Autoflower ScrOG Technique: Yes or No?

Screen of Green (ScrOG) is a popular low-stress training (LST) technique used to control the growth of cannabis plants. 

This strategy helps you train your plant’s branches to grow horizontally through a trellis. It helps improve airflow and maximize space. However, autoflowers have short growth cycles, which may make you wonder if ScrOG is an ideal technique. 

In this article, you will learn about the various pros and cons of ScrOG and why you may want to consider other methods instead of ScrOG for growing autoflowers. 

Key Takeaways

• The ScrOG technique involves using a mesh screen or trellis that flattens the plants, forcing them to grow horizontally. 
• ScrOG technique is possible for growing autoflower plants, but we don't recommend it because the method takes longer and isn’t ideal for the short life cycle of autoflowers. 
• The ScrOG method requires more work and can be tricky for beginners. 
• You can shop the best cannabis seeds with high THC level from our collection.

How Does ScrOG Technique Work?

Instead of letting your plants shoot straight up, you use a net or screen to encourage them to spread sideways. This helps the plants get the best light possible on their top buds. 

Here's how it works: 

• As your plants grow taller, you place a net or screen just above them. 
• The plant then grows up through the net. Once they poke through, you gently tuck and weave the branches into the net, guiding them to grow in the direction you want. This creates a uniform canopy.

Scrogging Autoflowers: What You Should Know

Autoflowering cannabis plants automatically flower based on age rather than light cycles. Using ScrOG usually requires plants to have longer vegetative periods, and since autos have a shorter lifecycle, they may not have time to develop a full canopy as you hope. 

Because the ScrOG technique redirects the plant’s vertical growth horizontally, you’ll be able to fit fewer plants in a smaller grow space. 

However, there are some cons and pros to consider. 

Benefit of ScrOG

The main benefit of the ScrOG method is that it optimizes canopy coverage, light, and air circulation. Let's look into these benefits: 

1. Better light exposure: The more even distribution and penetration of light produces fat buds at the top of plants and also on lower branches so they don't decline in size and density. 
2. It saves vertical space, especially for indoor growing: With a ScrOG screen, you’ll save vertical space, which is especially useful for indoor grows.
3. Higher gram per watt ratio - By optimizing the use of the available light and training your plants to grow laterally, you waste less light as you’ll have a wider, more even canopy. 

The Downsides of Scrogging Autoflowers

Before considering ScrOG for your autoflower, consider the drawbacks that come with this technique:

1. Not ideal for fast-growing autoflowers: The 6-8 weeks of vegetative growth needed for ScrOG is almost the lifecycle of an autoflower, which might not have time to develop the optimal canopy. 
2. Requires more work: ScrOG plants require regular maintenance, especially throughout most of the vegetative stage. New shoots will have to be woven into the screen regularly. 
3. Not ideal for totally new growers: ScrOG can be challenging and is definitely on the advanced side of plant training techniques. It requires time, skill (especially for tucking stems), and a thorough understanding of how autoflowers grow.

• Limited access for maintenance: Access for plant maintenance can be limited, especially in small grow tents. Difficulty accessing all parts of the plant can affect aspects of plant care like defoliating, checking for pests, and training. You’ll need appropriate equipment like a hose wand. 

For you to better understand the labor intensity of scrogging autoflowers and why you may want to choose to forego this method, here's what the process involves: 

What Scrogging Autoflowers Would Involve

Equipment needed 

• The main element you need for ScrOG is the screen, which is usually a net with wide holes. 
• Frame: You’ll need something like a wooden, metal, or plastic frame. There are also reusable elastic ScrOG nets that you can buy with hooks to attach to the frame of the grow tent. 
• Scissors: To cut excess net when creating the frame. 
• Gardening twine: For holding branches in place during the process.

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Create a frame and grid using the trellis net

Credit: TPS Nutrients

Create a lightweight frame and use twine rope to make a trellis or chessboard-style grid. Prepare corner posts and connect them to the screen. 

Step 2: Decide how tall you want to grow your plants.

Credit: TPS Nutrients

Different strains grow and stretch to various levels, so ensure you devise a plan. The screen itself should rest 6—11 inches below the intended final height of your plants. Most screens are 1–2 feet high maximum—any taller means significant extra pruning below the canopy.

Step 3: Once the ScrOG is in place, allow the plants to grow through the chessboard holes. If needed, place additional layers of netting.  

Credit: TPS Nutrients

Don't wait too long to bend the stems through the trellis. There’s a risk of breaking or snapping the branches when weaving them through the netting.

New growth tends to be more pliable than older and thicker branches, especially with autoflowers that have less time to recover from damage. 

Ease the shoots below the framework to point horizontally. They soon spike back towards the light, and you'll need to knit them through again. 

Step 4: Train your shoots every day. 

Credit: TPS Nutrients

Train your shoots daily, especially the larger ones around the edges, to keep the whole canopy solid. Keep up to date with your tucking and weaving. 

Aim to cover 70% of your ScrOG with the canopy before flowering kicks in.

You can learn more about cannabis flowering and everything you need to know in a seperate guide.

Step 5: Halt the tucking and weaving to let the buds grow out. 

Credit: TPS Nutrients

After a few weeks of flowering, vertical growth slows down drastically. At this point, you can halt the tucking and weaving to let the buds grow out. Allow the bud sites to thicken and grow a generous coat of crystalline trichomes. 

Step 7: Tie down big colas

If the colas get too big or close to the lights, raise the lights to avoid accidental breakage or light burn. 

Don't try to weave them through the screen again, as you might damage the buds or stems. 

Having gone through the steps involved in scrogging autoflowers, you can see that it requires additional equipment but more importantly, it can be labor-intensive.

Final Thoughts

While it is possible, autoflowers in general are not the best choice for scrog training. This method takes longer to be effective.

Even if you choose to use this method for other strains,  we would recommend it for intermediate to advanced cultivators, considering the pros and cons.

If you're new to growing autoflowers, let them do their thing and develop normally, you’ll learn a lot on their growth cycle. Meanwhile, where you get your autoflower cannabis seeds also matters. 

At HomeGrownCannabis, we're proud to be a leading one-stop shop for quality cannabis seeds and resources. Our goal is to help growers like you have a better cultivation experience. You can browse our collection of high-quality autoflower seeds.