Supercropping ??????

What is supercropping and how do you do it?

1st grow - just changed over to flowering ---- Went from 18 hours down to 12, increased my auto feeds --- and switched from a 400 watt HPS to a 1000 watt, but have my ballast dialed back to 600 watt. I have a 4 " exhaust going into the room, and just ordered a 6" exhaust setup to exhaust the bigger lamp heat.

You can only do it for the first couple of weeks of flower. Stems get too brittle after that.

hotrodharley said:

You can only do it for the first couple of weeks of flower. Stems get too brittle after that.

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It's good to have them well watered before you attempt bending branches too...They are more flexible and less likely to snap that way.

hotrodharley said:

You can only do it for the first couple of weeks of flower. Stems get too brittle after that.

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I've done it past 2 weeks. From my experience the stems just needed more softening up first. But I actually try not to do HST during flower.

drumrol said:

What is supercropping and how do you do it?

1st grow - just changed over to flowering ---- Went from 18 hours down to 12, increased my auto feeds --- and switched from a 400 watt HPS to a 1000 watt, but have my ballast dialed back to 600 watt. I have a 4 " exhaust going into the room, and just ordered a 6" exhaust setup to exhaust the bigger lamp heat.

Click to expand...

Supercropping is manually manipulating a plant, to force auxins to move around in the plant to force more useful growth patterns.
If you realize the theory behind it, it helps to do it successfully.
Auxins (hormones - the peppery bit in your tops) go to the highest portion of the plant.
By manipulating the tops and bringing them lower, you can force auxins to go to other parts of the plant and create new 'tops'. The top of the plant will be the most vigorous because of the auxins, so if more flowering structures have auxins, they will grow more vigorously.
Supercropping done right starts at about three leaf pairs for most hybrids, but with manipulation, can be started just about any time up to about the second, third week of flower, when the stretch is over. less prep time, less results.
I can grow a Tangie at 4 weeks veg and get 8 ounces.
I can supercrop it for 12 weeks and pull over a pound from it as a solid four foot canopy.
Depends on time you have and willingness to pay attention to it.

I find it easier to break the branches using a square chopstick. I place the chopstick on the side I want to bend the branch to and my thumb on the other side. Pressing on the branch like that allows for a nice break in a direction you want and makes it harder to snap off the branch.

Edit: this is very handy when shaping the plant. Break a branch on one side and use string to pull the brach where you want it.

manfredo said:

It's good to have them well watered before you attempt bending branches too...They are more flexible and less likely to snap that way.

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Good point.