you creat from topping, plus the 2 secondaries gives you a "4-way" plant. You can clearly see above, how this plant is now "symmetrical"

For the next step, you'll need 4 "U" shaped spikes. I use clothes hanger wire like the one below ( or anything that will hold down the 4 arms like you see in the pics, remember, get creative, be resourceful, making your grow your own isn't a bad thing)

Gently fold down one of the 4 mains and spike it in place. When you do the other 3, make sure there is equal pressure on all 4 so the main stem isn't getting pulled in any 1 direction.

You want that center stalk to be straight up and down. The arrows below show where the clothes hangar spikes are.

In a day or so, she'll look like this

Now it's time to do some topping again. All those nice new sprouts coming out of the middle of each arm......pull 'em! Everything DOUBLES again!! (below)

I personally stop here. I am leaving the rest of this tutorial up so people can see what you get if you keep topping. 

One thing we need to understand is that when you "top", you are dividing that main cola into 2 cola's. They will not be of the same size the original one would have been but that's ok, the 2 will weigh more than the 1 because of the increased leaf surface area getting direct access to the light. (explained better in the scrog tutorial)

But for scrogging purposes and the size of my screens, this is the point where we stop topping and give them a good week before switching to 12/12. From there, we continue on with the Scrog tutorial.

Additional topping CAN be of benefit to the few out there who are EXTREMELY limited height wise, but be warned, each time you top, you divide again so each time, you decrease the size of the buds.

Other than that, this is where the tutorial now ends. Get them under the screens and check out my“Scrogging Method” tutorial. This is a cumulative step-by-step Scrog tutorial with advice from a few of the guru’s. Now that it's been compiled, you can see the golden standard for those looking to scrog properly.

Believe it or not but the majority of the screens out there now are not scrogs, they are skeletal systems for standard plants. What we do is highly different and very specific with an amazing result. Don't forget to check it out!

Now let's explore how the plant develops if you continue to top past the previous picture

First, you let it grow for a bit. Keep topping now about every 3rd set on the new stuff.

Let her start to grow vertically a bit. When she has a little height, LST again!!

I should have used the 6 or 9 gallon feed bucket for this plant. It's shallower but wide. With this plant, I used the rim and the soil to anchor her down for the 2nd round of LST.

Here are some shots showing her vertical growth and a few close-ups to show how I used the rim and soil to spike her.

This time around, there should be 12-16 branches to fold down (remember, you've been dividing / "piding" and piding and piding )

And here is what she'll look like when she's all bent down

And here she is a a few hours later, already recovered.

Now below is an illustration of how the growth changes exponentially with each topping and lst treatment. The 2 combined build a plant that is low in height and full.

Before the 2nd LST, 18-19 bud sites

and AFTER the 2nd LST, the plant has 29-31 bud sites