What Does Screen of Green (SCROG) Mean?
Screen of Green, often abbreviated as SCROG, refers to an indoor growing technique used to maximize yields while reducing energy use and waste. SCROG is a low-cost method of controlling plant growth indoors.
Unlike the Sea of Green (SOG) technique, which simply involves growing plenty of short plants over a large floor plan without trellising, SCROG employs the use of metal or plastic screens or grids that plants grow up through and use to sprawl outwards.
The SCROG method is an assisted version of low-stress training (LST) where growers must tie plants down to various parts of the growroom, rather than employ the use of screens. Both SCROG and LST are popular amongst cannabis growers.
Maximum Yield Explains Screen of Green (SCROG)
Automated indoor growrooms allow you to grow throughout the year, regardless of outdoor conditions. These controlled environments also allow growers to enjoy the benefits of hydroponic gardening to maximize yields. However, growing indoors does come with some drawbacks. For instance, you might not have much space to grow plants vertically, especially if you are limited to a basement or cellar. In this case, incorporating a screen allows you to train your plants to grow horizontally or at various angles.
Known as Screen of Green or SCROG, this method of cultivation is becoming more common, especially in cannabis cultivation, as growers see how easy it is to accomplish. All that is needed is a metal screen, often chicken wire or another lightweight metal that sits on top of the potted plant. Growers can also use a food-grade plastic screen or grid-like structure. Such structures are placed over the seedlings as they begin to sprout, and the young plants simply grow up into the screen and through the holes.
Once plants have grown through the holes in the screen, growers pull the tops back, weaving them through/under a nearby hole. This allows the plant to continue to grow horizontally. This process repeats as often as needed to train the plant to grow in the direction desired. It is best to start with a strain that is easy to control if you’re new to this cultivation method and want to get the hang out it.
Once the plants have been trained to grow horizontally, they will ideally form a thick upper canopy that prevents light from penetrating the leaves below, ensuring light is hitting all the places it is most required. This also helps foster better airflow around the plant stems, controlling moisture and combating mold and mildew. Growers can then thin or trim the lower canopy (lower leaves, sprouts, or shoots). By trimming these parts from plants, it encourages all growth to focus on the leaves in the upper canopy, resulting in larger yields and better overall growth for the plants.
