What is Supercropping?

Smokin Moose

Smokin Moose

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
Supercropping is just a coined word for bush style growing. This style is most effective with lights of 600 watts or greater as they allow good penetration down the canopy. The "High Times" version of Supercropping involved using Maxi-Crop and Superthrive everytime you water.. I'll agree on the kelp but adding Superthrive for the whole life cycle is a waste.

The important part of the technique involves topping the plant-- cutting off the main grow shoot. When you grow bush style with clones it is important to top the plant very soon after the clone roots so that you provide a strong base where the branches start low on the trunk. I prefer to take the very first grow shoot on the clone and let the two beneath it grow instead. Then top those two shoots as soon as they have two nodes below them and so forth. Doing this will give you a beachball shaped plant that can even be grown 1-per-light Aussie Style.
 
Great lil factoid on the Super Cropping MM... I have never heard that one!
I have messed around through the years w/cropping, topping, lopping... ect ect.
These days, I prefer to use LST almost exclusively, it works very well for my needs and it seems to be less stress to acquire the desired results!
 
I am not too sure the above definition is correct. Supercropping is when you squeeze and bend over branches so that they will grow laterally before they grow up. You almost break the stem so that the branch is laid over at a 45 degree or more. If not enough pressure is used, then the branch will bend itself straight again. If too much is used then the branch may die as it doesnt have enough fibers to repair itself.

Some people say that supercropping slows down upward growth a little, as the plant is expending energy to repair itself. I am not sure if that is an accurate assessment, as I do it with some of my branches (to try to get the lower bud out into the light), and have not seen slowed growth. If anything it is helping the overall health of the plant, as the stems start to fatten up. I am not sure if the plant is becoming aware that the branches are breaking and therefor adding more bulk to them. I am far from a scientist, and that eludes the extent of my knowledge.

Here is a little video to show what I am talking about....

Medical Marijuana Cultivation 102: Super Cropping
 
Super-cropped Rocklock and you dont need a 600w to do it, this is from my 300W LED grow.
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Giovanni831 said:
I am not too sure the above definition is correct. Supercropping is when you squeeze and bend over branches so that they will grow laterally before they grow up. You almost break the stem so that the branch is laid over at a 45 degree or more. If not enough pressure is used, then the branch will bend itself straight again. If too much is used then the branch may die as it doesnt have enough fibers to repair itself.

Some people say that supercropping slows down upward growth a little, as the plant is expending energy to repair itself. I am not sure if that is an accurate assessment, as I do it with some of my branches (to try to get the lower bud out into the light), and have not seen slowed growth. If anything it is helping the overall health of the plant, as the stems start to fatten up. I am not sure if the plant is becoming aware that the branches are breaking and therefor adding more bulk to them. I am far from a scientist, and that eludes the extent of my knowledge.

Here is a little video to show what I am talking about....

Medical Marijuana Cultivation 102: Super Cropping
Click to expand...

nice video man...some good info
 
Alright, so when the plant is supercropped it basically allows more light to reach the lower portion of plant. This is get, but does this process effectively "tricK' the plant into thinking it is shorter than it really is? The reason is ask is this; I have been reading that the plants root size will match the above ground size. So does this process make the roots grow longer because the length of the stem above ground is contuining to grow, just more so laterally, or does it keep the roots as long as the highest vertical point?
 
Supercropping is about increasing the number of bud sites. Period. To do so, you must pinch, top, bend, or prune the plant from the top down. This transfers the plant's growth hormone to lower portions, so side branches start to take off. The top, where you fimmed, pinched etc. will generally develop 2,4 or more new main stems, resulting (in the best case scenario) in more colas. Some people believe this diminishes the main cola, which is true, however you can harvest much more sweet nugs per plant this way.


I recommend you do a Google on supercropping. It is not a simple, clear-cut method, but a series of different methods you may apply.

At the moment I am using a combo of topping, FIM, and Low Stress Training (LST) to increase my yield with a few Blueberry plants. One has 6 cola sites, just going into 12/12 now...can't wait to see/smell these beauties in a few weeks!
 
Here's a few pics of my BB crop. Note the many bud sites due to bending, topping, and using plastic stakes to keep lower branches down....sort of a poor-man's SCROG !

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i sure love this site,,, thanks for all the great info and great photo's,, and who says you can't teach a old dog new tricks????????
 
thats right supercropping your plant will give you more buds,it does this by bending then tying lateral branches down while giving the tiny brackets maximum sunshine..all the little budsites grow into thats right...buds...after awhile the branches will be heavy with buds...sticky and ready for their sweetness....
 
Giovanni831 said:
I am not too sure the above definition is correct. Supercropping is when you squeeze and bend over branches so that they will grow laterally before they grow up. You almost break the stem so that the branch is laid over at a 45 degree or more. If not enough pressure is used, then the branch will bend itself straight again. If too much is used then the branch may die as it doesnt have enough fibers to repair itself.

Some people say that supercropping slows down upward growth a little, as the plant is expending energy to repair itself. I am not sure if that is an accurate assessment, as I do it with some of my branches (to try to get the lower bud out into the light), and have not seen slowed growth. If anything it is helping the overall health of the plant, as the stems start to fatten up. I am not sure if the plant is becoming aware that the branches are breaking and therefor adding more bulk to them. I am far from a scientist, and that eludes the extent of my knowledge.

Here is a little video to show what I am talking about....

Medical Marijuana Cultivation 102: Super Cropping
Click to expand...

Sorry for updating by posting and also as a new user to the forum but this is the correct term of "Super Cropping" I think people were looking for as it can be confusing to read threw year old threads trying to figure it out. Its a quick video as op did a great job posting and responding. But it you don't watch the video you bend the plant with thumb and forefinger and squeeze til you hear the snap and bend it the way you want it to go. What this does is creates a band-aid type message to the broken stalk and tries to repair it creating a band-aid like knuckle. This increases the nutrient and water flow and also promotes side stalk growth as the plant prepares for it to die i guess? Aswell as it being lower then usual. But since your taking care of it, it doesn't and you get denser tops and manipulation of the plant is what i gained from it. If this info or my interpretation of this is wrong please let me know!

EDIT: I also stumbled on this page from the How to Grow Marijuana - Everything you need to know thread hence why im posting as new users such as myself read links that are years old and may or may not have the right info including new studies or methods that have developed and changed. Sorry if im stepping on toes!
 
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