Our medicinal plants are getting larger, which means it is time to get them some support in the form of a double layer SCROG setup. Welcome to The Hippie Geeks! If you enjoy this video, be sure to subscribe and hit the bell notification icon to catch all our new videos!
We use SCROG, or screen of green, to spread out the plant to increase yield and to also support the plant. When you get close to harvest, the branches get heavy and you risk snapping them off prematurely if they are not supported. This can also be used for large tomato plants, as they can need more support than a typical tomato cage will give.
Sam wanted to help with this project, and we fully support the kids wanting to build anything. It will slow the process down a little bit, but it is worth it. This isn’t a terribly complicated process, but it will give Sam an opportunity to build something with his hands and learn how to use some of the power tools. We had a lesson on chop saw safety, and he measured everything and cut it.
I had already measured our raised beds, which are three-foot squares. We made the SCROG frames three feet wide, and four feet long, built using one by two material. Once everything was cut, it was time to assemble the frames. We use a flip bit, which allows you to easily switch back and forth when predrilling your holes before putting in a screw. With thin material like this, you definitely want to pre-drill to avoid splitting.
Once the frame was screwed together, it was time to get the screen on it. We used a roll of four-foot-tall, two inch by four inch welded wire fencing for this part. We have used plastic netting in the past and I did not like it. We wanted to go with something that would give a considerably more support and this fit the bill. We are using a bundle of quarter inch thick lathe to secure the screen to the frame, which will hold everything in place nicely. It is important to pre-drill this as well, as it can be entirely too easy to split lathe if you don’t.
Once everything is screwed together, it’s time to get it installed on the garden bed. First though, here is some footage of Noah. He loves the camera and will take any opportunity to hop in front of it. It makes me laugh, and now that out of the way and we can get back to installing screens.
I am using some four-foot-long one by two uprights attached on the corners of the garden bed. I leveled each one vertically as the went on, with a couple of screws to hold them in place. Once the uprights are on, I grabbed a couple of clamps and added them on to two of the uprights so that I could place the screen without worrying about crushing the plant. This plant was already tall enough to be touching the screen, so I needed Lindsay to come out and train the branches into position as I lowered it down slowly.
As she moved the branches into place, I was able to continue lowering the screen down until it was level, and then secured it all the way around. She spent some time defoliating the plant, and then I set up the clamps on the top of the uprights so that I could set the top screen. I used the same process as the lower screen, leveling it and then screwing it all together. You can see the plant that we did last week in the background, and this screen is working great. Now we just need to finish up on the other plants before they get too big.
Have you ever built a framework to support your plants? We did something very similar with our cattle panel hoop bed and are thinking about doing something like this for our tomatoes next year. If this is your first time here on The Hippie Geeks it would be wonderful to have you subscribe! This channel is all about helping you visualize, learn and create. If you enjoyed this video give it a like and check out our Patreon page or Merch Store to support the channel directly. Thanks again, and we will see you on the next one.
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