# "breaking" your stems?



## smokertoker (Jun 10, 2008)

Have you ever tried "breaking" you stems. I have been pinching, twisting and overall generally busting up my stems that will leed to bud sites later. Those bastards have been getting soo thick and exploding with growth throughout the whole branch. I highly recomend this method.


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

I have heard and seen something along these lines practiced, however, I cant say I would ever use it myself.

People also do this to supercrop.


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

The results are amazing! Try it one just one of your branches. I wish I had been doing this on my previous grows.


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

But whats this really doing for you, I mean what are the principles behind it other than just a big bulge where you fucked it up?


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

It has made the entire stem fat as fuck. My guess from there is that now the stems are super fat it is much easier for the nutrients to flow up that stem. Also, when it's time to flower that fat stem is very strong. It has no problems holding up the bud producing larger buds on those stems.

I started doing this bc my last grow I accidentally busted up one of my stems messing with my plants and that stem (one of the lowest branches) produced the biggest bud on the plant next to the cola. I am now seeing how growth is affected by doing this.


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## Dopalicious (Jun 11, 2008)

ganjagoddess said:


> But whats this really doing for you, I mean what are the principles behind it other than just a big bulge where you fucked it up?


distributing auxins throughout the plant for multiple large colas


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## brendon420 (Jun 11, 2008)

plants are like people, when they break something their body repairs it to be stronger, im watching my the results of pinching and bending and im loving it


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

So this would be something to do more so in veg than flower, as you dont want to divert energy away from budding?


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## marijuanajoe1982 (Jun 11, 2008)

Technically though, when a bone breaks and re-heals, it may be stronger(seems to me like the only bone I ever broke is now weaker/more prone to breaking, but since your argument rests on this I'll let it slide), but it may also have an increased mass due to scar-tissue build up. Can you be sure that the thicker branches arent just thick with scar tissue, and that the 'auxins' are actually now having to thread thier way through a mess of scarred tissue to reach those colas? Also I wonder if the extra stress could lead to hermie branches?

I want to be clear, I'm not saying this 'does' or 'doesn't' work. I don't know. I've never tried it so I don't want anyone to take this the wrong way. But SmokerToker, shouldn't you at least wait until you have seen with your own eyes wether or not the buds are bigger before you start reccomending anything? I mean, at least wait until you see that you are getting vigorous bud growth, and not just extra thick stems, right? This could very well work just fine, I don't know much about the science behind how a broken marijuana plant repairs itself, only that it is usually pretty good at it, lol. 

Anyway, the principles behind your theory of it being able to support more weight are very sound. This could even be a method to avoid having to stake strains like Big Bud and other high yeilders. I am not convinced one way or the other about your other theory, I think the jury is out on that one until it's nearing harvest time, for me at least. I've never seen this done before, only heard about it so if it works I am open to trying it


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

Theoretically the branches that grow bigger buds than the other could just be because the flow of nutrients and auxins to the other branches could be stunted by having to work there way through the scar tissue.

This could account for why you have bigger buds where you do this at, and smaller ones further up the plant.

So in essence you are stunting the overall growth of the plant branches above the pinch.

You could yeild more not doing so in my theory, and are hurting your overall yeild by doing this.

Just a theory, much like your theory of doing this helps.


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

This is not theory. Like I said I started doing this to all of my branches on this run after my last run I accidentally busted up one of my stems and that branch grew the biggest bud next to the cola and it was the lowest or one of the lowest branches.

The stems do grow extra thick from this, not just the scar tissue area. If it was just scar tissue area the only thickened areas would be the damaged areas. The new growth beyond the "damaged" areas grow with inhanced girth. From what I have seen no slowed growth occurs in the branches that you "damage". It is not like cutting a plant where it needs to close the wound at the point where most of the growth is occuring then continue to grow. Nutrients keep going past the damaged areas and the branch continues to grow at an increased rate from what I have seen.

Again the damaged branches are far from stunted. This is not similar to topping a plant. Nor is the rest of the plant stunted, from my experience.

Okay, I attached a couple of pics... The first two are just showing the over health of the plants. There are three plants there, @ 3 weeks into veg, approx. 28" (long in this case, I have them tied down). The last picture, you can see the damaged area on the lower part of the stem and the green new growth, see how fat the new growth is....

I take this method similar to a fan blowing on your plant. Is the fan stunting your plants growth??? Does the force from your fan make your plant thicker and stronger???


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## marijuanajoe1982 (Jun 11, 2008)

ganjagoddess said:


> Just a theory, much like your theory of doing this helps.


Are you doing this to all your plants? or are you doing it to just some so that you can compare results? Because unless you have a control to compare it to, your technique will remain a theory. Comparing to past harvests just isn't accurate, even if you don't think anything was different. I hope for the sake of science you at least left one or two decent one's untouched so you could make an actual comparison that would be able to refute the claims of nay-sayers were you proven to be correct by your findings. Please tell me you left at least one to compare.

When I do ANYTHING to a strain that I haven't worked with before, or a new thing to a strain I have grown before, I make sure to do some the regular way. For instance, some varieties respond very well to toppong, while others do not. for this reason I top a couple of each variety and leave the rest normal. That way I can compare their colas to ensure myself which way is better and which method I should use with any given species.  "PIPE TESTING IN PROGRESS"


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

Buddy I have previous grows to compair to. Pictures, notes you know the data. I don't need side by side comparison, I can get that from my data. The compairison I used before I did this on this grow was the one branch from my last grow and now the increased growth rates from this go around.

This is the same stain as my previous grow. Clones as a matter of fact...

Look buddy I'm not trying to argue with you. Try it if you want, don't try it if you don't want to. I'm just trying to share my success with everyone so maybe they can have the same results. But don't try to refute the results that I'm seeing, when you haven't even tried it.


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## NewGrowth (Jun 11, 2008)

Dopalicious said:


> distributing auxins throughout the plant for multiple large colas


Thats the exact priniciple behind it


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

here my argument in picture format...

All im saying is that maybe doing so, for the short while, the plant is impeaded in maximum uptake of nutrients.

I compare this to the flow of water going down a gutter of a sidewalk.
If you put a large rock in the waters flow, it pools around it, and the stream past that point is lessened.


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## Golden Ray (Jun 11, 2008)

I would not advise breaking branches for reasons that where already stated,but keep in mind it takes up to 2 weeks for a plant to restart growth when you alter it, in any fashion, this includes fim and topping. Never alter a plant 2 weeks before going into flower.


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## NewGrowth (Jun 11, 2008)

Nah GG the benefit is in the hormones released when the stems are broken nutrient pathways are repaired by the plant


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

gonjagoddess, I'm glad that you have an open mind to different possiblilites of what could be happening. If this where something that I didn't have application knowledge in I would take more from it, but I have seen just the opposite of what you are saying. If you would like I will post 4 day difference picture. Since I have my plants tied down it is pretty easy to see the growth of the branches. I have not been trying to "damage" the trunk of the plant, take that into account. I have been "damaging" as many of the braches I could. So you can see completly how unaffected or even increase in the growth rate.

Let me know if you would like to see.


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

NewGrowth said:


> Nah GG the benefit is in the hormones released when the stems are broken nutrient pathways are repaired by the plant


Im not arguing what is released just that doing so may have ill effects for the flow of water and nutes and hormones up the plant and result in less dense bud sites above the wound.

I equate all Buds below and at the node point of break to be a pooling that would result in bigger buds there, but not in the ones above it, which are consitent with his results.

I mean if you did this and saw bigger buds below the wound and at it, but not above it. One would think Oh this gets you bigger buds, when in fact he may be stunting the bud sites above the wound, and there would be no way to tell the difference.


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

smokertoker said:


> gonjagoddess, I'm glad that you have an open mind to different possiblilites of what could be happening. If this where something that I didn't have application knowledge in I would take more from it, but I have seen just the opposite of what you are saying. If you would like I will post 4 day difference picture. Since I have my plants tied down it is pretty easy to see the growth of the branches. I have not been trying to "damage" the trunk of the plant, take that into account. I have been "damaging" as many of the braches I could. So you can see completly how unaffected or even increase in the growth rate.
> 
> Let me know if you would like to see.



Absolutely More data the better! Like I said I have a theory and so do you!


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## NewGrowth (Jun 11, 2008)

Its possible I don't super crop myself so I don't know firsthand. I do know people who do it due to limited space and they get higher yield by doing it rather than not.


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

From my last plant the bud was above the busted up areas of the stem. I'll let you know my final weight per plant from these beautiful girls. Prob going to put them into flowering this weekend or next.


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

Without control though your data on yeild will mean nothing.

I equate this to the theory of "stem Splitting" or "Nail Splitting"

I took the following exerts from the following webpages:

totse.com | The Marijuana Grower's Guide

"
Tacks and Nails
Some growers hammer nails or tacks into the stems of plants several weeks before harvest. Many growers use long thick nails; others prefer to use several half-inch-long tacks. The nails are usually placed at the base of the stem. This is supposed to "increase potency." {Figure 72. Wilted plant. Unless watered it will die.}


Stem Splitting
This is a popular way to stress used by cultivators in the United States. The stem is split (not cut) at the base to from a space through the stem. Growers place a rock, small piece of wood, an old Cannabis stem, or piece of opium (in Africa) in the split. Sometimes the wound is bound with cloth or plastic. We don't recommend this procedure, and advise you to be careful not to kill the plants and ruin the harvest."
http://users.lycaeum.org/%7Esky/data/grow/c15.html


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## NewGrowth (Jun 11, 2008)

ganjagoddess said:


> Without control though your data on yeild will mean nothing.
> 
> I equate this to the theory of "stem Splitting" or "Nail Splitting"
> 
> ...


I have to agree with GG here informed skeptics think alike


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

Im here to healthy - i -ly debate growing techniques and come to informed conclusions, not to say Im right your wrong.

A good scientist calls everything a theory until the hypothesis is proven correct with unfallable data, that can be repeated with sucess by piers.


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## smokertoker (Jun 11, 2008)

go give it a try. That's the only way you'll be pleased.


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 11, 2008)

Noted...I'll give it a go on me next round of plants, thanks for discussing this growing technique with me.

BTW for my reference you do this in flowering or veg only, or both?


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

im reading the marijuana cultivation bible and there is an 'equation' in this book that say

Bigger Stems = Bigger Plant = Bigger Buds


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 12, 2008)

Does it say anything about purposlely Pinching the stem to get it to have to heal into a bigger stem, while possibly disrupting both energy use from the plant to heal, while increasing chance of shock, and possible Pheloem flow disruption?

No it doesnt, but thanks for the input of the obvious, buddddyyy.


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

as it states 
Simulating wind by providing a gentle breeze will help your 
stem grow strong to support the weight of the leaves and buds as the 
wind will cause small tears in the plants stem walls, tears that are 
repaired as the plant grows and provide strength to the main stem. 
Bigger, stronger stems = bigger, stronger plant = more & better buds.

i guess the same concept can be applied to super cropping yes??? no??? where is your 'evidence' twoard your 'theory'?


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

here is the link to download the book


Marijuana cultivation pdf book pdf-search-engine.com

go down to marijuana cultivation bible
good read


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 12, 2008)

> as it states
> Simulating wind by providing a gentle breeze will help your
> stem grow strong to support the weight of the leaves and buds as the
> wind will cause small tears in the plants stem walls, tears that are
> ...


So in essesence and by comparision 

a human being can gain Really good strong muscles without impeding blood flow by ripping his muscles slightly off his bone but still atached and applying stem cells to fill the gap(s), as opposed to microscopic tears that are part of the NATURAL muscle building process.


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

how can you compare 'ripping a persons muscles off' to pinching stems that are still completely attached? and i cant answer your question you might want to ask someone who has an idea about stem cells, this is a marijuana forum and chill out i thought you werent about being right?


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 12, 2008)

Its just a rebuttal buddy, didnt mean for you to get all but hurt. hahah

I mentioned stem cells in the Anology because in essence a plant has the capability to fill in the gaps created by the seperation method of "breaking" your stems.

Simply a anology. ya know.

And again to the OP, I am wondering for my reference you do this in Veg, flower, both, none?


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

rep for you!...bet you didnt see that one coming


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

and you do it in the vegitation stage , and at least 2 weeks before flowering, you want all the attention on flower creation...but what do i know


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## brendon420 (Jun 12, 2008)

at most** 2 weeks before flowering,


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 12, 2008)

brendon420 said:


> rep for you!...bet you didnt see that one coming


LOL Peace offering? Rep right back at cha!!! Thanks for chattin!


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## PowerTrance (Jun 12, 2008)

I've seen that you take a screw and literally screw it into the base of your main stem to get that main stem fatter... then you can only imagine how fat it could get... And, for that matter there isn't a big diffference between screwing, pinching stems, or tieing them down... LST... which can still happen well into flowering... what one could do is use a planet ito light schedule (FAQ) to increase time gathering energy to compensate for the unnatural stress of pinching, tieing, or otherwise abusing your plants to achieve greater yields. The healing hormones kick in and give the plant some extra juices to play with.. what's wrong with that? So it may take your girls a few more days, but the potency and or yield may be greater if you do.. why not frackin' try...


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## ganjagoddess (Jun 12, 2008)

good suggestion.


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## smokertoker (Jun 12, 2008)

Powertrance, I like your idea about the trunk.... Next time...

As far as compairing human anatomy with plant anatomy though.... by that thought then if you cut off your finger before you hit maturity will 2+ grow back??? lol.

I would think that you could do this busting up process right up until you switch to 12/12. The plant is continuing to grow during this period and will just be starting to send it's signals to go into flowering. Just a hypothesis on that one....


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## MetalSmelter (Jun 12, 2008)

I happened to accidentally break a head during training on my scrog, pulling heads in sharp curves like a candy cane. Rubbed some rooting powder into the break put a piece of painters tame around it and about a week later it was 2x stronger than before the break, also had a nice little nodgel below it where it ruffed up from the gel......

If you do break them or bend them significanly enough that you rip the flesh at that point, and there no support left, slob on some rooting gel, brace it, wrap it with some tape and you'll be straight........

Can't say that the broken head is any stronger than any of the others though...


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## marijuanajoe1982 (Jun 12, 2008)

I think this is still fair to ask, since I can't find any answers to my questions the first time around. Are you sure that it isn't scar just tissue? Do you have any plants you did not do this to, but have the same conditions otherwise? you know, like a control for the experiment? When I test a new teqhnique I always leave about half untouched so I can have an accurate comparison to prove my theory. Some plant's respond better than others to topping, for instance. Just wondering, because it would really help your statements, if you have something to compare it to. 

That being said, I wan't to restate my neutrality on this issue. I haven't tried it or seen it so for me I just don't know anything and want to learn. looking foreward to seeing your results. If it works for you, I would consider using the method to some degree, at least give it a test run. You know what I mean? Thanks for posting this is an interesting topic!


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## marijuanajoe1982 (Jun 12, 2008)

MetalSmelter said:


> If you do break them or bend them significanly enough that you rip the flesh at that point, and there no support left, slob on some rooting gel, brace it, wrap it with some tape and you'll be straight........
> 
> Can't say that the broken head is any stronger than any of the others though...


I've noticed that areas in the stem that are damaged will repair much more easily with rooting hormones. Also they will be very large and look burly. This happened to a plant I had, A huge section came off in the wind and i used hormone gel and wrapped it up with an ACE bandage. After just a few days I was able to graft the half of the plant that was ripped off back onto the plant. the join was really thick, a little bigger than a baseball. I don't know if the plant had better buds tho, It did get alot branchier. I should have pruned a little. If only I knew then what I know now! lol


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## moon47usaco (Jun 12, 2008)

brendon420 said:


> as it states
> Simulating wind by providing a gentle breeze will help your
> stem grow strong to support the weight of the leaves and buds as the
> wind will cause small tears in the plants stem walls, tears that are
> ...



I would have to agree with this one and that your plants "nautral" (as in things that NORMALY occor in nature) systems of growth are most likely the best and most productive... They have been at this genetically for longer... I think that you would be better to suit your growing enviroment...

Of course i am a big fan of bending and other forms or low stress intervention... This one is just a little too destructive for my tastes... =]



Experimenting with root hormones in cretin areas sounds interesting if not just for MORE DATA... =]


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## ocb123 (Jun 13, 2008)

I like what you've done smokertoker, well done mate.
I really don't see what the problem is. If your growing your plant indoors and you bust it up even if it takes 2 weeks to heal, if you get more bud it may be worth the wait. 
At the end of the day its only a more brutal form of other tecniques that have been used on the plant for 100's of years that have already been mentioned in this thread.
You would need to grow a control plant at the same time though without using this technique to truly gauge the benefits.
Good luck mate, keep it up, be interested to see your final yield.


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## NewGrowth (Jun 14, 2008)

marijuanajoe1982 said:


> I've noticed that areas in the stem that are damaged will repair much more easily with rooting hormones. Also they will be very large and look burly. This happened to a plant I had, A huge section came off in the wind and i used hormone gel and wrapped it up with an ACE bandage. After just a few days I was able to graft the half of the plant that was ripped off back onto the plant. the join was really thick, a little bigger than a baseball. I don't know if the plant had better buds tho, It did get alot branchier. I should have pruned a little. If only I knew then what I know now! lol


It's just like that scene in karate kid


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## skatterman420 (Jun 19, 2008)

would you suggest doing this in flowering?

i'd like to try to do this on the upper branches to give the lower budsites time to reach the higher ones


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## smokertoker (Jun 19, 2008)

I would not suggest that. And beyond that... the branches that I damaged grew faster than the ones not damaged.


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## MetalSmelter (Jun 19, 2008)

Well i had to break a few in two places and crook them like a letter N to gain some height back, the twist tye them down to make sure they keep reaching up......we'll see how strong they get, as there about the size of a skewer round, Majority of the heads are 8+ inches long from the top of my scrog.

We'll see how well they do and if they can support the bud weight when it starts coming in....


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## skatterman420 (Jun 19, 2008)

ahh i see, i'll wait for my next crop or i could abuse this lil'un, he/shes a test dummy, just thru it in with my flowering plants for shits and giggles


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## smokertoker (Jun 19, 2008)

There you go, I doubt it will do much though. I have a smiliar short shit (new seedling ~10") in with mine, but it has shown me it is a female. I put a screw in it's main stalk just before changing the lights to 12/12. No noticable results from that yet, only been like a week.


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## MetalSmelter (Jun 19, 2008)

A screw in its main stalk, metal screw?


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## smokertoker (Jun 19, 2008)

lol, ya, one of the eye hooks. Someone earlier was talking about screwing one in the trunk to get it really fat. The stalk has been getting fatter but I think bc I'm in 12/12 and I have my light focused on my main plants it hasn't been doing much. I don't think it has negatively affected the growth anywhere in the plant. I just think in better conditions it would be performing much better.


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## smokertoker (Jul 11, 2008)

Thought it's time for an update. Still got about a month left, but the ladies are looking very nice... The stems I did the most damage to are the fattest branches. The branches I was breaking the stems on look better than the true colas.

Oh ya, Powertrance, you talked about putting a screw into the base of young plants to get the stalk fatter... I just took a screw and screwed it in a couple of my clones bases then removed the screw... Dude on one of the clones about an inch up the stem tore itself open it got so fat. It is my 2nd biggest clone... I think that has more to do with where it is from the light.


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## loolagigi (Jul 13, 2008)

smokertoker said:


> Have you ever tried "breaking" you stems. I have been pinching, twisting and overall generally busting up my stems that will leed to bud sites later. Those bastards have been getting soo thick and exploding with growth throughout the whole branch. I highly recomend this method.


i have tried it, do it in veg, not flower... ot just encourages the plant to "survive" dosnt hurt. i dont know if it helps


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## smokertoker (Jul 13, 2008)

I have done this to two sad looking branches in flower and both of them are much better off now than they were before... This can be done in flower and be benifical... Definitely helps...


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## namenottaken (Jul 16, 2008)

ganjagoddess said:


> So in essesence and by comparision
> 
> a human being can gain Really good strong muscles without impeding blood flow by ripping his muscles slightly off his bone but still atached and applying stem cells to fill the gap(s), as opposed to microscopic tears that are part of the NATURAL muscle building process.



Actually, the correct comparison would be human bones. And yes. That is correct. Thai boxers and martial artists continuously fracture and break bones through out their training so that they will grow back stronger.

Ever try to break a stack of cement blocks with a karate chop? You would break your hand in the best case scenerio. But if you constantly fracture and heal the bone in your hand then eventually you will be able to break blocks with your hand without breaking it.

Hope this helps.


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## ganjagoddess (Jul 16, 2008)

namenottaken said:


> Actually, the correct comparison would be human bones. And yes. That is correct. Thai boxers and martial artists continuously fracture and break bones through out their training so that they will grow back stronger.
> 
> Ever try to break a stack of cement blocks with a karate chop? You would break your hand in the best case scenerio. But if you constantly fracture and heal the bone in your hand then eventually you will be able to break blocks with your hand without breaking it.
> 
> Hope this helps.


AS it is true that a Bone Break when set properly will usually have a larger bone mass post heal i.e. density, the bone itself is weaker and lacking in years of calcium buildup until the equal amount of time you have been alive has passed minus bone age degradation.

In other words THIS IS A MYTH... there is no truth to the fact that breaking a bone will essentially make it stronger.

Broken bones stronger when healed? - No BS Martial Arts
When broken bones heal, are they stronger after the break?


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## NewGrowth (Jul 16, 2008)

ganjagoddess said:


> AS it is true that a Bone Break when set properly will usually have a larger bone mass post heal i.e. density, the bone itself is weaker and lacking in years of calcium buildup until the equal amount of time you have been alive has passed minus bone age degradation.
> 
> In other words THIS IS A MYTH... there is no truth to the fact that breaking a bone will essentially make it stronger.
> 
> ...


True the real way is to stress the bones not actually break them. Weight training muscle building exercises will cause increased bone density.


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## smokablunt16 (Jul 16, 2008)

ok if i were to do this, would i do it on ALL of my branches at one time?


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## smokertoker (Jul 17, 2008)

yes.....................


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## KushKing949 (Jul 17, 2008)

you know what makes my plants stems and stalks fat???? the good old Santa Ana winds here in So Cal my children love it


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## guyfromtexas (Jul 21, 2008)

"AS it is true that a Bone Break when set properly will usually have a larger bone mass post heal i.e. density, the bone itself is weaker and lacking in years of calcium buildup until the equal amount of time you have been alive has passed minus bone age degradation.

In other words THIS IS A MYTH... there is no truth to the fact that breaking a bone will essentially make it stronger."
wow goddess you are an argumentative one.... im relatively new to growing but i have been doing mma for a while and am very interested in all of that. whoever brought up the leg kicks and the power breaks was right. those bones are fractured, NOT BROKEN, over and over until they get strong enough to withstand breaking a concrete slab, or withstanding a brutal leg kick. which is exactly what is being proposed here. he isnt snaying snap your stem over completly then sty and patch it up. that is like breaking a bone, it will usuallly leave a doposit and will be detrimental. but it is no myth. just watch sports science. there was one guy that could break through enough concrete that the force would have broken his arms 6 times over but because he had been power breaking for years his arm bones were ...at least 6 times stronger then the average arm bone. no myth... science


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## smokertoker (Jul 22, 2008)

exactly, pinch or twist, not break to the point of needing to tape the stem up so it won't fall.


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## Tongbokes (Jul 27, 2008)

Down south in Tornado Alley my girls get plenty of wind !!! To much sometimes


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## stucklikechuck (Jul 28, 2008)

im a little confused here. isnt this the exact same thing as supercropping?


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## ganjagoddess (Jul 28, 2008)

No super cropping is done to be able to lay the plant over to allow the stem to sit sideways, this is a lesser degree of that where roughly the same pinching motion is done, but not to a degree of stem strentgh weakness, you want to basically just pop its inner fibers from the outer one on the plant.

I still think this would only hinder the flow of things up the plant and result in a lesser yeild above the "break" until the plants exerts energy to heal the wound and thus restore the flow....

Long story short you are stressing the plant and causing the plant to exert energy that it shouldnt need to otherwise.

In my theory people see larger buds under the break and lesser buds above the break because they have hindered the flow to higher buds, but yet they are thinking that because of the lower buds being bigger that they did sometime good. when in reality they did the exact oppisite.


Good wind is all that is needed to develop a normal "healthy" and thick stem, and all without hurting it.


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## DR. VonDankenstine (Jul 28, 2008)

I did the supercropping for a while and now only use the tec to even out the canopy if needed---really like the single cola lollipop method----people just love to see those 1 zip buds


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## smokablunt16 (Jul 29, 2008)

single cola lollipop method? whats that?


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## jointmcfatty (Jul 29, 2008)

This technique does work. Although I would say it is probably strain dependant as most things are. I actually tried a control and an experiment group of plants using this technique and it actually did increase yields a little. I did the experiment years ago after I had broken a plant and noticed vigorous growth. Needless to say, I have been doing this ever since. BUT like i said its probably strain dependant.


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## jointmcfatty (Jul 29, 2008)

And unfortunately I have no pics to verify this, as it was done as a personal experiment. If I had known such a heated debate would have arose, I would have documented all my work LOL


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## guyfromtexas (Jul 29, 2008)

yea i still believe in this stem "breaking" theory(even though breaking the stem would be bad, this is a fact) put it to you like this. a body builder lifts heavy weights that create small tears in his/her muscles. with proper rest and nutrition those small tears grow back to be bigger and stronger ie. more strength and mass for the body builder. now if the body builder over does it he she could sprain the muscle, leaving him/her unable to train for a while and hindering thier progress. if they completly push it to hard(much like actually breaking the stem) they could pull out ligaments, tendons, and blow out thier muscle which could end thier bodybuilding career(or end a plants life) That being said the bodybuilder still grows bigger and stronger by tearing the muscles down, in moderation. much like the wind does to stems, and much like this theory is proposing. why is it that with no wind stems are leggy and cant support bud? how is it that the more wind the stronger the stems? (to a certain point) I definitaly think that this theory sould work, and have read alot of journals where people claim it has. i wouldnt dare try it on my next batch of autos though =) anyway thats how i see it, not trying to be argumentative so please dont flame me, just my 2 cents. later


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## MrBaker (Jul 29, 2008)

ganjagoddess said:


> Theoretically the branches that grow bigger buds than the other could just be because the flow of nutrients and auxins to the other branches could be stunted by having to work there way through the scar tissue.
> 
> This could account for why you have bigger buds where you do this at, and smaller ones further up the plant.
> 
> ...


I agree with this opinion. I really can't believe that disrupting xylem/phloem transport is good big buds, or that hormones that efficiently move through busted up stems.


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## Mr. Maryjane (Jul 30, 2008)

I thought breaking the stems just encouraged bottom growth


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## guyfromtexas (Jul 30, 2008)

bump. hey anyone have this kinda documented info in a journal? ive read a couple where people claim it works...but ive probably read through over 100 journals, so anyone got a journal, some pics, anything to show either yea or nay? or anyone willing to do a controlled study...?


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## korgoth (Aug 1, 2008)

I've also tried this with mixed results. Someone needs to try it with a few cloned sisters grown together. Crush half of the stalks and leave the other half alone and record the results.


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## northeastern lights (Aug 1, 2008)

Well I would recommend topping or tying down rather than snapping. But sometimes with my mothers i snap them just to keep them even. No ill effects. I dont "crush" them, just enough to make it hang down. It's easier than tying and alot quicker. But as stated before different strains react different to different methods.


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## s.c.mtn.hillbilly (Aug 2, 2008)

I absolutely swear by it..it turns them into marines! with bigger vascular systems, and can support more bud than is possibe to grow- in a gale! forget staking. if you grow horizontal, you don't waste time growing secondary branches...this energy goes into bigger buds, which all think they're the kona bud!


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## ausbud0987 (Jan 2, 2009)

been using this method for 20 yrs,this is the best way too grow with amazing growth and lots of bud.


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## zurces (Jan 4, 2009)

What i think, is that when dealing with a low yeilding plant it helps a whole lot but when you have a plant that gives you 4+ oz on a reg then there is no problem


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