Experienced growers, I could use some input on my mainlining attempt. It has been a week of growth since I pruned the two main branches, and they are growing quite a lot. I have topped the main stem at the third node and defoliated below. I then later prunned the side branches at the 3rd node and trimmed the 2nd node, leaving 1st and 3rd, and gently coaxed the side stems down for training.
The big chop:
A week of growth (leaf specs are from foliar spray with lights on):
How am I doing? What’s my next steps for trimming or training? Thanks in advance!
To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour.
― William Blake
This mainline technique you are using is new to me. I’m my traditional Nugbuckets style trainer so in that style the two remaining branches would be topped just past the first sidebranches and then top the 4 remaining nodes again after the first node to create 8 tops all equal distance from the main stalk. Kind of like this:
I can’t see the other nodes in the picture to mark the cuts but you can see what I’m after.
The original theory was to give each top the same path from the roots to maximize each main. There’s tons of modified mainlines around and lots of them work great. I’d just recommend ending with 8 mains with little or no sucker growth and a nice lollipop once it’s set buds.
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im_sparky Topic starter
January 16, 2022 7:40 pm
@Monkeydo, Just to clarify, each side branch has two stems growing out (numbered in yellow). Am I correct in understanding that each of these should be allowed to grow (4 stems growing), then topped again to split each into two stems (8 stems growing)? Thanks again for the help!
monkeydo January 16, 2022 8:40 pm
It looks like you are labeling the leaf as a stalk. There is no growth node on leaves so their stem does not count. If you cut just past your #1 node, you should get 2 buds to sprout from each node there. Cut leaving the nodes on the plant and the 2 growth nodes there will create the final branches for the colas. It feels wrong to do this the first time or two but the plants can handle it just fine.
Thanks very much, @monkeydo. I was trying to follow the directions on the Royal Queen seeds how-to page (How To Mainline Cannabis Plants), but it is very basic and the photos show techniques that differ from their description. Your info is helpful. 
To see a World in a Grain of Sand, And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand, And Eternity in an hour.
― William Blake
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