Many of us don’t have a terrace, a garden, a patio; in short, an open space to grow our marijuana. If this is the case, the best option is to grow indoors and there are different techniques to achieve maximum efficiency. Two of these techniques are the Sea of Green (SOG) and the Screen of Green (SCROG). In this post, we will talk about SOG, leaving SCROG and its comparative for the next instalment.
SOG is a marijuana growing technique that mainly seeks out three objectives: optimum use of the growing surface, minimising growing time and within these two conditions, maximising production. You fill the space you have with the maximum possible number of planters. You then plant small cuttings in the planters, to which we will give very little vegetative time. That is, we let them take root and grow a little or nothing and immediately reduce light exposure to 12 hours so they start to flower.
To do so, you need to have at least two closets, one for the development of the mother plant and another for SOG. The cuttings are taken from the mother plant, cut and planted using a root stimulator so that they quickly colonise the space in the planter. It is best to cut more cuttings than you are going to need so you can pick the best among them. However, to do so you need another space to develop them before putting them in the SOG.
It is very important that all of the cuttings come from the same plant or at least the same strain so that they develop similarly and do not hinder the process. Because if you plant cuttings from different strains, some will take up more space than others, blocking light from the rest, or they will grow too fast, flowering at different times. Ideally, each cutting will produce a massive central bud.
Once rooted and selected, the cuttings are placed in the flowering closet. According to the spaces you have available, you can perform several transplants to provide a larger planter with more soil. Watering is very important so that they all reach a similar size and production. The most effective and convenient way to do so is to use an automatic drip irrigation system connected to a reservoir where you add the nutrient solution. That way, you give the same amount of water and fertiliser to all of your plants, which will result in an even distribution in the final production.
The idea is to not let the plants exceed 40 centimetres and have them produce a large central bud. Therefore, indica strains or large producers – plants with few branches and that do not need pruning – are ideal. More sativa hybrid strains should be made to flower right after rooting.
When the cuttings reach their floral zenith, you cut the buds and re-introduce new clones to repeat the process. This kind of growing is popular among people who look for the most efficient production of a single strain. It reduces harvest time by half, from four to two months, skipping the vegetative period through cloning. Since it is a replicable process, you will get much more production in a year, in addition to saving electricity per harvest.