Cultivation & Plant Training

This page covers terms used for plant training and general growth-stage vocabulary in cultivation — the vegetative and flowering stages, common training techniques, and the plant-biology terms behind them.

apical dominance

The tendency of a plant's topmost growing point to suppress the growth of side shoots below it, using hormones produced at the tip. Removing or bending that tip (as in topping or LST) reduces the suppression and lets lateral branches grow more.

auxin

A class of plant hormone, produced mainly at growing tips, that directs processes such as cell elongation, root formation and the suppression of lateral bud growth. It moves downward through the stem in a concentration gradient, and it is the hormone responsible for apical dominance until that gradient is disrupted by pruning.

canopy

The upper layer of leaves and branches that a plant or group of plants forms, the part that intercepts most incoming light and shades everything growing beneath it. Its shape and density are what canopy-management techniques like defoliation or SCROG are used to adjust.

cola

The cluster of flowers that forms at the tip of a stem where multiple flower sites are close together, common across many flowering plant species. The term describes the plant's structure at that growing point, not a specific species or product.

crop steering

Adjusting irrigation timing, feed strength, humidity and temperature together, in a coordinated way, to push a crop's growth toward more vegetative or more generative (flowering) behavior. It treats the growing environment as a set of levers rather than fixed conditions.

defoliation

Removing selected leaves from a plant, usually older or shaded ones, to change how light and airflow reach the remaining canopy. It's carried out at specific points in vegetative or flowering growth rather than continuously, since leaves also feed the plant.

flowering stage

The growth phase in which a plant shifts from vegetative growth to producing reproductive structures. It begins when the plant receives the light or maturity cue needed to trigger flower formation, and internal nutrient demand and canopy management change accordingly during this window.

force flowering

Deliberately shortening the light period a plant receives to trigger the flowering stage ahead of when it would occur under the plant's current natural light schedule, rather than waiting for that seasonal shift to happen on its own. This is only relevant for photoperiod-sensitive species that respond to day length.

hardening off

Gradually exposing young plants raised in stable indoor or greenhouse conditions to outdoor conditions — light intensity, wind, temperature swings — over several days before full transplanting. The gradual exposure lets the plant's tissue adjust rather than being shocked by the sudden change.

High Stress Training (HST)

Training methods that involve cutting, splitting or otherwise wounding the plant's stems, such as topping or main-lining, to redirect growth in ways bending alone cannot achieve. These require a recovery period afterward before new growth resumes, unlike training methods that only bend stems.

light deprivation (light dep)

Covering plants growing under natural daylight with a light-blocking material for part of the day, to artificially shorten the light period a photoperiod-sensitive plant experiences, mimicking the shorter days of a later season, and trigger flowering earlier than the natural outdoor season would.

Low Stress Training (LST)

Bending and tying down stems, without cutting them, to spread the canopy horizontally and expose more growing tips to light. Because it doesn't wound the plant, it can be applied repeatedly throughout the vegetative stage with minimal recovery time between adjustments.

no-till

A growing method that avoids disturbing the growing medium between crop cycles, so root channels, organic matter layers and the soil's microbial community stay intact rather than being mixed or replaced each cycle, preserving structure built up over previous growing seasons.

node / internode

A node is the point on a stem where a leaf, branch or bud attaches; the internode is the stretch of stem between two nodes. Growers count nodes to judge a plant's stage and internode length to judge how much a plant has stretched.

overwatering

Applying more water than the root zone can hold and drain, so the medium stays saturated and air spaces around the roots fill with water instead of oxygen. Roots need oxygen as well as water, so prolonged saturation limits root function.

photoperiod

The length of the light period within a 24-hour cycle that a plant is exposed to. Many species use this ratio of light to darkness as the cue that separates vegetative growth from flowering, so changing it deliberately is how growers time the switch between the two stages.

photosynthesis

The process by which a plant converts light energy, water and carbon dioxide into sugars it uses for growth, releasing oxygen as a byproduct. It takes place mainly in the leaves and is the basic energy source behind all plant growth.

plant growth regulator (PGR)

A compound, natural or synthetic, that influences a plant's growth pattern — height, branching, flowering timing — by acting on the plant's own hormone signaling rather than by supplying nutrients. Effects and appropriate use vary by compound, species and application timing.

pre-flower

The first, small reproductive structures a plant produces at the very start of the flowering stage, before full flower development. Their appearance is often used to determine the plant's sex before flowering is well underway, since male and female structures differ visibly even at this early stage.

pruning

Cutting away stems, branches or shoots to shape a plant's structure or remove damaged growth. Unlike topping, which targets the main growing tip specifically, pruning can be applied to any part of the plant at various growth stages, often to improve airflow or remove diseased tissue.

revegging / re-vegging

Returning a plant that has entered the flowering stage back to vegetative growth, usually by extending the light period again after flowering has begun. It is a reversal of the normal one-way progression from vegetative growth to flowering, and new growth after reverting can look different from the plant's first vegetative stage.

root ball

The compact mass formed by a plant's roots together with the growing medium clinging to them, in the shape of the container or hole they grew in. It's what's handled, intact, when transplanting a plant to avoid disturbing the roots.

root bound / pot bound

A condition where a plant's roots have filled the available space in its container and begun circling along the inside wall, since they have nowhere else to grow. It's identified by lifting the plant and inspecting the root mass at the pot's edge.

root zone / rhizosphere

The region of growing medium immediately surrounding a plant's roots, where roots interact with water, nutrients, air and microorganisms. Conditions in this zone — moisture, oxygen, temperature — directly affect how well roots can take up water and nutrients, and how much oxygen reaches root tissue.

Screen of Green (SCROG)

A training method where a horizontal screen or net is placed above the canopy and growing stems are woven through it as they grow, spreading them into an even layer under the screen. This changes light distribution across the canopy rather than the plant's own branching pattern.

Sea of Green (SOG)

A growing method that uses many small plants placed close together, each grown to flower quickly with minimal vegetative time, so the combined canopy fills the space early. It relies on plant density rather than training individual plants to be large.

seed germination

The process by which a dormant seed resumes growth: it absorbs water, its outer coat softens, and the embryo inside begins developing a root and shoot. It marks the start of a plant's life cycle from seed, and conditions at this stage largely determine whether it succeeds.

sexing (plant sex identification)

Determining whether an individual plant is male, female or produces both types of flowers, based on the reproductive structures that appear at pre-flower or later. This matters for dioecious species where only one sex is wanted for a given purpose.

staking

Supporting a stem with a rigid pole or cane tied alongside it, used when a stem can't hold up its own weight — heavy flower clusters, thin stems, or wind exposure being common causes. The stake bears the load that the stem alone cannot.

stomata

Small pores on the surface of leaves, mostly on the underside, that open and close to control gas exchange: letting in carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and releasing water vapor and oxygen. Their opening also drives transpiration and is regulated by guard cells responding to light and humidity.

stretch (flowering stretch)

The rapid increase in stem height that many plants show in the early part of the flowering stage, before growth shifts fully toward flower production. Growers account for the coming height increase when they decide when to stop vegetative growth.

thinning

Removing some seedlings or stems from a group so the remaining ones have more space, light and root room. It is done early in a crop's life, before plants have grown large enough to compete significantly with each other for those same resources.

topping

Cutting off the main growing tip of a stem, removing the dominant shoot so the plant redirects growth into the lateral branches below the cut. It's done during the vegetative stage while enough nodes remain for the plant to recover and branch out.

training (plant training)

Any technique that changes a plant's shape or growth direction, physically or through pruning, rather than depending on the plant's natural growth habit. LST, HST, topping and SCROG are all examples of training methods, each suited to a different goal such as canopy width or light penetration.

transpiration

The movement of water from a plant's roots, through its tissue, and out through small pores in the leaves as vapor. This flow also carries dissolved nutrients upward through the plant and helps regulate leaf temperature, since evaporating water absorbs heat as it leaves the leaf surface.

transplant

Moving a plant from one growing container or location to another, typically into a larger pot or into the ground, as its root system outgrows the current space. Root disturbance during the move is what later growth has to recover from.

transplant shock

A temporary slowdown or wilting a plant shows after being moved, caused by root disturbance and the change in growing conditions around the roots. It typically resolves once the root system re-establishes contact with the surrounding growing medium and resumes normal water and nutrient uptake.

vegetative stage

The growth phase before flowering where a plant devotes energy to producing stems, leaves and roots rather than reproductive structures. It follows germination or rooting and lasts until a change in light duration or plant maturity triggers the shift to flowering. Feeding and pruning decisions in this phase target structural growth.