Cannabis Training Techniques: Screen of Green (SCROG) - International Highlife

Cannabis Training Techniques: Screen of Green (SCROG)

What is SCROG?

SCROG stands for a screen of green. If you want to grow your weed and don’t have very much planting space, using a SCROG system remains an excellent way to cultivate marijuana. But how does it work?

Growing With SCROG

It’s possible to cultivate marijuana relatively inexpensively even if you can’t or don’t want to spend a lot of money. Many first-time pot growers remain limited in the number of plants they can legally produce and the space they have to produce it in. Using the SCROG method will enable you to grow the best crop you can while not requiring very much space. Some people have also figured out how to grow marijuana in a closet.

The SCROG style of weed cultivation uses low-stress plant training to help your plants grow in the direction you’d like them to grow. Low-stress training, when done correctly, enables your plants to produce using apical dominance. Apical dominance allows the main stem to grow more significantly as compared to the side shoots. The central flower of a pot plant (cola) develops at the center top of the plant. It gets the most light and nutrients in this area, and produce larger flower buds because this area receives more nutrients.



SCROG Marijuana

SCROG pot interrupts the natural plant apical dominance by cutting off the top of the plant. When the top is cut off, stronger and more lateral stems grow. These lateral stems create several good-sized colas that can flower and produce when braced on a lateral grid.

Benefits of the SCROG Method

The SCROG method benefits plentiful flower bud growth for several reasons, such as:

  • Training branches to a grid screen allows additional light to reach the plant, producing more flowers.
  • It keeps the plants away from the high-intensity lights that may become too much heat and light for the plant.
  • Cannabis sativa varieties can stretch out when they grow. Training them to a screen allows you to produce more plant in a shorter, smaller area.
  • SCROG assists you in cultivating a uniform canopy height, which makes it easier to care for the plant.
  • And, most importantly, SCROG yields higher production, especially when you can only grow a few plants or space is limited.

How to set up SCROG

  1. One of the first steps in putting up a screen of green is to set up the grid or screen. The screen/mesh is used to train the plant.
  2. Then, you’ll need to choose which screen material you want to use. Chicken wire caging remains the strongest choice. Nylon netting also works well and it’s less harsh to the plants. Choose a trellis material that’s about 2″x2″
  3. Next, place the grid securely to the support poles you choose. You’ll need about one square foot of grid space for each plant you want to cultivate. Place the screen over the area of soil or hydroponic set up where you want to produce your plants.
  4. You’ll need to place your lights as close to the plants as you can without being too close. One suggested distance is to put your lights about 12 inches from your weed.
  5. When the clones reach six or eight inches tall, they’ll be almost ready to enter the grid. The center stem should get topped off at this point. More growth occurs on the sides of the plant. This additional growth should start to grow taller and through the screen.
  6. Each branch needs its hole in the screen to grow through. They shouldn’t share screen holes. Sativas tend to stretch over the screen faster than do indicas.

Vegetative Growth 

While the plant is still growing, but not yet flowering, allow the plant to grow over the grid by about half of a foot. Begin to weave the branch through and down the grid. Continue to weave the branches up and down through the grid to spread the Pot’s branches over the grid. You can use ties to hold the branches to the grid if needed. But the branches don’t usually need tying, because the grid does an excellent job of keeping the weed’s branches where you put them.

The Flowering Cycle

A tricky part of using SCROG remains to figure out when to force the plant into its flowering cycle. You’ll need to be well acquainted with the characteristics of the variety of marijuana that you’re growing to provide your weed with the best conditions to bloom. Cannabis sativa varieties get taller during the beginnings of putting on flowers. Indica varieties put on most of their growth before they start to bloom. A general rule to follow is to allow about half of the grid to get covered by plant growth before the flowering cycle begins for sativa. For indica plants, let them gain about 80 percent of their growth before forcing the plant to flower.

The bottom of your pot plant needs attention, too. While you weave the branches through the grid, you should remove bottom vegetative growth. The bottom growth won’t get enough light to produce proper growth and should be routinely removed. Doing this also provides more nutrients to the upper, flower-bearing, portions of your cannabis. Following these instructions should give you a bountiful harvest, even in a small space.

Which strains of cannabis grow well using the SCROG method?

Quick descriptions of some of the cannabis plants that adapt well to the SCROG method of weed production are below.

Special Kush

Kush originated in the Pakistan and Afghanistan areas. Nowadays, a modernized variety of Kush strain produces only feminized seeds at a lower price point. The Special Kush plan gets up to three meters tall outdoors and produces excellent yields. Special Kush provides about 65 to 150 grams of flowers per plant when grown indoors under a 600 watt light.

This weed produces tight, small nugs that spread all around the plant.

Try out these feminized Kush mixes.

Green Gelato

Green Gelato marijuana produces a great purple-green, highly flavorful plant that is the envy of many cannabis growers. It also contains a 25+ THC that makes its growers and users happy and leaves them slightly weak in the knees.

This indica dominated plant produces flowers that don’t need as much pruning as some varieties. Green Gelato also remains known for providing excellent lower flowers to improve your production rate.

OG Kush

This popular variety of Kush pot has citrus top notes with a lovely aftertaste that gives you a feeling of euphoria as well as mental clarity. OG Kush produces well when enough distance remains between nodes. This variety thrives when trained and gives you significant yields that are easy to grow.

OG Kush comes in Auto and Regular Feminized forms.

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