FatJoe
New member
Here's a thread I did many moons ago. I think at grasscity its had over 50,000 hits. I'm not the expert at this method but I do have alot of hands on experience.
The Scrog Method revised II
So, you want to tackle a scrog do ya? Excellent choice! Scrog or SCREEN OF GREEN is one of the most productive and easiest ways to grow indoors. Now lets not get this confused with the Sea of green method. SOG involves no training nor does it have one item a scrog always has. A screen. Scrog has been around for many years. Before HID's were introduces many used floro's with this method with good success.
Now lets talk about the scrog for a little bit here. What is a scrog? What is screen of green? Well, it is just that. A screen is the main character of scrog. It is usually made of wire or something sturdy enough to hold back the growing canopy. This wire should have some holes in it about 2x2inches in size so that the plant mater can easily grow up through the wire and be supported by it. The wire is secured between the grow medium and the lamp at a distance determined by the size of your lamp. We will get into that later. The plants grow through the screen about 3-4 inches and then are pulled back under and spread out where YOU want them to grow. Its as easy as that folks. Its a great way to grow. Let me put it this way. I have tried untrained methods like SOG and have never come close to the yeild I get with a scrog. Okay, sounds easy right? So, what are you waiting for?
Getting Started
This is the hard part. Getting started. Damned if it ain't for me man. I spend hours thinkin of shit before I do it. lol The paint program on your computer is a valuable tool that will help you plan out a grow space for scroggin. Give it a try.....you may be surprised at what you come up with. Anyway, this isnt rocket science. If you've already got an area where you established plants growing you are halfway there.
What kind of Scrog?To me, anything grown with a screen is a scrog of some sort. There are stadium scrogs, verticle scrogs, V shaped scrogs, Round scrogs and Flat ones. Whichever you decide to venture into. It is a good idea to PLAN ahead and know what you want to accomplish with your chosen scrog method. Nuff said there.....Lets move on shall we?
The SCREEN
Remember at least 2x2inch squares. You can use chicken wire as well or even some tightly strug rope but I would suggest wire. You need something strong to support the buds and hold back the canopy growth. The screen needs to be cut to size. The size of the screen is determined by the size of your lamp. Remember that to get the good bud formation you want from 50 watts per square foot so your screen size should not exceed that. Check the examples below. If your screen is a little larger dont freak.
150hps screen size 1.75ft x 1.75ft
250hps screen size 2.25ft x 2.25ft
400hps screen size 2.91ft x 2.75ft
600hps screen size 3.45ft x 3.45ft
1000hps screen size 4.4ft x 4.5ft
If your screen exceeds the 50wpsf thing alittle. Thats perfectly okay. Just dont overdoit. lol Now once you've determined the size of your screen and cut it to size. Situate it over your grow area and secure it into place. Just a few screws will hold it in place. Your mounting a screen. Not a twenty pound wall painting. lol.....Wait just a minute! You need to figure out where to set the screen. First, a few questions to ask. Is your lamp air cooled and what size is your lamp? These two questions determine how close you can get to your canopy. This is very important stuff. Ya dont want to fry your plants. If you do not have air cooled lamps then a simple fan blowing between the canopy and the the lamp should do the trick. Okay, now lets set that screen. Here's some examples of screen settings for hps's. These are not exact settings. They are just a baseline idea. If you can get your lamp closer. Good for you. If you can't. Thats okay too. Dont worry. If you've got the right watts per footage they will produce.
150hps 10-12 inches
250hps 12-15 inches
400hps 16-20 inches
600hps 20+
1000hps 24+
Your Plants, How Many?
How Many Will I Need Under The Screen? Usually the rule is one plant per square foot of screen. I go with as few plants as I can whenever possible. One side of my flower chamber is almost 3x3ft. Thats almost 9 sqft. I only have 6 plants under there and have used as few as two. I'm a firm believer in to many plants under the screen causes toooooo much of a mess. It hurts your overall yeild and crowds your plants ability to get proper light. So, the rule does not always need to be followed. Having less plants can be a good thing if they happen to discover your illegal activity..lol.(and lets hope that never happens)....Remember with fewer plants you will have to veg a bit longer but be patient and hang in there. Its well worth the wait.
Spacing Lets talk about the spacing between the plant medium and where the screen is set. This space will need to be large enough to allow you room to manipulate your plants during the training phase. I usually use around 8 inches. Some people use more/less. Eight seems to be just enough for me but when working in a 3x3ft space it is still a tight space for a big guy. lol.....
What Is The Best Strain To Grow In A Scrog? Now lets talk about your plants alittle bit. What kind should you be growing in a scrog you ask? Hmmmmm. Well, any kind your heart desires my friend. That's right. Most any plant strain can be grown without much difficulty using a scrog. The secret is in the screen. Some strains require more training than others but that is the only difference. Low yeilding hybrids and Indica's are excellent scrog candidates but the unruley sativa can really shine with proper training and timing. The screen really tames them leggy girls down.
Hydro or Soil?
So, how are you going to do this scrog? Is it going to bubble, flow or just sit there? Here's some things you may consider before your plants get tangled up in the screen.
Hydro: No real problem here. A scrog can be setup under ebb n flo, turbo tanks, dwc, drip systems w/ coco or clay pellets. Its really a matter of personal choice and what your comfortable with. With this approach most of the time the res is easily accessable. Thats pretty important when you cant move your plants to the sink to flush'em....lol
Soil: Soil grows and scrogs are a wonderful thing. Orgainc buds rule. One problem I ran into when scroging with soil was the flushing of the medium at the end of the grow. Well, with the plants tangled in the screen. One can not just transport to the sink and flush. My soil buckets drain into catch pans. Then I have to drain the catch pans. Takes a while but it works. Hydro is much easier though.
Coco: This is a great medium choice and my favorite lately. The growth rate is fast and the veg time is far less.
Okay man, you just did something that will almost double your yeild in the weeks to come. So, how do you feel about that? The screen is set. Now its time to move on to other things. Lets take a look at whats going to happen when these babies start to grow through the screen.
Managing the Scrog Grow
You have done some things that are a little out of the ordinary from your usual grow regiem. Things look a little different. A wire screen has invaded your grow space and it looks weird in there. Maybe you even have a few inches growth through the screen. What in the fuck am I gonna do now? lol.......Be cool man. Here's where the real fun begins and were the beauty of scrog growing starts.
Vegging: Here is where alot of people make mistakes. They get in a fired up hurry and get confused somehow. Flip their shit over to 12/12 way to soon and wonder why their screen never filled up. At that point the screen is nothing more than a support system for the plant. Normally one would veg a plant till the screen is 70-80 percent full before switching over to the flowering cycle. Having knowlege of how much your strain stretches is helpful when determining when to switch to flowering. For example: If one had a very stretchy sativa. You would want to start flowering her with much less of the screen filled. Just the opposite for a nice stunted hybrid or indica. Timing has alot to do with scrog. We go over that soon.
Pulling It Back Through: Okay, so you've got some growth through the screen. Should have about 3-4 inches aye? Don't be a pussy here. lol....... If it breaks. I'll explain what to do later. Reach under the screen and pull that branch back under the screen and place it where you want it to be. Even if it takes tying it in place with the plastic twisty ties (very loose, not tight). Now I could really get technical and shit and start with the be sure there is an internode in each hole of the screen but it really doesnt matter man. Just get the growth under the screen first. In the next few weeks. You will see were to guide the new growth to best suit your needs.
Training: This can seem brutal to some. lol........ Scrog is not natural growth for the cannabis plant. I am sure of that. It must stress the shit out of them the whole cycle of life. Imagine taking a plant that usually grows anywhere from 3-12 feet and making it grow in a space no larger than 2 foot. Training begings in the pulling it back through section. Try to situate your main branches towards the barest parts of your screen. They will branch out the most and usually be the largest bud in the bunch. Use some kind of uniformity to your laying out of the branches (NEVER TOP YOUR PLANTS). Why do I say that so strongly? Well, the screen is going to do all that for ya. If you top a plant you stop ALL verticle growth and thats something we want to happen under the screen as it fills. Crisscross/ zigzag whatever you use. Remember theres are going to be alot more branching when flowering kicks in high gear. So allow some room for that as well. Lesser buds that are now exposed to more light are then encouraged to grow upwards toward the screen through some leaf triming. An often debated subject but one I feel that is usefull in the scrog method.
Leaf Trimming: Now we need to chat about a touchy subject. Leaf triming. Thru the years I've been in many forum wars over this subject..hehe. Like I said above. Scroggin aint natural for cannabis. At least I dont think it is. Crammed in such a small area with all those leaves. Well, somethings gotta give and its not going to be bud. lol......Here's my rule on trimming. If the leaf is in the way of light for a bud site. Then it needs to be removed. Sometimes I tuck the leaf instead of removing it but most of the time I remove it. Now, when do I do this? Its usually when I do a training session. Right afterwards. This trims away leaves and allows the new sites to get light. You will be surprised at how fast they will respond. Use good judgement when trimming. To much is not a good thing here. I have seen some people really go to town on this so use some sound judgement...please. For the sake of your beloved plant.
Trimming continues into flowering ending during the later stages. I have found it not to be harmful at all to remove large fan leaves from buds during flowering. If they are blocking light to other bud sites near by. Its all about light penetration and bud sites in a scrog but once again. Dont go crazy with it.
Timing: Timing is critical when it comes to a scrog grow. You must be paying attention to the progress of your grow in order to know when to induce flowering. Knowing what strain you are dealing with and what the growing characteristices of the plant are is very helpful when it comes to timing. I cant express the importance of having a good clone base for this purpose. As mentioned above if you induce flowering to early. You will have alot less of a yield. However, if one was to wait to long. Dont freak about it. Remember, the plants you start to flower are probably going to double in size. Stand back and get a visual picture of that in your head. Ask yourself some questions. If I start flowering now. Can I visualize how big they will get? Do I have enough veggative growth to start flowering? Do I have to much? Is it time? Time to start flowering?
Okay, so you've decided to start. Bravo! You are going to be amazed at the buds that come out of this grow. lol....... So, you have turned back the timer to 12/12 and it has been 4 days now. The growth from the stretch is starting to show. You get in there and pull all those new shoots back under your screen and put them where you want them to be. A few more days pass. More growth. Now the decision part comes into play. Just how far over the screen do you want your buds to be? If you stop training them early in the stretch. They will grow alittle above the screen (maybe 6-12in, or more depending on the strian). If you continue trianing them until they start to top out. They will grow only alittle more and most of the bud will form right in the screen. Even stopping at this point many still stretch into miniature trees..hehehe This technique is great for those stetchy sativa's. However when doing this method keep an eye out for mold and try to have as much air flow between the buds as possible. I have done it both ways and they are both awsome. It may take you a grow or two to get the timing down to where you want it but once you do. I am sure you will be pleased with the results.
Clones/Seed Grows: Here's an interesting topic that is sure to generate a few questions. I suggest flowering clones for scrog growing over seed anyday of the year. Whats a flowering clone you ask? I take my clones when my females are 14-21days into flowering. Being sure to only harvest the soft lower sprouts. These little giants branch at a fantasitc rate and are perfect for scrog applications. One flowering clone will branch 3x more than a clone taken from a normal mother plant. No genetic decline in the strain whatsoever. I've been doin this for years and know a guy thats been clonin a single plant 20+ years with the same method with no loss of potency. With clones you usually already know the characteristics of the plant and how it will perform. With seed its usually a guessing game as to which pheno your going to get unless they are true F1 seed. Plus with seed you dont know the sex yet. Ever tried untangling a male from a screen? Not something I would suggest doing. lol......Anyways, if you grow from seed. Be sure you have cloned the lot and know who your girls are first before going under the screen. This will save you alot of hassle later on.
Damage Control: If you move branches around and bend'em. Eventually somethings gonna give. Dont freakout. Its not the end of the world man.....lol... Cannabis is an amazing plant that can recover from alot of damage naturally without help from humans but in this case ya want to help if ya can. First aid for the injured cannabis plant is simple as pie man. She will take care of it on her own. Unless you break her completely in half she can be saved usually. One trick I use to bend unruley branches that are rather large is to use my thumb and finger to crush a space between the internodes. This makes her much more pliable and if she needs a little support afterwards I just loosely twisty tie her to the screen for a few days untill she recovers. In all cases. A knot will form at the break and most times an explosion of growth will happen above the damaged area. At times even new growth sometimes sprouts from the knuckle formed.
Flowering Cycle: Once a few trimmings are done and all is set in place flowering in a scrog is pretty uneventful. lol......Good time to start thinning out your undergrowth. I take clones around 14-21 days 12/12. If all that I need root. I clean out the undergrowth around day 35 12/12. Now if I need anymore clones. I can tak'em at this time. All the rest. Its butter makin time........Oh yeah.......churn dat budda........talk about a bonus for all your hard work.
Undergrowth: I mentioned it above but thought I should mention it again. The undergrowth is not that big of an issue here. Its an area that should be kept clear of dead leaves and you should also ensure that proper ventilation can get through the canopy via the undergrowth. If it cant. Then thin out some growth. This is an area that is dim and often can get humid. An open invitation for not so good things to come visiting aye? Some people have mentioned putting a light down there. Why? There's no need for a light down there. There are no buds to be harvested there. Just stems that support the canopy. If one were to put a light there they would just be adding to the congestion of leaves already growing. Not good. It is a good idea to clear out your undergrowth as your scrog takes shape and you have taken the clones that you need for the next grow. Trim all remaining sprouts left on the stems and any other undergrowth. Now lets not get to crazy here. Leave a little growth. Use some common sense here. Take out the sites you know are not going to make it to maturity. This will help the plant direct more energy towards the larger buds instead of wasting energy on the smaller ones.
Ventilation: Here's an issue that can not be overlooked. Once a scrog has been established it is a leafy sight to behold. Air circulation becomes critical as the buds begin to form and things start to get packed in the box. 24hr air movement is suggested 7 days a week. Better safe than sorry. Mold sucks.
Even Canopy: Maybe I should not put it in those words. Your canopy does not have to be perfectly even. Just close. The idea behind this is even light distribution. We are looking for a field of buds here not a forest like in SOG. If a dominate bud is allowed to overtake the canopy. It is defeating the purpose of the scrog. Tame that bitch. Bring her down to size with the rest. You want a somewhat even field of buds to deal with. Not a forest of untamed trees. The even canopy is easy to accomplish with a little practice and patients.
Tips:
1.Remove twisty ties once the plant has enough force from below to hold it into place
2.Remember to get that mental picture befor you decide to flower. You dont want to flip'em to soon.
3.2"x2" wire is suggested. Chicken wire will damage alot of plant mater when it is pulled back thru the wholes. Trelises, well...there worthless in my book.
The Beautiful and Productive SCROG
I cant express the joy I get from growing with this wonderful method. Through the years I have tried many ways but have never found a more productive growing method. I hope by passing on this information. Others will be more motivated to start their own scrog grow. If done correctly. I can almost gaurentee you will get more yield using the scrog than using the method you use right now. Considering the cost of electricity today. Getting the most out of your grow is the best way to go in my book. Good luck in all your goals and dreams. Give scrog a try. I doubt you will be disappointed. Later Fatjoe....... Here's some pics to help ya along..hehe
Pics: Except for the last two pics on the second page. All other pics have two flowering clones in a 6" netpot, one 18gal dwc tub filling a 3'x3' screen on each side w/ a 400w lamp. Flowering clones rock under a screen. I'll throw up a thread on them soon....take care
The Scrog Method revised II
So, you want to tackle a scrog do ya? Excellent choice! Scrog or SCREEN OF GREEN is one of the most productive and easiest ways to grow indoors. Now lets not get this confused with the Sea of green method. SOG involves no training nor does it have one item a scrog always has. A screen. Scrog has been around for many years. Before HID's were introduces many used floro's with this method with good success.
Now lets talk about the scrog for a little bit here. What is a scrog? What is screen of green? Well, it is just that. A screen is the main character of scrog. It is usually made of wire or something sturdy enough to hold back the growing canopy. This wire should have some holes in it about 2x2inches in size so that the plant mater can easily grow up through the wire and be supported by it. The wire is secured between the grow medium and the lamp at a distance determined by the size of your lamp. We will get into that later. The plants grow through the screen about 3-4 inches and then are pulled back under and spread out where YOU want them to grow. Its as easy as that folks. Its a great way to grow. Let me put it this way. I have tried untrained methods like SOG and have never come close to the yeild I get with a scrog. Okay, sounds easy right? So, what are you waiting for?
Getting Started
This is the hard part. Getting started. Damned if it ain't for me man. I spend hours thinkin of shit before I do it. lol The paint program on your computer is a valuable tool that will help you plan out a grow space for scroggin. Give it a try.....you may be surprised at what you come up with. Anyway, this isnt rocket science. If you've already got an area where you established plants growing you are halfway there.
What kind of Scrog?To me, anything grown with a screen is a scrog of some sort. There are stadium scrogs, verticle scrogs, V shaped scrogs, Round scrogs and Flat ones. Whichever you decide to venture into. It is a good idea to PLAN ahead and know what you want to accomplish with your chosen scrog method. Nuff said there.....Lets move on shall we?
The SCREEN
Remember at least 2x2inch squares. You can use chicken wire as well or even some tightly strug rope but I would suggest wire. You need something strong to support the buds and hold back the canopy growth. The screen needs to be cut to size. The size of the screen is determined by the size of your lamp. Remember that to get the good bud formation you want from 50 watts per square foot so your screen size should not exceed that. Check the examples below. If your screen is a little larger dont freak.
150hps screen size 1.75ft x 1.75ft
250hps screen size 2.25ft x 2.25ft
400hps screen size 2.91ft x 2.75ft
600hps screen size 3.45ft x 3.45ft
1000hps screen size 4.4ft x 4.5ft
If your screen exceeds the 50wpsf thing alittle. Thats perfectly okay. Just dont overdoit. lol Now once you've determined the size of your screen and cut it to size. Situate it over your grow area and secure it into place. Just a few screws will hold it in place. Your mounting a screen. Not a twenty pound wall painting. lol.....Wait just a minute! You need to figure out where to set the screen. First, a few questions to ask. Is your lamp air cooled and what size is your lamp? These two questions determine how close you can get to your canopy. This is very important stuff. Ya dont want to fry your plants. If you do not have air cooled lamps then a simple fan blowing between the canopy and the the lamp should do the trick. Okay, now lets set that screen. Here's some examples of screen settings for hps's. These are not exact settings. They are just a baseline idea. If you can get your lamp closer. Good for you. If you can't. Thats okay too. Dont worry. If you've got the right watts per footage they will produce.
150hps 10-12 inches
250hps 12-15 inches
400hps 16-20 inches
600hps 20+
1000hps 24+
Your Plants, How Many?
How Many Will I Need Under The Screen? Usually the rule is one plant per square foot of screen. I go with as few plants as I can whenever possible. One side of my flower chamber is almost 3x3ft. Thats almost 9 sqft. I only have 6 plants under there and have used as few as two. I'm a firm believer in to many plants under the screen causes toooooo much of a mess. It hurts your overall yeild and crowds your plants ability to get proper light. So, the rule does not always need to be followed. Having less plants can be a good thing if they happen to discover your illegal activity..lol.(and lets hope that never happens)....Remember with fewer plants you will have to veg a bit longer but be patient and hang in there. Its well worth the wait.
Spacing Lets talk about the spacing between the plant medium and where the screen is set. This space will need to be large enough to allow you room to manipulate your plants during the training phase. I usually use around 8 inches. Some people use more/less. Eight seems to be just enough for me but when working in a 3x3ft space it is still a tight space for a big guy. lol.....
What Is The Best Strain To Grow In A Scrog? Now lets talk about your plants alittle bit. What kind should you be growing in a scrog you ask? Hmmmmm. Well, any kind your heart desires my friend. That's right. Most any plant strain can be grown without much difficulty using a scrog. The secret is in the screen. Some strains require more training than others but that is the only difference. Low yeilding hybrids and Indica's are excellent scrog candidates but the unruley sativa can really shine with proper training and timing. The screen really tames them leggy girls down.
Hydro or Soil?
So, how are you going to do this scrog? Is it going to bubble, flow or just sit there? Here's some things you may consider before your plants get tangled up in the screen.
Hydro: No real problem here. A scrog can be setup under ebb n flo, turbo tanks, dwc, drip systems w/ coco or clay pellets. Its really a matter of personal choice and what your comfortable with. With this approach most of the time the res is easily accessable. Thats pretty important when you cant move your plants to the sink to flush'em....lol
Soil: Soil grows and scrogs are a wonderful thing. Orgainc buds rule. One problem I ran into when scroging with soil was the flushing of the medium at the end of the grow. Well, with the plants tangled in the screen. One can not just transport to the sink and flush. My soil buckets drain into catch pans. Then I have to drain the catch pans. Takes a while but it works. Hydro is much easier though.
Coco: This is a great medium choice and my favorite lately. The growth rate is fast and the veg time is far less.
Okay man, you just did something that will almost double your yeild in the weeks to come. So, how do you feel about that? The screen is set. Now its time to move on to other things. Lets take a look at whats going to happen when these babies start to grow through the screen.
Managing the Scrog Grow
You have done some things that are a little out of the ordinary from your usual grow regiem. Things look a little different. A wire screen has invaded your grow space and it looks weird in there. Maybe you even have a few inches growth through the screen. What in the fuck am I gonna do now? lol.......Be cool man. Here's where the real fun begins and were the beauty of scrog growing starts.
Vegging: Here is where alot of people make mistakes. They get in a fired up hurry and get confused somehow. Flip their shit over to 12/12 way to soon and wonder why their screen never filled up. At that point the screen is nothing more than a support system for the plant. Normally one would veg a plant till the screen is 70-80 percent full before switching over to the flowering cycle. Having knowlege of how much your strain stretches is helpful when determining when to switch to flowering. For example: If one had a very stretchy sativa. You would want to start flowering her with much less of the screen filled. Just the opposite for a nice stunted hybrid or indica. Timing has alot to do with scrog. We go over that soon.
Pulling It Back Through: Okay, so you've got some growth through the screen. Should have about 3-4 inches aye? Don't be a pussy here. lol....... If it breaks. I'll explain what to do later. Reach under the screen and pull that branch back under the screen and place it where you want it to be. Even if it takes tying it in place with the plastic twisty ties (very loose, not tight). Now I could really get technical and shit and start with the be sure there is an internode in each hole of the screen but it really doesnt matter man. Just get the growth under the screen first. In the next few weeks. You will see were to guide the new growth to best suit your needs.
Training: This can seem brutal to some. lol........ Scrog is not natural growth for the cannabis plant. I am sure of that. It must stress the shit out of them the whole cycle of life. Imagine taking a plant that usually grows anywhere from 3-12 feet and making it grow in a space no larger than 2 foot. Training begings in the pulling it back through section. Try to situate your main branches towards the barest parts of your screen. They will branch out the most and usually be the largest bud in the bunch. Use some kind of uniformity to your laying out of the branches (NEVER TOP YOUR PLANTS). Why do I say that so strongly? Well, the screen is going to do all that for ya. If you top a plant you stop ALL verticle growth and thats something we want to happen under the screen as it fills. Crisscross/ zigzag whatever you use. Remember theres are going to be alot more branching when flowering kicks in high gear. So allow some room for that as well. Lesser buds that are now exposed to more light are then encouraged to grow upwards toward the screen through some leaf triming. An often debated subject but one I feel that is usefull in the scrog method.
Leaf Trimming: Now we need to chat about a touchy subject. Leaf triming. Thru the years I've been in many forum wars over this subject..hehe. Like I said above. Scroggin aint natural for cannabis. At least I dont think it is. Crammed in such a small area with all those leaves. Well, somethings gotta give and its not going to be bud. lol......Here's my rule on trimming. If the leaf is in the way of light for a bud site. Then it needs to be removed. Sometimes I tuck the leaf instead of removing it but most of the time I remove it. Now, when do I do this? Its usually when I do a training session. Right afterwards. This trims away leaves and allows the new sites to get light. You will be surprised at how fast they will respond. Use good judgement when trimming. To much is not a good thing here. I have seen some people really go to town on this so use some sound judgement...please. For the sake of your beloved plant.
Trimming continues into flowering ending during the later stages. I have found it not to be harmful at all to remove large fan leaves from buds during flowering. If they are blocking light to other bud sites near by. Its all about light penetration and bud sites in a scrog but once again. Dont go crazy with it.
Timing: Timing is critical when it comes to a scrog grow. You must be paying attention to the progress of your grow in order to know when to induce flowering. Knowing what strain you are dealing with and what the growing characteristices of the plant are is very helpful when it comes to timing. I cant express the importance of having a good clone base for this purpose. As mentioned above if you induce flowering to early. You will have alot less of a yield. However, if one was to wait to long. Dont freak about it. Remember, the plants you start to flower are probably going to double in size. Stand back and get a visual picture of that in your head. Ask yourself some questions. If I start flowering now. Can I visualize how big they will get? Do I have enough veggative growth to start flowering? Do I have to much? Is it time? Time to start flowering?
Okay, so you've decided to start. Bravo! You are going to be amazed at the buds that come out of this grow. lol....... So, you have turned back the timer to 12/12 and it has been 4 days now. The growth from the stretch is starting to show. You get in there and pull all those new shoots back under your screen and put them where you want them to be. A few more days pass. More growth. Now the decision part comes into play. Just how far over the screen do you want your buds to be? If you stop training them early in the stretch. They will grow alittle above the screen (maybe 6-12in, or more depending on the strian). If you continue trianing them until they start to top out. They will grow only alittle more and most of the bud will form right in the screen. Even stopping at this point many still stretch into miniature trees..hehehe This technique is great for those stetchy sativa's. However when doing this method keep an eye out for mold and try to have as much air flow between the buds as possible. I have done it both ways and they are both awsome. It may take you a grow or two to get the timing down to where you want it but once you do. I am sure you will be pleased with the results.
Clones/Seed Grows: Here's an interesting topic that is sure to generate a few questions. I suggest flowering clones for scrog growing over seed anyday of the year. Whats a flowering clone you ask? I take my clones when my females are 14-21days into flowering. Being sure to only harvest the soft lower sprouts. These little giants branch at a fantasitc rate and are perfect for scrog applications. One flowering clone will branch 3x more than a clone taken from a normal mother plant. No genetic decline in the strain whatsoever. I've been doin this for years and know a guy thats been clonin a single plant 20+ years with the same method with no loss of potency. With clones you usually already know the characteristics of the plant and how it will perform. With seed its usually a guessing game as to which pheno your going to get unless they are true F1 seed. Plus with seed you dont know the sex yet. Ever tried untangling a male from a screen? Not something I would suggest doing. lol......Anyways, if you grow from seed. Be sure you have cloned the lot and know who your girls are first before going under the screen. This will save you alot of hassle later on.
Damage Control: If you move branches around and bend'em. Eventually somethings gonna give. Dont freakout. Its not the end of the world man.....lol... Cannabis is an amazing plant that can recover from alot of damage naturally without help from humans but in this case ya want to help if ya can. First aid for the injured cannabis plant is simple as pie man. She will take care of it on her own. Unless you break her completely in half she can be saved usually. One trick I use to bend unruley branches that are rather large is to use my thumb and finger to crush a space between the internodes. This makes her much more pliable and if she needs a little support afterwards I just loosely twisty tie her to the screen for a few days untill she recovers. In all cases. A knot will form at the break and most times an explosion of growth will happen above the damaged area. At times even new growth sometimes sprouts from the knuckle formed.
Flowering Cycle: Once a few trimmings are done and all is set in place flowering in a scrog is pretty uneventful. lol......Good time to start thinning out your undergrowth. I take clones around 14-21 days 12/12. If all that I need root. I clean out the undergrowth around day 35 12/12. Now if I need anymore clones. I can tak'em at this time. All the rest. Its butter makin time........Oh yeah.......churn dat budda........talk about a bonus for all your hard work.
Undergrowth: I mentioned it above but thought I should mention it again. The undergrowth is not that big of an issue here. Its an area that should be kept clear of dead leaves and you should also ensure that proper ventilation can get through the canopy via the undergrowth. If it cant. Then thin out some growth. This is an area that is dim and often can get humid. An open invitation for not so good things to come visiting aye? Some people have mentioned putting a light down there. Why? There's no need for a light down there. There are no buds to be harvested there. Just stems that support the canopy. If one were to put a light there they would just be adding to the congestion of leaves already growing. Not good. It is a good idea to clear out your undergrowth as your scrog takes shape and you have taken the clones that you need for the next grow. Trim all remaining sprouts left on the stems and any other undergrowth. Now lets not get to crazy here. Leave a little growth. Use some common sense here. Take out the sites you know are not going to make it to maturity. This will help the plant direct more energy towards the larger buds instead of wasting energy on the smaller ones.
Ventilation: Here's an issue that can not be overlooked. Once a scrog has been established it is a leafy sight to behold. Air circulation becomes critical as the buds begin to form and things start to get packed in the box. 24hr air movement is suggested 7 days a week. Better safe than sorry. Mold sucks.
Even Canopy: Maybe I should not put it in those words. Your canopy does not have to be perfectly even. Just close. The idea behind this is even light distribution. We are looking for a field of buds here not a forest like in SOG. If a dominate bud is allowed to overtake the canopy. It is defeating the purpose of the scrog. Tame that bitch. Bring her down to size with the rest. You want a somewhat even field of buds to deal with. Not a forest of untamed trees. The even canopy is easy to accomplish with a little practice and patients.
Tips:
1.Remove twisty ties once the plant has enough force from below to hold it into place
2.Remember to get that mental picture befor you decide to flower. You dont want to flip'em to soon.
3.2"x2" wire is suggested. Chicken wire will damage alot of plant mater when it is pulled back thru the wholes. Trelises, well...there worthless in my book.
The Beautiful and Productive SCROG
I cant express the joy I get from growing with this wonderful method. Through the years I have tried many ways but have never found a more productive growing method. I hope by passing on this information. Others will be more motivated to start their own scrog grow. If done correctly. I can almost gaurentee you will get more yield using the scrog than using the method you use right now. Considering the cost of electricity today. Getting the most out of your grow is the best way to go in my book. Good luck in all your goals and dreams. Give scrog a try. I doubt you will be disappointed. Later Fatjoe....... Here's some pics to help ya along..hehe
Pics: Except for the last two pics on the second page. All other pics have two flowering clones in a 6" netpot, one 18gal dwc tub filling a 3'x3' screen on each side w/ a 400w lamp. Flowering clones rock under a screen. I'll throw up a thread on them soon....take care
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