why SCROG screening ??

OK, I've seen pics of the screenwire method for scrog ... but, why does the screenwire affect the growth of the plants ? ? ... thanks in advance for the answers ... :smokin:

the point of the scrog setup is to make the most efficient use of the light by laying all the bud out in a flat plane. this way all the bud is at optimum distance from the light and there are no higher colas to shade the lower ones
Scrog produces a forest of small colas all about 6-9" tall. Smaller colas but higher overall yield - at least thats the idea

The screen affects the plants growth because the growth tip is once the growth tip gets through the screen, it is bent under a neighbouring "square" and forced to grow horizontally rather than vertically. The plant responds by increasing the growth of the sidebranches vertically. If you're still interested I've got this pic someone drew explaining it nicely and can email it to you (dunno how to link images on this site + have no webspace). I didnt get it at first either, the concept is so simple but hard to explain in words

I did a Web search for 'scrog', and found a coupel of articles that explained it quite well .... what are the 'downsides' to going SCROG ??

Downsides of scrog (why i dont scrog):
1) In limited grow spaces, it is impossible to get to all the growth tips you need to be able to get to all the plants.
2) Hassle of building a base attached to your grow tank/pots so you can easily draw out the screen and plants as one. This is VERY important unless you want to spend a year clipping the screen out at harvest with wire cutters.
3) Hassle of training.. a good scrog will require many hours work and a relatively perceptive and dedicated grower.

But the advantages of increased yield beats the shit out of the negatives

thanks for the replies, :thumbsup:

Actually, a simple method of attaching the screen to the pot itself is to use clothes hangars for the screen support, and attach them to the outside of the pot with duct tape or bungie cords. This keeps the screen and pot as one unit. This does mean you need one smaller screen per pot, as opposed to one large screen for every plant, but the advantages are obvious. There is very little, if any, downside to ScroG if you do it this way.