ScrOG blOG™

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Margo and Gary Mermelstein hadn’t planned to get into the hydroponics industry, but they also didn’t hesitate to jump right in when their opportunity arose.

It all started when Gary offered to help solve the issues a friend was having with a DIY screen of green (ScrOG) set-up. Not only was this friend having trouble reaching all of his plants to do the low-stress training necessary for ScrOG, but his friend had “virtually destroyed” the whole set-up trying to solve a problem with one plant.

So, Gary scrapped the bamboo and trellis netting his friend was using and designed an accessible and versatile alternative out of clear polycarbonate. It didn’t take him long after that to recognize that this new design had the potential to fill a niche in the hydroponics market.

“Many want to ScrOG in a more-convenient, less-time-consuming and more effective way,” Gary says. “All of our products provide tremendous convenience to the grower who desires to use plant training techniques.”

Gary’s design, which is now sold as the P SCROG Primary and the P SCROG Pro, consists of one or two growing screens attached to a base by four supporting rods. The system’s base can accommodate 250 pounds and is wide enough for any container measuring between 10 and 22 inches. The whole thing sits on casters, which is a major selling feature. “Customers are enthusiastic about the benefit of being able to rotate the plant on the casters to trim, spray and care for their plants,” Gary says. “Some of our customers are disbled and can’t reach or lift as well as they used to, so being able to turn the plant is a huge advantage.”

Cannabis P ScrOGs

The screens on both P SCROG set-ups are also easily adjusted. Growers can raise or lower each by 12 inches, helping to force horizontal growth and to provide support for swelling buds. As mentioned above, the screens are made from polycarbonate—a tough, flexible material used in bullet-proof glass. “The flexural strength of this plastic is 13,500 PSI,” Margo says. “You should see the look on people’s faces when we flex the screen, they wince, expecting a snap; then they say ‘Wow!’”

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In addition to the screens being strong, they are reusable, have a UV inhibitor, are non-porous and are food-grade. They provide a clean, almost clinical look in the growroom and are washable. They can also withstand temperatures far greater than you’d ever experience in the growroom. When they finally do wear out, the screens are 100 per cent recyclable.

To be sure they were bringing a viable product to the masses, the Mermelsteins knew they had to research the market. They had prototypes made in September 2014 and toured hydroponics shops in Phoenix and Denver to gather input from potential customers. As they hoped, the response was incredibly positive. At that point, they were ready to go for it. After incorporating the company in June 2015, they produced CAD drawings, filed a patent for their design and invested in the tooling needed to make plastic injection molded parts. It took nine months of engineering, but it was worth the effort when the first SCROGGER products were sold in January 2016.

“Since we launched the P SCROG, the most common comments we hear were things like, ‘Brilliant,’ or ‘I see how it works, no need to explain,’ or ‘I could really use something like that that,’” shares Gary. Similarly, Margo says they have not had a single customer complaint about the quality or assembly of their products. “Our main components to the P SCROG—the screens, base and junction caps—are molded right here in the USA,” she says. “The system is very well constructed with high-quality materials.”

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Recently, the company expanded their lineup to include the P SCROG 4×4. This set-up is designed for growers with large, multiple plants using 4×4 or 4×8 trays and tables. These frames can be daisy chained together for large commercial applications.

In addition to their solid product line, great customer service has been one of the company’s strengths, with seven days a week support just a phone call or email away. “We are always happy to talk to shop owners and growers about the P SCROG,” says Gary.

Today, SCROGGER sells both on the web and in about a dozen hydroponic stores across the US, but they expect that number to grow rapidly. The company also works with a distributor in Canada and has its products in Australia. “We are adding more hydroponic stores every month,” says Margo.

While the Mermelsteins believe the hydroponic market is very different from their prior business experience, they feel the opportunities the industry presents are excellent, and they believe SCROGGER will play an important role in providing convenience and simplicity to growers everywhere.

*Original article published in Maximum Yield

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Jan 10, 2017
Gary Memelstein
Tags: growing cannabis hydroponics indoor grow indoor growing P SCROG screens scrog scrog kit scrog kits scrog method scrog net scrogging

Optimizing Light

Plant training methods have been around for hundreds of years. In the 17^th century, the French developed a technique called “espalier” which was used both for decorative and fruit production purposes.

Espaliered Pear and Apple Trees (above)

” The most important advantage (of espalier) is that of being able to increase the growth of a branch by training it vertically. Later, one can decrease growth while increasing fruit production by training it horizontally.” ¹

Scrogging builds on the espalier technique to grow short, bushy horizontal plants allowing for maximum bud development. The main stem of the plant is forced to multiply by Topping. Low Stress Training (LST) is accomplished by bending the branches of stems under the lower training screen resulting in more bud development per branch. Lollipopping all leaves of lower branches focuses the energy upward to bud development. A flat horizontal plane of buds, developing all in unison, can be placed in the optimal light intensity band at the same time. No buds are stunted due to upper growth shading and all plant energy is focused solely on bud development.

Most references to the ScrOG method espouse 2 to 3 times increase in bud yield.²

^{P SCROG Primary System}

^References

^{1. Wikipedia “espalier” 2. GrowWeedEasy.com}

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Double yield for $5

Would you pay $5 per plant each grow to double your yield, some say even triple? P SCROG along with Low Stress Training (LST) can do it for $5 a grow in part because of the superior screen material.

P SCROG screens are molded from polycarbonate resin to provide optimal growing conditions, strength and safety when using the ScrOG method to maximize yield.

Polycarbonate is a lightweight, high-performance plastic that possesses a unique balance of toughness, dimensional stability, optical clarity, high heat resistance and electrical resistance.

Indoor grow spaces by their very nature utilize a dangerous combination of water and electricity to maintain life of plants. Metal ScrOG screens are conductors of electricity and heat and should be avoided in the growing environment to reduce chance of electrical shock, fire hazard and damage to plants. In addition, metal "racking" type material (especially black) can block up to 13%* light during ScrOG training in addition to conducting heat and possibly stunting growth.

P SCROG screens are naturally transparent, with the ability to transmit nearly all available light to plants. The screens have high strength, toughness, heat resistance, electrical resistance and excellent dimensional and color stability.

The general properties can be summarized as follows:

excellent physical properties
excellent toughness
very good heat resistance
good chemical resistance
electrical resistance
transparent
horticulture friendly

The same P SCROG screen material is used to make bullet proof glass.

The following diagram compares the impact strength of polycarbonate to other common polymers.

Data from Polymer Technologies & Services, LLC.

SCROGGER warranties P SCROG screens for 5 full years because of the quality and strength of the polycarbonate material. With the P SCROG 4 20 sale, that works out to about $5 a grow** over the warrantied life.

Celebrate 4 20 and save 25%, good now until April 30, 2016. Hurry, only 420 hours left!

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P SCROG Kits

P SCROG support 7 days a week - 512-528-6028
or
SupportOurPlants@SCROGGER.com

Top or FIM?

Topping or FIMing your cannabis plant is an essential ingredient to promote doubling or tripling yield when using the P SCROG. Instead of one large central cola, topping and FIMing techniques promote multiple branches and bud sites that through low stress training fill the screen of the P SCROG with a bouquet of succulent dense flowers.

Pre-harvest P SCROG

Topping - Cutting the plant above the top node. Topping can and should begin early in vegetative cycle. Each topping produces 2 branches. Two to three toppings during the vegetative cycle will produce 4 - 6 branches with multiple bud sites. As the branches stretch under the screen with use of low stress training (LST), the plant's foliage increasingly fills the P SCROG screen's planar surface. The stretch during training positions the bud sites such that they will grow through the openings of the polycarbonate screen.

Proper topping technique produces even numbers of branches making it possible to fill the screen symmetrically during the training process. Depending upon the strain, a P SCROG screen can reach the target of 75% to 80% full in 30 to 45 days of veg, at which time the plant should begin flowering cycle and should stretch enough to completely fill the screen.

"fuzzygrow" on YouTube

From "GrowWeedEasy.com"

FIMing - "FIM" is a growing culture acronym that stands for "F--K I missed". While not a scientific description of the method, it accurately describes the reaction one might have if you realize you didn't actually top the plant, you instead pinched off the top new growth and missed the rest.

While the FIM method may have been discovered by accident, many people claim it is superior to topping for the following reasons:

1. Produces a shorter bushier plant

2. Less stress and recovery time for the plant

3. Produces 4 branches for each FIMing

LST is performed the same as with topping with the objective of filling 75% to 80% of the P SCROG training screen before switching to flowering cycle.

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P SCROG Kits

P SCROG support 7 days a week - 512-528-6028
or
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Apr 06, 2016
Gary Memelstein
Tags: cannabis plant training FIM FIMing grow lights growing cannabis hydroponics indoor grow low stress training lst scrog scrog method scrog net scrog screen scrogging top topping trellis trellis net

Okanogan Sunflower Farm

Although Okanogan county of Washington state during the gold rush was known for its gold nuggets, Terry Taylor is betting his company will become well known for the Okanogan Sunflower Farm and Okanogan Gold cannabis.

The Okanogan Sunflower Farm is near where the nomadic Northern Okanogans or Sinkaietk tribal group would roam. Their language was Salishan. Descendants of these tribes now occupy the Colville Indian Reservation. Okanogan is Salishan for "rendezvous"...and rendezvous they did!

Left to right, Chief Moses, Chief Tonasket, Chief Sar-sarp-kin. (Courtesy Okanogan Historical Society)

On February 23, 1896, the north half of the Colville Indian Reservation was thrown open for mineral entry, and within weeks, hordes of gold seekers flooded in and staked hundreds of claims. It has been estimated that as many as 1,500 prospectors and other outsiders were waiting just across the Columbia River. The story goes that signal fires were built when official word of the opening was received; these fires touched off a gold rush, and the mining frenzy was on. The gold rush ended in bust leaving the region with record numbers of ghost towns.

Terry Taylor is owner and operator of the Okanogan Sunflower Farm. Terry likes to talk about his great grandfather who lived and worked the land with the indians during the gold rush in what is now Okanogan county. He probably even shared cannabis medicine with the indians before it was prohibited by law.

Like his great grandfather during the Gold Rush, Terry is in the midst of the "Green Rush" frenzy with his 28 acre Okanogan Sunflower Farm and "Okanogan Gold" cannabis brand of bud and extracts. "We can still pan for gold in the Okanogan River which is used for irrigation at the farm", says Terry. "We are located in north central Washington where the mountains meet the desert. This region and its micro climate are ideal for growing high grade cannabis plants."

Terry Taylor

Hear Terry explain his cannabis operation in the YouTube video shot at the Okanogan Sunflower Farm, why he feels all plants should be ScrOGged and his predictions for the future of the cannabis industry. The drone footage is incredible. Please watch!