Ok, so I have recently begun working for a large MSO, and get to work with 45,000 sq ft of canopy!!!
Obviously this is a licensed facility with a canopy limit, not a plant count limit, so we could do either SOG, SCROG or other methods. I know a decent bit about both methods, but mainly on a homegrow scale. Plant counts are a concern usually, and SCROGs are preferred many times at home. For once in my life, those limitations aren’t there, and I would love to be able to bring some valid suggestions to my managers and see if we can’t boost production another 5-6g / sq ft to hit our next target. Some of those numbers are confidential to the company (current yield / sq ft for example) so I can’t share them, but lets just say shit’s dialed in pretty well for yields now. We SCROG pretty much everything.
Biggest hurdle is the air handling equipment, while it seems impressive, it still struggles with keeping a lower humidity for later flower stages. There are a number of strains with different growth characteristics (some taller / leggy, some tall and really branchy, some short and branchy), and a number of different rooms. We often mix 2-3 strains per room, averaging 500 ish in a smaller room on 2 or 3 tiers (3 is usually veg, flower rooms are 1-2 tiers). Thats SCROGGED… I’d imagine in a SOG, that would amount the 5000ish plants to fill those same racks.
But plant counts are not an issue (perhaps generating enough cuttings might be though, to make 10x more than currently are needed).
Would SOG help with airflow? Considering less branches, I’d imagine so, but they are also packed together pretty densely in a SOG, so ???
Harvest cycles could be much quicker with SOG, needing considerably less Veg time. Could I squeeze out a few more harvests per year, and add in a variable for them to consider (yield / sq ft / length of time) ? i.e. if it takes 130 days from cutting to harvest in SCROG and I yield 6000g, and it takes say 90 days cut to harvest with a SOG and less time in veg, but only pull in 4500g, in 260 days I could have 12,000g or in 270 days have 13,500g (fictitious numbers just to show the consideration of time).
Would you do both SOG and SCROG based on individual plant characteristics? Some are SOGGED, and others would be SCROGGED?
The people I work with have some good knowledge, and I feel like I am right at their level, but I’d love to bring something more to the table. While I am confident in my knowledge for home grow and plant health, not all things scale easily to commercial, and I struggle at times to get past my home grow mindset. I am also only a lowly cultivation tech (been there a mere 3 weeks), but my supervisors have seen my knowledge and actually listen to suggestions from me, so help me take this to the next level!!
How can I squeeze out another few grams per sq ft, when environmentals are generally in line (no insect issues, occasional PM later in flower due to RH, no botrytis), decent fert program, excellent lighting and a pretty good regiment of defoliation / training done by a team of cultivators. Should I even consider SOG, or would it not make much benefit for the extra resources it would need (10x the plant count). We are actively working on VPD adjustments, but its hard with our air handling equipment. Hundreds of fans throughout the rooms and STILL a ton of microclimates within some rooms (can be 90F on one rack and 75F on another level just 15 ft away despite 30 large fans distributing air around the room. Its really crazy to see some issues here that you just never see in a small scale home grow. Getting VPD dialed in and automated might eliminate the lingering PM issues.
Sadly I can’t give details on grow media / ferts / schedules as thats company confidential, and I realize that info would probably help here, but I’ll say its a solid foundation and the plants look amazing, and the smells of the different strains are incredible. Not falling short in that department at all… Maybe bump up P / K more for flowering? I see some with leaf tips barely burned, but not many, so maybe could take a little more ferts?
Any ideas? Thoughts? Comments???
Bueller? Bueller??? Bueller???
I BET she’d put it that 5 g / sq ft over.
