Hows & Whys Of Supercropping

i read through the top of pg 3 & hadn't seen it, yet. i tried this, with multiple strains, autos, photos n partial plants. the biggest lesson, for me, was- regardless of how prior to, or far into flower- eauch time/day of s.c.'ing, added a week to the finish- across the boards. could just as easily have topped, or f.i.m.'d, for same delay so beware. i scrog and sog, depending on development n space- & u can use these stress delays, to your advantage, when necessary, or- know they may not finish, together. some prefer turnover, some- bulk. hopefully, that helps both.
 
Any high-stress training you do to a plant will necessarily slow down the development. That's the difference between low stress and high stress techniques. Which is why many growers don't perform high stress training on autoflower plants, though many do.

You trade time for harvest size, which is pretty much standard across all photoperiod cannabis plants.
 
Good stuff Shed - well done for writing this up!

I did some Supercropping for the first time just a couple of days ago, my 2 girls were getting too stretchy and exceeding their stealth limits. I wish I perhaps started doing it at the beginning of stretch, as having done it now, squeezed and crushed and bent, it feels very straightforward and simple, plus the following morning everything looks happy.

Actually, I went out and did a few more this evening knowing by the morning they'll be looking recovered and pert.
:thumb::thanks:
 
Good stuff Shed - well done for writing this up!

I did some Supercropping for the first time just a couple of days ago, my 2 girls were getting too stretchy and exceeding their stealth limits. I wish I perhaps started doing it at the beginning of stretch, as having done it now, squeezed and crushed and bent, it feels very straightforward and simple, plus the following morning everything looks happy.

Actually, I went out and did a few more this evening knowing by the morning they'll be looking recovered and pert.
Nothing wrong with pert! Glad to hear it's helping to keep your plants under the radar. :)
Massive fan of super cropping outdoors. Great write up and explanation Shed.
Thanks Lerugged!
 
SC'ing is a very useful tool to have in your box, nice write up iTS.

I hope you don't mind if I add some of my experience...I grow in a crawlspace, under the house, which is 6' from dirt to ceiling joists, so I've been sc'ing out of necessity... and the torture part is kinda fun too, lol!

I'm a geezer, and hand strength isn't what it used to be, so pinching can be a chore. I found that gently squeezing the stalk perpendicular to the way I want it to fall, then squeezing again at 90°, and doing that repeatedly seems to cause the least damage, and shock.

When that doesn't work, vice grips or channel locks (pump pliers) set to the lightest squeeze possible, are great used in the same manner. I put some tape on the plier's jaws to pretend I'm being gentle.

I learned a long time ago that if I'm going to scrop, don't be a wuss, or I'd be doing it over, and over, and over! Snap, crackle, pop, lol!

Finally, I started using clips made from rubber coated garden wire. Hook one end around the part you want to stay horizontal, then the other back to the upright stalk. Sort of like your binder tip. Anyway, I've found it to be really nice when I do remember to tie them down. Besides keeping the tips from popping back up, it also supports if it's hanging too low.

I feel comfortable sc'ing 2 weeks after the flip, at least just before stretch is finished, and really have never seen that it's slowed anything down... unless I break something off.

I do like the way you sc the lowers out of the way, that's a nice one!
 
High Shed and other HST supercroppers. How late is it ok, or inadvisable, to supercrop a branch?

I just did it to one that is just in the early flower stretch so i suppose i will find out soon enough if it was a bad idea. I topped this Purple Satlelite too late and it’s juts shooting these 2 long top shoots and only one real side shoot (which I snapped this morning, and hopefully fixed).

I supercropped one of those top shoots just to see and didnt check in here first to see if it was maybe a bd time to do it. Timing is all out of whack anyway so i figure i might as well experiment. It just started flowering properly about 4days ago (as in showing pistils in the tops)

(Disclaimer: for those who don:t know - this plant has lived through fire and smoke and heat waves and cold snaps and 80kph winds and long periods with no sun... so while it looks pretty scraggly, it’s amazing it still is at all. ;) )

A567AFBE-E56C-4CF8-8CA9-F7F74C9C4E60.jpeg


Maybe I’ll bend and train the other one to see how each of them responds.

Whadd’ya think? Is it too late for that kind of supercrop? :hmmmm:

:Namaste:
 
I guess we'll find out for this plant anyway!

It looks a bit over bent to me (beyond 90º), which makes me concerned about the constriction of the internal nutrient pathways while it tries to knuckle up.

Are you hoping it will generate new tops from the branching above the bend? That will really depend on how much stretch is left for it a month and a half past the solstice. Also, as it still has an "apical" stem above it, the plant may not put as much energy into the bent one.

Just thinking out loud here.
 
Yeah - that‘S good out-loud thinking. :)
That other stem is the other branching from the (late) topping i gave it.

OK - past 90º is bad... i had a thought about that at the time. I can easily go out and prop it up. I think i will. :thumb:

I’ll bend the other one over and see. They only just started flowering. Stretch only kicked in in the last week I’m pretty sure.

Like you say, we’ll find out :popcorn:
 
Yeah that good out loud thinking.
That other stem is the other branching from the (late) topping i gave it.

OK - past 90º... i had a thought about that at the time. I can easily go out and prop it up. I think i will. :thumb:

I’ll bend the other one over and see. They only just started flowering. Stretch only kicked in in the last week I’m pretty sure.

Like you say, we’ll find out :popcorn:
This week I carried out supercropping to my 2 Quadlined girls, they are on a balcony and to keep the appearance of stealth I need to restrict their height. This was the first time I tried supercropping, I mostly carried out a measured squeeze/crush/bend on most branches, but on some I just wham bam and bent them. One, I bent 90 degrees and then decided I'd gone the wrong way so I bent it back to 90 degrees in the opposite direction, it took a bit more damage and looked a bit crook after that, and it took way longer than the rest to turn it's leaves the right way up etc, but after 2 or 3 days it did so and now looks completely fine and merry. I just wanted to say that, as I must have applied supercropping to about 25 branches, and altho immediately afterwards they looked a bit sick, but now 3 days later every single one of them is now looking happy and robust again.

Mine are near the end of stretching, they are still getting taller day by day but now must be very close, just days away I'd think to the end of stretching. Even tho your supercropped branch is hanging lower than level, the 'bend' is still only about 90 degrees and most likely will be fine altho you could support it a bit with a string to the fence behind if you wanted. And as Shed says you may want to balance out by doing the other branch that is now way higher. I probably would have bent/trained them to go horizontal left and right, along the fence behind.

As you said, that plant has been thru a lot, and I can see why with that adversity that you'd be wanting it get to the end.

All the best, and I hope the rain you guys are getting has dampened down a lot of the previous fire risks.
 
I probably would have bent/trained them to go horizontal left and right, along the fence behind.
Yeah youre right, and I thought about doing that. The only side branch would have been impacted for sun and space tho, had i done so.

I went back out to prop it up a bit and bent the other top branch over at the same time. So now it looks like this.
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Are you hoping it will generate new tops from the branching above the bend?
I suppose I kind of am. That’s what I was not sure about in terms of timing. It’s a pure sativa so I’m hoping it will have quite a bit more stretch in it yet. I’ve really (totally inadvertently) made a complete travesty of it’s shape! But it lives! It flowers!

All the best, and I hope the rain you guys are getting has dampened down a lot of the previous fire risks.
Thank you, very much :Namaste:
 
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