Hello Grasscity! After having grown autoflowering strains for the past 5 years, I've recently tried my hand at photoperiod strains. Not long after, I decided to try out the ScROG method. I have the basics of ScROGing down pat (I think so anyways), but even after reading numerous online guides and forums I'm still feeling really unsure about what to do next for my own plants. My setup is a 6.5x6.5x6.5ft tent, with 4 White Rhinos. Due to a bad deficiency in early veg, I've had to veg my plants for almost 8 weeks now. I only applied the ScROG about 3 days ago, and here are my main questions: Are these babies already too big to effectively ScROG? Should I simply remove the screen and train them? Secondly, what leaves do I need to remove? Having grown autos in the past, they really don't permit but mild defoliation, making me quite new to the practice. I know that I need to remove all foliage and budsites that can't make it up to the screen by flowering time, but what about the leaves that are already at the screen or just barely below it? I only have 2 of the 4 plant's ScROG applied, I am putting the other 2 plant's screen on tonight unless you all say otherwise! I would greatly appreciate any and all constructive criticism here, I feel like I have so much to improve on with my ScROG setup but I simply do not know what those things are! Thanks so much for reading, pics of my plants are down below!
I wouldn't think so..they will get much bigger when they stretch for flower so you will definitely need to keep the height down with only 6.5' to work with Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Thank you for the response Smokey! Yes, height is going to be my biggest concern throughout this grow, but I'm hoping that this ScROG will at least reduce the stretch by a little bit. I've only waited to flip to 12/12 because I just topped for the second and last 3 or 4 days ago. Do you think it's safe to flip to 12/12 now?
I would give it a few days. With how big they are now I believe they will get massive..you might need to spread them out a little more and keep those branches tucked until it has flowers on it at least ..as far as defoliation I would only remove leaves that block growth you dont want blocked...I always remove leaves that stack on top of each other and tuck when I can..the leaves will come in handy later when the plant starts to cannibalize..just remember getting light down low is only good if the flower up top is going good enough that you feel you can push the plant a little more..stress is only good in certain amounts and with an 8 week veg they are already taking a good amount of time and will probably hit 6 months before harvest so slowing them down with excessive stress would not be beneficial unless time is literally no issue Definitely do a quick flip when you switch to 12 by leaving the light off for 36 hours then continue 12 on 12 off after that Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
That's exactly the kind of information I needed, thanks a lot Smokey! I'm going to expand the screen by at least 2 rows of 2x2" squares, maybe more depending on how much space I can get by with. I already have branches that can spread out further than my current screen goes horizontally. Thanks for the tip 36hrs of dark before 12/12, I'll try it here in a few days.
I would say 2x2 would be ok most likely they need room to breathe. Thanks though man people help me out on here so I like to give info when I can Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
My plant is growing in a 24x20" closet with a 4 week veg and no quick flip Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
What do you do when you have branches that can be stretched out further than the screen goes? Simply weave it back inwards? I believe that my screen is 2ftx2ft as well, maybe a little bit bigger I'll have to double check at lights on. Last night I finished doing the final defoliation, I hardly removed any leaves, only small thin stemmed bud sites that were attempting to grow up to the screen, but already having over 22-24 bud sites at the screen I don't think that I need anymore growing up to the screen at this point?
I would keep them outwards..you can cross them back over if you want..I've done it but I like symmetry so I tried to move it a couple weeks into flower and broke it ..how much distance do you have between lights and screen? I would assume the plants would stretch over a foot past the screen ..hard to determine but just always keep in mind the height and how far you can raise the light. If you sell yourself short on height you can most like burn the plant which will dramatically affect the quality if it's late in flower and the buds get burned Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
I'm a super fresh new grower here on my first run at this. I've done all sorts of research, but this is the first I've heard of keeping it dark for 36hrs before 12/12. I started flipping to flower 5 days ago from an 18/6 veg cycle. Day #1 of transition was 17/7, day #2 16/8, #3 15/9 and so on. Tomorrow I was going to set it to 12/12. I haven't read too much on flipping to flower, but I did it this way thinking I would try to mimic the Mother of Nature outside. My question is, should I try the 36hrs of dark at this point & what is that dark period accomplishing? Thank you guys for helping us phresh growers! Also, sorry for the highjack action by the noobie here. Sent from my SM-G892A using Grasscity Forum mobile app
At the moment, I have approximately 2 feet between the screen and light, and the light has the capability of being raised another 1-2 feet. If they only stretch one foot past the screen, I think I will be ok. But I agree that height will be my most constraining factor this grow. I will only bend and weave branches back inward if there is some benefit to it, or if I have extra squares. But at the moment, my screens are between 75% and 85% full and I am just now doing their 36hr dark 'quick flip' period. Do you think my screens are too full for this stage? Apologies for the novice questions, but I learn quick and only have to ask once, thanks!
No problem at all buddy, Smoke has most of my questions clear anyways just hammering out the last few questions I have! I'm not as educated on the 36hrs of dark as Smoke, but if you're in a hurry to harvest or are in a pinch for vertical space, I'd go ahead and do it. What's the worst it can do, after all?
The reason its 36 hours is because if you turned it back on after 24 you would mess up your timing if you like a certain schedule on when your lights are on you just want at least 24 hours of dark and if you only did 24 they would turn on when it would normally be lights out..some plants are just stubborn to transition to flower and can take weeks if you are stressing at the same time but the prolonged dark period to start flower just jump starts the hormones that tell the plants to flower I have definitely seen it speed it up by almost a week with zero affect on quality ..if you just want yeild and have plenty of time by all means take it slow and let her get massive and sticky. In my situation I only need a certain amount soo growing the biggest possible will lead to more than I need Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Makes perfect sense to me Smokey! Here are my babies as of last night, based on your advice I feel like I have finally understood the point and objective of ScROGging. I can't say that I'm sure on what I'll do when many of my branches become so long that they stretch out further than my screen reaches horizontally, but I am sure I will figure something out.
I tuck the branches until buds start getting thicker but many let theres grow up more and put a secondary trellis above the screen to spread the coals out more allowing for better airflow and light penetration Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Do you think that a second screen will reduce light penetration much? Once the buds start thickening up as you said, do you just leave them be in their current location for the remainder of the grow? Thanks in advance!
A second screen should help light penetrate more..if you stop tucking under the screen the tops will most likely grow tall and heavy and require another screen to spread them out and support them so they aren't just falling in on the plant shading it more. I tucked mine until it got too risky to move them and hurt the buds and it still grew up a good amount above the screen ..if you stopped as soon as the buds show I could see it getting almost 2 foot past the top of the screen ..they will stretch for most likely 4-5 weeks into flower before they stop and your plants are rather large already..they will at the very least double in branch length whether that is vertically or horizontally..mine still had some branches longer than others and I kept mine tucked until I ran out of space in the closet and the branches got to the wall then they grew too tall to pull down anymore..really the trickiest part of scrogging is probably knowing the strain you are working with and knowing around how big the plant will get because once it gets to a certain size you cant do much to it since it's not movable ..just look at all the different images and videos of scrogs and see which one appears to be growing in a similar size space and similar veg time then see how the plant looks at different stages that will give you a close idea of where you will be assuming they are growing a hybrid which I assume 9/10 times Your plants will definitely get much bigger than mine the first pic is 2 weeks ago the other ones are from yesterday (day 62 from the first pistols Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app
Just thought I'd share an update of what's going on with my White Rhino plants, if nothing else maybe it will help future readers. All has went pretty well, the plants are absolute monsters, and have been pretty forgiving of my poking and prodding as I learn the ropes of ScROG. Any tips you have for me, Smokey? Or do I seem to be covering all of my bases so far? I've defoliated as little as possible, only leaves that are overlapping or that block direct light from hitting budsites. I am waiting 2 or 3 days and then am going to do a final defoliation, as there are still a handful of popcorn budsites and overlapping leaves that need removed, but not a lot. These pics are from 3 days ago, the budsites have developed quite a bit in those 3 days, but these pics are all I have on hand at the moment.
I would tuck for another week if space permits if not I think you will still be fine they look great and definitely monsters..I look forward to seeing them in a week or so when the buds really start to pack the flower on Sent from my SM-G965U using Grasscity Forum mobile app