Agronomy, is the science of soil management and crop production.
KP i'm interested in why you feel you can write this system off so easily. Have you experience of this yourself?
i've come across four polyploids out of all the seeds i've sown. there have probably been more, as most of the time a polyploid will not present it's traits physically.
the four of mine that did exhibited stunted growth, mutated limbs, and low yield. potency was comparable to the others of the same stock, but the funky leafed ones did not do well at all.
another thing is that most people think of 3 leaf mutants when they hear polyploid. polyploid leaves look exactly like stress leaves that you'd get from revegging a plant.
also, the problem i see in the "technique" is
1) the author is stating you can cause a genetic mutation. genes are genes, and unless you're working in a lab with cells and such, you're not going to alter the genetics of a living plant. it is what it is.
2) stripping leaves, pruning back to nothing.... all for another ounce or two? let's say max you get an extra 1/2 pound. in the four months it took you to do all that to that one plant, i've grown four 1lb monster bushes in dwc.
there are things that do work better than anything else. these techniques are standards of growing pot. such as 12/12 for flower. you can go up or down, but tried and true is 12/12. if you find a rare technique that was discovered years ago, but you just now heard about it, there's usually a reason (like, it doesn't work)
hope this helps you guys understand my side of this one.
kp