How to ScrOG: Growing Cannabis Plants With Screen of Green

ScrOG, short for Screen Of Green, is a technique widely used in commercial cannabis grows and favored by many hobby growers as well. In this comprehensive guide, we will delve into the ScrOG setup and provide you with valuable tips and tricks to optimize your results.

How to ScrOG: Growing Cannabis Plants With Screen of Green
Kodinov Ivan

Author: Kodinov Ivan

Publish Date: July 17, 2023
Last Update Date: September 13, 2023

ScrOG Cannabis Grow Guide

A ScrOG setup involves training your plants to grow horizontally, effectively limiting vertical growth and encouraging branches to spread out.

This method is particularly well-suited for indoor cultivation, as it allows you to create a dense canopy of buds above the screen.

Additionally, ScrOG proves beneficial for outdoor growing, as it helps keep your marijuana plants discreet and low to the ground, preventing them from attracting unwanted attention from neighbors or passersby.

Scrogging Step-By-Step Tutorial

Scrogging Step-By-Step Tutorial

How To Scrog Step By Step

  1. Prepare your growing area
  2. Install scrOG net
  3. Tie down your cannabis branches
  4. Start top bud formation
  5. Take first harvest
  6. Repeat process until the end of season

Indoors And Outdoors Grow Setups

When growing marijuana indoors, we employ the technique known as ScrOG (Screen of Green) to encourage vertical growth rather than horizontal expansion of cannabis plants.

This method involves tightly spacing the plants together, minimizing light loss between them.

The ScrOG technique can also be applied outdoors in a greenhouse or on a balcony using a netting system.

This netting prevents the plants from growing upward while allowing them to spread out effectively.

Grow Room And Grow Tent

Grow Room And Grow Tent

If you want to grow indoors, you have two options where to place your setup: growing room or growing canopy tent

ScrOG in grow room or grow tent is very easy, and process is identical for both.

For example, if we already placed screen above our plant and tied them to string that’s hanging from ceiling.

You could also use fishing line or dental floss; it all works same. Tie them just above their top leaves and make sure it’s very tight.

Greenhouse

Greenhouse is an ideal place for scroggin your cannabis. You can create screen with net or other materials that are easy to move around.

You can also hang lamp from roof since this won’t get too hot. Greenhouse lets in lot of light, and you can easily control temperature.

You can also start your plant very early in cannabis-growing greenhouse because it stays warm inside.

If you have no greenhouse but still want to scrog your cannabis, you could grow them outside on balcony and just put some net over them.

When To Start ScrOG Method And How Long Does Scrogging Take?

ScrOG takes about as long as growing without screen. So if you plant your cannabis in early spring, it’ll be ready for harvest by the end of September with ScrOG method.

Techniques To Use: Tucking, Flipping, Defoliation And Pruning

Techniques To Use Tucking, Flipping, Defoliation And Pruning

These techniques are recommended to use by scrog growers to increase yield:

  • Tucking
  • Flipping
  • Defoliation
  • Pruning

Yield And Harvest

If you let your plant grow through screen and use all methods, you’ll get nice, even big bud blanket.

This method gives you extra large buds that are very heavy and have thick layers of trichomes.

Buds will be very compact and won’t break as easily, so it’s perfect for outdoor growers who want to protect their weeds in fall.

Yield is generally higher than with normal method, but it still highly depends on plant type. 

Tips For Short And Bushy Plants

  • You can tuck some main buds under screen when your plants get bigger.
  • Flip plant upside down. Plant will react by producing more side buds instead of top ones.

ScrOG Method: Technique For Growing Cannabis

ScrOG acronym stands for Screen Of Green. This is widely used method for growing cannabis and especially for growing in hydroponics.

Training Plants With Hydroponic

This technique can be used when growing your plant in a hydroponic system and attaching them to a screen.

ScrOG method ensures that plants don’t grow too high and use most of their energy to produce buds.

Growers do this by tying main stems and branch of plant to screen with wire or a florist’s tape. It would be best if you did this when plant’s height is about 10 inches. 

Specific Types of ScrOG Growings

Specific Types of ScrOG Growings

There are several types of scroggin setups. You can choose between different ways of training your plants and several ways of tying them down.

Double net vertical scrog is technique used in both Indicas and Sativas.

Plants are trained and grow on two nets, placed at 45-degree angle against each other.

There are several types of scroggin setups. You can choose between different ways of training your plants and several ways of tying them down.

Double net vertical scrog is technique used in both Indicas and Sativas.

Plants are trained and grow on two nets, placed at 45-degree angle against each other.

ScrOG plants can grow very large this way, and if you want, you can top them to ensure they get even wider.

You can also use scroggin system for one single plant.

Can You ScrOG Autoflowers

Scrogging marijuana autoflowers isn’t problem because they don’t grow very high anyway.

Alternatively, try topping your marijuana autos to create more main buds. You then place screen above those tops and let them grow through.

Scrogging autoflower cannabis plants are good for increasing yields.

ScrOG Method vs Sog Method

SOG and ScrOG are sophisticated but simple and direct grow methods made to increase cannabis harvests. 

Sea of Green grow method involves growing a lot of cannabis plants, typically in compact pots with minimal time for vegetative phase. 

SOG is better if you want to grow bigger number cannabis plants and speed up cannabis grow.

ScrOG methodology, in contrast to the SOG method, is used for fewer plants of cannabis with more extended vegetative grow periods. 

This technique of grow involves weaving the branches through a screen’s holes.

Scroggin is better if you want larger crops from fewer plant numbers and if you are limited with space.

ScrOG Method vs LST Method

Both Scrogging and Low-Stress Training aim to keep plants low to ground. By doing this, you can make best use of growing space.

ScrOG uses screen on top of your plants, and LST doesn’t use any kind of support. Branch is simply bent over with hand.

Both methods create horizontal branch grow, and main difference is how much light reaches bottom part of plant.

With scroggin, all buds are located at top of plant branch, and they grow through screen.

ScrOG Setup

ScrOG Setup

ScrOG, is technique growers use, where you place your plants branch in a horizontal layer on screen with tops all at same height.

In this article, I will tell you where to get it, how to make and what you will need for ScrOG setup.

Scrogging Kits

Luckily, you can now also buy ready-made scroggin kits.

This makes it very easy to set up system because all you need to do is put lights on top and hang screen below.

Kits usually contain bucket, net, trellis, clips, lamp, and reflector. Some of these brands: P Scrog, Pro, and Grow1, produce scroggin kits.

DIY: Make Your Screen Of Green Setup

You could use ready-made scrog kit, but this is also possible to make yourself a regular scrog or dwc. You’ll need following things:

  • Bucket with lid
  • Screen (it can be PVC)
  • String or rope to hang screen from
  • Hanger for lamp or reflector above plants

Bucket

For ScrOG, you will need to buy bucket at your local garden store.

You can also make your own setup in bucket. This has advantage that you can put it outside if climate is nice.

Lid of bucket should have some small holes so that cannabis can get light through. Place number of nets on top and tie them to edge of bucket with string.

Screens

You need to place your cannabis underneath some sort of screen. This could be anything from a metal net or different fabric net.

Since we’re scroggin, cannabis will eventually grow through screen.

Which Lights To Use, CFL or LED?

Which Lights To Use, CFL or LED

In my opinion, CFL’s are better for ScrOG than LED.

They give more spread of light, and you can hang them lower, closer to your plants.

But if you have limited budget, LED’s will also work well.

Different Types Of ScrOG Systems

There are different types of scroggin systems depending on how many plants growers use system for:

  • 1 Plant
  • 2 Plant
  • 4 Plant
  • 8 Plant

Also, it depends on what source of power you use to grow:

  • 400w
  • 600w
  • 1000w

What Net Size Is Best For ScrOG Setup?

What net size to use for Scrog Setup depends on number of plants you want to grow and space you have.

Different Types And Sizes of ScrOG Net

Different Types And Sizes of ScrOG Net

You can use various types of nets for ScrOG, big nets, or micro nets. Most important thing with big or mini nets is that they’re sturdy enough to hold the weight of growing branches. Here are sizes of nets for scrOG:

  • 4×4
  • 2×2
  • 5×5
  • 2×4
  • 3×3
  • 4×8

How To Make And Use Net For ScrOG?

  1. Cut net to size you want to use
  2. Attach it to poles with zip ties
  3. Put some distance between net and lamp; this makes sure that light gets distributed evenly

Grow Stages of Cannabis Plants

There are different grow stages of cannabis plants. It’s important to know these to grow weed succesfully. 

Sprouting Cannabis Stage

Germination is process in which your cannabis seeds sprouts. This is first step in cannabis life cycle.

Cannabis seeds don’t need light to germinate. 

Once cannabis seeds get wet, they will start to absorb water and swell up little bit.

This triggers natural process called germination.

Seedling Stage

Seedling Stage

After your cannabis seeds have germinated, then it comes seedling stage.

In this stage first cannabis leaves emerge, and plant starts to grow.

At this grow stage, it’s important to place lamp at right height.

Cannabis can now use all lights they get to grow, so it’s fine if lamp is little too close.

Temperature and humidity also have to be right: 65 degrees F and humidity 70%.

Vegetative Plants Phase

In vegetative stage, your plants are about 15 to 20 centimeters tall. From here on, you need to provide them with lot of lights, water, and right nutrients to grow.

They’re going to grow branches very quickly and will need more and more lights, water, and nutrients.

When To Start Flowering

When To Start Flowering

After vegetative stage, usually after couple of weeks, flowers grow should start, this happens by changing lighting cycle and giving plants 12 hours of lighting and 12 hours of darkness.

This causes them to stop growing branches and start flowering. Plant uses their energy in different ways under different lights periods.

If plant gets lot of lighting, it will grow more quickly, but if it doesn’t get much lighting, it will flower. It’s natural mechanism.

Best Cannabis Strains Suitable For ScrOG

Scrogging is technique where plants are trained to grow through screen.

This results in more even and higher yield because all leaves will be exposed to light.

Scrogging method can be applied to both Indicas and Sativas strains.

Some of the best cannabis strains suitable for scrogging grow are:

  • Gorilla Glue fem seeds
  • Critical Kush
  • Mango Haze
  • Blue Dream
  • White Widow strains
  • Moby Dick Auto strains
  • Bruce Banner strains

Indica Cannabis Plants

Indica Cannabis Plants

Indica plants are generally smaller and stockier. They grow wide, have broader leaves, and are short.

This type can withstand colder climates a bit better than Sativas strains.

Indicas are very popular strains to grow because of their powerful body high.

Examples of popular Indica strains that are suitable for scrogging grow are:

  • Critical Kush seeds
  • White Widow seeds

Sativa Cannabis Plants

Sativa Cannabis Plants

Sativa cannabis plant is much taller than Indica and grow faster.

If you’re looking for fast results, Sativa cannabis plant is best choice.

Nature of Sativa-dominant cannabis varieties is slim, tall, and flexible. ScrOG screen can be simply filled out by growers weaving Sativa plant branches.

Some of best Sativa-dominant cannabis strains suitable for scrogging are:

  • Mango Haze seeds
  • Blue Dream seeds
  • Moby Dick feminized seeds
  • Bruce Banner seeds

You can buy your seeds just continue at site Dutch Seeds Shop.

FAQ

Here are some most frequently asked questins with answers about scrOG grow.

What is Scrog?

Scrogging is growing your plants under a screen. This means that you grow horizontally instead of vertically. Screen can be made by using any type of netting.

Can you scrog without topping?

Topping is not necessary to scrog, but it does make things much more manageable. You’ll have more main stems and can create wider screen more easily.

Should I scrog in grow tent?

You can very well scrog in grow tent. Grow tent has much better climate controll because of small space. This allows you to create an optimal temperature for your plants of about 70 degrees. This will give them a nice boost because they can use all light that hits their leaves optimally.

Is it challenging to create scroggin with net or trellis?

Not at all. You simply have to attach net or trellis to ceiling and let it hang down some distance.

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