What Is Cannabis Mainlining?
Mainlining cannabis is a growing technique that is done to encourage the plant to grow more than one large, elongated cola. Normally, many cannabis plants will only produce one large cola. By splitting the stem at a certain point in the growing process, you are essentially diverting nutrients to multiple branches of the plant to encourage cola production in more than one place.
The Benefits of Mainlining Cannabis
Primarily, mainlining cannabis is done in an effort to boost the overall yield when it comes harvest time. After mainlining, the plant may not produce the usual small “popcorn” buds, which can detract nutrients and growing resources from the main cola. Mainlining may also offer other benefits as well, however, such as increasing the size of the overall canopy of the growing plant and increasing yield with just a few plants.
How Cannabis Mainlining Is Done
One of the perks of cannabis mainlining is the fact that it is easy to do and only requires manipulating the plant a few times during its growing cycle. The key to successful mainlining is working with a plant that is already relatively healthy and mainlining at the right time during the grow.
Mainlining cannabis should be done once a healthy seedling has developed somewhere between five and eight nodes. To mainline you will first need to create a manifold, which involves:
- Cutting the plant with a pair of pruning shears down to about the third node
- Removing leaves from the stem below your freshly trimmed node (this will leave you with a stem and two leaves on top)
- Securing your remaining two leaf shoots with a tie to the edge of the pot to train them for horizontal growth
After doing this, you have created what is often referred to as a “central manifold.” This makes sure the nutrients from the cannabis plant’s roots are equally divvied out to both shoots from that third node.
For mainlining, you will need to wait a bit longer for that central manifold to grow new sets of leaves. Ideally, your manifold will have grown around four new sets of leaves, which will allow you to repeat the process from above and trim down to the third node on either side. However, this time, you won’t remove all leaves below that third nodule; you will be removing leaves stemming from node number two only. This will leave behind sets of leaves on node three and one. Once again, tie the remaining branches down, securing them to the side of your planter.
Related Glossary Terms for Mainlining Cannabis
Continue learning with these related glossary terms:
Related Blog Posts for Mainlining Cannabis
- Bucking and Trimming Cannabis Buds
- Harvesting And Drying Cannabis In A Commercial Grow Operation
- 6 Proven Ways To Increase Your Cannabis Yields [Commercial Growers Only]
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