I was thinking of you this morning
@TSD. I have questions for you about an outdoor scrog.
When do you go on scrog? Indoors it’s at the time you flip to flower, outside, I’m unsure. How tall is your table? Do you continue to tuck until flower shows? From your experience what advantages do you feel this has? Any tips?
Well, I put my scrogs on starting about 2 weeks ago. The solstice is in a couple days, so flower will be starting in a couple weeks for some probably, but that's dependent on the strain and I have 8 different strains, so who knows. I honestly could have smashed them down sooner, because I split two of them, it's easier to manipulate them before they're so woody.
The height depends on the plant, my lowest one is only about 13 inches, which is honestly too low but Cinderella is short and stout. I'm trying to keep them lower than last year for stealth, which will make underside maintenance a little harder. The highest one is like 22 inches, the Shaman that I split, that's about the height they all were last year. I may raise a couple up some, not sure yet... getting to the point of no return here soon.
I guess what I do is kind of a hybrid between scrogging and trellising? So when I put the scrog on, I really spread them out and smush them down, as you do with a scrog... after a day they stand up and start growing, the stuff that was in the middle and sides of the branches grows up with the increased light, I continue to adjust the branches to maintain a mostly even canopy, usually like every third day-ish, or just when I'm out there burning one and see a tall branch sticking up. All the little lateral growth will poke up through its own hole as long as you keep spreading and grow up. After a couple weeks, it's clear what isn't going to grow to a place where it will have enough light to make a nice top, and that's usually when I do my major defoliation, which I did yesterday. Took off old damaged fans, leaves pointing down or in the dirt, shaved the legs of the spindly lower branches, I usually remove probably half of the lower small branches, the smaller ones, and the rest I strip and leave the top growth to make its way up to the net if it can. Sometimes I attach them with wire where I want them to go if they don't cooperate. Same with the main stalk, I will attach it so it grows where I want it if it's not going without a fight. I also plant most at an angle so they naturally start to open up and the lower stuff points up before I even begin the torture. I will continue to adjust until it's well spread and then let it grow up so I have nice colas. They will continue to get thier stretch on over the next few weeks. I think this year I might add a second layer of screen to support the buds, we'll see.
Usually by the time they flower they are shaped and spread how I want. There comes a point that you can't adjust anymore without breaking shit too. My method is put one hand under net, one on top, fold branch and gather leaves with top hand and pull through hole with bottom hand in one swift motion, and don't do it when they're thirsty. I should do a write up in the outdoor forum I suppose.
As far as advantages, for me in this climate of zone 4, there's many.
•Airflow. Spreading them out and defoliation keeps the air flowing and makes it a less hospitable environment for PM and botrytis.
• Stealth. This was the reason I attempted an outdoor scrog in the first place, after my year of 6 foot plus trees gave hubs a coronary. They are much less conspicuous as a bush than a giant Christmas tree lol.
•Maintenance. Having them spread out makes it easier to prune and remove dead shit, debris, fucking Japanese beetles, etc. Makes it easier to spray evenly and underneath for preventative measures. Makes it easier to dry them fast with the leaf blower during wet times. Needing a ladder for maintenance is a pain. You can see everything right there and catch issues right away.
• Even sized buds, little to no larf. Buds are done mostly all at the same time. Giant colas on trees you can barely reach is a recipe for mold.
• Makes harvest easier. I often live trim off most of the fans as they stand and I can cut and hang by the arm.
• During very dry times, I spray the mulch beneath the scrog to add a little humidity for them, which they seem to enjoy, and the shade they make with the nice big canopy helps keep the roots cooler and happy and let's me go longer before needing to come home to water if I'm off camping or something.
Let me know if I forgot anything or if you have more questions about my MacGyver methods lol.