SoG Cultivation is one of the first techniques developed for cannabis cultivation. This ancient cultivation technique was born out of the need to optimize space for indoor cultivation.
What is Sea of Green cultivation?
SoG cultivation is a cannabis cultivation technique that involves maximizing the use of the illuminated surface of the crop while also seeking to obtain a harvest in the shortest possible time.
The main objective of the Sea of Green method is to minimize cultivation time without reducing final yield. To achieve this goal, the maximum number of pots per square meter must be used.
In SoG cultivation, pots betwen 3,5 L and 5 L are typically used, which allow for an average of 20 to 24 plants per square meter. However, this will depend entirely on the size of the pot. The smaller the pot, the greater the number of pots that can be placed per square meter. This exploitation of the cultivation area, combined with very short-flowering varieties and a specific morphology, will make it possible to grow in less time while obtaining the same final yield.
In this technique, many small plants are grown with a short flowering cycle, aiming to focus the plant’s production on a large central cola. This saves a few months at the end of the year, which translates into lower electricity consumption, or an additional harvest per year indoors.
What are the advantages of SoG cultivation?
- Greater productivity in the growing tent or garden: with this growing technique, you can achieve up to one more harvest per year. Therefore, annual crop productivity will already be increased.
- Better use of light: by covering the entire illuminated area with plants, the total space is better utilized. Furthermore, the fact that the plants are short and have few branches allows light to reach areas that wouldn’t normally reach to it.
- Shorter growing periods: When opting for SoG cultivation, you should choose a very short-flowering variety with few branches and a smaller size. The vegetative period (in which the light cycle is 18 hours of light and 6 hours of darkness) should be short to prevent the plants from becoming too tall, since in SoG cultivation the final plant size must be maintained at about 80 cm in height. All these factors mean that each crop can ultimately be reduced by 2 or 3 weeks.
- Lower power consumption: In SoG cultivation, the growing days are shorter, so the lamp will spend less time than 18 hours, saving all those hours of electricity.
SoG method for Indoor and Outdoor cultivation
In a space of one square meter, 25 well-rooted cuttings measuring around 20 cm can be planted in 7 L pots. After a maximum of 2 weeks of growth, the cuttings will enter the flowering phase, and this second phase can be completed in 8 weeks. This will give a total cultivation time of around 10 weeks; if an average of 20 g per plant is obtained, the yield will be 500 g.
It’s a good idea to keep in mind several factors before planting x number of plants and the pots used for them. The more plants grown per square meter, the smaller the pot size will be. In a space of 1 m2, a maximum of 25 plants can be planted in 7 L pots (20 x 20 cm), thus occupying 100% of the space. If you want to plant more plants in the same space, you’ll need to reduce the size of the pot. You can plant 49 plants in a 7 x 7 format in 3 L pots, giving you an average of 10 g per plant, giving you a yield of 490 g per square meter.
SoG growing from cuttings
In the early days of indoor growing, Sea of Green crops were grown from cuttings. This was largely due to two important factors:
- At that time, feminized seeds didn’t exist, so every time a seed was started, the male plants had to be selected and discarded. In SoG growing, this directly affects the final yield.
- Cuttings are exact clones of the mother, so all the plants will be exactly the same. Today, seed banks have greatly improved their varieties, and there are many varieties with a high degree of stability, which guarantees more homogeneous crops.
SoG growing from seeds
When growing from seed, male plants must be discarded if grown with regular seeds. This isn’t necessary with feminized strains, as they will all be female. Autoflowering strains and even Fast strains also serve to make SoG growing from seed possible.
SoG Growing from Indica strains
To perform SoG growing, it’s necessary to choose an Indica-dominant strain. The goal is to obtain plants that develop a large central tip and little lateral branching. This way, they take up less horizontal space and allow for a greater number of plants per square meter. Indicas are short-flowering varieties, which makes growing them easier using this technique.
SoG growing from Fast strains
Fast strains are the result of crossing a photoperiod-dependent plant with an autoflowering plant, resulting in a photoperiod-dependent plant, but with a faster flowering time than regular feminized strains. These varieties have a shorter flowering period, allowing for earlier harvests.
SoG growing from Autoflowering varieties
Another great option is SoG growing from autoflowering seeds. These varieties don’t require a change in daylight hours to flower, and the plant’s full life cycle is determined by the time it takes once the seed has germinated.
Choosing automatic seeds of indica varieties will make it possible to grow SoG from seed without so many complications, since these plants usually already grow with the shape needed to make a Sea of Green.
