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building my first scrog

papa canna

Well-Known Member
I want to make a screen But I'm not positive On all the changes I should be making yet. I have a 600w mh/hps open hood. I've been over crowding. I've been running 9 plants in 7 gallon pots vegging for about 6 weeks.

I've read that indicas are best for scrogs, so I'll probably go with those, but how many plants should I have? 4 plants with 2x2 screens each? Or 6 plants with one large 4x4 screen? Is there a difference between multiple screens vs one large? How high should it be from the medium?
 

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
I would do four plants if you're doing a scrog. I would avoid scrogging personally though, I've done a handful of scrog grows, the veg time and the labor involved in scrogging was never worth it to me. I had better luck with tomato cages and just keeping the canopy pruned so light can get through. Tie the large stalks to the outside of the cage so in the middle light can get through and hit the bottom levels.
DSC_0753.JPG
That was seven weeks of veg time in a seven gallon smart pot.

If you insist on scrogging your pots need to be 7 or 10 gallon smart pots or a 15 to 20 gallon normal pot. You're gonna be vegging for 9-12 weeks to properly fill out your scrog. Weaving and shaping the plant at least every other if not every day sometimes.

If you like extra work and longer veg times than by all means scrog it up!
 

papa canna

Well-Known Member
I would do four plants if you're doing a scrog. I would avoid scrogging personally though, I've done a handful of scrog grows, the veg time and the labor involved in scrogging was never worth it to me. I had better luck with tomato cages and just keeping the canopy pruned so light can get through. Tie the large stalks to the outside of the cage so in the middle light can get through and hit the bottom levels.
View attachment 3672294
That was seven weeks of veg time in a seven gallon smart pot.

If you insist on scrogging your pots need to be 7 or 10 gallon smart pots or a 15 to 20 gallon normal pot. You're gonna be vegging for 9-12 weeks to properly fill out your scrog. Weaving and shaping the plant at least every other if not every day sometimes.

If you like extra work and longer veg times than by all means scrog it up!
I don't mind a longer veg time with some bending. But I'm willing to bet that seasoned scroggers would say that 9-12 weeks is way too excessive. Also, with your cages is it just me or is there no canopy in the center? Seems like a waste of canopy space
 

Rasta Roy

Well-Known Member
I don't mind a longer veg time with some bending. But I'm willing to bet that seasoned scroggers would say that 9-12 weeks is way too excessive. Also, with your cages is it just me or is there no canopy in the center? Seems like a waste of canopy space
Nah dog that's where the middle and lower branches get their light from. That pic is right before cut down to so everything is a little out of place here is a top viewDSC_0752.JPG
I get even bud size from top to bottom.

As an experienced scrog grower, to get the necessary stalk size to produce a quality yield in a scrog you're looking at 9 weeks. If you ditch the scrog idea and utilize topping, you can cut that down to six to seven weeks.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble man, and it's your grow you can do whatever you think works best for you. I'm just sharing my info with you. I got paid to find out which one was more economical as far as time put in vs annual yield and scrog was not the winner. But it's your garden man do your thing I'm sure it'll be good bud regardless.
 

papa canna

Well-Known Member
Nah dog that's where the middle and lower branches get their light from. That pic is right before cut down to so everything is a little out of place here is a top viewView attachment 3672535
I get even bud size from top to bottom.

As an experienced scrog grower, to get the necessary stalk size to produce a quality yield in a scrog you're looking at 9 weeks. If you ditch the scrog idea and utilize topping, you can cut that down to six to seven weeks.

I'm not trying to burst your bubble man, and it's your grow you can do whatever you think works best for you. I'm just sharing my info with you. I got paid to find out which one was more economical as far as time put in vs annual yield and scrog was not the winner. But it's your garden man do your thing I'm sure it'll be good bud regardless.
What I don't understand is that I've read lots of articles on scrogging and no one has mentioned long veg times. I would be thought they need less veg time. Most scrogs are 16-24 inchesfrom medium. Which wouldn't take long to get to. After that should just be filling our the screen to your liking.

Your method Just pulls bigger branches away from the center to allow light penetration?
 

Anon Emaus

Well-Known Member
more plants less veg time. You could fill those 2x2's with 4 plants with a 4 week veg in dwc tho idk if it would flower much sooner than that anyway. If going soil do more
 

papa canna

Well-Known Member
more plants less veg time. You could fill those 2x2's with 4 plants with a 4 week veg in dwc tho idk if it would flower much sooner than that anyway. If going soil do more
I've gone back and forth about doing hydro. Right now I'm soilless. But I'm not sure I'm ready for hydro. Maybe I'll give it a couple more years
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
Sorry if I'm jumping in here but really interested in scrog so say with a 4 week veg do I put the screen in place then and start to weave or keep the screen low and weave right from the start (as much as you can lol) of veg? And Papa if it was me starting out again going hydro would be a tough one, I have a chiller now but before that it was a struggle to keep root zone cool. And the grows did suffer for it.
 

papa canna

Well-Known Member
Sorry if I'm jumping in here but really interested in scrog so say with a 4 week veg do I put the screen in place then and start to weave or keep the screen low and weave right from the start (as much as you can lol) of veg? And Papa if it was me starting out again going hydro would be a tough one, I have a chiller now but before that it was a struggle to keep root zone cool. And the grows did suffer for it.
I was going to use coolers with water bottles of necessary. But I'm not getting the yields id like. So I thought I should get this down before trying something harder
 

Budley Doright

Well-Known Member
I found them to be a real pain in the ass, but yes they did help. I'm the same really, when outdoor temps were cool everything was fine but as soon as the outdoor temps rise above 75 I was and still am fucked, that's why I shut down in two weeks and head ourside :). I see a few here that are actually going back to a soiless setup. Looking forward to watching the scrog from start to finish, looks like a great way to utilize space with low counts.
 

Anon Emaus

Well-Known Member
Sorry if I'm jumping in here but really interested in scrog so say with a 4 week veg do I put the screen in place then and start to weave or keep the screen low and weave right from the start (as much as you can lol) of veg? And Papa if it was me starting out again going hydro would be a tough one, I have a chiller now but before that it was a struggle to keep root zone cool. And the grows did suffer for it.
I just top the main once and LST until I install the screen at about 4 weeks then flip to 12/12 and fill the screen with the flower stretch. That fills a 2'x2' screen with one plant in dwc, might need more time for a much larger screen, or use a stretchy sativa.
 
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papa canna

Well-Known Member
I just top the main once and LST until I install the screen at about 4 weeks then flip to 12/12 and fill the screen with the flower stretch. That fills a 2'x2' screen with one plant in dwc, might need more time for a much larger screen, or use a stretchy sativa.
How high up from the medium would I want my screen?
 

Anon Emaus

Well-Known Member
How high up from the medium would I want my screen?
Hard to say, there are a lot of factors when you figure your net height, you kinda have to learn your own grow and test it out and find one that works for your style. Some strains stretch a lot more than others, if you leave your MH light in longer thru the "flower stretch" period it won't stretch as much allowing a lower net, depending on how close you kept your light when vegging prior you might have a tall vs short plant. So on and so forth..

Basically I top the main and LST for the first 4 weeks allowing the side branches to catch up with the main while the lower growth also gets light and grows up as well. When I install the net I put it right on top of the plant(basically if your plant is 6" above your medium, put your net 6" above your medium). That way you can begin(or well resume in my case since I am LSTing prior) training immediately.
 

papa canna

Well-Known Member
Hard to say, there are a lot of factors when you figure your net height, you kinda have to learn your own grow and test it out and find one that works for your style. Some strains stretch a lot more than others, if you leave your MH light in longer thru the "flower stretch" period it won't stretch as much allowing a lower net, depending on how close you kept your light when vegging prior you might have a tall vs short plant. So on and so forth..

Basically I top the main and LST for the first 4 weeks allowing the side branches to catch up with the main while the lower growth also gets light and grows up as well. When I install the net I put it right on top of the plant(basically if your plant is 6" above your medium, put your net 6" above your medium). That way you can begin(or well resume in my case since I am LSTing prior) training immediately.
How did you make your screen so adjustable? I was going to make it out of pvc
 

Anon Emaus

Well-Known Member
How did you make your screen so adjustable? I was going to make it out of pvc
Mine's pvc, i just put longer legs on it. Was kind of a bitch to do because you have to be gentle since the plant is tucked around against the net, but doable.
 
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