I have plenty of room, SOG? or Big Potted Plants?

Hey, Looking for the most bud with the least amount of maintenance. i dont have any space restrictions 20x30x8 and am wondering which will be less maintenance, several aeroponic tote sog system like the one in the DIY section, or huge hydro setup with 5 gallon buckets. Also which would have higher yeilds. Thanks in advance bongsmilie
 

tusseltussel

Well-Known Member
Hey, Looking for the most bud with the least amount of maintenance. i dont have any space restrictions 20x30x8 and am wondering which will be less maintenance, several aeroponic tote sog system like the one in the DIY section, or huge hydro setup with 5 gallon buckets. Also which would have higher yeilds. Thanks in advance bongsmilie
sog would give you great yeilds but your light limits you so what size light you got is the question than put as many in that space as you can fit
 
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odinfolk

Guest
To start, what in the world does "SOG" mean? I've seen it all over the place but haven't quite figured it out. :/
 
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odinfolk

Guest
Hydro, bro--this grow sounds like it needs more horsepower! ;)
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
To start, what in the world does "SOG" mean? I've seen it all over the place but haven't quite figured it out. :/
from the growfaq

what is sea of green
What is sea of green


[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sea of Green (SOG) is the theory of harvesting lots of small plants, matured early to get the fastest production of buds available. Instead of growing a few plants for a longer period of time, in the same space many smaller plants are grown that mature faster and in less time. Thus, less time is required between crops. This is important to you when the electricity bill comes each month. One crop can be started while another is maturing, and a continuous harvest, year round can be maintained. 4 plants per square foot will be a good start for seedlings. 1 plant per square foot will allow plenty of room for each plant to grow a large top cola, but will not allow for much bottom branching. This is OK since indoors, these bottom branches are always shaded anyway, and will not grow very well unless given additional light and space. [/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The indoor grower quickly realizes that plants that are too tall do not produce enough at the bottom to make the extra growing time used worth while. An exception to this rule would be if it is intended the plants are to go outside at some point, and it is expected that the light/shading issue will not be a factor at that point. The plants, if started at the same time, should create what is called a "green canopy" that traps most of the light at the top level of the plants. Little light will penetrate below this level, since the plants are so close together. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The gardener is attempting to concentrate on the top of the plant, and use the light and space to the best advantage, in as little time as possible. Use of nylon poultry fence or similar trellising laid out over the green canopy will support the plants as they start to droop under the weight of heavy fruiting tops. Stakes can be used too, but are not as easy to install for plants in the middle and back of the room, where reach is more difficult. It's easy to want big plants, since they will produce more yield per plant, but it's usually better with limited space to grow smaller plants that mature faster and pack into smaller spaces. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Sea of Green was developed in Holland. Instead of fitting 4 large plants in that small room, fit 12 small ones on a shelf above 12 other small plants. These plants take only 3-4 months to mature from germination to ripe buds, and harvesting takes place constantly, since there is both a vegetative and flowering area devoted to each, with harvests every 45-60 days. It's not the size of the plant, but the maturity and quality of the product that counts. Twice as many plants grown half as big will fill the grow space twice as fast, so harvests take place almost twice as often. Get good at picking early flowering plants, and propagate only those that are of the best quality. 6" square containers will allow for 4 plants per square foot. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]You may also gauge by the size of your growing tray (for passive hydroponics); I like kitty litter boxes. ($3 each at Target) Planted 4 per square foot, (for vegetative seedlings) a 12 sq. ft. closet will hold 48 seedlings on one shelf. In my case, I use 4" rockwool cubes that fit into kitty litter pans @ 12 cubes per pan. I can get 5 pans onto a 12 sq. ft. closet upper shelf, so that is 60 seedlings on one small shelf! For flowering indoors, 1 plant per sq. ft. is a good rule of thumb for SOG. If less plants are grown in this size space, it will take them longer to fill the space, thus more electricity and time will be used to create the same amount of product. If more than one plant p.s.f. is attempted, the grower will soon find that plants thus crowded tend to be more stem than bud, and the total harvest may be reduced, so be cautious. It's good to avoid "topping" your plants if you want them to grow as fast as possible. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It's better just to grow 2 or 4 times more plants, since they will produce more, faster, in the same space. Also, "training" plants with twist-ties is a great way to get them to bush out a bit. Just take any type of plastic or paper twist tie and wrap it around the top of the plant, then pull it over until the top is bent over 90-180 degrees and then attach this to the main stem lower on the plant. Do this for one week and then release the plant from it's bond. The plant can be trained in this fashion to take less vertical space and to grow bushier, to fill the grow space and force lower limbs to grow upward and join the green canopy. [/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]This technique takes advantage of the fact that if the top is pulled over, it creates a hormonal condition in the plant that makes it bush out at all lower internodes. Sea of Green entails growing to harvest the main cola (top) of the plant. Bottom branches are trimmed to increase air flow under the "blanket" of growing tops. Use these cuttings for clones, as they are the easiest part of the plant to root. It's also the fastest part of the plant to regenerate after flowering has occurred.[/FONT]
 

Mr.

Active Member
Definitely a hydro setup with the 5 gallon buckets, and throw in some aero totes with an auto flowering strain. As far as yields I say that the 5 gallon bucket system would do better with overall yields. In my opinion the extra veg time is worth the wait for big and heavy trees. You could do both if you just move the clones into x amount of aero totes a few weeks before you switch to 12/12 for the others, and then just see for yourself.
 

jats

Well-Known Member
to answer the question of the most amount of buds with the least maintenance..... I grow big bushy plants in coco in autopots and they yield over 8 oz a plant ,,and all I really need to do is top up the res and move them around a little as they grow huge then tie up the buds for support and watch them grow phat.... sea of green is a high maintenance garden......
 

Mr.

Active Member
In reality whichever method you choose you will do just fine and yield a lot as long as you grow them right (nutrients, lighting, temp, CO2, no light leak, etc).
 
Ok so there isnt much daily maintenance for 5 gallon bucket hydro set ups, do u use ebb n flow for that???? I would also need a whole lot more lamps for this set up.
 
so in autopots i could leave the plants unattended for a few days?? Is 8 ounces typical on that type of grow, how much space does each plant need?
 

jats

Well-Known Member
so in autopots i could leave the plants unattended for a few days?? Is 8 ounces typical on that type of grow, how much space does each plant need?
it really depends on the lights you are using and at what stage your girls are at.... this is my 1st grow with the autopots ((but not my first "tree" style grow...)).. In the veg stage I could have easily left them up to 4 or 5 days.. with a large res that is no problem... but once they start flowering the growth is so rapid you need to be there to move the lights and or the plants...
mine are about 5 1/2 ft high and about 3 1/2 ft wide at the moment and growing... and yes I think I'll get approx 8 oz from each when they have finished doing their thing.... I LOVE big plants... but some folk swear by small dense sog gardens...whatever you decide,, Good Luck with that :^)
 
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