Stem crushing - what is the purpos and when its best to do it ?

[Sizla]

I have heard many experienced growers have used this technique with great results , cos of that i did it myself few times but without any knowledge why and when to do it .

If You have heard or did it Yourself I would be greatfull for shering Your experience and knowledge bout this technique in this thread !

[mopman]

Do you mean super cropping ?

[Sizla]

yeh , looks like it,

i have made noob mistake ! i always thot that S croping states for something else ! and now i see its not : P

thx for learing that out for me !

[bloodysafety]

what youre doing is damaging the plants vascular system. If done correctly pathways from leaf to root are cut off and hormones/nutrients stay in the foliage more or less but the paths from roots to leaves are left undamaged. you can use girdling and nick/notching for the same effect though nicking a plant is better left to fruit trees.

I like to do a partial girdle myself and I usually only do that if in scrogging and just whacking the base of the stem with a stick to bruise it up seems to work fine for my outdoor plants and dosent leave an ugly knob on the stem

[Dust]

the main goal of this for most of the people i've seen using it is to try to slow down a little the stretch of the main top, and enhance the growth of the secondary branches.

Now there is a whole scientific explanation like bloodysafety stated, but i don't remember exactly the names and actions of those hormones o i won't tell you don't want to say something too wrong ^^

Good luck man

[MissKittyKat]

here is what I posted in another thread about super cropping. It is worth doing but make sure you learn first. Do it during veg and top the plant as well.

I also super crop. I try to do it as well as topping. So I will top the plant at around 4 or 5 internodes, let the two shoots grow around 4 or 5 internodes and super crop them, then top again and super crop again. I do this as much as I can until they are half the size I want them to finish at. Once they reach that hight, usually 18 inches hight for my space i switch to 12/12

Now with all that topping and super cropping I end up with about 12 main colas per plant which all have huge stems that can move alot of nutrients/water up and down as well as hold a ton of buds with lots of weight!

I find this method is great if you have the paitence for the veg cycle. With the Kush plants I have now I went about 45 days veg and topped and super cropped over and over again until they were the hight I needed them at.

Another great thing about super cropping and topping plants is when you have SmartPots or Air Pots it gives the roots time and space to grow like crazy! My 5 gallon smartpots are full of roots within 45 days, so much that most of the promix is gone! Just a massize root mass! LOL!

Its a skill that you have to perfect over time, you willl always break plants or snap them right off and have to fix it. Yes duct tape works great! and it does grow over / together and actually makes a nice nuckle which allows more flow to the buds and leaves

Take care. oh by the way...youtube has a ton of videos on super cropping if anyone is looking to do it.