Growing Cannabis Indoors Gives Maximum Yields with These Techniques

There are a number of different techniques developed by growers to help squeeze every last gram out of your harvest. In cannabis cultivation, there are no magic beans. But there are a wide variety of easy to employ techniques that will help to maximize your yields harvest after harvest. While many of these techniques are versatile enough to be used indoors and outdoors, these tactics tend to be extra beneficial for those faced with the challenges of growing cannabis indoors.

1. Save Time and Money with Lollipopping

(Photo credit: Colorado Shiva Lollipopping is one of the more standard techniques in commercial grows. The name comes from the lollipop appearance of the plant after it has been pruned. The idea is that the leaves and branches at the bottom of the plant are deprived of light blocked by the upper canopy. Removing these lower limbs serves two purposes. The lower branches and buds that are blocked by the canopy are typically small and would end up as trim; not sell-able product. Removing them early saves time and effort in the trim process. By removing the lower limbs you also redirect the energy that would normally supply them to the upper buds, making for better, denser nuggets.

2. Maximize Space Efficiency While Growing Cannabis Indoors with Sea of Green

Sea of Green is a technique used to grow a larger quantity of smaller cannabis plants, taking advantage of grow room space and maximizing light energy intake. Since it works so well with space efficiency, it’s a particularly prized technique for growing cannabis indoors. SOG works by drastically reducing harvest time. The vegetative stage is cut down and plants are allowed to flower while still small. The end result is a “sea” of small potted plants with a single large cola popping up out of each. The increased number of plants balances out the smaller yield per plant also allowing you to get the next round going in half the time. Being so close together means temperatures and humidity will be up in your canopy so you better have good air flow.

3. The High-Stress Technique of Supercropping

Supercropping is considered a High-Stress Technique meaning that the process causes a level of controlled damage. It involves the physical bending of branches from a vertical to a horizontal position. In doing so, you break the inner core of the branch while leaving outer connective layers intact. This controlled damage triggers plant growth in the area as the localized cells attempt to repair the damage. After several weeks, a large callus or knuckle will form, strengthening the plant at the bend. Smaller branches that would have otherwise been deprived of light while vertical are now spread out horizontally. This allows for numerous flower sites to develop that would have otherwise stayed obscured.

4. Tying Your Plants Down with Low Stress Training

Low stress training is another common method of increasing yields without having to cause any damage to the plant itself. Unlike supercropping, which depends on physical damage to spur growth, low stress training manipulates the plant using tie downs, trellis or chicken wire in order to expose the lesser exposed flower sites to light. While supercropping achieves similar results through the snapping of limbs, low stress training bypasses limb snapping. Using a trellis and weaving the plant through is an example of low stress training. The added light in underexposed areas goes a long way for new flower development. One of the benefits of low stress training is that each flower site has the potential to become a large cola, which means high yields in relatively low plants.