If you’ve ever seen cannabis growing indoors or in a greenhouse then you’ll most likely remember a tightly packed canopy of buds. Cannabis growers call this the Sea of Green Method (SOG). The benefit of growing cannabis using a SOG is to accelerate bud development to gain large yields as quickly as possible. This method of growing calls for more plants per square foot and a short vegetative stage. The most popular benefits of a SOG grow include:
When growing plants using SOG you will get bud sites quickly since you don’t need to “top” the plants. The faster the buds form means more harvests you can fit in a year. For cannabis businesses or anyone else whose goals rely on consistent harvests of big yields, SOG is an important method for speeding up your crop cycles for consistently high yields.
When the marijuana industry first moved to indoor growing, farmers began to use artificial light to control flowering times. This meant that they could increase yields and shorten harvest times by growing more plants in a smaller space, a method now known as a Sea of Green. But this was not always a popular method for growing.
The traditional way of growing used large marijuana plants, which comes from the outdoor farming methods practiced in Northern California and Humboldt. In the region known as the “Emerald Triangle”, growers had all summer to produce large vegetative cannabis plants before fall came around to flower. Some of these trees could produce upwards of two to three pounds or more.
When the marijuana industry began transitioning to indoor growing, farmers began to increase the density of their grow rooms to use light and space efficiently. Over time, these farmers realized that by growing smaller plants using the SOG method, they could get more harvests while saving on HVAC, water, fertilizer, labor, and other costs.
The number of plants per square foot should be determined based on how much space you have available. Using the SOG method of cultivation, we generally recommend 1 plant per square foot, with no more than 2 plants per square foot max.
It’s simple to begin growing in a Sea of Green in just a few simple steps, but first, you’ll want to consider that:
Now that you’ve chosen the plants you want to work with, it’s time to start growing with these basic rules-of-thumb:
It seems simple, right? Well, for the most part, it is. The difficulty comes when you need to adjust environmental parameters and genetics to improve flower yields. Luckily, we’ve got the lighting part of the equation dialed in for you:
Helpful Tip: You can use specialized grow light software to automatically adjust lighting intensity when transitioning between growth stages.
When setting up your grow room, consider these tips when setting up your SOG environment:
To get your grow room lighting, temperature, humidity, VPD, and CO2 right, use the helpful SOG growing guide below and get started in no time!
Helpful Tip: Before starting your own Sea of Green, it’s important to check the local regulations in your region. Some cannabis authorities and governments limit the number of plants you can have. If this is the case, there are other growing methods that will be better suited for high yields with fewer plants than using a SOG.