let's look at the other type of high stress training: stem mutilation. Now, there are interesting theories, methods and discussions invovling both the science and application of this type of training. This type of training is known by many different names:
-Crushing the herd
-Supercropping
-Stem-smashing
-Leaning the stem over
All of them have the same general idea: mutilate the stem evenly around an area so that the stem bends over at a 90 degree angle. In this case, we aren't removing a piece of the plant, but rather damaging an area of the plant so that the angle of the branch changes.
The most common methodology for crushing the stem is to pinch the stem enough that it breaks and separates a bit. Then, turn your pinch by 90 degrees and pinch again. This will cause the tip of the plant to fall over at an angle.
Supercropping can be done during vegetative growth to achieve effects similar to LST. That is: the apical tip will be bent downwards once the branch has been pinched. This causes the plant to think that it needs to send new tips to grow towards the light source.
Supercropping can also be done during flower to keep those stretchy plants from burning themselves. There are plenty of examples of supercropping well into flower w/out having too adverse of an effect on the plant:
pic
Obviously, some strains will respond better than others. In addition, if you supercrop well into flower and you have some heavy budsites, you may find the stem has troubles supporting itself. Be smart about it and don't crush the stems too hard if you don't think the plant will grow out of it.
Let's check the pros and cons of this type of training:
-Pros
1. Not as stressful as removing plant parts
2. Less worry of failure
3. Not as prone to infection
4. Quick and easy
-Cons
1. Somewhat inprecise
2. Can have a learning curve
3. Changes for different strains
