What is the Sea of Green Method?

Smokin Moose

Fallen Cannabis Warrior & Ex Moderator
(Excerpted from SCW's Fundamentals post)
The plantlet sea of green method was developed to maximize the speed of cannabis growing in limited height situations. In a typical sea of green setup of this type, clones are planted at densities as high as 9 per sq. ft. Within a short time after being established, the lights are switched to a 12 hour dark period.What happens to the planted clone?

The clone could just sit there, stretch a bit under the light regime, and flower, producing a tiny little bud with a couple of seeds. But that rarely, if ever, happens. Instead the clone takes off in a rush of growth, forming a woody main stem and branches. If the plant is suitable for sea of green growing, it will stop short of the lights and flower. Most indica dominated plants stop short enough to be grown using this method. That process is at the heart of the sea of green method, as it results in the smallest possible plant flowering in the quickest possible time.
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Note that SOG plants are really just "an apple on a stick," that is, the main cola, and perhaps a side bud or two, are cultivated.
 
so how long after i root should i start flowering and how tall should they be. 3 inches or 4? If they are like 3 inchs when starting to flower what should be my pot size all the way to finish?
 
so how long after i root should i start flowering and how tall should they be. 3 inches or 4? If they are like 3 inchs when starting to flower what should be my pot size all the way to finish?

This is completely up to u. I suggest square shaped, deep pots, no larger than 3 gal. U can pack em in tight and don't have to worry about watering that as frequently as smaller pots (1 gal). Starting at 3" (on indica dominant strains) U can get away with 1 gal conatiners, but have to water frequently. If they were clones taken from mature mothers u can start them as soon as the root system seems strong after transplanting.
 
i have been waiting for my clones to get to 12 inches but they are really going slow. I have them under a 400 watt MH and they seem stuck at 8 inches. i was wondering if i put them under my 6oo hps will it be better, or do you think the 400 MH would make them grow faster?
 
HPS will cause more stretching and should be used for flowering. MH are typically used for veg and promote compact internode spacing as opposed to stretching. It may be genetic issue. The plants may be meant to be smaller plants, especially indicas. Don't think either type will make a plant grow faster, the higher wattage will provide a brighter light which provides a more intense life spectrum which in turn produces more usable light. U start feeding nutes yet?
 
Would a combination of MH and HPS work as well as just one or the other alone?
 
Would a combination of MH and HPS work as well as just one or the other alone?

The combination of the 2 lights would mean more light output so 2 lights better than one in that sense. However mh is only really suited to veg so would probably be best to run 2 hps if u were going to run 2 lights. This would mean you could complete the whole grow without swapping bulbs.

Also you would have to take into consideration the extra heat that running an extra bulb would bring. Especially in small unventilated areas. Cooltubes are good at removing excess heat with proper ventilation. It all depends on how many plants you are growing and the space you are growing in.
 
I guess I don't understand. Does this method increase the net yield of the garden? What about bud size? Are the buds smaller or larger than other methods? Do you end up getting more "top" colas? Thanks!
 
2 of my growing associates are pushing me to try the SOG method. So I started reading about it, and it seems to me like the only benefit is that you get some of your buds sooner. But nothing I read anywhere said anything about increased yield.

So from what I'm reading, it sounds like 20 plants grown with a 6-8 week veg and then flowered will put out the same amount of bud as 50-60 small plants grown and flowered twice in the same amount of time.

Does this sound right? You end up with the same amount of ounces, you just get part of it faster.

If that's the only benefit, then SOG sounds like more work and effort to me.
 
No that's not it. With a perpetual sea of green you add clones or seeds to the garden every week or every two weeks, and harvest every week or every two weeks.
In reality it may seem odd but 8 weeks pre-grow in sea of green you could prepare gigantic mothers and root an army of clones and out yield a couple big plants with just one seed very easily. The cost and work load of SoG are higher but the output is much more.
Once your mother is ready you cut and root your clones.
Once you root your clones you transplant them into their containers and begin a 3 week pre-growth session of rooting the clones into their containers. This is good time to use mycorrhizae and/or hormone stimulants, sea kelp, or just water.
After your 3 week pre-growth session your clones should be well rooted in your containers or mediums and you should begin 12/12 and flowering.

And you're kind of right, but the idea behind SoG is uniformity and dependability - you are supposed to isolate a strain that will yield very well and grow very uniformly and suits your conditions and then you do SoG with that mother plant and get consistent results of the same plant.
 
I think I understand it a little better now. If it is as you described, I'd need to cut, trim, hang, dry, cure, etc., every week or 2 when a new group of plants is ready. I don't have enough free time in my schedule for that, so SOG may not be the best thing for me.

I made clones of my first crop right before they went to flowering, so I'll have a new batch ready to harvest every 2 months to 10 weeks or so. I can handle that.
 
Hey Randy...Screen of Green (scrog) is one you might find interesting. Member 420fied (4inch PVC Aero/NFT 4x5 SCROG - 1200 Watts) set a great example of this concept. My friend followed this method with a 4.5oz per plant yield. I am just starting up with a similar concept...no doubt your schedule is always a factor. Which ever you do I wish Good luck and great yields :)!
 
Can you start a sea of green with seeds spaced 1 inch apart then segregate males.

or

Could you plant plants separately, segregate males, then transplant females to a sea of green?
 
yes but Clones Can carry Pets and disease and The Trait's DNA ' SO if mothers Weak etc Clones aIso Will be I've read
 
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