Main-lining technique in a Cannabis Growing

Welcome to everyone, new and very affectionate readers of Annibale Seedshop, in this new exciting chapter dedicated to the “Main-lining cultivation technique for Cannabis growing”. To date, this remains one of the most complex techniques to be applied correctly. However, this cannabis growing technique can lead your plants to become real giant trees! What are you waiting for ..? Find out more!

What is Main-lining technique?

When we talk about the “Main-lining” cannabis growing technique we mean that series of techniques aimed at multiplying the number of buds from a single plant. This technique is the most recommended when it comes to SCROG: already because, if Topping and Fimming are highly recommended for the Screen of Green technique, Main-lining is the most complex, fastest and most productive technique to start a cultivation with one or a few plants.

To get a successful Cannabis main-lining, you must first analyze what the Manifold is: the technique to get a perfect main-lining!

Cannabis Manifold

As anticipated, the Manifold is the technique to follow (which combines the LST, Topping and SCROG technique) to obtain a satisfactory main-lining. To do this, we will have to prune the Marijuana plant towards the fourth internode (when the same plant has reached at least the sixth stage of leaves).

Then the LST technique will be applied on the two apical branches, continuing to prune and bend the branches until the entire cultivation area is covered, to then move on to the SCROG network.

For now, don’t worry too much about this: we’ll go through each step below together to get a successful Cannabis main-lining!

What are the benefits of Main-lining technique?

The benefits of well-applied Marijuana main-lining are manifold.

Surely, the most important benefit this technique can bring to your cannabis plants will be to increase the weight of your crop exponentially. Furthermore, if you allow adequate time between one pruning and another, you will get bigger buds than in a normal crop.

With the right supports, it is possible to apply this technique both indoors and outdoors, and despite being the most complex technique we can find among all the cannabis cultivation techniques, with the right experience it becomes relatively simple!

Normally, in cultivation spaces of one square meter, this technique will have to be applied only once (or maximum 2 times), going to bend and insert as the various branches grow.

This will maximize the light exposure of the marijuana buds, receiving much more light than they would take vertically. This will trigger the birth of multiple sparkling buds!

How to apply Main-lining Technique in Cannabis Grow?

If you have decided to try this fantastic cultivation technique, you will need to equip yourself with pruning shears (or well-sharpened scissors) and elastic bands for LST, soon on sale also by us (a valid alternative to the special elastic is kitchen twine, as anticipated in this article about the LST technique).

Marijuana Manifold Creation

As anticipated, you will need to grow your cannabis plant enough for it to be pruned without suffering severe (or fatal) stress. The exact moment to apply the topping will be when the plant has reached the fifth or sixth stage of leaves, in conjunction with the strengthening of the trunk. Pruning will then be applied over the third or fourth internode, eliminating all the new underlying branches, including the leaves (it is advisable to leave some to allow the grass plant a faster photosynthesis).

We will thus have obtained the famous “Y” development, a letter taken precisely because of the similarity it shows with a well executed Manifold.

We will then have to tie the two apexes once the plant has recovered, when they will visibly prove recovered from the pruning suffered (a few days of waiting). Given their fragility, the bending of the two branches must be a very delicate operation, and possibly done with ties for LST or kitchen twine left “relatively wide”, thus avoiding the breaking of the same or, worse, damaging the plant.

Here is the Manifold!

How to do Main-lining technique in a Cannabis growing

Once we have reached this point, that is, having obtained a decent Manifold, we will simply have to apply what we have just seen on the two apexes, always at their third or fourth internode, but with a difference. This time we will not have to remove all the branches below, but only the first (and the third if you have cut at the fourth internode) and also leaving the relative leaves, which will speed up the recovery of the plant from pruning.

We will thus obtain 8 bearing branches, which must be continuously bent in an opposite way to each other (seen from above, the structure of the plant must first resemble a cross, then more and more like the structure of a snowflake!). This will be the best time to put the SCROG mesh in the grow room.

Let’s apply the same technique one last time on the 8 branches if we want to get 32!

Annibale Seedshop’s team advises against applying main-lining on the same cannabis plant too many times unless you have a growing area larger than one square meter. Much will depend on the variety you wanted to grow, but once you have 8 tips in a growth space of less than one square meter, simply continue to stretch the branches until it is completely filled!

Conclusions and tips about Main-lining technique in Cannabis growing

As you may have understood, the main-lining technique is not so difficult to apply correctly: a minimum familiarity with the LST, Topping and SCROG techniques will be enough to be able to apply it correctly! A fundamental requirement will be to have enough time to be able to perform this technique on one or a few plants (unlike the Cannabis Sea of ​​Green technique, available in this article, which provides for a short period of vegetation, or completely non-existent).

So arm yourself with healthy patience, once you follow the main rules here to get to get a respectable main-lining, just sit and wait for the result!

If you have chosen to continue on this path, the defoliation technique (available in this article) could be for you, allowing greater development for each bud and therefore obtaining a substantial harvest more quickly!

Remember not to start the Manifold technique when the plant is still too young: it could cost the entire harvest!

And that’s all for Main-lining technique in Cannabis growing, keep following us in our next article to find out more about “Indoor VS Outdoor”!

Greetings from Annibale Seedshop Team!

Davide, CEO Founder & Genetist