You may be reading this article and thinking, hang on a minute, what is this author talking about? Now, before you read any further, let me clarify that I am an advocate and practitioner of plant training and have nothing against it.
However, when it comes to efficiency and the number of harvests per year, lower energy bills and reducing expenditure, a fast-turnaround growing style is advantageous. In this article, I will present my reasons why the Sea of Green method is best suited for home growers who want to make the most of their time and lower their electricity bills.
Why Is Plant Training a Waste of Time?
As long as you have the time to spare, then plant training is well worth it. Growers who prefer to train large plants indoors typically keep them in a vegetative state for 6–9 weeks.
Whilst plant training and big plants have many benefits, you can still achieve a comparable amount of buds using much smaller, uniform-sized plants that require zero training with SOG. The most significant benefit to me with Sea of Green is that the vegetation times are so short; you are effectively saving time and money on your electric bill.
What Exactly Is a Sea of Green?
The SOG style of growing involves using a high volume of smaller-sized plants. The seedlings or clones will be allowed to vegetate for 7–14 days, keeping the plants short and ready to spread out without fighting for light. The goal is to produce a medium-sized plant, 75–100cm tall. When using a fast-flowering strain, you can expect to complete the whole grow cycle and be ready to harvest within 8–10 weeks.
- Vegetate seedlings for 2 weeks before flowering
- Vegetate clones for 7–10 days before flowering
- 2 gallon pots in rows of 4 × 4 for a 1m × 1m × 2m grow tent
- 2 gallon pots in rows of 5 × 5 for a 1.5m × 1.5m × 2m grow tent
- 2 gallon pots in rows of 6 × 6 for a 2m × 2m × 2m grow tent
All the Reasons You Should Consider SOG Setups
Below is a list of reasons you may want to consider leaving plant training behind and adopting a Sea of Green growing style in 2026.
A Short Vegetative Time
The vegetative stage is the time when your grow lights are hammering electricity for at least 18 hours a day. The best thing about short vegetative times is that you do not need to worry about a sky-high electricity bill, and the plants have plenty of light around them.
Less Vegetative Nutrients Used
Shorter vegetation times also mean the amount of nutrients you need to give them reduces. In the long run, it will allow your nutrients to last much longer and help you save costs.
More Harvests Each Year
If you were growing Zkittles, many phenotypes can be flowered in around 40–49 days to achieve the ultimate Z profile. With the SOG method, considering the veg times are limited to around 7 days with clones, you could be pulling off a harvest every 8 weeks. This can equate to 6 grows per year under optimal conditions and a much faster turnaround time.
Perpetual Harvests Every 8–10 Weeks
A well-organised grower who has a small tent or space for their clones can pull off perpetual harvests within 8–10 weeks, depending on the strain being grown.
Far Lower Electricity Bills
In today’s economy, energy prices are unpredictable. For those who want to keep their electricity bills lower, SOG is ideal. You can say goodbye to those long vegetative periods.
Easier to Trim Colas
When harvesting plants grown using the Sea of Green method, they may be shorter; however, there is far less foliage than with large plants trained for weeks at a time. This means trimming is much easier and won’t take you as long per plant.
No Plant Training Required
As beneficial as training cannabis plants can be under the right circumstances, the SOG method does not require any training to be implemented. This can be advantageous when working on a large scale involving hundreds of plants and can also save time.
The Benefits of Sea of Green Grows
- No more long vegetation periods
- Fewer nutrients are used during vegetation
- Six harvests in a year
- Significantly lower electricity bills
- Easier to trim colas and less foliage
- No plant training required
The Rules of the SOG Method
- Your plants should grow close to 100 cm tall
- Never exceed the vegetation period of 2 weeks
- Give yourself plenty of room to work and aisles to walk
- Do not apply any plant training whatsoever
- Seed to harvest time should be between 8 and 10 weeks
- Do not use pots larger than 2 gallons
My Conclusion
I think training cannabis plants is an excellent way to produce robust plants with higher yields. I have spent a decade training my own plants. In recent years, I have switched to the Sea of Green style.
Not only is the SOG setup advantageous given the state of the economy and soaring electricity bills, it also allows you to keep the grow cycle much shorter, achieve perpetual harvests every 9 weeks using clones, and trim buds more easily. I am a big fan of plant training, but if you want to enjoy the benefits mentioned and save money on electricity bills, then think seriously about switching to SOG.
