The SCROG or SCRoG (an acronym for "Screen of Green") is a system of meshes that allows the grower to obtain extremely high yields from his marijuana seeds harvests. But they're not enough: one must work tirelessly to adapt his meshes to his growing space (even when it seems impossible) and create "plantations" in the most challenging and inaccessible locations. Because the SCROG technique is just the beginning and it is up to you to use its meshes to create mould-breaking, trendsetting crops.
Table of Contents
- How to set up a SCROG: The “U” or surround SCROG, a half-moon shape
- The powerful green monoscreen and its great profitability
- The cannabis wall: A wall of cannabis buds
- The “ring SCROG” set up: a powerful arrangement
- Hydroponic SCROG also counts...
- “Mother” meshes rule the corners
- You can also use SCROGS outdoors
- With meshes, greater productivity in closets too
- The rhombus: key to good production
- Vertical and horizontal fusion creates the “total SCROG”
The SCROG growing method has transformed the cannabis grower's perception of space. It is a technique developed during the 60s in the U.S.A., when HID lamps were not yet used in growing rooms, and served to maximise the effectiveness of the fluorescent ones used, the main class of light source used at the time. The usefulness of these meshes, which provide all the plant's branches and flowers with exposure to the same light, is opening up a whole world of geometric arrangements in the world of home cultivation. It is a major challenge to discover the ideal schemes and designs making it possible to take full advantage of your light's power. Watch out this screen of green guide!
How to set up a SCROG: The “U” or surround SCROG, a half-moon shape
The “SCROGear” in the shape of a half-moon allows one to create (in a simple way) a surrounding cultivation structure absorbing light from almost every angle–and without having to ante up and pay for bulbs that do not emit heat, or set up any complicated infrastructure, as the most advanced styles require. It is the perfect method for those who are experienced with indoor growing and want to delve into the SCROG method, while taking on a challenge that is reasonable.
To obtain good yields using “U” SCROG you don't need any compact fluorescent lamps, commonly known as CFLs (which do not increase growing temperatures), but you do need a good reflector, or some mixed moderate-intensity lights (400 - 600w) that allow you to nurture your cluster of plants; without any doubt, the perfect way to use this method without getting bogged down with too much extra paraphernalia.
The powerful green monoscreen and its great profitability
The meshes used with the SCROG method can be employed on more than the sprawling branches of a whole plantation: they can also be adapted to just a single plant. You'll no longer have that “green screen” which gives the SCROG its name, but you will have a combination that boosts your per-plant production ratios and one that will change your perception of indoor growing, as you'll see every little corner as ideal spots for high-yield miniplants.
With the SCROG system adapted to a single plant, the system works exactly the same was as when it is applied to several of them: a mesh is placed between the light and the plants to limit the vertical growth of its buds and to favour horizontal development by guiding the stems. This will make the branches multiply and form a kind of horizontal plant structure, thereby increasing its yield and the commercial calibre of the tips.
The cannabis wall: A wall of cannabis buds
The vertical SCROG stands like a wall of branches and buds that expand outside the limits of the mesh, catching the energy produced by the compact fluorescent lamps. To create this “wall of buds” it is necessary to use CFL or LED lights (which do not emit heat) or reflectors that isolate the hot air produced by the lights, like the Cool Tube; in this way the whole “body” of the SCROG will be exposed, up close, to the same light level.
This type of SCROG is recommended for long and narrow spaces that can accommodate lots of vertical growth. It is especially efficient because, at the same time it increases the viable luminescent impact area, it also supports the weight of the colas, preventing the need for guiding work. On the other hand, it does pose serious challenges with regards to the ventilation area: poor management of humidity (created by the accumulation of the vertical buds) can easily lead to botrytis.
The “ring SCROG” set up: a powerful arrangement
The vertical-ring arrangement might be the most elegant configuration in the SCROG world. You've got to have a bit of skill to place the meshes in a circumferential shape, but the results make it worth your while. Their circular structure generates very favourable surroundings so that the different lamps can cover all the plants' branches. Moreover, they allow for excellent ventilation, thereby significantly reducing the risk of mould.
The most pressing problem posed by circular SCROGs is that they consume a lot of nutrients. With this system, the lights reach the vast majority of the plants' follicles, triggering serious development that requires extra-strong support (and that can entail the risk of overfertilising the soil). A good solution is to use hydroponic systems, like Deep Water Culture (DWC), which will allow you to adjust the fertilisers to the rate at which your circular SCROG plants are growing.
Hydroponic SCROG also counts...
A lot. In fact, Holland's most expert growers use this duo (combined with special pruning) to obtain their very best flowers. They call it “lollypopping” and it is a method to concentrate all the plant's energy in just a few tips. It consists of cutting the lower branches and the buds of the lateral ones, leaving just a rectangular group of branches at the same height as the light source.
SCROG meshes are particularly recommended for growing methods like NFT (Nutrient Technique Film) or with dry irrigation systems (like hydroponics, or rock wool) because they serve a very important stabilising and guiding function. These characteristics are very useful with hydroponic plants, which lack the anchoring provided by growing in soil, and end up developing stability and balance problems, in many cases fatal.
“Mother” meshes rule the corners
Vertical and spherical SCROGs have a range of variants; the most noteworthy of these is a reduced cylindrical and horizontal version, ideal to “squeeze” plants into very small spaces. This small nursery allows us to apply the SCROG system to very young plants, thanks to the technology of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), which can almost touch the buds, as the bulbs produce no heat. The result is small nurseries in which the plants develop quickly.
These mother meshes are very effective at favouring the rapid development of cuttings and new plants in the most unlikely spots. While the circular mesh, placed in a horizontal position, creates a diaphanous space so that small plants multiply and develop branches, the new energy-efficient fluorescent lights make it possible to take advantage of this configuration. A perfect symbiosis that will allow you to insert new SCROGs into every last inch of space.
You can also use SCROGS outdoors
Who ever said that growing with meshes was just for indoors? The truth is that these mesh systems yield results outdoors that are just as good as under lamps. For this you'll have to make holes of up to 15 cm in the mesh (instead of the 5 with indoor SCROGs) so that the plants have space to grow. And, above all, you'll have to be very careful about how you guide them; this is the key to success with outdoor growing.
Guiding the plant properly through the mesh is an art form (and outdoors this is extremely important, due to the weight of the branches). You have to do things right: set up the mesh in a uniform way, and guide the buds so that they can grow up and beyond the limits set by the mesh. The tips should be allowed to grow 5 - 10 cm above the “wall,” and then be bent downwards, tying them if necessary. In this way you'll be able to use SCROGs outdoors without running risk of branch breakage.
With meshes, greater productivity in closets too
The SCROG system can also add a new dimension to cultivation in small closets and cabinets. With the new light technologies featuring LED and CFL bulbs, highly beneficial SCROGs can be created using a simple infrastructure. If you use meshes in these small spaces you can grow up to 10 plants per m² and obtain great results with energy-efficient lights - making this one of the most efficient ways to use SCROGs.
These results from SCROG crops in closets will be further bolstered if you use cuttings; you can put up to 25 per cycle (if you use 7-litre pots). This, in addition, will allow you to maintain perpetual, quickly-flowering crops if you keep one or two mother plants, from which you cut the shoots. And it will also ensure that all the plants you adapt to the meshes are females whose quality has been confirmed.
The rhombus: key to good production
The SCROG with a rhombus configuration is the answer for those who want to enjoy the power of meshes 365 days a year, and wish to do so under dynamic and efficient production conditions. The rhomboid arrangement combines all the versatility of the “green wall” (ease of placement, quick access to shoots…) with the light penetration of the circular SCROG. Both systems together form one of the most efficient designs for those who want to always leave their lights on.
Their open structure allows you easy and full access to your plants (unlike with the circular SCROG) and their concentric layout allows the light to reach every part of your plants. In addition, their system of mobile walls allows you to easily work with heavy lighting equipment like high-pressure sodium lamps or high-power metal halide models, with a cooling and air evacuation device.
Vertical and horizontal fusion creates the “total SCROG”
The total SCROG is created through a synthesis of vertical and horizontal mesh arrangements. It consists of installing three vertical grids and one horizontal one, leaving just one wall (of the cube formed) to facilitate access to the plant. This configuration is the most powerful and the most complex within the world of meshes because it requires your attention on two different growing planes. This is a challenge only appropriate for the most proficient and shrewdest of growers in the cannabis world.
The work required to produce a SCROG of these dimensions is extensive: the preparation of the substrates for two perpendicular growing axes calls for a well-planned strategy; the supervision of the basic parameters (control of the water's PH and electro-conductivity) requires a careful eye, and the use of the different fertilisers and light sources, constant care. All these details are just small hurdles, however, for those who are determined to achieve maximum performance from their SCROGs.
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