Lollipopping, Scrog and Main-lining to Boost Cannabis Production

You would be excused for thinking that somebody must be stoned out of their mind if they ever use the terms lollipopping, scrog and main-lining in the same sentence.

However, if you bear with us and stop looking so perplexed, all will become very clear, or at least opaque!

Having a robust and bushy cannabis plant may look good, but it isn’t.

Why?

Because too much foliage will stop much of the plant developing because it is not getting sufficient light.

So, once the plant is well established, you can set to work.

The solution is to start to remove branches that are unlikely to fully mature. These typically include those at the very base of the plant as they rarely get enough light.

As you work your way up the plant, it will become obvious which branches are being overshadowed by other, larger ones, so remove these as well.

Removing these branches will give buds elsewhere a real chance to fully develop.

Now you can get lollipopping.

Depending on the size of the plant, you should trim the remaining branches back from three to five nodes from the tip of each branch, removing all growth.

Once you have finished lollipopping, don’t be too hasty to turn the lights back on to full blast. Leave it for two or three days to give the plant a chance to heal and recover.

We would warn you to take things carefully as you learn this technique as overpruning can lead to stunted growth.

Don’t confuse lollipopping with defoliation. Defoliation is simply the act of thinning out the leaves throughout the whole plant.

Lollipopping involves removing more leaves at the base of the plant and fewer as you work your way up it.

You can also now start mainlining, which involves a combination of topping and low stress training, also referred to as LST.

The ultimate goal with main-lining and LST is to create a plant with a y-shaped stem, which means that nutrients will be more evenly spread throughout the plant.

Where scrog is concerned, this involves weaving the growth of your cannabis plant through a mesh screen. Once again this leads to even distribution of nutrients and excellent all-round growth.

If you haven’t already, give this a try and let us know how it goes in the comment section below.