Screen of Green (ScrOG): The Yield Maximizer
Screen of Green (ScrOG): The Yield Maximizer
What is ScrOG?
🕸️ The Executive Summary
Screen of Green (ScrOG) is the strategic opposite of Sea of Green (SOG). While SOG relies on high plant counts and low veg times, ScrOG relies on low plant counts and long veg times.
The goal of ScrOG is to manipulate the shape of the cannabis plant. Naturally, cannabis grows like a Christmas tree—one tall main cola absorbing all the light, and lower branches stuck in the shadows producing "popcorn" buds.
By installing a horizontal mesh screen (trellis) above the plant and weaving the branches through it, the grower forces the plant to grow horizontally. This breaks the plant's natural "Apical Dominance" (the tendency to focus energy only on the top bud). Instead, the plant creates a flat table of green. When you flip to flower, dozens of bud sites rise from this table simultaneously, all at the exact same height, receiving the exact same intensity of light.
⚙️ The Mechanics: How It Works
1. Breaking Apical Dominance
Hormones (auxins) in cannabis naturally flow to the highest point of the plant. By tucking the tallest branch under the screen so it is lower than the rest, you redistribute these hormones. The plant thinks, "Oh no, I have no top!" and sends energy to all the side branches to become the new tops.
2. The Light Footprint (PAR)
Grow lights obey the Inverse Square Law: light intensity drops off drastically with distance. In a normal plant, the top is getting too much light while the bottom is getting too little. In a flat ScrOG canopy, every single bud is in the "Sweet Spot" (e.g., 12 inches from the light). This creates a canopy of 100% "A-Grade" flowers.
3. The Support System
Cannabis plants producing massive colas often fall over under their own weight. The ScrOG net acts as a structural skeleton, supporting the heavy buds so the plant doesn't have to waste energy building thick cellulose stalks.
🛠️ The Setup: The Net
The Hardware:
The Screen: A trellis net (nylon or plastic) or a DIY frame made of PVC pipe and string.
The Grid Size: Squares should be roughly 3.5 to 4 inches wide.
The Height: Install the screen 8 to 12 inches above the rim of the pot.
The Plant Count:
Rule of Thumb: 1 large plant per 2x2 or 3x3 ft area. (e.g., You can fill a 4x4 tent with just 4 plants, or even 1 massive plant).
⚖️ The Pros and Cons
| The Pros (Why do it?) | The Cons (Why avoid it?) |
| Yield: Maximum yield per plant (ideal for legal limits). | Vegetative Time: Takes weeks longer to fill the screen. |
| Quality: Zero "larf" (fluffy lower buds); all buds are dense. | Immobility: Once netted, you cannot move the plants. |
| Efficiency: Uses 100% of the light's footprint. | Access: Watering the back pots is physically difficult. |
| Height Control: Keeps tall Sativas manageable indoors. | Maintenance: Requires daily "tucking" labor during the stretch. |
🚜 The Operational Protocol
Phase 1: Topping (The Prep)
Before the plant hits the screen, you must Top (cut the main stem) at least once. This creates the initial multi-branch structure needed to fill the corners.
Phase 2: The Tuck (Vegetative)
As branches grow vertically through the holes of the screen, you gently pull them back down and tuck them under the next square over. You are guiding them to grow sideways toward the edges of the tent.
Goal: Fill 70% of the screen with greenery before flipping to flower.
Phase 3: The Stretch (Early Flower)
Switch to 12/12. The plants will explode in growth (The Stretch).
Action: Continue tucking for the first 2 weeks of flower. Use this explosive growth to fill the remaining 30% of the screen.
Phase 4: The Rise & Prune
Once the stretch stops (around Week 3 of flower), stop tucking. Let the buds grow vertically now.
Lollipopping: Mandatory. You must go under the screen and strip every single leaf and branch that is in the shadows below the net. The canopy should be a dense mat on top, and completely bare stems below. This ensures airflow and pushes all energy to the top.
🏁 The Architect's Verdict
ScrOG is for the Home Maximizer.
If you live in a state where you are allowed only 4 plants, ScrOG is the only logical choice. It allows you to harvest 2 lbs from those 4 plants instead of 8 oz. It requires patience and daily interaction with your garden, but it produces the most photogenic and uniform canopies in the world.