Hows & Whys Of Supercropping

What about doing stuff like this ?
 

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Howdy gang! Here is a pic of my most recent AK-47 after harvest where you can see all the bending and branching:
full


This plant produced 242 grams / 8.54 oz dry.


Now let's take a closeer look at the supercrops on a single branch:

The first bend added a second top.
The second bend added another.
The third bend added another.
The fourth bend added two more.
And the fifth bend added one more after that.

Had I not supercropped, I would have had one top. With five bends I ended up with seven tops. Multiply this by the 10 or so branches I had in the end and you can see why I supercrop!
Howdy gang! Here is a pic of my most recent AK-47 after harvest where you can see all the bending and branching:
full


This plant produced 242 grams / 8.54 oz dry.


Now let's take a closeer look at the supercrops on a single branch:

The first bend added a second top.
The second bend added another.
The third bend added another.
The fourth bend added two more.
And the fifth bend added one more after that.

Had I not supercropped, I would have had one top. With five bends I ended up with seven tops. Multiply this by the 10 or so branches I had in the end and you can see why I supercrop!
Hi @inthe Shed. This is a very helpful view (I think). So it looks like you bent four of them to the left and #3 to the right?
 
What about doing stuff like this ?
Hard to tell in the pink light but it looks like you wrapped a wire to tighten the bend? Can see a problem with that if the plant doesn't mind!
Hi @inthe Shed. This is a very helpful view (I think). So it looks like you bent four of them to the left and #3 to the right?
Coulda been! I just try to bend into an empty space at the time. I just bent one of my Carnival tops out and then tied it left to fill a gap.
 
Hi Shed and folks. I’m dropping back to update on this supercrop and bend on the pure sativa just entering flower - Purple Satellite.

It had a very compromised veg period, growing up during the apocalypse and I’m pleased to report that it has recovered brilliantly. Here’s some pics taken since the supercrop day on Feb 5 (pictured above), up until yesterday. :)

I was primarily aiming to trigger 2 lower side shoots (front and back) into a bit of aciton and they responded very well, the back one reaching higher that the 2 previously main branches and some of the other lowers coming up to join the party as well. I’m super happy with the shape now - I think it looks beautiful and rangey, just how I like ‘em :cheesygrinsmiley: So it’s taught me something about the shape of this plant before flower and what happens to it.




The heavily supercropped branch.




Also the supercropped branch.


and yesterday... because the light was nice :ganjamon: It’s 6-and-a-bit weeks into flower.
7A5DC73C-FB08-4539-B84E-BE9DA3563FD3.jpeg


Nexrt year same but bigger!

thanks so much for this Amy. It is very helpful for my visualization of the results of bending! I’ve got four like yours (though they’ve not been thru as much) and am eager to start. I did do an initial bend this morning that was a litttttlle too far but I think it should be okay. Great job on that plant!
 
Here is my first shot at supercropping C#3. I’ve only bent two branches but they have responded well. I was thinking of bending the one coming up in the center but it’s awful thin. There are also a lot of leaves in there, should I trim some away from the bent areas? Opinions or suggestions (Other than improve my pictures -working on that)? Thank you.
 

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Here is my first shot at supercropping C#3. I’ve only bent two branches but they have responded well. I was thinking of bending the one coming up in the center but it’s awful thin. There are also a lot of leaves in there, should I trim some away from the bent areas? Opinions or suggestions (Other than improve my pictures -working on that)? Thank you.
I try to get them as close to 90º as possible unless you're just bending then to keep them away from the light. If you want new tops to grow out you need the plant to think that the top is gone by having it level with the ground. If they're going to flop below 90º (and they're too far off the soil to support from below), I run a BBQ stick from below the bend to above the bend and tape it in place, like the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

I'd let the plant recover a bit before thinning, but if a leaf is blocking the lower site that you want to take off after the crop then snip that off.
 
I try to get them as close to 90º as possible unless you're just bending then to keep them away from the light. If you want new tops to grow out you need the plant to think that the top is gone by having it level with the ground. If they're going to flop below 90º (and they're too far off the soil to support from below), I run a BBQ stick from below the bend to above the bend and tape it in place, like the hypotenuse of a right triangle.

I'd let the plant recover a bit before thinning, but if a leaf is blocking the lower site that you want to take off after the crop then snip that off.
:thanks: They were actually at/past 90 degrees and I panicked a bit. I feel a little more comfortable doing it after two tries. I will definitely bend all of them and ensure the 90 degrees. I just got a “good” set of lights so they are gonna hopefully start to thrive with all this attention. :)
 
I did all four Dosidos main tops only .
I would leave the leaves alone for a bit .
That thumbnail pic is a problem for my iPhone won’t give me the full pic ,I’ll look on the pc when I get home



Thank you WH! I’m going to go for it on all of them. The one I started was topped early on so I had two main branches to work with. I have another one that I topped poorly and ended up with three main stems so I guess that’s a good thing now? I will post picks once I’ve gotten them done. Thank you again for the response!:Namaste:
 
Hey Shed , just dropped by the thread to see if anything changed from last year. Between the Super-Cropping and the LST our plants were greatly manipulated and all for the good. I just stared my new grow and am waiting to start with qaudlining them then on to LST and Super-Cropping. Good to see your name again!
 
When you guys super-crop do you typically just bend down the top? I saw a method called super-cropping that involved doing the same thing up top but was combined with "bending and twisting" of the stems, going all the way down, twisting every few inches. Basically you grab the stem with two hands and twist in opposite directions, like you're wringing out a wet towel. You do this gently until you can feel/hear the inside of the stem break a bit. I tried it out last night on my Knockout plant and it was definitely a bit scary but I didn't damage the plant doing it and it's supposed to create "knuckles" at each twist.
 
I think I've seen a video on that. It may have other benefits for the plant, but it doesn't replace supercropping as we're describing it here. Twisting and breaking the fibers alone won't produce more tops, allow light to areas shaded by upper growth, or keep your stems away from the lights!

Whether that technique is helpful is something you might know by the time you harvest though. :)
 
I think I've seen a video on that. It may have other benefits for the plant, but it doesn't replace supercropping as we're describing it here. Twisting and breaking the fibers alone won't produce more tops, allow light to areas shaded by upper growth, or keep your stems away from the lights!

Whether that technique is helpful is something you might know by the time you harvest though. :)

I agree, I'm going to try it along with the bending of the tops and see what the results are. The stems are already pretty sturdy but it doesn't hurt to bulk them up a little more :)
 
I agree, I'm going to try it along with the bending of the tops and see what the results are. The stems are already pretty sturdy but it doesn't hurt to bulk them up a little more :)
Massage the stem nicely each direction and make sure its nice and soft before u bend it to avoid snapping the branch
 
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