Monster Cropping

Monster cropping is an advanced cloning technique that exploits the hormonal confusion of revegetating a flowering plant to produce extraordinarily bushy plants for the next grow cycle. The process: take cuttings from a cannabis plant during week 2-4 of flowering (after pre-flowers have appeared but before bud development is significant), root them under standard cloning conditions (humidity dome, 24-hour weak light), and then place the rooted clones under 18/6 vegetative lighting. The hormonal shock of returning a flowering plant to vegetative conditions triggers extreme stress response: instead of growing one or two main shoots like a standard veg clone, monster crops produce 5-15 growth points emerging from every node. The resulting plant has dramatically increased branching, twisted leaves (often described as "claw" or "duck-foot" leaves during the reveg phase), and a dense bushy structure that takes 4-6 weeks to fully revert to normal vegetative morphology. Once reverted, monster crops show: 3-5x more potential bud sites than standard clones, naturally short and bushy structure (acts like a built-in topping), excellent suitability for SCROG and SOG setups. Disadvantages: extended veg time required for full reversion (8-12 weeks total), unpredictable growth patterns during the reveg phase, higher water and nutrient needs during stress recovery, and only suitable for photoperiod plants (autoflowers cannot be revegetated). Monster cropping is favored by perpetual-harvest growers who want continuous high-yield clone supply without maintaining dedicated mother plants, and by growers seeking massive single-plant yields under SCROG.