Supercropping: Magic Technique to Control Cannabis Plant Height

by Nebula Haze

How Does “Supercropping” Control Tall Cannabis Plants?

Supercropping (or “super cropping”) is a specific bending technique that is used to control the height and shape of out-of-control cannabis plants by bending branches at major angles. The marijuana supercropping technique lets you make bends that otherwise wouldn’t be possible without breaking the stem. Supercropping does stress a cannabis plant so it should only be used when necessary and with a plan in mind. However, if you follow the instructions in the cannabis supercropping tutorial below, you will be able to produce the exact size and shape cannabis plants you want without slowing down growth much, if at all.

This autoflowering cannabis plant was growing too tall for its grow space. I supercropped the branches at right angles to keep the plant short. As a bonus, this wide and flat table shape maximizes yields by allowing more parts of the plant to be close to the grow light.

Supercropped Sweet Seed Black Jack Auto plant was stuffed in a corner but still performed beautifully

Supercropping is used to bend branches at big angles even after the branches have become stiff. There is a specific technique that must be used to prevent branches from breaking (outlined below).

Example of a marijuana supercropTake too-tall plants

Example of cannabis plants that have gotten too tall and are close to the grow light. Prime example for supercropping!

Use the supercrop technique to control the height by bending all tall stems

View from the top of the supercropped plants

Supercropped cannabis plants - view from the top

Instant height control!

A supercropped plant often grows bushier with many buds, and some grower believe that high-stress training techniques like supercropping may even result in higher THC levels. For auto-flowering plants, supercropping may trigger the plant to stop growing taller and start flowering earlier. Every strain reacts a bit differently, and plants react differently based on their current stage of life.

As a cannabis grower, you can take advantage of the supercropping technique to control height and shape while maximizing yields and producing potent buds. But this technique must be respected. Consider that branches in the wild would only be “supercropped” as a result of a plant falling down or something else damaging its structure. It’s important to remember you may trigger a plant’s natural stress response, especially if you break a main stem.

This supercropping tutorial will show you how to bend marijuana stems (even hardened or woody branches) without causing them to split or break

Luckily, you just need to follow these instructions and you will get great results every time. Here are the most important things to remember.

 

What You Need to Supercrop Marijuana Plants:

  • Your fingers – This is your main tool
  • Plant twist ties – Plant ties work great but you can also use pipe cleaners, zip ties, coated wire, or other “soft” wires to tie down branches in place. You can get creative, but avoid anything “sharp” like string which can start to cut into your plant’s “skin” over time
  • Duct tape – in chase you make a mistake and need to tape up a broken branch. Painter’s tape or electrical tape are also good options.
  • The knowledge of what to do – keep reading!

This tutorial will teach you how to accomplish this without breaking any branches

Example of cannabis supercrop

5 Supercropping Secrets to Success

  1. Don’t force it – Never force a stem to bend or it will break. A broken branch stresses the plant and prevents you from tying that stem down where you wanted. Avoid breaking stems if possible!
  2. Have duct tape on hand – Broken branches are going to happen. Prepare by having duct tape on hand. You can tape a broken stem with tape like a cast. Plants stems can often mend themselves as long as the wounded parts constantly touch each other.
  3. Squeeze, wiggle, and bend technique – This is proper supercropping technique. It allows you to bend any branch without breaking the skin (full directions below). Even hard woody stems can be bent safely with pliers if you use this method
  4. Tie the supercropped branch in place – Use plant twistie ties to secure the bent stem down after supercropping.
    1. Otherwise, most bent branches “do a pushup” and undo all your hard work by turning back up towards the grow light.
    2. Some stems “stay down” and never need to be tied. If the bent part is hanging or seems held on by the skin, wait to tie the branch until the stem starts growing upward.
    3. Watch the supercropped branch over the next few days to see if it is able to escape your ties. Some plants are remarkably resistant to supercropping and will keep trying to “unbend” the branch and grow directly up towards the light.
  5. Every plant is different – Some cannabis plants react well to supercropping (don’t mind it) while others can get very stressed even with proper technique and no breaks. Plants that seem finicky or slow-growing are the worst candidates for supercropping. Some plants tend to grow big woody and hollow branches that are harder to bend without breaking, while other strains grow willowy branches that take a bend easily. Lastly, remember that cannabis plants tend to get the most stressed by supercropping after buds have started forming.

Bend branches and then attach them directly to the plant pot to prevent stems from growing upwards towards the grow light.

 

How to Supercrop a Weak Branch

Sometimes you can accomplish your goal without needing to “supercrop” the branch. I don’t recommend specifically snapping your branches to try to improve your plant’s life. If you can gently bend a branch and tie it down, I recommend going that route instead.

Some stems are flexible enough to be gently bent without supercropping

A closeup of the plant twisty tie using in LST for this cannabis grow journal

Quick definition: LST (Low Stress Training) means bending and tying down stems

“LST” is a common lingo term in the cannabis growing world. LST stands for “low stress training” and describes the process of bending and tying down cannabis plants in order to control their shape and height. I just wanted to share that definition in case you run into it as it’s often mentioned alongside supercropping. Growers may say things like “Make sure to LST your plants” or “Use LST to control height” and what they mean is bending and securing branches where you want without stressing the plant.

Supercropping is more like HST (“high stress training”) than LST. However, sometimes you’ll find you can bend the plant into the shape without supercropping, like the example above, and then it would be considered LST.

There are many ways to produce a flat plant. You can often bend branches without supercropping.

Example of tending to a cannabis canopy - these plants are too leafy and need to be defoliated!

How to Supercrop a Strong Branch

If you’re here, this is probably the section you’ve jumped to. Your plant has woodlike branches that seem like they will snap if you try to bend them. Maybe you’ve already tried to bend a few and accidentally broken stems already. If so, you’re in the right place. I will show you how to bend any branch without breaking it. Here’s a quick overview, and then I’ll go through each step individually.

  1. Choose Which Stems – Make a quick plan on which stems you plant to bend and where you plan to bend them.
  2. Bend – Bend your chosen branches with the “squeeze, wiggle, and bend” technique. It sounds silly but it’s almost foolproof if you follow the instructions
  3. Treat Injuries (if necessary) –  Tape up any slits in branches if needed. Remove tape after 1 week or when plant has healed
  4. Secure Down – Tie branches down and secure them to the plant container. However, if the supercropped stem seems weak, skip this step for now. You can tie it down later if need be.
  5. Monitor – Quickly peek at the supercropped stems over the next few days to ensure the branch grows the way you want and doesn’t escape the plant ties.

1.) Choose Which Stems

If you’re here, you may have particular branches in mind that are getting taller than the rest.

If you have one stem that’s getting much taller than the rest and you run out of room to raise your light, you can carefully supercrop the tallest stem and make it lay flat.

Example of naturally grown plants - simply bend over the tallest cola on each one to dramatically reduce their height

Supercropping is best done during the vegetative stage on a fast-growing plant with many healthy branches, but it’s most common to need supercropping immediately after plants start flowering due to the flowering stretch (the time immediately after plants start making buds). It’s called a “stretch” because plants can double in height or more in just a few weeks. If that happens, you want to decide as soon as possible whether you plan to supercrop or not. The earlier in the flowering stage, the better. A big part of becoming a grower is making decisions and when it comes to supercropping I try to make a decision as early as possible and stick with it.

Sometimes just one or two tall stems need to be supercropped to maintain a flat canopy

Other times you may need to supercrop many stems at once. This picture shows the halfway point as the grower supercrops all the branches on this too-tall cannabis plant.

Halfway done with supercropping these cannabis plants

For supercropping, you should try to find stems that are still pliable (“bendy”) if possible. The harder the stem, the more likely it is to break if you try to bend it. I’ll show you how to bend any stem in the next step, but it’s best to bend without needing to supercrop if you can.

Which Plants to Supercrop?

Here are a few important things you should understand before supercropping.

Vegetative Stage

  • The vegetative stage is the best time to use the supercropping technique
  • Plants quickly recover from supercropping, even if you break a branch

Flowering Stage

  • Plants respond okay to supercropping early in the flowering stage
  • The later in the flowering stage, the more stress plant gets by supercropping, and the more you increase the chance of reducing yields
  • Breaking a branch in the flowering stage after buds start forming may reduce the size of buds produced on that branch
  • Especially avoid supercropping after buds start forming

Summary: Avoid supercropping in the flowering stage unless absolutely necessary (for example the plant is going to hit the grow light).

Autoflowering Cannabis Plants

  • Autoflowering plants that are supercropped often start flowering sooner than if you left the plant alone completely
  • Along the same lines, supercropping may “stunt” an autoflowering plant (especially if it’s already started flowering) which means it will stop growing any taller
  • In general, supercropping auto-flowering plants is very effective at controlling height (it not only puts the branches where you want them, but it also causes the plant to stop growing as tall as it would have)

Magnifier - some last tips before you start supercropping

You don’t always need to supercrop your tall cannabis plants. Sometimes it’s okay to allow some of your plants to get taller than the rest. If you have just one or two tall plants, you can often get away with placing them on the outside edges so they’re as far away from the grow light as possible. The outer spots get less light than the plants in the middle. As long as the plant is not growing into the hot lights and isn’t showing much light stress, it’s okay if it’s tall.

You can sometimes move tall plants to the edge instead of having to supercrop them.

But if you have plants that are approaching the grow light and you cannot move the light, you likely will need to supercrop.

2.) Bend Stems (Squeeze, Wiggle, and Bend)

The idea is to damage the inner tissue of the plant without causing damage to the outside ‘skin.’ This makes the stem easy to bend in the direction that you want it to grow.

  1. Grab the stem and squeeze – You’re trying to crush the stem where you want it to bend, but without damaging the outside. Squeeze the stem at the bend point and apply steady pressure between your thumb and forefinger. This helps “loosen” the joint you are about to make. If you have an extremely woody or thick branch, you may need to wrap a dish towel around the desired bend and use pliers for the “squeeze” part. Squeezing while wiggling is the best way to get a hard stem to bend without breaking.
  2. Wiggle the stem at the joint – Wiggle the stem between your fingers slowly back and forth for several seconds while maintaining pressure, to loosen it up where you want it to bend. You will be able to tell if the inside of the joint feels “crushed” or loose. You’re essentially breaking up the inside of the stem.
  3. Try to bend slowly – Try to bend the stem in the direction towards the desired final position. The stem should feel pliable and loose at the joint you just made. If it feels like the stem is resisting, stop and do more squeezing and rocking back and forth to further loosen up the joint.
  4. Secure in place – Use plant twist tie to secure the stem in place or it will have turned up to the light within just a day or two. However, if the stems seems limp and hanging, leave it alone for the first day and only tie it down if it seems like it’s turning back up.

Here’s the result of a perfect supercrop – the skin is intact and although the branch is bent, it does not seem limp or “hanging”. Basically, it was bent just enough, but no more than absolutely necessary.

To bend a really stiff stem, pinch tightly, wiggle gently until you feel/hear crunching, then slowly bend and secure.

Never force it! If a stem feels like it’s going to snap it probably will. Go back to squeezing and wiggling until it easily bends over without pressure.

This video shows the supercrop of a very tough stem that takes about 30 seconds. Even the toughest stems can be bent if you’re patient and apply a lot of squeezing pressure.

This is what that plant looked like after the supercrop session. You can see that many stems were bent all the way over and the plant is now the same height as the other plants.

3.) Treat Injuries (if necessary)

It’s going to happen. A stem is going to break. No grower is perfect. Luckily a cannabis plant can survive a lot if you treat it properly.

Oh no!

Example of an accidental split of the stem during supercropping

Don’t worry, if a stem breaks, you can set it back in place just like a doctor would with a broken bone.

You may have to put a "cast" on your injured cannabis stems so they are able to heal

Make sure the wounded parts are held together and then tape the stem in place like a cast. As long as the branch is held together firmly, the broken ends will rejoin with each other.

If you break the skin of a stem, just tape it up like a cast and the plant will heal itself!

Many types of tape will work, but I’ve had the best luck with duct tape. Electrical tape, masking tape, or painter’s tape can also be used, though regular tape (like you’d use for paper or to wrap a gift) does not stick to the stems well enough to be an effective cast.

Cannabis plants can survive a lot. This plant was broken at the base, but it was taped up and managed to recover with a huge “knuckle” to reinforce the part that split.

Knuckle where stem was injured

4.) Secure Stems Down

You will need to secure your supercropped stem in place or it will start growing back up. This section will give you several ideas on how to tie branches down so they don’t turn around and start growing up again.

Tie the branch down with twist tie after supercropping to secure stem in place

I like plant twist tie because you can cut it to the length you want and then hook it around the branches. Avoid using something “sharp” like string or thin metal wire because it may start digging into the stem over time.

Plant twist tie is cheap and easy to use, but won’t “cut into the skin” of the branch.

Get plant twist tie for cannabis supercropping on Amazon

Now take the other side of the twist tie (or whatever you used) and attach to your plant container. Here are some ideas how how to attach a branch to your container:

If your plant pot has a “lip” you can bend plant ties around this structure

In hydroponics, you can do the same thing to your net pots. Secure the wire around the sides of the net pot and it will stay held in place.

This plant has been tied down with twisty tie to the lid and under a net pot

Or bend it around the lip of your hydroponic container’s cover. You will still be able to lift the lid if necessary without disturbing the plant.

You can hook the end of a twisty tie to almost anything, but I like to attach it to the lid since it never moves in relation to the plant

Some growers make holes around the top of the plant containers to loop through.

Punch holes in your plant container and loop twist tie through the holes.

Example of stems that were tied to a pot that had holes punched around the edges

Poke a hole through your fabric pot and loop twist tie through it

Safety pins work great with fabric pots, though they will get rusty over time. I prefer to just poke holes in the fabric pots and loop directly through as pictured above. That way there’s no rust and you don’t need any safety pins.

A safety pin can be used to secure twist tie to your fabric plant pot

Always attach the stem to your plant container so the plant can be picked up and moved around independently.

Don’t do this. If you tie the stem directly to a wall you can’t move the plant around. On top of that, avoid using yarn or string as they often cut into the “skin” of the plant.

Never use string to train plants, and especially never tie your plant to something besides it's container (or you won't be able to move the plant freely)

5.) Monitor the Stems

I know it seems like your newly supercropped branch will never be able to turn around, you may be surprised. That’s why you should keep an eye out over the next few days just to make sure everything stays in place.

Right after supercropping, it may seem like the branch will stay bent forever

Recently supercropped stem

But here is a branch just 3 days after being supercropped You can see the end is already growing upwards again. This particular stem somehow escaped its twist tie. This is why it’s important to monitor your stems for a few days and tie them down again if necessary.

Even if you tie the stem down securely, the stem will start growing up once it grows longer. If you see this, you will need to re-tie the stem down further along the branch to keep it horizontal.

Supercropped cannabis stem started growing up again

That’s it! If you monitor your plants after supercropping and re-tie them as needed, you gain ultimate cannabis height control.

Supercropping is how you turn tall plants into this instead of Christmas trees

Supercropped Sweet Seed Black Jack Auto plant was stuffed in a corner but still performed beautifully

Grow plants in the exact height and shape you want. Produce a sea of buds that are all about the same height and distance from the light, regardless of the strain.

 


 

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