Scrog height, does it matter?

I’m working on building custom screens to go above my rolling drain trays so that once I swap over to flower they can stay individually screened and still be individually mobile. I was wondering if there was a “perfect height” or benefits to different heights. The screen will be roughly a 22x22” but will I yield more if I place the screen at say 18” vs 24” vs 30” etc? I wasn’t sure with the way the colas cover the screen if the extra height would be beneficial for an increased yield. Space isn’t an issue but plant count is as I can only have 6 in. flower at a time. I’ve currently got my net set at 2’ above the soil line in my veg tent. Basically am I wasting time growing them tall and then wide because the screen will be full regardless and the bottom will get lollipopped ?Growing in soil under cobs in 10 gallon smart pots

Screen above the tray will be roughly a 2’x2’ square

It will matter on the genetic that you are scrogging.
Is it Sativa or Indica?
How much does it stretch after the flip?
How long you gonna veg?
What kind of lights?

And that's just the beginning .. .

If you construct the legs out of PVC and have sections to the legs, you can adjust the leg length without even moving them from over the plant. Can do that with metal pipe too, but 1 inch OD PCV is pretty strong.

I would say that starting at 18 to 20 inches from the deck to the net would be a good starting point.

HashBucket said:

It will matter on the genetic that you are scrogging.
Is it Sativa or Indica?
How much does it stretch after the flip?
How long you gonna veg?
What kind of lights?

And that's just the beginning .. .

If you construct the legs out of PVC and have sections to the legs, you can adjust the leg length without even moving them from over the plant. Can do that with metal pipe too, but 1 inch OD PCV is pretty strong.

I would say that starting at 18 to 20 inches from the deck to the net would be a good starting point.

Click to expand...

Currently running mandarin sunset, indica dominant which didn’t stretch much last run. Next up are purple majik and og majik. All ethos genetics. Mandarin sunset have been in veg for roughly 12 weeks. I start under a Mars ii 1200 and then move them under custom cobs that pull 260 for veg. Each girl will be under a 210 watt timber 2vs for flower

HashBucket said:

It will matter on the genetic that you are scrogging.
Is it Sativa or Indica?
How much does it stretch after the flip?
How long you gonna veg?
What kind of lights?

And that's just the beginning .. .

If you construct the legs out of PVC and have sections to the legs, you can adjust the leg length without even moving them from over the plant. Can do that with metal pipe too, but 1 inch OD PCV is pretty strong.

I would say that starting at 18 to 20 inches from the deck to the net would be a good starting point.

Click to expand...

I’m going with 1/2” od pvc legs and the screen frame that will be conduit clamped to the trays. Basically just wondering if I would get a larger yield from say a 24” above soil line vs an 18” above if I’m planning on lollipopping the lowers and filling the whole screen regardless. They’re hitting the 24” screen in my tent now but I didn’t know if waiting for them to fill the screen at 24” would be more beneficial than if I dropped the screen to 18 and spread them out (which in the future would mean less veg time to fill the screen)

BassheadGrowsWeed said:

I’m going with 1/2” od pvc legs and the screen frame that will be conduit clamped to the trays. Basically just wondering if I would get a larger yield from say a 24” above soil line vs an 18” above if I’m planning on lollipopping the lowers and filling the whole screen regardless. They’re hitting the 24” screen in my tent now but I didn’t know if waiting for them to fill the screen at 24” would be more beneficial than if I dropped the screen to 18 and spread them out (which in the future would mean less veg time to fill the screen)

Click to expand...

If it was me ... I would go with 18'', then you have a jump on 'training' and weaving.
To me, time is money so, saving time anywhere is a plus plus.

you have to allow for the height of the pot, and for how high you allow the stem to get before you bend it over.
a 5 gallon bucket is 14.5 inches tall, 3.5 gallon buckets are 10.5 inches. i'd make a screen for a 5 gal. bucket 18-20 inches tall, for a 3.5 id make them 15-16. that's 4 to 6 inches of clearance, which should be plenty.

Roger A. Shrubber said:

you have to allow for the height of the pot, and for how high you allow the stem to get before you bend it over.
a 5 gallon bucket is 14.5 inches tall, 3.5 gallon buckets are 10.5 inches. i'd make a screen for a 5 gal. bucket 18-20 inches tall, for a 3.5 id make them 15-16. that's 4 to 6 inches of clearance, which should be plenty.

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Growing in 10 gallon smart pots but I’m talking strictly distance above the soil line not from the bottom of the tray

I just re-read the OP.
Last sentance you said you are using TEN GALLON smart pots?

Then adjust your screen size according to Roger's computations above.
But, consider 5 gallon smart pots instead.

HashBucket said:

I just re-read the OP.
Last sentance you said you are using TEN GALLON smart pots?

Then adjust your screen size according to Roger's computations above.
But, consider 5 gallon smart pots instead.

Click to expand...

I decided to go with 10 gallon for size on this run, but I’m trying to figure out if I’m wasting my time and money growing them tall before spreading them out or if an 18” tall screen will provide me a similar yield as a 24” tall Screen since it will take less time to grow since it’s shorter. Also if I could veg for less time I could go back down to 5 maybe 7 gal pots

BassheadGrowsWeed said:

Growing in 10 gallon smart pots but I’m talking strictly distance above the soil line not from the bottom of the tray

Click to expand...

as little as possible while allowing space for a little air flow....depends on how early you bent it over, and how much you kept on top of training it that way, i've seen as little as 4 inches between the medium and the lower branches, as much as a foot...i tend toward the 5 or 6 inch area myself, just enough to get your hand in there to weave everything through the net

Roger A. Shrubber said:

as little as possible while allowing space for a little air flow....depends on how early you bent it over, and how much you kept on top of training it that way, i've seen as little as 4 inches between the medium and the lower branches, as much as a foot...i tend toward the 5 or 6 inch area myself, just enough to get your hand in there to weave everything through the net

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So I’m not going to gain a higher yield by adding hight is what you’re saying? I had a feeling that since I’m going to lollipop and that the screen would be full the extra hight wouldn’t be an added benefit

BassheadGrowsWeed said:

I decided to go with 10 gallon for size on this run, but I’m trying to figure out if I’m wasting my time and money growing them tall before spreading them out or if an 18” tall screen will provide me a similar yield as a 24” tall Screen since it will take less time to grow since it’s shorter. Also if I could veg for less time I could go back down to 5 maybe 7 gal pots

Click to expand...

scrog isn't particularly fast, like sog is, it's almost the same as just letting a plant grow vertically. it's more for yield in a given area. you're reducing wasted space, and maximizing yield by letting all of what is usually undergrowth get some light and fatten up.
i could be wrong, but i don't think the height of your screen will have much to do with how fast a plant matures

BassheadGrowsWeed said:

So I’m not going to gain a higher yield by adding hight is what you’re saying? I had a feeling that since I’m going to lollipop and that the screen would be full the extra hight wouldn’t be an added benefit

Click to expand...

only if it's a particularly large plant, you can run out of room on the screen if the plant out grows it, otherwise, a taller screen would actually reduce yield, you'd end up with more bare lollipopped stem and less of the popcorn getting exposed and turning into golfball sized buds

Roger A. Shrubber said:

scrog isn't particularly fast, like sog is, it's almost the same as just letting a plant grow vertically. it's more for yield in a given area. you're reducing wasted space, and maximizing yield by letting all of what is usually undergrowth get some light and fatten up.
i could be wrong, but i don't think the height of your screen will have much to do with how fast a plant matures

Click to expand...

I’m planning on waiting until I fill 80-90% of the screen before I flip on the mandarin sunset because it didn’t stretch much last time. Basically I’m thinking that with a 2ish month veg I filled my screen at 16ish inched aboce soil and after 3 months I’m hitting 30% of the screen area at two feet. Is there anything to gain by filling the screen T 24” vs 18” vs 12”? I know the plant needs time to mature but I’m just questioning if hight is important for yield given that the scrog leaves the whole main canopy at one hight with little light penetration through the main canopy down lower/the lower will be lolipopped

BassheadGrowsWeed said:

I’m planning on waiting until I fill 80-90% of the screen before I flip on the mandarin sunset because it didn’t stretch much last time. Basically I’m thinking that with a 2ish month veg I filled my screen at 16ish inched aboce soil and after 3 months I’m hitting 30% of the screen area at two feet. Is there anything to gain by filling the screen T 24” vs 18” vs 12”? I know the plant needs time to mature but I’m just questioning if hight is important for yield given that the scrog leaves the whole main canopy at one hight with little light penetration through the main canopy down lower/the lower will be lolipopped

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depends on how you've trained the plant, no point in making the screen lower than where they actually start producing anything.
just no point in having a lot of bare, unproductive stem under the net, either. you know the strain, you know how it grows, where is the point of diminishing returns?

Roger A. Shrubber said:

depends on how you've trained the plant, no point in making the screen lower than where they actually start producing anything.
just no point in having a lot of bare, unproductive stem under the net, either. you know the strain, you know how it grows, where is the point of diminishing returns?

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Mostly second guessing and double checking myself as I realize things. This is my second run so I know there’s a lot to learn still

nice plants but i think your a bit late to set up a scrog, those plants look two feet tall already, all that net will do now is support buds which is not what the scrog is intended for. To make the best use of a srog you want to start it early so you can bend and weave while vegging then once its flipped it will shoot through the netting. nice grow though not bashing just saying. You might want to get them in flower before they outgrow that tent too. Those plantsare gonna stretch to twice that height

Clumpyoyster said:

nice plants but i think your a bit late to set up a scrog, those plants look two feet tall already, all that net will do now is support buds which is not what the scrog is intended for. To make the best use of a srog you want to start it early so you can bend and weave while vegging then once its flipped it will shoot through the netting. nice grow though not bashing just saying. You might want to get them in flower before they outgrow that tent too. Those plantsare gonna stretch to twice that height

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This strain stretched at most 15% first run

BassheadGrowsWeed said:

I decided to go with 10 gallon for size on this run, but I’m trying to figure out if I’m wasting my time and money growing them tall before spreading them out or if an 18” tall screen will provide me a similar yield as a 24” tall Screen since it will take less time to grow since it’s shorter. Also if I could veg for less time I could go back down to 5 maybe 7 gal pots

Click to expand...

My timeline is like this:
Day 1: Plant clones.
Day 10: Roots showing in clones.
Day 15: Plant in 4 inch pots, put under 24/7 HID light at 600 watts.
Day 25: Transplant into 5 gal smart pots. 24 hours of dark, temp down to 65F.
Day 26: 12/12
Flower for 8 weeks and harvest.

Flower longer if you like, but that's a run at my house.