619OG - Glad to have you friend. There are many here who have contributed wonderfully and I encourage you all to let them know it! Thanks for the kind words.
So in regards to your questions, are the posted photos current in the timeline of events? If so you have plenty of time to ponder and prepare. If not, and you are currently in the screen post em up would ya?
The objectives in training for scrog may differ from garden to garden/grower to grower, etc. but the overall goal remains the same; fill the screen. Training then means that the gardener is working to achieve a full even canopy in the most convenient and timely way. As you can imagine the arguments for what methods work best and why, are as deep and wide as any other that have evolved in cannabis cultivation debate. Scrogging is obviously possible for any grower including the new. Effectively achieving an ideal run each time at it however, is something that typically takes a more broad knowledge and understanding of cannabis cultivation in general as well as the techniques used, and awareness of how individual strains respond to various methods of training (ie. stress). If you have time, search for reviews and other threads on the particular strain you are working with. If nothing else, review the breeders notes on cultivating the strain. You will likely have a better feel for what methods of training are going to help you in getting to the next step. If you are unfamiliar with the name of the strain you have chosen (bag seed), work with the plant and get to know it. If its not worth the time, its likely worth finding a strain that is. As you better your understanding of how the plant grows, your ability to scrog the plant will also improve.
Some strains work well trained early into a bush and then managed through a screen for the remainder of the first few weeks into flower. Others work well by being trained into the screen after meeting it, and then being manipulated to grow horizontally until the screen is filled. And then there are also the plants that do not lend well to training at all and do best in a SOG garden. Know your plants. Its a huge help.
For indicas that remain squat and close at the internodes, raising lights in order to space them accordingly works for some in order to achieve a more workable plant during training. Once the "bush" has been achieved, and there are enough branches/tops to fill the screen nearly full, the screening work can be done (placing each branch in its proper opening in the screen, removing lower foliage and inadequately lit branching etc.), and the lights can be lowered to the proper distance from the canopy for cola production.
The best results for us typically come from those tops that remain in a vertical position from the time they begin flowering, until the time they are harvested. This means ensuring that training has been completed and that each branch/top has a vertical position at the time of which flowering begins. Branches that remain leaning or horizontal will respond to their relative position in relationship to gravitational force (see gravitropism), by stretching or elongating in order to re-position vertically (popcorn on a stick Vs Cola/large bud).
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