LBH
Well-Known Member
Scrogging, or screen of green, is a form of lst (low stress training) where the main goal is to maximize the footprint of your light(s) by dividing, or breaking down the main cola, in conjunction with raising all the lower bud up to the canopy.
To do this, we grow the plant horizontally till we are a few weeks into flowering. This is a key point as many attempts at scrogging turn out to be merely a skeletal support structures for standard plants, not scrogs.
A scrog is when you bring those arms up and run them lengthwise under the screen so all those, would be popcorn buds, become real buds because they are brought up to the screen or because the screen is lowered allowing them to become a part of the canopy.
With standard, Christmas tree style plants, you can only lower the light till it’s close enough to the top cola. ANY bud from there down, get’s less light, the lower it is on the plant. The purpose behind scrogging is to manually change that and bring all the bud in an even layer by bringing the low stuff up (by getting screen good and low) and bringing the main cola down (by diving it via topping), to the canopy.
The rough pics below illustrate my point.
Group A- Scrog
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
Group B-not a scrog.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
Beautiful under current but not a scrog. Skeletal support at best but again,not a scrog
Now to break down the main cola and get the plant growing horizontally, I suggest trying my 4-way lst method.
Screen materials
I have tried pretty much most of the standard things you can use for screen. Below are the 4 main ones used, listed in my order of preference
STRING- The very best. Laces up quick and easy and you just snip, snip, snip come harvest time. Throw it away and lace up a new one.
Twine/hemp cord-Pretty much the same ease of use as string but you get hairs in the buds from fraying.
Plastic fencing- works well but is kinda sloppy looking.
Chicken wire/fishing line- The 2 worst. Chicken wire is terrible because the buds actually grow into it and you have to “cut” your harvest out. Snipping up chicken wire into a bunch of smaller pieces sucks, you get poked a lot and is an overall nightmare compared to string. Does it work as a screen? Quite well, but sucks to remove
The fishing line is just bad news as it can cut a stem, arm etc, very quickly and easily. Consider it “sharp”. I have only used 12 lb test, I imagine something in the 30+ range might work pretty good though. Avoid any “braided” lines especially
This is my version of a screen that is both easy to work and re-usable forever. I simply lined a square of 2x4's with eye hooks
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
Mounting
Many build feet for their screens. This somewhat limits you. I like having screens where the height can be adjusted either by a peg system or some other ingenious way. I use shower curtain rods for mine and they work well, but you have to get used to not leaning on the screen or disaster can be right around the corner. To me, it’s worth it not to have legs in the way. Allows more room for “under canopy” cleaning and maintenance.
So now that we are all laced up and ready to go, let’s talk about a key element to scrogging,….veg time.
Veg time varies greatly mainly with method. Hydro, it’s much shorter. I used to veg 6-8 weeks in soil and now in hydro, that’s cut in half. This is something you just have to play with to really learn. You need to run a screen that could have taken more plant to fill (more veg time) and also run one that is too crowded. Once you get these under your belt, you’ll really have a feel for veg time.
You will tailor the veg time according to how many plants and how big the screen. Sorry I can’t help more on this category, but this is the one you have to do to learn. The general rule to follow though is the screen should be no higher than 8” above the medium or plant base. You then fill your screen during the stretch by tucking (that’s coming) all those arms into the empty voids.
Topping (Illustrations in the 4-way lst tutorial)
By topping, we create more of these arms to spread out across the screen. That, to me,...is the whole point of a scrog. If I didn't top,...I'd have 1 cola higher than the rest, thusly, limiting my light height. By topping, that main cola gets divided down the buds are all level on the screen, allowing you to get that light right down on them for nice, even coverage. The expanse of the footprint will limit your height before heat does. (I have a/c lights)
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
The above plant was topped once. This gave me 2 arms to run under the screen. I normally build a plant like seen in my 4-way lst tutorial. I grew this one out specifically to illustrate how to run a branch horizontally under the screen. It will have 2 main colas, large, not XL as it was divided once already One more topping (4-way) and that pretty much divides the main into 4 med, med/lrg buds, perfect. But again this one was grown specifically so you could see how to grow an arm horizontally, this plant, if you wanted to name it, got "2-way" lst, which basically means,..topped once. I run 4 plants under a 4x4 screen and top twice (in hydro) (4 times when I ran soil)
Top any more and you'll get MORE,...SMALLER buds.
Tucking
Tucking is easy but takes care. ALWAYS TUCK SLOWLY AND CAUTIOUSLY
What we mean by tucking, is that while those arms are stretching, you allow it to grow up and through a square in the screen. I like to get them about 2”-3” above the screen and then I GENTLY, pull it below the screen and move it to the next square away. You continue to do this all throughout the stretch, …about 2-3 weeks.
Remember, you are controlling where that arm is going by moving it 1 square at a time. You can change you mind tomorrow if you see the need for it, the screen takes constant manipulating till the stretch is over but once it's done, so are your scrogging duties.
To obtain maximum control don't be afraid to work add more bondage if it's needed. Zip ties are awesome and can be simply cut out with the fiskars pruners later.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
This is the final result, what you are looking for. You want a 6-8" bud above the screen when the stretch is done.
To do this, we grow the plant horizontally till we are a few weeks into flowering. This is a key point as many attempts at scrogging turn out to be merely a skeletal support structures for standard plants, not scrogs.
A scrog is when you bring those arms up and run them lengthwise under the screen so all those, would be popcorn buds, become real buds because they are brought up to the screen or because the screen is lowered allowing them to become a part of the canopy.
With standard, Christmas tree style plants, you can only lower the light till it’s close enough to the top cola. ANY bud from there down, get’s less light, the lower it is on the plant. The purpose behind scrogging is to manually change that and bring all the bud in an even layer by bringing the low stuff up (by getting screen good and low) and bringing the main cola down (by diving it via topping), to the canopy.
The rough pics below illustrate my point.
Group A- Scrog
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
Group B-not a scrog.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.Beautiful under current but not a scrog. Skeletal support at best but again,not a scrog
Now to break down the main cola and get the plant growing horizontally, I suggest trying my 4-way lst method.
Screen materials
I have tried pretty much most of the standard things you can use for screen. Below are the 4 main ones used, listed in my order of preference
STRING- The very best. Laces up quick and easy and you just snip, snip, snip come harvest time. Throw it away and lace up a new one.
Twine/hemp cord-Pretty much the same ease of use as string but you get hairs in the buds from fraying.
Plastic fencing- works well but is kinda sloppy looking.
Chicken wire/fishing line- The 2 worst. Chicken wire is terrible because the buds actually grow into it and you have to “cut” your harvest out. Snipping up chicken wire into a bunch of smaller pieces sucks, you get poked a lot and is an overall nightmare compared to string. Does it work as a screen? Quite well, but sucks to remove
The fishing line is just bad news as it can cut a stem, arm etc, very quickly and easily. Consider it “sharp”. I have only used 12 lb test, I imagine something in the 30+ range might work pretty good though. Avoid any “braided” lines especially
This is my version of a screen that is both easy to work and re-usable forever. I simply lined a square of 2x4's with eye hooks
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
Mounting
Many build feet for their screens. This somewhat limits you. I like having screens where the height can be adjusted either by a peg system or some other ingenious way. I use shower curtain rods for mine and they work well, but you have to get used to not leaning on the screen or disaster can be right around the corner. To me, it’s worth it not to have legs in the way. Allows more room for “under canopy” cleaning and maintenance.
So now that we are all laced up and ready to go, let’s talk about a key element to scrogging,….veg time.
Veg time varies greatly mainly with method. Hydro, it’s much shorter. I used to veg 6-8 weeks in soil and now in hydro, that’s cut in half. This is something you just have to play with to really learn. You need to run a screen that could have taken more plant to fill (more veg time) and also run one that is too crowded. Once you get these under your belt, you’ll really have a feel for veg time.
You will tailor the veg time according to how many plants and how big the screen. Sorry I can’t help more on this category, but this is the one you have to do to learn. The general rule to follow though is the screen should be no higher than 8” above the medium or plant base. You then fill your screen during the stretch by tucking (that’s coming) all those arms into the empty voids.
Topping (Illustrations in the 4-way lst tutorial)
By topping, we create more of these arms to spread out across the screen. That, to me,...is the whole point of a scrog. If I didn't top,...I'd have 1 cola higher than the rest, thusly, limiting my light height. By topping, that main cola gets divided down the buds are all level on the screen, allowing you to get that light right down on them for nice, even coverage. The expanse of the footprint will limit your height before heat does. (I have a/c lights)
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
The above plant was topped once. This gave me 2 arms to run under the screen. I normally build a plant like seen in my 4-way lst tutorial. I grew this one out specifically to illustrate how to run a branch horizontally under the screen. It will have 2 main colas, large, not XL as it was divided once already One more topping (4-way) and that pretty much divides the main into 4 med, med/lrg buds, perfect. But again this one was grown specifically so you could see how to grow an arm horizontally, this plant, if you wanted to name it, got "2-way" lst, which basically means,..topped once. I run 4 plants under a 4x4 screen and top twice (in hydro) (4 times when I ran soil)
Top any more and you'll get MORE,...SMALLER buds.
Tucking
Tucking is easy but takes care. ALWAYS TUCK SLOWLY AND CAUTIOUSLY
What we mean by tucking, is that while those arms are stretching, you allow it to grow up and through a square in the screen. I like to get them about 2”-3” above the screen and then I GENTLY, pull it below the screen and move it to the next square away. You continue to do this all throughout the stretch, …about 2-3 weeks.
Remember, you are controlling where that arm is going by moving it 1 square at a time. You can change you mind tomorrow if you see the need for it, the screen takes constant manipulating till the stretch is over but once it's done, so are your scrogging duties.
To obtain maximum control don't be afraid to work add more bondage if it's needed. Zip ties are awesome and can be simply cut out with the fiskars pruners later.
This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x450.
This is the final result, what you are looking for. You want a 6-8" bud above the screen when the stretch is done.
. I get confused though when it comes to a home depot run how do you generally build that outer square of your screen just get some lumber and measure it out I am guessing and how secure are those shower rods there I know one of those are holding up my shower curtains but the ingenuity is amazing here... I currently have one 400 watt and a unused 250 in a typical 3x6x8 standard closet i'm guessing that's standard I haven't measured it exactly but I have a 400 and a 250 it seems if I just got the whole closet setup with 2 250's I would be better off especially with this method but I am unsure I really like what you did here though bro its simple and to the point my type of guy no homo 
