The Quadsquad Thread: A Community For Quadlining

As quadlining has become bigger and bigger on these forums I have seen that anyone interested in it has been able to receive the help they need on their own journals. Recently I have decided that it would be really fun to have a quadlining thread where people can come together and share their experiences and cool pictures. Some people also don't have journals so this will help provide a home where anyone can ask any questions they want. The #Quadsquad has some of the top growers on the forums and this will be a place where people can ask questions, learn about quadlining and just have some fun with it. This thread will be anything and everything about quadlining.

First of all let me start off by saying Happy 420 to everyone here! What better day to start a thread then on the best day of the year? Second, I will give a little history about quadlining and then a quick step by step guide on how to perform quadlining and the benefits of it.

Quadlining started a couple of years ago when I was trying to come up with a training method to get a good, low, even shape to the plants without slowing them down too much. Fluxing took way too long to perform and Mainlining also took a long time in veg to accomplish. Neither seemed like good fits for what I was trying to achieve. Instead I took a combination of both training methods and made quadlining. I've always said it isn't rocket science and it isn't anything brand new but I've put them together and created a system to allow aggressive growth without slowing the plants down much at all. It redistributes energy to focus on 4 main support branches and tries not to waste energy on things that will not amount to anything in the end. It also achieves a nice, even canopy with good spacing for airflow and light to penetrate decreasing the chance of mold and problems while increasing yield. Keeping them low also allows for growing in tight spaces or with height restrictions like most indoor growing. These were all the goals I wanted to achieve and quadlining does just that.

So what do you do to quadline? In a short summary to quadline you top above the 4th node of a plant and remove nodes 1 and 2. That leaves with you 2 nodes left on the plant (nodes 3 and 4). These nodes each have 2 branches each and you take those 4 branches (2 nodes and 2 branches each) and train them to the edge of the pot creating a perfect "X" shape for all the other nodes to grow off of. These will also have the 4 main colas at the end of them (or towers as some people have dubbed it)

Where the circles are at on this photo was where the 4 nodes originally were. Just to clarify there are 2 branches that come out of each node. The bottom two nodes (4 branches) were stripped away very carefully The plant is at such a young time take extra precaution when pinching or cutting them off!
Here is a photo where I was helping someone before the nodes were pulled off. The X's show what is being removed. The line is where you top at.
This is a plant I grew where I have stripped but not yet topped.
This is the same plant but now topped.
This is the same plant a day or two later.
This is the same plant a few days after that.

At this point there has been nothing else done to plants. Most people will just top their plants and the only difference between that and this is that I strip away the bottom 2 nodes to force all the energy to grow out the 4 main branches left. To me this is a very important step. In my experiences it's been a waste of energy to let all that stuff below grow and it doesn't even produce much in the end. If you want you can also spread the tips out with your fingers a bit which is really hard to show but here is a picture anyways. This can help keep node spacing tighter and give a little more light in there when things get a little bushy and bunched up.

Here is how I spread the middle nodes out a bit. Just some light bending and spreading.

At this point I've already put the plant through enough stress that I really don't want to clip anything else off or bend anything. It's not a ton of stress but they are little so you don't want to over-do it. I always like to strip the bottom two nodes a day or two before topping to give the plant a little time to recover. Doing everything all at the same time can cause extra delay and we don't want that. Also if you are growing multiple plants then I highly recommend to do each one when they are ready and not on a planned schedule. Different genetics grow at different rates and you should always do things to your plants based on how they look and not based on a scheduled time frame. If you are growing multiple plants then rarely can you strip and top at the same time. That means they all have to be at the exact same spot and that will rarely happen, especially if they aren't all the same genetics. Also it is key to note that if you are growing in soil, this could all take a little longer to recover then if you are growing in Coco or Hydro. If someone growing in Coco has a plant that recovers quicker and is larger, well that is just the nature of growing in a hydro medium. Doing any training or topping in soil will always take a little longer to recover and usually plants just aren't as big in soil as they are in Hydro. You will still have beautiful plants but you might be wondering why they don't look as big as someone else's plants and really it's as simple as genetics or growing medium.

Next, as the plants grow larger and start to really pick up the pace in veg, I will use my fingers to bend the 4th nodes branches to let the 3rd nodes branches catch up to them. Sometimes a plant will do this naturally but there is an in between stage where plants are still to fragile to really be tied down so I just slowly bend that top node with my fingers to start getting the branches to grow horizontally. Here is also a key to note. There are certain hormones (auxins) that aid in regulating plant growth. If a branch is growing completely horizontally then it sends different hormones to that branch then if it was growing completely vertical. When you start pinning down branches you always want to keep them tied down to the point where there is a 10-20% grade to them and not completely flat. If you don't do this then the 4 main branches will slow way down with growth and the middle will explode and you want to keep everything nice and even. It is hard to recover from this once the 4 main branches really slow down.

I don't have a great picture to show this angle but you can see that the branches are not completely horizontal in this picture and do have some angling to them.

So once the plant really kicks it into aggressive veg mode then it is time to tie them down. There are numerous ways to do this but the way I do it is with metal hooks and tomato wire. Some people who use hard pots drill holes and use string. Other use those fuzzy ties. There are all sorts of ways to do it but find something that will be fairly sturdy so the plant doesn't pull them out. Training ties are no good if they can't hold the plant into place. Also try and refrain from using small metal wire or things of that nature. As the plant grows the thin, hard wires can cut into the plant and then the plant is wasting energy constantly repairing those wounds. It's also good to note that a plant will get bigger and stronger and sometimes will require multiple ties to hold down a single branch.

This is where the fluxing part of the plant comes in. Once a plant starts getting tied down then you keep all 4 branches even until they all reach the edge of the final pot. While they are aggressively growing but haven't reached the edge yet the plants will get very bushy and require some defoliation. This allow even light distribution so all the new nodes growing off the mains will start to grow. Periodically during this phase I will clip off the fan leaves the point to the center of the plant that block all the new nodes light. You can usually do them all at once and you will often pull them in sets of 4. You pull 1 fan leaf from the same spot on each of the 4 main branches.

This is an example of a leaf that will need to be pulled because it is blocking the node under it's light. The leaves that face towards the outside of the pot very rarely block anything so I don't pull them. The ones facing the middle I get rid of.

The next step that I take and you do not have to do this but on every other node on the 4 main branches I remove the bottom branch. All of the odd nodes will be nice and even and grow out the sides of the main branch when it's pinned down but all the even nodes will grow a branch on top and one on bottom. The one on bottom never catches up to the canopy and ends up being "larfy" nugs. They never get dense enough and that is due to not getting enough light penetration. So I remove the bottom branch and the fan leaf associated with it. I also remove the top fan leaf because it blocks light. In the end this really helps with spacing anyways but if you do not want to do this you do not have to.

The arrow points to the node I remove on the bottom. you can see I've already removed the fan leaf on top. I do this pretty much the whole way through veg or at least until I really start letting the plant grow vertically.

Once the plant is trained to the edge of the pot it should look something like this. In this picture the plants were not in their final homes yet so when I transplanted them into their final homes they were practically ready to be flipped. I always try to transplant earlier then this but everyone does that differently. This was just a good example of how the plants should look in terms of symmetry with the quadline. You can see that nice "X" shape that the 4 main branches make. At this point I would just start letting the plant grow vertically then I would flip to flower.

During stretch I try and keep the plant as even as possible by using the ties and doing some bending/supercropping. You can pinch the stems of branches to slow the growth down a bit. You will feel the cell walls squish in but don't do it so hard the branch falls over. Just enough to cause a little damage to have to repair so that cola slows down a bit. I keep all ties on the plant until the very end of stretch and at that point if they aren't doing anything anymore (aka when you remove them the plant doesn't move at all) I pull them off. You can keep them on for all of flower if you like but you'll find the plant has hardened and taken shape and most of the time they don't contribute to anything anymore. At this point you can do some defoliation right after stretch to open the airflow up and light penetration. During this defoliation I will remove any small or weak branches that I know won't make it to the canopy. I also lollipop each cola as the bottom stuff doesn't get much light. Then you pretty much just let them grow out the rest of the way into some big, beautiful, bushy plants.

Just flipped to 12/12.
Stretch.
Little budlets forming.
Colas stacking and major defoliation done between budlet phase and stacking phase. Usually this is where I pull the ties off and the plants just grow from here on out. Not much else can be done training wise and you want to avoid any stress in flower anyways.
View from above.
Colas.
Almost finished.
Trimmed from above.
Sideshot showing lollipopping and thickness of colas.

Really the flowering phase of quadlining is pretty boring but you get to see all the training pay off in the end. You can see in the last picture how nice a big the colas get and how even everything pretty much stays. Both of these working together is what gives a larger yield which is why most people train their plants in the first place. By doing quadlining you aren't adding more then a week extra in veg then if you would just do them normal and you don't have to worry about any height restrictions. Fans are able to blow air to all of the plant because it is nice and even. There isn't a huge, taller cola blocking the way to the others. Same thing goes for light. The 4 main branches also are very stable and will be able to support the heavier colas without them flopping over. Sometimes you have to tie a cola or two up but these plants are like rhinoceroses. Short, stocky and strong.

This thread is created to be able to ask questions or just plain showoff what your quadlined plants look like. The #Quadsqaud OGs (my top quadliners @Derbybud @DobeWan @Mr. Magoo @Dutchman1990 ) will be here to help as well and I look forward to having all people trying quadlining all in one thread finally! If you do Quadline, throw a #Quadsquad tag up in your signature. Let's see what you all are doing with this fun training method! Lastly, this would have never came to be without these great forums here at 420 Magazine so a big thank you to all the moderators and people who make this thing run. All the information I've ever used for growing has come from this site and this site only. Quadlining is a 420 Magazine original and I'm proud of that!
 
Just a few more of my favorite pictures from grows I've had with quadlining.

The very first quadline. An Aurora Indica by Nirvana seeds.
White Rhino training.
White Rhino finished.
Chemdawg training. Must have taken the ties off for the picture but nowadays I never take them off until stretch is over.
Chemdawg from above.
Chemdawg finished.
Auto Cherry Bomb Quadlined.
Purple Envy Quadlined.
Jack Herer Quadlined.
Tent of 4 different plants all looking about the same even though they are all different strains.
Thick stalks to support big colas!
Double Berry Quadlined.
Girl Scout Cookie Quadlined (Pulled 8 oz). Sometimes the 4 main branches stretch way more then the others creating a shape like this. Often times happens with really strong sativas. Still a great result in the end.
Tangerine Dream Quadlined. This one filled a 4x4' tent and I just chopped her down. Ended up with about 18oz from her. Instead of vegging 5 weeks like I normally do with plants, I vegged her 8 weeks. The best plant I've ever Quadlined.

I encourage anyone who has quadlined to say hello and throw a couple pictures up of their favorite quadline moments in their own grows.
 
Thanks for this, @Asesino85, a really helpful and informative articulation of the process. Also wanted to say thanks once again to you and the others in the quad squad for all support and encouragement on my first grow. Hoping that I will flip to 12/12 within the next few days!
 
Good looking stuff DV! Can't wait to see those 3 get topped and going. Got to be soon right?
Yes soon.
I'll clear the first two nodes then let it recover before I Quadline them. They are Photoperiod so I have plenty of time.
 
Yes soon.
I'll clear the first two nodes then let it recover before I Quadline them. They are Photoperiod so I have plenty of time.
Training in general is better for Photoperiods in my opinion. I like being in full control and if something drastic goes wrong it doesn’t make the plants go right away into flower.
 
Training in general is better for Photoperiods in my opinion. I like being in full control and if something drastic goes wrong it doesn’t make the plants go right away into flower.

In my limited experience, I agree! Would have liked a little more time with my current auto before she decided to flip on me!
 
Subbing in, got a ghost toof from mephisto and a sour stomper waiting to pop more nose so I can join the #quadsqaud
Those will be fun to watch. Welcome aboard canny!
 
I wanted to bring up a topic for discussion here. Removing shoots from our 4 main branches. We all remove the ones that come from the bottom I believe. But I know some of us thin them out even more as the life cycle progresses. We remove the shoots that are thinner and weaker. My hope is that maybe by discussing this as we go that maybe we can find a pattern. For example, if we find that we are consistently removing the 2nd top shoot from the upper branches because we notice after the stretch that it just isn’t gonna be very productive, then maybe we could remove it much earlier and free up all the energy that went into making that branch to be used elsewhere. Hope that doesn’t sound too confusing. Lol. I wouldn’t mind tracking this data if you guys are willing to share the info with me.
 
Hedzenmedz – 1stTime Quadlining Early Girl (Auto) & Gorilla

Hi Folks,
I have been observing Mr. Magoo, Dutchman 1990 and Asesino85 and the quadline grow method for a while. I have been intrigued with the whole quad line/manifold growing method. I have had some success with LST training (see photos of Sensi Star x 2 and Durga Mata 2 CBD X 2). Also, I am going to try to manifold a couple of plants in the near future.
Please note the photos of 1-Early Girl auto and 1-Gorilla photo period. I have followed Asesino85’s advice and firstly I removed the first 2 sets of true leaves, let the plants recover for 2 days and then topped above the fourth node. I waited another two days to start the tie downs. My question is – I don’t feel as if I have correctly done the tie down part and I’m not sure how to move forward with necessary defoliation. Please have a look at the photos and hopefully help with some guidance as to what needs to be done better.
420 post Gorilla.jpeg
Gorilla 2.jpeg
Early Miss.jpeg
Early Miss side view.jpeg
Optic 8 Tent.jpeg
 
Hedzenmedz – 1stTime Quadlining Early Girl (Auto) & Gorilla

Hi Folks,
I have been observing Mr. Magoo, Dutchman 1990 and Asesino85 and the quadline grow method for a while. I have been intrigued with the whole quad line/manifold growing method. I have had some success with LST training (see photos of Sensi Star x 2 and Durga Mata 2 CBD X 2). Also, I am going to try to manifold a couple of plants in the near future.
Please note the photos of 1-Early Girl auto and 1-Gorilla photo period. I have followed Asesino85’s advice and firstly I removed the first 2 sets of true leaves, let the plants recover for 2 days and then topped above the fourth node. I waited another two days to start the tie downs. My question is – I don’t feel as if I have correctly done the tie down part and I’m not sure how to move forward with necessary defoliation. Please have a look at the photos and hopefully help with some guidance as to what needs to be done better.
420 post Gorilla.jpeg
Gorilla 2.jpeg
Early Miss.jpeg
Early Miss side view.jpeg
Optic 8 Tent.jpeg
Hello Hed and welcome to the thread! I think the ties are fine but if you wanted to get more of that classic "X" shape I'll throw in my 2 cents. I never really bothered to tie down the big fan leaves but you can to keep them out of the way if they seem to be blocking things. The one thing I would say is to maybe try and get them a little more flatter in general and have a little less of a "bow" to them. Moving the ties a little further down the stalk towards the center of the pot might help or if you have another set of ties you could just add some more ties towards the center of the plant. Just be very careful as you would hate to have a branch snap. If the branch really resists don't force anything and only adjust a small steady amount at a time rather then pushing hard all at once.

I searched through tons of pictures and apparently I am very bad about taking sideshots of littler plants but came across this one that kind of works. See how the branches are pretty horizontal but that have just a slight incline to them rather than a bow shape? These do have the double ties I was referring to and have done a couple times myself. One tie kind of holds the sturdier part of the plant down and the outer one acts as a guide to try and keep the branch relatively flat and straight.

They look good to me. I would give them a bit of time to see if those center bud sites catch up to the outers. Once that happens you can see better what to trim. Give them 5-7 days where they are. Nice job for a first timer.

Also what this guy says in terms of defoliation. If things aren't really being blocked, no reason to remove them so just watch them grow and see what seems to be getting in the way. I would really do very limited defoliations to the auto plants.
 
I wanted to bring up a topic for discussion here. Removing shoots from our 4 main branches. We all remove the ones that come from the bottom I believe. But I know some of us thin them out even more as the life cycle progresses. We remove the shoots that are thinner and weaker. My hope is that maybe by discussing this as we go that maybe we can find a pattern. For example, if we find that we are consistently removing the 2nd top shoot from the upper branches because we notice after the stretch that it just isn’t gonna be very productive, then maybe we could remove it much earlier and free up all the energy that went into making that branch to be used elsewhere. Hope that doesn’t sound too confusing. Lol. I wouldn’t mind tracking this data if you guys are willing to share the info with me.
I think this is a great idea and I'll contribute to this when I get my next grow going. I never really have payed attention to it to date. I think it's a great topic and might find some similar things across the board.
 
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