Pinch twist method-supercropping?

[kindkid]

Whats up?

I was just wondering if anyone new the specifics on the pinch-twist method. When I heard about this method it was referred to as supercropping. After further research I found that most people reffered to LST ot jogging when they said supercropping, making it hard to look up this method. I know the gist of it but when do you first start breaking the main stem and where on the main stem do you do it?(toward the top or bottom?)

I remember seeing a thread a while ago maybe on GK that pictured 2 clones grown side by side and one was "super-cropped" (pinch-twist) and the other was not. And DAMN the results pictured were amazing. The plant that was supercropped had a cola twice the diameter of its identical twin's!!!! Both were grown with one main/dominant cola and not topped or trained.

[Storm]

I do it as soon as i can, like the 4th or 5th node. You simply pinch the stem and you will feel it between your fingers, sorta like a popping sound, i liken it to a pea being squeezed out of a pod.

this method of supercropping promotes lateral growth :thumbsup:
it's an effective way to get more out of the ladies
good luck :bongdude:

[kindkid]

Do you just do it once or keep doing it as the plant gets taller? I heard to do it right below your main cola to get it to fatten WAY up I just don't know when to do that.

[Kiwi]

I do it to mine in very early flower, after a few days of switching. I think it is more redirecting energy from other areas of the plant though, pinch in the wrong place and sometimes its detrimental to other budsites.

[theMD]

GREAT TOPIC...

I know exactly which picture you're talking about that compares the two colas, one supercropped/pinched and the other one left to grow naturally. It was one of Tronman's grows, and that photo alone convinced me of the benefits of pinching. However, with practice I learned that it is easy to over-stress your girls if you pinch too much too often. With my last grow I was not able to get it just right, but I think I have developed a good theory on the practice.

Mild pinching of nodes as soon as they "stretch" to approximately 2" (5cm) should cause that segment of the stem to stop stretching. Basically it's like lifting weights to build muscle. As you exercise your muscles tear and when you rest your body repairs the damage, which builds bigger muscles. With a little practice you will notice this effect on your plants. Vertical growth will slow down or stop for a day or two while the plant repairs itself. Then the part of the stem that was pinched will have slightly more bulk, and it will be much harder. I think that starting as early in the veg period as possible and continuing through the first 10 days of the 12/12 stretch can produce excellent results without causing too much stress. By catching the nodes when they were tight, starting near at the bottom and working my way up, I was able to produce a couple very nice and fat single-cola plants.

The trick is to make sure you do not pinch so hard that the repairs made form a "knot" in the stem. When you damage the stem too much it will take more than a couple days to repair the damage and resume vertical growth. There are two major drawbacks to excessive damage due to pinching. First, pinching in general causes stress, which we all know could easily cause our pure virgin females to think they're in danger and start pumping out pollen sacs...HERMIES!!! Second, it will probably take the plant at least 3 days to repair itself, and during that time other nodes above that one might continue to stretch. Because the plant is weak for a day or two after you pinch the stem it is best to pinch only 1 node at a time so she doesn't topple over or get so stressed out that she turns into a hermie. I had a very late-flowering hermie problem with my Blueberry that was most likely a result of my overzealous pinching. The bananas appeared within 1 week of harvest so it wasn't a big deal, but I think I was very lucky. When I find a picture of my Blueberry stem post-harvest I'll post it so you all can visualize what I'm trying to say.

[Nesta]

Great explanation dood! On my current grow i had two AK-47s that did indeed herm out and i believe that it was because I over stressed them with the pinching. Great info. :animbong:

[Storm]

yes i do it on every node and branched nodes too, off the stem, works for me.
i've been lucky i guess ive never experienced negative results ie: hermies etc.

[kindkid]

When you guys say that you're pinching nodes do you mean that you pinch the main stem between nodes or do you pinch the actual node where the leaf stem joins with the main stem?

Thanks for the replies you guys :animbong:

[theMD]

I pinch between the nodes. Also, in order to promote single-cola growth I remove new "sprouts" of side branches as they appear (about once/week) from the lower 50-60% of the plant.

[theMD]

Here are a few pictures that show the results of pinching my Skunk until the first few days of flowering...I got lazy. She stretched much more than I wanted only because I didn't continue pinching nodes during the most critical 2 weeks of vertical growth. All 3 of my plants were approximately 12-13" tall on day 1 of 12/12, but by the 3rd week I was forced to top both White Widows (and they still outgrew the box, over 3ft) and the Skunk had stretched to 2.5X its height. Assuming there would still be a slight increase in vertical growth during the 12/12 stretch even if I had continued pinching, I think I could have kept them between 24-30" or possibly shorter without topping. Luckily the Skunk didn't have to be topped, and it yielded 1oz from its main cola along with 0.5oz from a few secondary buds...not bad for an early harvest under just 250W.

The first two pictures are at 5 weeks flowering, and the last one shows the 1oz main cola at 8 weeks -- chopped but not yet dry.