Scrog Technique Question

Hey guys!

My current operation is some C99 in a hydro setup under 600watts using the SCRog method.

I have included a picture to show my concern.

I have seen a few grow diaries with people who do scrog trim the underneath.
My question is, is this necessary and does this really impact the yield up above?
If it doesn't effect the nug size of the buds threw the screen then I would like to keep all the popcorn then for hash. but if a dramatic difference would occur then I guess ill get to it.

Thanks and +rep for help.

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I think it may be an issue of spacing. If your buds are close together(above the screen), then they probably won't benefit a great deal by it, being that they are packed together and can't get a whole lot bigger even if they wanted to. If you do have the spacing, I would definitely do it IMO. Plus it may not just be the circumferential size of the bud that is improved, but the density. With your spacing, I would trim below. Also, with scrog, air flow above and under the screen is really important once it fills up. Obviously, clearing out the undergrowth is going to help a great deal in lowering the risk for mold or mildew. I'll follow up your grow to see what ya do. good luck

BBYY said:

Hey guys!

My current operation is some C99 in a hydro setup under 600watts using the SCRog method.

I have included a picture to show my concern.

I have seen a few grow diaries with people who do scrog trim the underneath.
My question is, is this necessary and does this really impact the yield up above?
If it doesn't effect the nug size of the buds threw the screen then I would like to keep all the popcorn then for hash. but if a dramatic difference would occur then I guess ill get to it.

Thanks and +rep for help.

View attachment 1555490View attachment 1555491

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I'm like you, new to scrog.
From my research, basically everything below the scrog screen, will die off due to lack of light....Trimming away underneath the screen, "a little at a time", will encourage the plant to pump those juices to bud sites that emerge above the screen. The whole premise of the scrog is to develop an even canopy that distributes light evenly over your grow. Thus maximizing light efficiency, encouraging what would be smaller buds in an untrained grow to become larger. The name of the game is overall harvest-able weight, not huge show stopping colas.

dishinit said:

I'm like you, new to scrog.
From my research, basically everything below the scrog screen, will die off due to lack of light....Trimming away underneath the screen, "a little at a time", will encourage the plant to pump those juices to bud sites that emerge above the screen. The whole premise of the scrog is to develop an even canopy that distributes light evenly over your grow. Thus maximizing light efficiency, encouraging what would be smaller buds in an untrained grow to become larger. The name of the game is overall harvest-able weight, not huge show stopping colas.

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"a little at a time" is a very good point. It kinda scares me when I look under my screen and see all the cuts I've made. Literally hundreds. I usually cut out anything that's obviously not going to be utilized as it's vegging and starting to flower. Then during the last week of stretch, once I know for sure which branches I'll need, I cut out the rest. Over about a weeks time, I'll cut out a little and let em heal for a day, cut out some more, heal for a day ect.... Hasn't seemed to affect the flowering stretch in my plants one bit. I'm usually trying to slow down the stretch near the end anyway. It seems pretty easy for plants to cauterize a cut as opposed to repairing a bent over top or something, so I don't think it makes a ridiculous amount of stress on the plant. Still best in moderation though.

Easy BBYY!
Nice to see another person joining the ScrOG club!

I do have a few notes to say about it though, and please don't take it personally.

Trimming everything underneath the ScrOG IS a good idea, but you have to choose the right time to do it.
How far in are you? I would say maybe 3-4 weeks into 12/12?

I trim in weekly stages, usually starting 2-3 weeks prior to flipping the switch and always starting with the lowest growth. During this time it is usually the fan leaves and some shaded growth that is visibly lagging behind.

There are many ways to train a plant for a ScrOG, eg;
Plant topped to form 4 main tops which are then grown outwards in a [X] pattern, filling the screen as it goes along.

Or, the simple method of just bending the main growth under the screen and into the next hole, training all the surrounding new growth into the remaining holes.

You will soon learn your plants stretching characteristics to judge which branches will make it to the screen and at what speed, so you can time your flip much more precisely.

This will however depend on the type of media & system you are using, as some systems give explosive growth and lights need to be flipped much sooner. Like the Waterfarm I use in my grow journal.

I will carry on trimming 2-3 weeks in to 12/12.
Picking off 2-3 bits a day.
I find this doesn't stress the plant and stunt it.
Once the plants completely stop stretching, EVERYTHING below the screen goes!
At this point everything below the screen isn't getting enough light, the popcorn bud would be garbage, whereas all that popcorn could have contributed to 25-35% more weight in the top buds.

During flowering I selectively prune fan leaves off the buds to give deeper light penetration and better airflow.
I also pick off leaves early on in flowering to slow down some branches that are stretching more than others.

I never trim off the fan leaves from the top, I leave the top 3 alone. That includes the top one that doesn't poke out much.

All of this is useless if the plant hasn't been trained properly and you just have main branches with little side branching.
Dont forget, some strains or phenos don't respond well to ScrOGing.


I would say trimming off below the screen now for you wouldn't be the best of things as they are a fair amount in.
Maybe trim half the branches which have tiny popcorn buds and leave the ones with longer bud branches? Note what worked best for you and learn for your next grow.
Do however trim all the fan leaves off below the screen. They will die soon anyway!
Increase the airflow!

Here's the link to my diary, and a grow guide in that post that I wrote up which might help you a bit.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/403940-stealthdrobe-v1-600w-hydro-soil-7.html#post5393995

Hope that kinda helps!
I'm very high, have no idea how I got to this thread, I just started typing a reply about 2 hours ago between ad breaks. Haha.

Take it easy mate!

TD

Ive always been pretty much on my own all the time. I read lots of articles and books. Journals help diagnose my problems when rarely people post in my thread with help. Just learn as I go along so I can thennhelp others. Think of me as a crash test dummy. Lol
In need of help with flushing right now. Not an awful lot of clear cut info or opinions out there.

Thanks for the like Flo Gro and positive comment.

Paeace & Love

TD

TDooda said:

Ive always been pretty much on my own all the time. I read lots of articles and books. Journals help diagnose my problems when rarely people post in my thread with help. Just learn as I go along so I can thennhelp others. Think of me as a crash test dummy. Lol
In need of help with flushing right now. Not an awful lot of clear cut info or opinions out there.

Thanks for the like Flo Gro and positive comment.

Paeace & Love

TD

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TD, What an informative response. Thank you for all that. Your guide is my bible on Water Farm etiquette, and it just got bigger.
I am always in a quandary as to when to flush. I am learning that stated flower times are just that, stated....not necessarily my experience.
Sometimes I harvest earlier, sometimes later....still trying to dial it into a more exact science.
I back off the nutes towards the published end of flower time, and that makes sense to me...especially if find that if I have to harvest before a complete flush of 10 days, my plants just seem smoother to me, than if I went full tilt to the end.
Of course a proper dry and cure can do wonders to most bud, and putting as much attention to this part of the process is equally important as growing them out.

Thanks for the much needed information you all have provided.


We'll I have trimmed underneath. I did most of it all at once. It looks like alot because its 7 clones worth of shit jumbled under the screen.(in a 2x2 ft area) So I figured the stress was not going to be an issue.
They reasponded well. In the photos up above they were 2 weeks done of flowering. I have included a photo of them after a trimmed. I feel I did a good job and looks good to me.

I have been pruning and shit threw veg and into the stretch phase, but just wasnt sure on removing ALL growth from underneath.
They had just finished stretching when I posted this thread. Noticed new growth the day after I pruned. Sure that speaks for the amount of stress received.

Again thanks all for the help, I have spread rep out the the ones who deserved it

Forgot to attach the image i was talking about in the previous post.

How are things coming along fella?

TD

Things are looking great, whadda you say?

@ about 3 n 1/2 weeks. About 4 left.

howdy fellas, i have a bit of a dilema, i have screened a bit late,and have a multitude of bud sites under screen,they are 3 weeks into flowerand the stretch seems to have slowed,i have been supercroping the tops and laying them down on the screen so far,my question is is it possible to carefully remove the screen,supercrop to a lower height and rescreen? the plants seem to love the cropping and respond very well to it,would this be a risky undertaking at this stage? to much stress? there is probably as many buds below as on top,this is my first scrog,and i will never grow any other way again, i just dont wanna blow it first time out. thanx in advance

med4u said:

howdy fellas, i have a bit of a dilema, i have screened a bit late,and have a multitude of bud sites under screen,they are 3 weeks into flowerand the stretch seems to have slowed,i have been supercroping the tops and laying them down on the screen so far,my question is is it possible to carefully remove the screen,supercrop to a lower height and rescreen? the plants seem to love the cropping and respond very well to it,would this be a risky undertaking at this stage? to much stress? there is probably as many buds below as on top,this is my first scrog,and i will never grow any other way again, i just dont wanna blow it first time out. thanx in advance

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I am sure you will reach more of an audience starting your own thread.

BBYY how many plants do you have there? How many square ft of grow area?
I'm wondering because I'm going to scrog as well, 6 plants in 3ftx2ft space. I think its a bit too crowded.. but what do I know its my first grow...

greenops said:

BBYY how many plants do you have there? How many square ft of grow area?
I'm wondering because I'm going to scrog as well, 6 plants in 3ftx2ft space. I think its a bit too crowded.. but what do I know its my first grow...

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Thats about the size of the screen. 2.5 ft x 2.5 ft roughly. The reason I did scrog was to keep it from getting crowded. I started with 15 clones, but only 7 made it this far.

hi all an to the op i am not trying to hi jack your thread or nothing , but would like to ask that if i have left the undergrowth of the screen when the leaf starts to die off would the plant use its stored energy??? my thinking was that if it does there would be more food for the plant to use due to the abundance of greenery under the net/canopy producing food plus what ever leaves die off energy stored used by the plant thus would equal bigger buds, i have lots of air flow under an above the canopy an set pc fans on each plant blowing through them just curious if they just die or the plant absorbes the energy causing it to die

If light never hits the leafs its guaranteed not to produce energy.