Winter Grow 2017

November 19 - 25 Super-cropping Thursday; After stuffing myself with turkey, I've decided that it's time to super-crop. I find that I have best results when I do this between waterings. I remove all side growth below and the node above where I plan on making my bends. Choose a place where there is a fair amount of space between nodes but not too far down. New growth tends to be delicate, crispy and tends to snap easily. Older growth is woody, difficult to crush and will break when you try to bend it. Pinch the branch between your fingers, gradually applying more pressure while gently rolling the branch back and forth. You will be able to feel the fibers inside the branch crush and separate. do this until the branch will lay over from its own weight. Don't force the plant to bend as this is how most breaks occur. If it doesn't want to lay over work your way up and down the branch a bit and it will. If I break a branch (and I do) I just cut the whole branch off and move on to the next one. I got lucky today and only broke one branch on nine plants. I have raised my light as far as it will go to reduce stress on my plants while they recover but will drop them back down to around 18" in a day or two. By Saturday Plants are beginning to recover nicely and I have lowered the light back to 18". At this point I will use twist tie to apply low stress training to the growing tips that are growing tallest. I mostly use this technique to maintain an even canopy. I have heard many people advise not to use wire twist tie for this because it can cut into your plants. I make sure to make large loose loops where it is wrapped around the branch and have never had any problems with it. Use at your own risk. If you aren't comfortable with wire use green vinyl stretch tape.