I've promised a couple of people I'd put this up, and a few people have asked me to explain SOG (Sea of Green).....I am definitely not an expert but I have just completed my first SOG experiment, and was so impressed with the results that I can't see myself going back to large plant growing indoors again.....

I'm going to put a few photos and explanations up anyway, I think it's pretty clear....

Before I start, it does take a bit of a leap of faith to convert to  SOG, if you are used to growing huge plants you won't believe that you can get the yields this way.....my yield has almost TRIPLED!!! Mostly this is down to SOG, but I also got a bigger lamp which I'm sure contributed, but that alone wouldn't explain a TRIPLING of yield.....

My flowering room is 3'x3'x8'...Loads of 2-bed Victorian terraces have this wardrobe upstairs and it's perfect for a secret garden....with a hatch to the loft that I vent with a simple bathroom extractor...it comes on with the lights and vents hot air into the loft...keeping the temps down and pulling clean fresh air into the closet.....



EDIT>>>>>>Since this post....now it's Feb2003, I now use a LTi Closet extractor.....much more suck, more satisfactory growth........

I need venting as my lamp is quite powerful for the space and temperatures can get out of control....I's a 600w HPS, which in my space gives me 67w/sq ft....I think you need a minimum of 30-35w/sqft to get good results, and I was growing before with a 400w (44w/sqft) and getting great results....the 600 gives me more though.....

In addition to the venting I have a 6" fan suspended, which i can raise and lower with the lamp, and direct the airflow directly onto the bulb to help push the heat up and away before the plants can be scorched......it lets me get the lamp a lot closer to the tops before they scorch.........



EDIT>>>>>>Feb2003 I tend not to bother with the raising and lowering now, just keep the fan directed just below the bulb., so as the plants grow up into the "scorch zone" then they get the extra fan on them.......

To make best use of the floorspace I use square 6"pots, these are quite tall and hold nearly a gallon of soilmix...there is no space between the pots so I'm wasting no available space....


EDIT>>>>>>Feb2003 Still the same here......

My vegging "room" is powered with 2 18w flouros.....SOG....I need to explain about it.....

Sea of Green is a technique where you take just rooted clones, plant at high densities (up to 4plants/sqft), and induce flowering very early. You don't pinch the plant at all as you are aiming to produce one main cola and very little sideways growth..Because the plants are so small when flowering is induced they stretch like mad (people have different reasons for why the plants stretch so much) and because of the high density planting sideways growth is discouraged.........

Here are some clones just taken and in the vegging "room"...It's 14"x14"x24", and it's the bottom shelf of a cheap shelving unit....I can just get 2 propagators in there which I raise and lower ...the lights are fixed....

EDIT>>>>>Still doing SOG, just use one proppogator now though, and \I got 4 mother plants in there at any one time in 5inch square pots......Cuttings now go into rockwool cubes, so I can get 24 in a propogator, cuts down on space, and seems easier than rooting into All-Mix....

Here's a shot of the veg room with acouple of mother plants....I keep the lights on 24hrs in there...

In the summer I just keep the mothers in a light room in the house, but in the winter they need a boost......

At the moment I'm having problems with mother plants so I'm taking cuttings from the plants just as they go into 12/12 and start to stretch........

Once the clones are rooted I keep them growing slowly, until I hrvest my buds from the flower room....the aim with SOG is to make sure you raise enough cuttings to go immediately into the flower room after each harvest....

The 3rd picture I posted above shows the cuttings rooted and potted up and in the flower room....with 25 plants I'm doing about 3 plants /sqft......I veg them for a week at the most and they should be about 18" in height, then I switch the lights to 12/12........

This is a picture of the plants a couple of days before going into 12/12....they're about 15" here......

Ahhhh....so you noticed the pipework......It's nonessential, but cuts down on work....the last SOG grow I did was with 16 plants and because the pots are smaller you need to be watering very regular....It was quite a hassle crawling about, reaching through all the other plants to water the ones at the back, forgetting which ones you'd watered and which not.......I'm just lazy I suppose but I didn't fancy the extra hassle of doing it with 25plants....

I've just set up this low pressure drip which I set up with 2 rings, one doing 13plants, the other 12......I just fill my watering can,add feed and attach one pipe to the pump and let it drip out to 12 plants, then I swith the pump to the other pipe and the other 13 plants get done.....cost just under £50 for the pump, and all the pipework and connectors, easy to set up and will save me a lot of effort.....Got it all from [SPAMMY SPAMMY SKANKWELL]

A closer view of the drip system....

After the plants have stretched after going 12/12, I clear all the growth from the bottoms that isn't going to get any decent light anyway, allowing the plant to "concentrate" on growing the main cola.....

If you want to see results of SOG growing have a look at some of my topics in indoor bud shots from my last grow.....

SOG BENEFITS.....
Cut down on veg times....less electric used.....increased yield per sqft....faster crop tunaround times(witha 6 week flowerer I can turn harvests every 7 weeks).....better quality of bud,denser fatter colas....less airbuds.....trimming and manicuring much easier.....can get plants out or move them around more easily to take best advantage of light.....if one or two plants get diseased it's not a total write-off.....must be more and I'll edit them in as I think about them.....

SOG DISADVANTAGES.....
More labour intensive....need single cola producing genetics to start off with........high plant count in case of legal problems(I think you'd get away with it though just because of the small scale of it.......more disadvantages welcome from anyone..

You know where I stand......

Any suggestions or possible improvements or corrections gratefully and graciously accepted.....

Mono....x

Quote (Mono @ Mar. 17 2002,19:30)

Quote

You know where I stand......

Lol.
Once that lot bears fruit the last thing you are going to be doing is standing mate

Massive respect for the set up, or should that be 'K+++'  

Great pics Mono...gives me something to aspire to. How much of a problem is smell if you vent into the loft? I'm planning to do the same, but I'm not sure how stong the smell is gonna be?? Is it possible that the smell would seep into next doors loft or house? Do you smell it in your house or just in the loft?

Thanks man
MrB

hi Mono


Nice one love the abstract work on the tube sculpture lol  

Looks like a good Kit that Mono, Hay MrB great the day when you will have no need to ask a question like that and Mono can just say to hell with the smell just grow

Nice one Mono, Love the Photos

Bongme

Your right there Bongme! That day I will be buying the biggest greenhouse that can fit in my back garden! And I'll have somewhere to hang my clothes again

MrB

I don't get any smell in the house...('cept maybe for the week around harvest time)...as it all gets pushed into the loft..

I haven't checked out the loft for a while, but I do know that neither of my neighbours has a loft conversion, so unless they're up there growing themselves (I doubt this) they might only go up to store things away. Lofts are always a bit draughty as well, so I think the loft is naturally vented anyway..I know my neighbours pretty well and while it may seem a bit slack to some of you, I know this isn't a problem in my case......

Blueberry is a surprisingly lowodour strain (while it's growing at least)....As soon as it's cut, dry, and cured it stinks, but as it grows I call it lowish odour....

Cheers for the replies anyway....

Mono...x

Good photo-journalism mono,

I too have that plant watering kit from Growell - blumpf something. Yes and very good it is too - I have a 40 litre tank just above the veg chamber - and because they use wicks - the first 4 weeks they need training to find the wick (i.e. watering) so the drip has been an excellent technique to incorporate - less work all round.

With an hour to prep the systems - I could go away for up to 3 weeks now - without anything happening to my plants - which was the aim.

Hmm Mono - SoG-Guru - we don't have one of those, so the position's free...

tata!

Thanks hp, I think it's a bit premature considering this is my second SOG grow (SOG purists would say my first)......hang on m8, gf's saying premature award most suitable for me.....

Any pics about of your watering system.....?

Mono......x

Nice one mono!
I have  seen bits  about s.o.g on the forums but this has really helped me with my understanding.
I previously thought i needed chicken wire to sucesfully s.o.g!! I hope to give s.o.ging  a try a bit further down the line.With results like yours i would be a lazy stoner not too!

cheers mono all the best

HI greengrass, the chicken wire you mention is for SCROG grows (screen of green), this is useful with maybe a 250w lamp or less, or lower light intensity....SOG needs a bigger lamp to penetrate the canopy and allow the long colas to form, SCROG you just need the light to concentrate on one layer,attatched to the chicken wire....

Mono....x

Hi Mono, really interesting read, thanks

I have a very similar set up, almost exact dimensions, roof space, 600W HPS

For my first grow I'm just going straight up, no topping/training/FIM, SOG, etc.  I was told to top the Haze but it's staying so short and bushing out so radically I'm just going to see what happens.

The big issue with starting SOG from where I am is that I would either lose a plant or half a cycle to get the number of clones required.  I've got six plants and I've not decided whether to have a mother (low grow risk, high legal risk) or just take cuttings off each plant before flowering (opposite).  To do SOG I'd need another mother or a few weeks extra growth with one mother.  Either way I have to build my clone/mother chamber within the next two weeks.

I'm gonna take it steady, get some variety in my grow and then look at SOG again for my third or fourth grow.

Thanks again for your inspirational posts

Respect Mono!

I'm at the flowering stage of my first grow and no one is more surprised than me lol
I was wondering about SOG and have a similar setup.
On reading your explanation it's Growell next stop cos they even sell the screen at a perfect size.
My Blueberry is about a week behind yours i reckon shame i don't ave a camera
Anyway thanx a lot for that Mono it's much appreciated I can tell ya