Cannabis is the only known plant that naturally creates THC (which, along with CBD and other cannabinoids, make these plants of particular interest to humans).
THC is the principal 'thing' in the cannabis plant that causes the plant's well-loved psychoactive effects. THC is produced mostly in the flowers of the female cannabis plants.
But cannabinoid-like substances are abundant in almost all plants and animals, including humans. In fact, humans and mammals naturally have a ton of receptors for cannabinoids throughout our brain and bodies.
If you've ever slept, eaten, forgotten, or relaxed, then you've used your Endocannabinoid system (yay for being a mammal!) and natural cannabinoids.
Ok, yet why does the cannabis plant produce THC, which causes major psychotropic effects?
Did you know that THC is produced by the marijuana plant for
protection?
Obviously it's not doing a great job protecting the plants from humans! :) (Or maybe it is good for them since we keep cultivating these plants...)
In the wild, deer and many other creatures might eat marijuana flowers, which would prevent the plants from making seeds and reproducing.
Yet, as far as we can tell, most animals won't strip a whole marijuana plant of ALL her buds. Either they think cannabinoids taste terrible, or maybe they hate the effects. Therefore we believe the plants use THC as a way to deter predators.
Maybe the animals just forget what they're doing and wander off...
Because these plants use THC to protect against predators, when marijuana plants are stressed, they'll put their bud and cannabinoid production into overdrive as a last ditch effort to protect themselves.
Why is that all important?
For a marijuana plant, creating the prized cannabinoid-laden buds (which are used to make seeds) is their life's work.
As a marijuana farmer, it's your job to understand what causes marijuana plants to produce the biggest, most potent buds possible.
So I'm going to let you in on a big secret
to getting the biggest, best buds when growing marijuana...
While marijuana growers want to make sure that these plants survive until harvest, keeping them as absolutely healthy as possible in a 100% perfect environment won't get you the best results.
Instead, the best buds are produced when you learn how to stress the plants in just the right way to increase bud and cannabinoid production.
Which brings me to super cropping, one of the easiest, most effective ways to stress your marijuana plant for better harvests.
This remarkably simple technique will dramatically increase your yields, and all it takes is your fingers
, duct tape, and the knowledge of what to do. It's based on the idea we just discussed of stressing the plant so she goes crazy with bud production.
What is Super Cropping?
Super cropping is the name for a High-Stress Training (HST) technique when you stress the plant by slightly hurting it in a planned way.
As a result, the plant will grow bushier, with more buds, and higher THC levels. This is the plant's natural response to protect herself in the wild, in case things go wrong.
