Sea of Green method (SOG) - The Ultimate Guide

As growing weed gradually moved from outdoor to indoor cultivation, growers quickly came to the conclusion that placing weed plants close to each other had numerous advantages. This is how the Sea of Green method, abbreviated to SOG, came into being.

What is the Sea of Green (SOG) cultivation method?

Simply put, the Sea of Green method a training technique where you place cannabis plants close together in a small interior space with the aim of harvesting in the shortest possible time. While plants tend to grow smaller with this using this technique, you will have more plants that will be able to grow buds. Meaning a bigger harvest overall, while using less space. SOG should not be confused with ScrOG. Scrogging is a method of growing plants in width, which increases the yield per weed plant considerably.

Why do you get a better yield with Sea of Green?

Many growers love the SOG method. Not surprising because this method delivers such a high yield per harvest. The duration of the growth phase is shortened considerably, and because of the great amount of plants, this technique will help you harvest a bigger amount of smokable buds in total. A Sea of Green grow makes it possible to harvest quickly and moreover, thanks to this method you can grow all year round.

Advantages of Sea of Green (SOG-grow)

The SOG method is super efficient for growing weed indoors and in greenhouses. If you apply the method correctly, you will benefit from the advantages below:

Continuous cultivation all year round

You can start growing a new group of weed plants, while another group is almost ready to harvest. This way you can continue growing all year round.

Suitable for small spaces

Because the plants are close together, you need much less space. Moreover, you don't let the weed plants grow in height, and you can stack the crops on top of each other using planks, for example.

Saving on energy costs

You can save a lot on your electricity bill. The explanation is simple: because the plants are close together, you need fewer lamps. And because the plants grow faster, you also need less time to grow them.

Faster harvesting

Thanks to the SOG method, plants grow faster. They grow less tall and can therefore produce buds faster, which means faster harvests.

Disadvantages of a SOG grow

SOG is a brilliant method, but there are also a few drawbacks:

Maintenance and care

Instead of maintaining a single weed plant (e.g. an autoflower) you now have to deal with a sea of plants. This requires daily maintenance and control.

Difficult to grow different species

If you want to grow different strains (e.g. Sativas and Indicas), this is a huge challenge because each species requires its own approach. Growing is therefore even more labor-intensive.

Fungi and vermin

Because the weed plants are so close together, fungi and pests can spread quickly. So it is wise to check your plants regularly. If you want more tips on dealing with mold and other fungi, you can read our article on how to deal with mold on weed plants.

Hash

If you like to make hash, the lack of lower leaves is a disadvantage because they are hardly present.

Step-by-step Sea of Green method

How does a SOG grow work exactly? In order for the method to succeed, it is important that you perform the first step correctly, namely placing the weed plants. The plants have to be close enough to each other to form a nice and even canopy. But they should also not be too close to each other because they will hinder each other's growth, leaving you with fewer buds. With our SOG step-by-step plan we explain to you in detail how it works.

1. Placing your weed plants
2. Putting plants in the right position
3. The vegetative phase
4. Flowering phase

1. Placing your weed plants

Each plant should be about 30 cm away from the other. You may be able to place them a little further apart, but then you will benefit less from the advantages because you will use more space. However, you should not place them too close together, because then the plants will squeeze each other and not all of them will get enough light. We also call this the 'jungle effect'.

Experienced growers often use planks to stack multiple growing levels on top of each other, so you can store more plants in the same space.

2. Putting plants in the right position

It sounds a bit strange, but you are going to train your weed plants to adopt a 'broad' position to prevent them from growing in height. You can use low-stress training (LST), which stimulates the young plants to grow sideways and outwards instead of upwards. This technique involves bending the plants slightly and securing them with a string so that the posture is fixed. After a week, the plant is used to the position and you can remove the string.

Make sure it forms a nice and full roof of buds. This way, the upper parts can catch the light as much as possible. The lower branches will not get a lot of light, so you don't have to expect buds there.

3. The vegetative phase

The vegetative stage, also called the growth phase, is the most important phase of your plant. During this period it develops into a full plant and determines the final harvest. It quickly produces branches, leaves and the top. In this phase, the light cycle is important. So make sure that the plants receive the necessary light to grow. Depending on the species, this can be 12 hours of light and 12 hours of darkness. When growing auto flower cannabis seeds the light cycle is less important. If you want to learn more about growing indoors, you can read our Growing Weed Indoors Beginners Guide.

4. Flowering phase

SOG is about a fast harvest. You start the flowering stage as soon as you can by adjusting the light cycle to 6 hours of light and 18 hours of darkness until the plants show signs of harvest ripeness.

You will need to keep a close eye on the plants to allow them to enter the flowering phase because the exact time from flowering to harvest is not an exact science. Misjudging the beginning of the flowering phase can significantly reduce the harvest.

Tips for growing according to the SOG method

To increase your chances of a full harvest, here are some extra tips:

• Choose feminized Indica seeds instead of feminized sativa seeds. Indica naturally has a fuller crown and is also slightly more compact compared to Sativa. Autoflowers are also very suitable for SOG because you don't have to worry so much about the light cycle. If you still want to grow Sativa, choose Super Silver Haze, for example.
• Choose a cannabis plant with a short flowering time. These vary from strain to strain. The flowering time can be found on the seed pages in question.
• Uniformity is the key to success with the SOG method. Each plant should have the same amount of water, light and nutrients.
• If you are going to prune during the growth and flowering phase, be careful not to remove too many leaves. If you are too ruthless with the pruning shears, you could put the plant into shock and eventually get fewer buds. Read more about pruning and defoliation in our Ultimate guide to Defoliating Weed Plants.

What have we learned?

You now know how to grow using the Sea of Green method, and why this training technique can be beneficial to your harvest. As you've learned, it’s not overly complicated, but it does require diligence and close attention to your plants. The growing process is faster than normal, making it a hands-on, active growing technique.