Too Many Plants in SCROG?

Hi All,

OK, probably screwed up some since this is my first time. Doing a scrog, 18 plants in a 6x4 ft area. I initially read some of the older school stuff suggesting 1 plant per sq ft. It wasn’t until all the clones had been gathered and the process started that I discovered the same task could be accomplished with way fewer plants.

So, now I wonder if I have too many plants and what, if anything, should be done about it. I read in so many places that the rule is one bud site per square. The way things are now, that may not be possible.

It’s day 3 of flower and the screen is getting crowded. I understand there can be serious stretch for the next couple weeks. I have been steadily trimming away the undergrowth for the last 2 weeks, it’s getting pretty clean below the canopy. I know overcrowding can lead to mold, but I can manage room humidity and have 4 fans, if necessary.

I’d appreciate any suggestions regarding the best way to handle this. Pics included...



Thanks! phil

18 plants in 3 gal pots
4x6 area
(2 ) 1000w lights
Green Crack, Sativa Dominant Hybrid, 45 day flowering cycle

Get the lights closer, other then that there's never too many

A major advantage of scrogging is that you can spread it out regardless of the number of plants. With 18 plants on 4x6 you don't need to scrogg, at most top them. Yes 18 is too many, 8 would have been enough. Try to aim for 6x6" per bud site, cut the rest.

Lights are at 21" above highest growth. This is another issue, but also somewhat perplexing. I did have lights at 16 inches, but the top leaves seemed to appear to taco a bit. Either that, or I was getting a little too paranoid, ha! I got nervous, maybe for no reason. Sure, it's stated over and over, put your hand underneath for a minute, if it doesn't get uncomfortable, etc. But there are opposing views, including thermal vs radiant heat and how many lumens a plant can really use, inverse square law, par. I'd be happy to lower the lights some if I felt comfortable.

OK, dropped the lights downward to 14" above top leaves - guess I'll just keep a close, paranoid eye on it ; )

Sativied said:

A major advantage of scrogging is that you can spread it out regardless of the number of plants. With 18 plants on 4x6 you don't need to scrogg, at most top them. Yes 18 is too many, 8 would have been enough. Try to aim for 6x6" per bud site, cut the rest.

Click to expand...

They were topped awhile back. I've got 3x3" squares, was looking for high yield. Yes, guess if it starts getting out of control, I'll just have to cut some away.

Yup, just keep watching her grow, how tall is the growth abouve the net? And no don't cut during flowering, the first 3 weeks is fine but after that try to avoid cutting after. Don't want to stress the plant during flowering wait another week then you can stop tucking, I'd stop now and let them grow threw then whatever is to small in your eyes chop away and clean them up

Sent from my C6916 using Rollitup mobile app

peacepipe2010 said:

Yup, just keep watching her grow, how tall is the growth abouve the net? And no don't cut during flowering, the first 3 weeks is fine but after that try to avoid cutting after. Don't want to stress the plant during flowering wait another week then you can stop tucking, I'd stop now and let them grow threw then whatever is to small in your eyes chop away and clean them up

Click to expand...

It's day 4 of flower. Stuff doesn't get much more than a couple/3 inches above the net before I tucking back in, been doing that for the last 2 weeks. Yup, I figure to be done with any necessary trimming of canopy overgrowth by the end of second week of flower. Then I'll let 'em rip up through the net unfettered. Fingers crossed...

14'' is awesome.. i got 2x1000's also side by side except individual 4x4's.. a few of them get within inches of the glass and aren't burning

Looks good man, I'm on my first Scrog now a little over 2 weeks into flowering and I definitely hadtoo many plants, I have 8 in a 5x5 and their saliva dominant. They stretched like crazy so I just had to let them do their thing . Lesson learned though, 4 would have been plenty in my 5x5

in my little 4x4 grow room I ran 4 plants in 3 gallon pots and it was over crowded. Only got about 6 ounces off those 4 plants. I went to 1 3 gallon pot next run and ended up pulling over 10 ounces dry off that one plant. Went to a 5 gallon pot on this current run. Goal is a pound.

selfmedicator462 said:

in my little 4x4 grow room I ran 4 plants in 3 gallon pots and it was over crowded. Only got about 6 ounces off those 4 plants. I went to 1 3 gallon pot next run and ended up pulling over 10 ounces dry off that one plant. Went to a 5 gallon pot on this current run. Goal is a pound.

Click to expand...

Less is definitely more in Scrog I learned, I hope I get more than 6oz but I have no idea what I'll end up with, I was aiming for .7gpw but I know I won't be anywhere near that this time

One lb on a plant is doable and probably the best way to Scrog a 4x4 imo , good luck man

fuzzyl said:

14'' is awesome.. i got 2x1000's also side by side except individual 4x4's.. a few of them get within inches of the glass and aren't burning

Click to expand...

another 24 hrs has gone by and leaves don't look worse for wear at 14 inches. might drop lights down another 3 or 4 inches and keep a close eye on them. I just wonder how far you can drop the lights before the outer edges of the grow area lose significant light (drop off). Maybe that's not an issue with 1000w and a 4x4 area.

AlphaPhase said:

Less is definitely more in Scrog I learned, I hope I get more than 6oz but I have no idea what I'll end up with, I was aiming for .7gpw but I know I won't be anywhere near that this time

Click to expand...

with 18 plants in a 6x4 area and 2 1000w lights, I was hoping for 2-4 lbs, maybe way off base.

selfmedicator462 said:

in my little 4x4 grow room I ran 4 plants in 3 gallon pots and it was over crowded. Only got about 6 ounces off those 4 plants. I went to 1 3 gallon pot next run and ended up pulling over 10 ounces dry off that one plant. Went to a 5 gallon pot on this current run. Goal is a pound.

Click to expand...

how long do you veg?

philbu said:

with 18 plants in a 6x4 area and 2 1000w lights, I was hoping for 2-4 lbs, maybe way off base.

Click to expand...

If you have very little veg time and heavy yielding genetics you should be able to hit 2 lb no problem, but 18 plants in a small area that are vegged too long may yield less than 8 vegged a little longer, I only vegged my 8 plants in a 5x5 for about 3 weeks and I my my yield may suffer a little bit from over crowding

philbu said:

another 24 hrs has gone by and leaves don't look worse for wear at 14 inches. might drop lights down another 3 or 4 inches and keep a close eye on them. I just wonder how far you can drop the lights before the outer edges of the grow area lose significant light (drop off). Maybe that's not an issue with 1000w and a 4x4 area.

Click to expand...

You should be fine with 1000w, 4x4 area is perfect and you shouldn't lose much light around the sides by lowering it, 12 inches above the tops is perfect for light penetration, you could go lower but you may get some bleaching on the plants

AlphaPhase said:

You should be fine with 1000w, 4x4 area is perfect and you shouldn't lose much light around the sides by lowering it, 12 inches above the tops is perfect for light penetration, you could go lower but you may get some bleaching on the plants

Click to expand...

i'll try 12, thanks

bab1 said:

how long do you veg?

Click to expand...

veg was 10 weeks under 2 T5's. They weren't terribly tall at 10 weeks, maybe 14 inches. I'd gotten them used to being bent, so dropping the screen on them was easy. Screen is about 9" from soil. They were topped once. New side branches are about 1" apart.

philbu said:

i'll try 12, thanks

Click to expand...

No problem man, here's a chart about hps lighting and lumens and stuff, I know there's some good threads on riu but I couldn't find the posts, just make sure it's not too hot, it looks like you have a good air cooled system so you should be fine at 12 inches, but just watch them for heat stress and if they are fine you should be good to go.. As you can see on the chart lumens decrease dramatically every inch higher, I would never go less than 12" though because that would reduce the light coverage quite a bit