I super crop if the stalk or stem is going to grow close to or even into the lights. The others have covered the basics on how to do it and what the knuckle will look like within a week or two as it heals.
There is a bonus and this bonus is why some growers would supercrop even if the plant was not growing into the lights. Once the stem has been bent over the plant starts to consider all the buds along the horizontal section to be dominant growing tips. Within days the end bud and the others will all start to grow pointing up. They all will be sharing the flowering hormones, nutrients, sugars and what not instead of only the top bud getting the majority.
Instead of the top bud growing 9 inches it might only grow 2 or 3 but then the other ones are also growing 2 or 3 inches so it becomes a win-win situation. The plant stays out of the lights and there is no loss in overall harvest weight or quality.
@013's graphics reminds me that little basic diagram might give an idea of what I am talking about.
One suggestion to keep in mind is that you are in charge. Squeeze the stem, pinch it, bend it over and if the woody material in the center cracks then it is what it is and the plant will survive. Sometimes the bark will split and the vast majority of the time that split will run parallel to the up and down direction of the stem. The tissue underneath the bark that the waters, starches and nutrients use to get from the top to the roots and vice versa is still intact.
There is a bonus and this bonus is why some growers would supercrop even if the plant was not growing into the lights. Once the stem has been bent over the plant starts to consider all the buds along the horizontal section to be dominant growing tips. Within days the end bud and the others will all start to grow pointing up. They all will be sharing the flowering hormones, nutrients, sugars and what not instead of only the top bud getting the majority.
Instead of the top bud growing 9 inches it might only grow 2 or 3 but then the other ones are also growing 2 or 3 inches so it becomes a win-win situation. The plant stays out of the lights and there is no loss in overall harvest weight or quality.
@013's graphics reminds me that little basic diagram might give an idea of what I am talking about.
