Horticulture often relies on cloning, where a cutting is taken from a parent plant to grow a genetically identical copy. This standard practice allows cultivators to preserve desirable traits and ensure consistency. Monster cropping is an advanced technique that intentionally manipulates a plant’s developmental stage to achieve a more productive physical form than traditional clones.
Defining Monster Cropping
Monster cropping is an advanced cultivation technique characterized by taking cuttings from a plant that has already begun its flowering phase. Unlike standard cloning, which uses actively growing vegetative material, this approach selects material that is hormonally programmed for reproduction. Cuttings are typically harvested during the first two to four weeks after the mother plant has transitioned into its bloom cycle. The core of this method is forcing the flowering clone to revert to a vegetative state, a process known as revegetation. This intentional stress and hormonal shift influences the plant’s subsequent growth patterns, resulting in a unique and highly desirable structure.
The Process of Taking and Reverting Cuttings
The execution of monster cropping requires careful timing and specific environmental adjustments. Cuttings should be taken from a vigorous and healthy mother plant, ideally from the lower branches. These lower sections are often slightly less mature, which can aid in the rooting process.
Once selected, the cutting is prepared using standard cloning practices. This includes making a sharp, angled cut below a node to maximize the surface area for root development. Any small flowers or buds must be pinched off, redirecting the clone’s energy away from reproduction. Applying a rooting hormone or gel to the fresh cut is recommended to encourage root formation.
The transition back to vegetative growth requires an immediate change in the light cycle, which is the primary trigger for revegetation. The clone must be placed under a significantly longer photoperiod, such as 18 hours of light and six hours of darkness (18/6), or even 20 hours of light. This extended light exposure suppresses flowering hormones and stimulates vegetative growth hormones.
Growers should initially use gentle lighting, such as fluorescent tubes, and maintain a high-humidity environment, often within a humidity dome, to support the cutting while it focuses on rooting. The substrate should be maintained with light, vegetative-focused nutrients, or simply water, until roots appear, as the clone needs more nitrogen to support leafy growth. The rooting and revegetation process is slow and can take several weeks.
During this transition, the grower will observe initial signs of stress and unusual growth patterns. The first new leaves to emerge are often rounded and lack the characteristic serrated edges of typical vegetative growth. This unusual foliage indicates that the hormonal flip back to growth is successfully underway. After a few weeks, the plant will begin to produce normal, serrated leaves and enter a stable vegetative growth pattern.
Unique Structural Outcomes
The stress and hormonal disruption caused by forcing a flowering cutting back into the vegetative state permanently alters the plant’s architecture. This results in a morphology distinctly different from a clone taken during the vegetative phase. The primary outcome is a highly dense, bushy structure with a significantly increased number of lateral branches.
The process effectively breaks the plant’s natural apical dominance, which is the tendency for the central main stem to grow fastest and suppress side branches. Instead of a single dominant main stem, the revegetated clone develops numerous side shoots that grow outward, creating a wider, more productive canopy. This branching pattern provides a greater number of potential bud sites, correlating to a higher yield potential.
Furthermore, the internodal spacing—the distance between sets of leaves and branches—tends to be tighter on monster-cropped plants. This dense growth habit, combined with the explosive lateral branching, allows the grower to maximize the use of limited space by filling the cultivation area with a full and uniform canopy. The resulting plant is a compact, multi-branched organism, ready for a robust harvest when induced back into the final flowering cycle.