What is SCROG and how do I implement it with my Grow Box

Even if you're an experienced grower, from time to time you may come up against some strange acronyms or jargon that you’re just not sure about. For many of us, one of these is SCROG, a kind of cryptic abbreviation that everybody seems to be talking about these days. You'll see a lot of discussion about SCROG from “West Coast Masters” and others with very deep roots in hydroponics community.

What is SCROG?

The acronym SCROG stands for “screen of green.” It is derivative of the idea of “sea of green” which was abbreviated SOG.

Many of us are more familiar with sea of green. This general strategy involves placing plants close together for shared benefits.

Screen of green is a little different. It stresses canopy production through the method of placing plants close together, often under a net, to give them specific growing patterns related to the light, nutrients and water that they use. SCROG is often also talked about as an avenue toward consistent bud production. It helps make growing results consistent, and it's a major part of high-level strategies for experienced grow designs.

Implementing SCROG

One of the first ways to implement SCROG in a grow box is to look at the size of that box and the shape, to start to theorize how plants will share a canopy. They must be particularly spaced, with enough resources to make sure that, although they will stand together, they will not crowd each other. As with other methods and designs, the natural reflective interior surfaces inside of grow boxes helps make sure that light gets distributed to corner plants and plants that may otherwise be crowded out for resources.

Nurturing SCROG in a grow box

As plants grow, it's important to keep them growing in a uniform way. SCROG may include more kinds of pruning and cutting than other methods. A grower might end up ‘barbering’ plants a good deal in order to accommodate specific grow patterns. While some other growers have a strategy of ‘plant it and forget it,’ just taking care of the basic environmental factors like temperature, PH and more, SCROG growers might put a lot more effort into manicuring a canopy to make everything look good and grow consistently.

SCROG is just one option for sophisticated hydroponics growing that uses advanced techniques to enhance results. Along with basic reservoir system choices like ebb and flow or deep water culture, growth strategies like SCROG allow growers to analyze the specific area above the plant roots, where plants actually develop fruit and blossom.

For more on hydroponics and everything attached to using modern grow box technologies, check out what modern manufacturers and retailers offer today to help you attain hydroponics success.