To scrog or not to scrog...

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Hey friends,

So I've got my grow space set up and my 3 plants going and two of them are female seeds. When I first started, my intentions were to use a screen to train the canopy once the plants got 10-12" tall.

Taking a second look at my space, this may not be my best option for yields. The space is only about 46" wide and 20" deep, but it is almost 8 feet tall.

I plan on having the final 5 gallon pots about 6-10" off the floor and my LEDs will have to be at least 12-18" away. I wasn't planning on using any supplemental lighting on the walls and space is going to be limited with three plants. However, I will have 2 Mars Hydro 600 (278 true watt) that will be ample light for such a small space.

Would I get a better yield with LST and topping these girls by keeping them short and using a screen which would waste 3' of vertical space, or should I veg them longer, for bushier taller plants and ditch the screen?

I like the idea of being able to move plants around, but I also like the idea of a nice even canopy.

Just like every other grower, potency and yield are most important to me. Time is a concern, but a few extra weeks for bigger yields is worth it.

 

[bud nugbong]

I'm pondering the same thing with a 600w HPS. I don't have any plans for supplemental lighting so I think its going to be scrog. But if you can get light to all the bud sights might as well go for size. I'm not up on LEDs so I guess its up to the light penetration.

 

[Humanrob]

What are the strains? Sativas tend to be taller and thinner, Indicas can be shorter by nature, so that might play into the decision. Also, the Mars lights will do their job, but that level of LED is not known for strong light penetration. I see you've mentioned side lighting, what are you planning on using?

I had a space (a converted closet) almost the same footprint but shorter, one time I grew two plants in there, and two times I grew three. Because of my height limitations (I think it was about 5' tall) I usually scrogged. I can't tell from the pics, what is the width of your door opening? If its narrow (mine was), that is something to consider with a scrog, as it can additionally limit your access for trimming and even watering.

Optimizing the space -- getting every bit of bud weight out of every square inch -- is always on our minds. But finishing the grow successfully is the primary goal. If you find you have PM or spider mites for instance (or want to do preventative spraying), having plants in a tight space in a scrog can make that really difficult to do well.

Just things to think about. You have a lot of vertical space, but you might want to ignore it and just think about what size and shape will allow three plants to produce well and maintain a healthy natural shape in that floor space.

Just curious, how many grows have you completed?

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

What are the strains? Sativas tend to be taller and thinner, Indicas can be shorter by nature, so that might play into the decision. Also, the Mars lights will do their job, but that level of LED is not known for strong light penetration. I see you've mentioned side lighting, what are you planning on using?

I had a space (a converted closet) almost the same footprint but shorter, one time I grew two plants in there, and two times I grew three. Because of my height limitations (I think it was about 5' tall) I usually scrogged. I can't tell from the pics, what is the width of your door opening? If its narrow (mine was), that is something to consider with a scrog, as it can additionally limit your access for trimming and even watering.

Optimizing the space -- getting every bit of bud weight out of every square inch -- is always on our minds. But finishing the grow successfully is the primary goal. If you find you have PM or spider mites for instance (or want to do preventative spraying), having plants in a tight space in a scrog can make that really difficult to do well.

Just things to think about. You have a lot of vertical space, but you might want to ignore it and just think about what size and shape will allow three plants to produce well and maintain a healthy natural shape in that floor space.

Just curious, how many grows have you completed?

Thanks for the advice! This is number one, so as you said, I'm really just trying to make it through to harvest and learn some cloning and training techniques along the way. I have a mystery plant, a fem Blue Dream (Sativa dom hybrid) and fem Critical Kush (Indica) I'm leaning towards growing all 3 without the scrog.
I will have two lights so I can adjust if one is growing much taller than the other. This also allows me to rotate plants in and out so I can harvest more than once every 9-10 weeks once I get a good routine going. Honestly, this will probably eventually be split into an upper and lower level and used as a clone/veg space. I am hoping to get a bigger flower space set up during this grow and make the swap after the first harvest.

I wasn't planning on using any side lighting but may change my mind depending how the plant grows.

 

[Humanrob]

Ah, first grow. The best advice I was given (that I regrettably did not take) is that for your first grow, keep everything as small and simple as possible. For instance veg for 2-4 weeks, not 6-8. Keep them manageable, give them ample space. Your grow space is untested you don't know yet how well your ventilation and air circulations systems are going to work, or if you are going to have issues maintaing temperatures -- so make sure the plants are not crowded or overgrown. Undoubtedly you will be playing with things like fan positions and placement, you'll need room to do that. There is a lot to learn, and lots of lessons are unavoidable. It's kind of like martial arts; get the movement down first, then learn to do it quickly -- the analogy being first get your room functional and complete a cycle, then focus on bringing up your yields. Just my $.02

Mostly, have fun.

 

[Closet-Gardenholic]

Ah, first grow. The best advice I was given (that I regrettably did not take) is that for your first grow, keep everything as small and simple as possible. For instance veg for 2-4 weeks, not 6-8. Keep them manageable, give them ample space. Your grow space is untested you don't know yet how well your ventilation and air circulations systems are going to work, or if you are going to have issues maintaing temperatures -- so make sure the plants are not crowded or overgrown. Undoubtedly you will be playing with things like fan positions and placement, you'll need room to do that. There is a lot to learn, and lots of lessons are unavoidable. It's kind of like martial arts; get the movement down first, then learn to do it quickly -- the analogy being first get your room functional and complete a cycle, then focus on bringing up your yields. Just my $.02

Mostly, have fun.

That is the plan! I started two seeds because I have no idea if the mystery seed that's two weeks ahead is make or female. With two lights, 2-3 plants should be easy to maintain, and if I skip the screen they will be very accessible.

My door opening is about 24" wide and I will have enough clearance under the plants to easily slide a 5 gallon Rubbermaid in and out.

So far, with one LED, I have had no problem at all keeping temps between 68 and 78. This is with a 4" exhaust with 100 cfm fan and a 4" intake that currently has no fan. I plan on adding the intake fan as soon as I add the second light. I can place the intake duct in an open window and easily drop the temp 5 degrees an hour with no fan.

I heat my house with a wood stove, so dryness in the air was a problem, but I bought a pretty big evaporative humidifier that keeps the humidity up where I need it to be. I'm more focused on getting some healthy clones going before flowering these first two. That will be key to keeping this operation up and running once grow #1 is finished. I'm really trying to get myself covered by this Summer, especially now that it's legal in my state.

 

[Humanrob]

Sounds like you are off to a good start. Everyone has advice, you'll need to find what works for you.

Congrats on being in a legal state.

 

[MeGaKiLlErMaN]

Always Scrog. Always. In a month and one week this was my canopy for HPS, de HPS, and LED. 4 plants filled up a 4x4 easy in that time. Would have been 3 weeks if I didn't have to wait for the plants to adjust from soil for so long... Things took forever...

But yes a good Scrog is done by letting the plant grow up about 8-12 in then push the limbs under till they reach the next square of the net.

Don't confuse this with a trellis as that takes longer and yields about the same.

That said I'm going to need a trellis lol might make one after stretch.