That doesn't look right. It looks like, just looking at the left hand side, you missed a topping. Were you topping? Or fimming?
I've read enough of your posts to know, that you know, what you are talking about. So this is not directed at you. The first few times I tried it I got all twisted up as to what was what.
I've found that main-lining properly can be extremely productive. So I'm not detracting anything from it. Or from
@clockworx , in my opinion the guy is a genius. Almost everything he writes, I am in awe. I'll re-read his posts 7,8,9 times.
But I've noticed I get pretty good results mainlining, but keeping other growth that is also strong. In other words, I won't strictly keep the growing tops & nix everything else. Lollipop it & go to flower.
This plant below is a monster cropped clone, so it's growing differently than your typical plant. On the advice of
@DrFever I'm letting it grow out a bit. I've seen him (in pics) pull a lot of weight off plants, so I asked what he would do with this monster (it's literally 12" tall in this pic)
But everything you see here is not a "top." Some of them are side branches that are just growing really strong. & I get that sometimes with regular seeds or clones. So my point is, once I thin this out & decide what to keep there won't be
just tops. It will be anything that looks good & that I can space well. That has worked well for me. Perhaps it's because I use a ton of light & co2? I don't know. But basically I mainline, & then when cleaning up before flower, I'll keep anything that looks good. Mainlining, in my opinion, is proven to work. So I incorporate it into my training. Along with a lot of lst. But in the end, when I go to flower, it won't be strictly tops on the plant.
Imo, lst is what separates the men from the boys
Also, Im' sure someone else has thought of this before me, I just haven't bothered to search to confirm. But as you can see in the picture, I have a hanging cfl in there. I have 4 2700k's & 4 6500k's. You can use them for training in the right locations.
If you have a light meter it's easier. I don't, I judge by the growth where is getting good light, & where isn't. But in an area like the corner, or where I have it placed now, I can actually use the light to train the plants outwards. If I concentrate my main light low enough, the sides are begging for light, & they will grow horizontally. I don't really enjoy lst'ing. But I think it's a must for a good crop. If I can use light to do it slowly, while I'm not even around, it's really zero stress training.