The name Monster Cropping can be a little misleading. "Monster" doesn't exactly sound like something you want near your precious plants. But trust me, this is a training technique you'll want to know. It’s a fascinating process that involves taking clones during the flowering stage and reverting them back to vegetative growth. This hormonal reset creates an explosion of bushy, multi-limbed growth, giving you way more bud sites. It might sound strange, but this method is a game-changer for maximizing your final harvest.

Monster cropping is a plant training technique that involves re-vegging and strategized use of your grow space. Over the years, this technique has become famous due to its various benefits. It differs from other styles of high-stress training like super cropping. Nevertheless, if you master the art of monster cropping, you can undoubtedly reap some awesome rewards. Let's discuss what it really is, how you can do it, and why you should want to do it.

What Exactly Is Monster Cropping?

Monster cropping is a unique training style that involves obtaining clones from your flowering plant and putting them in veg a process called re-vegging. The clones can be in an 18/6 photoperiod, encouraging them to grow into large, vigorous plants. Then you can flower them.

Therefore, your mother plant won't need to repeatedly take clones to build a perennial harvest. In contrast, in monster cropping, you can obtain a few clones from each flower and keep the cycle going.

How the Technique Works

Monster cropping might sound complicated, but the principle is straightforward. It's all about timing and manipulating a plant's natural growth cycle. You start by taking cuttings, or clones, from a healthy plant that is already in its flowering phase—typically a few weeks in. Instead of rooting these clones and letting them continue to flower, you trick them into going backward. You revert them back to the vegetative state by adjusting their light exposure using your environmental controls. This process of re-vegging is the core of the technique. It disrupts the plant's normal progression, causing it to develop a much denser, bushier structure than it would have otherwise. It’s a clever way to create a plant with a foundation for a massive harvest.

Harnessing Hormonal Responses

The magic behind monster cropping lies in how it uses the plant's own hormonal responses. When you take a cutting from a flowering plant and place it under a vegetative light cycle—like 18 hours of light and 6 of dark from your LED grow lights—you're essentially sending it a confusing signal. This change creates a controlled stress that triggers a unique hormonal reaction. The clone, which was hormonally programmed to produce flowers, is forced to switch gears and focus on leafy growth again. This re-vegging process results in explosive, almost chaotic branching. The new plant becomes incredibly bushy with a wild number of side shoots and nodes, creating far more sites for future flowers to develop. More branches mean more potential for a larger yield.

Is Monster Cropping Worth the Effort?

As a grower, you must have come across the concept that you should avoid training or pruning your plants during the flowering stage. Well, this is true to some extent. If you want to let your plants take the natural course, you may follow this.

On the other hand, if you are adventurous enough, you may try monster cropping to enjoy exciting results. Many growers have reported how monster cropping improved outcomes for them. The fact is, when you take clones from a plant that is well within the flowering stage, it causes high levels of stress which, surprisingly, turns out to be a good thing! Let's talk about how this technique works.

Understanding the Yield

Continuous Harvests vs. Bigger Yields

Monster cropping isn't just about creating more plants; it's about maximizing what each plant can produce. When you take clones from a flowering plant and revert them to a vegetative state, they don't grow like typical clones. Instead, they develop into incredibly bushy plants with a wild number of branches. This dense, multi-branched structure is exactly what you want, as it creates significantly more sites for flowers to form. More flowering sites directly translate to a bigger, more impressive harvest from a single plant.

One of the most practical benefits of this technique is that it allows for a continuous harvest cycle without needing a dedicated mother plant. This is a game-changer if you're working with limited space, like in a single grow tent. You can simply take your clones from the plants already in your flowering space, harvest the main plant as usual, and then cycle the new clones in to start their vegetative growth. This method saves space and ensures you always have a fresh supply of your favorite plant varieties ready to go.

While many growers report a significant increase in their final yield, it's tough to give an exact percentage. The final outcome depends on several factors, including the specific plant strain you're working with, your experience level, and the quality of your setup. Providing the right nutrients and maintaining a stable environment with proper lighting and humidity are key to helping these monster-cropped clones reach their full, bushy potential. It’s a technique that rewards careful attention to detail.

Why Stress Can Be Good for Your Plants

The term 'stress' is used more or less in the same way with plants as with humans. We say that a plant is under stress when it faces growing difficulties. Of course, if you cut off some branches of growth, this is stressful for your plants. However, the interesting thing is that this stress is quite helpful in some cases! Have you heard the saying 'no pain, no gain'? Well, this applies to your plants too!

When you apply the monster cropping technique to your plants, they undergo high-stress levels. Interestingly, this stress can result in dramatic growth, more resin production, and a significant increase in flavonoids and terpenes. Due to stress, the plant is under the impression that it is dying. For this reason, it makes a final attempt to get pollinated by maximizing the aroma, flavor, and resin production. Therefore, leading to a more robust and potent harvest with improved quality and weight.

That's not all; here are some additional benefits of monster cropping.

Why You Should Try Monster Cropping

The foremost benefit of monster cropping is the ongoing harvest. It allows you to set up multiple chambers, which means that while you wait for your fresh clones to re-veg, you can complete flowering your plants and then successfully harvest them.

As soon as you finish that, you may place your freshly re-vegged plants in your flower chamber to continue the process. This way, you can get more out of your growth without starting from square one each time. Amazing, isn't it?

You can use Monster cropping to preserve good genetics as well. For instance, let's assume you had a few seeds of a particular strain and started your growth with them. When the flowering stage approaches, you observe the flower quality and discover that the plant variety is incredible. You can keep growing this variety with monster cropping without needing more seeds. As you can perform Monster cropping so easily, a lack of seeds won't stop you from growing your favorite plants.

In fact, growers who have tried this technique report that their re-vegged plants yield better than standard clones. They bloom into large bushes with more than usual branching. More lateral growth means more colas and, consequently, more plant weight!

What to Watch Out For with Monster Cropping

On the flip side, it's important to realize that this technique might not be useful in every case. Not only can it be a little challenging, but it can also make it unsuitable if time and space limitation restricts your plant's growth. Limited space means you won't be able to set up as many separate veg and flower chambers.

Besides, you must realize that re-vegging can be stressful for both the mother plant and the new ones. Therefore, every one of them is not likely to root. Consequently, you may want to take more cuttings than you need to ensure a higher success rate.

Monster cropping is also unsuitable for growers aiming to grow autoflowers because monster cropping doesn't involve growing plants with a certain light photoperiod, preventing you from being able to manipulate veg and flower periods.

Another thing to know is that some growers say that a negative aspect of monster cropping can be that it can significantly elongate the growing cycle. However, this might not necessarily be true. In fact, if you consider this from a different perspective, re-vegged clones in monster cropping still take lesser time to harvest than starting from seed.

With the advantages and disadvantages of monster cropping, it's time to discuss how you can use it. Monster cropping can be a little different in indoor and outdoor growing. Let's talk about how you can monster crop your plants when growing indoors.

Best for Experienced Growers

Monster cropping is definitely an advanced technique, so if you're just starting your indoor growing journey, you might want to put a pin in this one for later. It involves a multi-step process that combines cloning during the flowering stage with other plant training methods. Success really hinges on having a solid understanding of plant life cycles, how they respond to stress, and how to properly care for delicate clones. For growers who have a few successful harvests under their belt and are looking for ways to get the most out of their grow tents, monster cropping is a fantastic skill to add to your toolkit. It’s a challenge, but the potential for a continuous harvest is a huge payoff.

Lower Success Rate for Clones

One of the main hurdles with monster cropping is that clones taken from a flowering plant have a lower chance of successfully rooting compared to those taken during the vegetative stage. The hormonal changes a plant undergoes during flowering make it a bit more stubborn about reverting to root production. To counter this, it’s a smart move to take more cuttings than you think you’ll need. This way, you account for the ones that might not make it. Using a quality rooting hormone and the right growing media can also help improve your odds. Just be patient, as these clones can take a little longer to establish themselves and show new vegetative growth.

Risk of Hermaphroditism

The intense stress involved in monster cropping can sometimes cause a plant to become a "hermie," which is short for hermaphrodite. This means the plant develops both male and female reproductive parts. For most growers, this is an unwanted outcome because the male pollen can fertilize the female flowers, leading to a harvest full of seeds instead of high-quality, seedless flowers. While it doesn't happen every time, it's a risk you should be aware of, especially with plant genetics that are already prone to this trait. Keeping a close eye on your re-vegging clones as they develop is crucial to spot and remove any male parts early on.

Vulnerability to Pests and Disease

When you take a cutting from a flowering plant and force it back into a vegetative state, the clone is under a great deal of stress. This stress can temporarily weaken its natural defenses, making it more vulnerable to pests and diseases. To give your clones the best chance of survival, maintaining a sterile work environment is non-negotiable. Always use clean, sharp tools for taking cuttings. A stable environment is also key, so using reliable environmental controls to manage temperature and humidity will help your clones recover faster and build up the strength to fight off any potential threats. Think of it as creating a clean, comfortable recovery room for your new plants.

Your Guide to Indoor Monster Cropping

If you opt for short strains, they tend to grow slower after monster cropping. Therefore, there may be a chance that you may not enjoy the full benefits of monster cropping. Hence, it is best to use strains that develop into medium-sized plants. Also, tall strains are unsuitable for monster cropping because they grow too fast for you to control their growth.

Firstly, you need a mother plant that is the healthiest one. Of course, you still have to follow the standard plant training rules, meaning you should attempt to grow a flat canopy with only the main colas.

The Re-Vegging Stage: What to Expect

Once you've taken your cuttings, the real magic of monster cropping begins. This is the re-vegging stage, where you coax the flowering clones back into a vegetative state. It’s a bit of a strange process, and your new plants will look pretty weird for a while, but patience is key. You’ll need to place your clones under an 18/6 light cycle in a separate area, like a small grow tent, to encourage them to start growing leaves again instead of flowers. This hormonal shift is what creates the "monster" plant structure that makes this technique so effective. It's a fascinating biological trick that forces the plant to abandon flower production and focus all its energy on explosive, bushy growth.

The "Mutant" Growth Phase

Don't be alarmed if your clones look a little strange at first—this is completely normal. The initial growth during re-vegging is often called the "mutant" phase. You'll likely see smooth, rounded, single-fingered leaves instead of the typical serrated ones. This happens because the plant is confused as it transitions from its flowering mindset back to vegetative growth. This bizarre phase is temporary and a good sign that the process is working. Once the clone fully reverts, it will explode with bushy, monstrous growth, producing far more side branches than a typical clone. More branches mean more nodes for flowers to form, which can lead to a much heavier harvest.

How Long Does Re-Vegging Take?

The re-vegging process adds a few weeks to your overall timeline, so plan accordingly. It typically takes about one week for the clones to develop a solid root system. After that, you can expect another two to three weeks for the plant to fully revert to the vegetative stage and start producing normal leaves again. During this time, make sure you're providing the right nutrients to support this transition. Once you see that healthy, familiar foliage, your plant is ready for the next step. At this point, you can even apply other training techniques, like topping, to capitalize on the plant's already bushy structure and create an even more productive canopy.

Perfect Timing: When to Take Your Clones

The time to take clones from your flowering plant is not difficult to figure out. According to most growers, you should wait until 2 or 3 weeks have passed within the flowering stage before taking your clones. From this point onwards, you need a further 2 or 3 weeks for your cuttings to root. Following this, re-veg will start. Now you may work towards some level of vegetative growth for a couple of weeks before you begin flowering these clones.

The Right Way to Take Your Clones

Now that you have determined the right time to take your clones, you should know how to do the job. The first thing is to get the following tools and supplies:

• Ultra-sharp garden shears, knife, or scalpel
• A jar of water to place your cuttings in while you work
• Disinfectant to prevent contamination from your tools
• Rockwool cubes to plant your cuttings in so that they can start rooting
• Rooting gel to boost the success rate of rooting

Step 1: Choose Your Healthiest Plant

We recommend you begin with your best and healthy specimen. If you are unsure how to identify it, here's the deal. As soon as the third week of flower approaches, observe all your plants and cherry-pick the healthiest and most robust-looking one.

Why should you fish out your best plants for monster cropping? Well, the reason is simple. Monster cropping is a stressful process for your plants and what you are doing is replicating genetics. So, it makes sense to duplicate the best genes, right?

If you select a weak or sick plant, it will likely suffer a hard time during re-vegging and may never be able to root. Even if it does, it is of no great use because you now have another weak and sick plant. Since it is grown from cutting a previous unhealthy plant, it will have the same genetics and therefore similar characteristics as the parent plant.

Selecting the Right Strains

Not every plant is a great candidate for monster cropping, so choosing the right strain is your first step toward success. You'll want to aim for strains that naturally develop into medium-sized plants. Think of them as the "just right" option. Tall, lanky strains are generally unsuitable because they grow too quickly, and the explosive, bushy growth from monster cropping can make them impossible to manage, especially if you're working within the confines of a grow tent. On the other hand, very short, compact strains might not give you that "monster" result you're looking for. The goal is vigorous, multi-branched growth, and starting with a medium-sized plant gives you the perfect genetic foundation to build upon.

Why Lower Branches Are Better

When you're ready to take your cuttings, always aim for the lower branches of your mother plant. It might seem counterintuitive to skip the big, impressive tops, but there's a good reason for it. Cuttings taken from lower on the plant tend to root much faster and more reliably. These branches are typically less woody and contain hormones that are more primed for root development. When you make your cut, use a sterilized blade to slice diagonally about half a centimeter below a node—that's the little joint where leaves and branches emerge. Because not every clone will survive the re-vegging process, it's smart to take more than you need. Using a quality rooting gel can also significantly improve your success rate.

Step 2: Sanitize Your Tools

Now that you have chosen which plant and specific cuttings to take, you are ready to begin your cloning. Here is a brief synopsis of our thorough blog post on how to clone your plants.

To avoid contamination, you need to sanitize your shears or scissors first. The cutting should come from the lowest half of the plant and ideally have a few nodes on it. Carefully and gently, slice a branch diagonally. Now stick this cutting into a glass of water. You may also dip it into your cloning gel before fixing it in a Rockwool cube.

You can do this process repeatedly, as many times as you need. Remember to take more cuttings than you need because up to 1 out of 4 cuttings may not root. So, make sure you allow for this.

Step 3: Encourage Faster Rooting

The sure-fire way to speed up your cuttings' rooting process is to use a suitable rooting gel. Put your clones in a 24-hour lighting cycle to supercharge their re-vegging. If not, the standard 18/6 photoperiod will also work just as well.

Here's a gentle warning. Re-vegging may create plants that may appear strange. If you think about it, you are actually mutating the plant, so you should expect some abnormalities to pop up!

Remember, patience is critical. You have to allow your clones to take their time for rooting, which can be up to a few weeks. Once those tiny roots start popping out from the bottom of your Rockwool cubes, it's time to begin vegging in the usual manner. You can smoothly move them into the flowering stage when the time comes.

Choosing Your Rooting Medium

Once you've taken your cuttings, giving them the right home is crucial for root development. Because these clones are coming from a flowering plant, they're under a bit more stress than typical clones. A sterile and stable growing medium is your best bet for success. Rockwool cubes are a fantastic choice because they hold the perfect amount of air and water, creating an ideal environment for new roots to form. After you make your diagonal cut, dip the end of the cutting into a rooting gel and gently place it into a pre-soaked Rockwool cube. This combination gives your clone the hormonal signal to start rooting and the physical support it needs to thrive during this delicate transition period.

Setting Up the Right Light Cycle

Light is the signal that tells your new clones to switch gears from flowering back to vegetative growth. To encourage this "re-vegging" process, you need to provide a long-day light cycle. You have two great options here. For the fastest results, you can put your clones under a constant 24-hour light cycle. This intense schedule pushes them to re-veg as quickly as possible. Alternatively, a standard 18 hours on, 6 hours off (18/6) photoperiod also works perfectly well and gives the plants a short rest. A gentle, full-spectrum LED grow light is ideal for this stage, as it provides all the necessary light without overwhelming the delicate new cuttings with too much heat or intensity.

Taking Monster Cropping Outside

Yes, monster cropping can be applied to outdoor growing, too. However, its success depends on your geographical location.

This plant training strategy is much easier if you live in milder climates because it needs you to plant in the earlier months of the year. The outdoor growing season is short in colder climates, so that might be a problem. But you can still do it. The trick is to start your plants indoors first. Once they harden off, you may move them outdoors, protecting them from the risk of frost. Typically, this risk decreases once February approaches, so you can safely take your plants outside by this time.

Even before spring arrives, if you can manage to do things correctly, you will be able to reap a bountiful harvest. Following this, you may obtain some cuttings from your plants, re-veg, and begin another outdoor grow cycle right away. Sounds great, doesn't it?

How to Get a Double Harvest

If you live in a warm, sunny climate with a long growing season, monster cropping can potentially allow for two harvests in a single year. The key is to create a perpetual cycle. This technique allows you to set up multiple growing areas, which means that while you wait for your fresh clones to re-veg, you can finish flowering your current plants and harvest them. You can use separate indoor spaces like grow tents to manage these different light cycles effectively. As soon as you’ve harvested your first batch, you can place your freshly re-vegged plants into your primary flowering space to continue the process. This method lets you get more from your garden without starting from square one with seeds each time.

Choosing Strains for Outdoor Growing

Your success with outdoor monster cropping heavily depends on the genetics you choose. It's best to select strains that flower relatively quickly, typically within an 8-10 week timeframe, to ensure they can complete their cycle within the season. Many growers find that Indica-dominant strains perform better for this technique, as some Sativa varieties can get confused by the longer summer days and try to revert to the vegetative stage. If you’re growing in a warm climate and plant during the winter, the naturally short days will encourage your plants to flower quickly. To get bigger plants before they flower, you can use a small supplemental LED grow light at night to keep them in the vegetative stage a bit longer.

Getting the Most from Monster Cropping

Monster cropping works best when you combine it with another plant training technique that can also accelerate lateral plant growth. SCROG (screen of green) or topping are also acceptable. If you ask us, we'd advise choosing the SCROG approach. The cause? Since you will be installing a trellis, why not use it for another purpose as well?

Once you do this, you can invest some effort into opening your plant up to allow more light to reach the deepest nooks and corners within each plant. You can achieve this by weaving shoots of growth through the support system. When the flowering stage comes, this net will also serve the purpose of supporting the weight of those lovely, heavy buds.

Combining with Other Training Methods

SCROG, LST, and Topping

Monster cropping on its own produces incredibly bushy plants, but you can get even better results by pairing it with other training techniques. The explosive, multi-directional growth from a re-vegged clone is the perfect foundation for methods like SCROG (Screen of Green). By weaving the numerous new branches through a trellis net, you create a perfectly flat, even canopy. This ensures every single bud site gets direct, high-quality light from your LED grow lights, leading to a more consistent and abundant harvest. Plus, as your flowers develop and get heavy, that same net provides essential support to prevent branches from bending or breaking.

Low-Stress Training (LST) and topping are also fantastic partners for monster cropping. LST involves gently bending and tying down branches to shape the plant, which helps manage the wild growth and opens up the canopy for better light penetration and airflow. Topping is a more direct approach where you snip the plant's main stem, forcing it to grow two new main colas in its place. Applying this technique to your already-bushy monster-cropped clones can create a plant with an incredible number of dominant colas, helping you maximize every square inch of your grow tent for a truly impressive yield.

Is Monster Cropping Right for You?

We hope that reading this far has shown you how monster cropping is an exciting way to set up a perpetual harvest. It allows you to maximize your growth by stretching much further than ever before. Monster cropping also lets you preserve some great genetics that you are fond of. Not to mention, it brings about a tremendous increase in your yield, helping you gain several extra harvests within the same growing calendar!

You are all set to try monster cropping now. All you need is to get the supplies you need from GroIndoor.com and then get to work. Good luck!