How to Super Crop your crops!

Have you heard of super cropping?

This type of practice is relatively insecure, but it's something that could theoretically help growers get better yield and more out of plants, and bigger yields are the holy grail of hydroponics. Again and again, we hear growers asking what they can do to get more products, to get bigger and healthier plants at harvest.

Rather than being a method of really nourish plants, super cropping is something a little different. It doesn't appeal to everybody -- to some people, it's the kind of botanical equivalent of dogfighting. The reason is because the theory behind super cropping gets to the heart of how plants protect themselves from harm and in the process, it starts to seem a little mercenary to growers who have a personal relationship with their plants.

The Idea of Super Cropping

By stressing the plant in specific ways, you can get more yield out of it. That's because some plants respond to stress by creating more produce.

You can see this at work in many different kinds of vegetables. When parts of the plant are broken off, or when they die, the plant focuses energy on pushing out production in other parts of its structure. This is part of how small gardeners get results for things like tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and lettuce.

Super Cropping in Hydroponics

Although it's possible to use super cropping in a more general context, it's really something that is part of the lexicon of the marijuana growing community.

Because marijuana produces THC compounds under certain kinds of stress, it’s possible to super crop this plant by systematically breaking or injuring plant stems. Growers call this super cropping or high stress training. It's part of the plant's natural defense against predators, but under the command of a hydroponic grower, it becomes a tool for economic and productive gain.

Basically, the process involves taking stems and breaking them just enough to trigger the THC response without breaking them off entirely. In some cases, growers can use grafting tape to repair damage that is too excessive.

Super cropping is just one option in an array of tools and techniques that you can use to grow more in a garden. For growing any kind of plant indoors or in a hydroponics system, check out Dealzer’s informative resources for growers.