is training the mainline necessary? an untrained mainline would be the same, but instead of a T shape it would be V shaped branches right?

Yes, but those tops would be too close together so you get less light penetration and less yield as the lowers stay popcorn and dont fill in as the top of the canopy. You need to open the the plant up as much as possible.

I have always done something similar, but I use grates such as this to help me train. It was mentioned by the op scrog nets can be a PITA. I couldn't agree more, I hate them. If u top /train properly, you can use something like this to help in that process, as well as create an individual "scrog." If u r doing this technique correctly, there is no need for a large scrog net, especially if u have what I put in the picture. This plant is not main lined, it's just to show u the grate/ring.

First i would like to thank clockworx and allothers who shared and contributed as any good comunity member should. Heres my 1st. Attempt :

Wich turned n2 :

Follow the mans instrucciones and...... voila muthafuckazzz gotbud 4 daze !

Wich will eventually lead 2 better techniques such as :

Securing :

No but on a serious note, i do appreciate the help and encouragement i receive here. I had seen mainlined plants before but didn't think my skillz wer up there yet. But with the detailed instructions and the positive vibes and encouragement of fellow comunity members i went ahead and the rest is history that speaks for itself. Besides the skilllz i acquired it was also a lesson on being humble and giving back. CLOCKWORX could've easily claimed the knowledge 2b his and received the glory, the fame. But the man was truthfull, honest and full of integrity thingz not commonly found these daze. 4 that i thank you sir. NOW GET GROWIN MUTHAFUCKAZ, EACH 1 TEACH 1. peace.

View attachment 521819 The aftermath

Excellent write-up, thx for sharing!

cheers
- Old Hippie -

Mr.X said:

Wich turned n2 :View attachment 521174

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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.

Great post brotha!

KILLAKUSH619 said:

Great post brotha!

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@clockworx & nugbuckets are geniuses in my opinion. Anything you can read from @clockworx is enlightening.

Trying this out!

GrowItOut said:

Trying this out!

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In my opinion, once you have tried it, you will never do it any other way. It's magnificent.

Evening fellow cultivators. ....I have done mainlining this season on a majority of plants and I think the one most major thing being lost or not focused on is the "manifold" created by ML'ing resulting in a more direct/easy route to all the nodal sites.....

My observations....my Supercropped plants and untouched plants (all from seed) have lots of tops BUT the nodal sites/shoots (ultimately your nugs at that spot) are UNEVEN. Some are long - short - midway - all fruits and colors - you name it. ...the nodal shoots/sites are of varying sizes. .....

The ML'ed plants not only are all growing at exactly the same height and rate and you guessed it.....the nodal shoots and sites are all just about even....and Im talking about 8 separate stems with about 45 sites (22 nodal pairs) on each stem being almost identical. ....here's the difference.....on the ML'ed plant, the stems are practically of equal size....on the non ML'edbplant, you immediately notice the varying thicknesses of the stems....one can extrapolate the variance also follows through to the respective stems' nodal sites, distance between nodes, etc....

I chose mainlining for the above reason - the uniformity of all head nugs as I wanted this grow to be ALL head stash and yield is less important... with that being said - the nugs on the ML'ed plants are HUGE.....
And focus on the uniformity on this plant...

OK..my sin city blue lime pie.......sweet smoke...picking leaf off everyday........
one more week she goes to flower.
Thanks for all the great info everyone.