Cloudblood
New Member
Supercropping
What is Supercropping?
This type of training is known by many different names:
-Stem mutilation
-Stem pinching
-Crushing the herd
-Stem-smashing
-Leaning the stem over
Now, there are interesting theories, methods and discussions invovling both the science and application of this type of training.
All of them have the same general idea: mutilate the stem evenly around an area so that the stem bends over at a 90 degree angle. In this case, we aren't removing a piece of the plant, but rather damaging an area of the plant so that the angle of the branch changes.
The most common methodology for crushing the stem is to pinch the stem enough that it breaks and separates a bit. Then, turn your pinch by 90 degrees and pinch again. This will cause the tip of the plant to fall over at an angle.
Supercropping can be done during vegetative growth to achieve effects similar to LST. That is: the apical tip will be bent downwards once the branch has been pinched. This causes the plant to think that it needs to send new tips to grow towards the light source.
Supercropping can also be done during flower to keep those stretchy plants from burning themselves. There are plenty of examples of supercropping well into flower w/out having too adverse of an effect on the plant:
pic
Obviously, some strains will respond better than others. In addition, if you supercrop well into flower and you have some heavy budsites, you may find the stem has troubles supporting itself. Be smart about it and don't crush the stems too hard if you don't think the plant will grow out of it.
Now a few last things before I'm done...
First.. please remember to start out doing a few branches at first.. make sure your plant reacts ok to it.. some do better than others... its better to make sure first... but again, i have not grown any that react poorly...
Second.. if you tear the stem its ok.. you may get little rips that run vertically up the stem.. its alright if this happens.. your plant will be just fine... trust me.. it happens a lot..
Third... be gentle when you squeeze.. you may need to work it a little if the stem is thicker.. this is ok... if you are too rough you will break it off.. i have done that.. topping unwantedly is not a pleasant surprise...
Fourth... take your time at first... its nothing you need to rush.. get used to how the stem feels when it pops like you want it to.. how it feels when its softened enough to bend easily.. then build up your speed.. it can take a while to do a larger garden.. and you may want to hurry.. but patience is a virtue here...Don't hermie them by going nuts
Lastly... when the spot your super cropped heals up it will more than likely be a thick round ball in the middle of the stem.. this is good.. think of it like scar tissue that lets nutes pass up to bud sites like an expressway..
What is Supercropping?
This type of training is known by many different names:
-Stem mutilation
-Stem pinching
-Crushing the herd
-Stem-smashing
-Leaning the stem over
Now, there are interesting theories, methods and discussions invovling both the science and application of this type of training.
All of them have the same general idea: mutilate the stem evenly around an area so that the stem bends over at a 90 degree angle. In this case, we aren't removing a piece of the plant, but rather damaging an area of the plant so that the angle of the branch changes.
The most common methodology for crushing the stem is to pinch the stem enough that it breaks and separates a bit. Then, turn your pinch by 90 degrees and pinch again. This will cause the tip of the plant to fall over at an angle.
Supercropping can be done during vegetative growth to achieve effects similar to LST. That is: the apical tip will be bent downwards once the branch has been pinched. This causes the plant to think that it needs to send new tips to grow towards the light source.
Supercropping can also be done during flower to keep those stretchy plants from burning themselves. There are plenty of examples of supercropping well into flower w/out having too adverse of an effect on the plant:
pic
Obviously, some strains will respond better than others. In addition, if you supercrop well into flower and you have some heavy budsites, you may find the stem has troubles supporting itself. Be smart about it and don't crush the stems too hard if you don't think the plant will grow out of it.
Now a few last things before I'm done...
First.. please remember to start out doing a few branches at first.. make sure your plant reacts ok to it.. some do better than others... its better to make sure first... but again, i have not grown any that react poorly...
Second.. if you tear the stem its ok.. you may get little rips that run vertically up the stem.. its alright if this happens.. your plant will be just fine... trust me.. it happens a lot..
Third... be gentle when you squeeze.. you may need to work it a little if the stem is thicker.. this is ok... if you are too rough you will break it off.. i have done that.. topping unwantedly is not a pleasant surprise...
Fourth... take your time at first... its nothing you need to rush.. get used to how the stem feels when it pops like you want it to.. how it feels when its softened enough to bend easily.. then build up your speed.. it can take a while to do a larger garden.. and you may want to hurry.. but patience is a virtue here...Don't hermie them by going nuts
Lastly... when the spot your super cropped heals up it will more than likely be a thick round ball in the middle of the stem.. this is good.. think of it like scar tissue that lets nutes pass up to bud sites like an expressway..
