How many plants...

[Weedologist]

It may have been asked and I just cant find the answer, but how many plants can one finish under a 400w HPS. The grow space would be 3x3.5 ft. And could I use SOG in this small space? What about height, when should they be forced to flower? Im losing my mind here... :i feel stupid:

[bobjob4u]

well to start whatever the size when you start flower. It will be double that at harvest. So if you have 3 feet of height then flower your plant when it is around a foot and a half tall. maybe 4 plants i am ambicous so i would try 6.:thumbsup: depend what strain and such.

[Prodaytrader]

ur in luck...I just finished battling something similar to this. Check out my sig and take a look at my photo album. You will see that my space isnt much different then yours and I too have a head room restriction of about 3.5 feet. The problem will be with you being greedy just like I was. About 4 plants would be all that I would recogmend. If you crowd out the space the plants will become over grown and your issue will be light penetration. If you crowd the space the plants will fill in the light space and then begin to compete for light. Stretching occurs and if you dont prune or thin then you get too much vegetation not getting light lower down on the plant. Bottom line, make sure you have about 24" off center from the center of the pots spacing. Even that may not be sufficient.

[Weedologist]

Im not really restricted on height, ceiling is 8ft, its a 4x11x8 closet. But I dont think I can grow them that tall because of canopy penetration correct? Its only a 400w... Lol, Im greedy too

[jtsik330]

I would do something like 6 plants since a 400 watt HPS doesn't have very much light penetration I would trim lower branches to get to get the upper buds as much energy as possible. I use to two 400's in my tent and I trim a good amount off the lower portion of the plants. If your growing in soil I would go into flower no earlier then a month. Now that I'm using hydro I can flower at about a month and use a good amount of bushmaster to keepem tamed. 6 is def your number though for how many.:thumbsup: If doing SOG.

[Dutch Pimp]

I agree.....6 flowering females is about the max for a 400 watt HID light.

[GROWxMOREx420]

I grow ten clones a season in a 3 x 3 1/2 closet under a 600w HPS. With that being said, I would grow 6-8 plants under a 400w depending on the size and strain of them. I usually Veg until they are 12" inches tall and well rooted, that way by the end of the cycle they finish at about 3ft tall, yielding roughly 1oz a plant.

[Salvein211]

I too was using a 400w HPS to flower 7 ladies and it's not sufficient, so I changed to a 1000w. I would say 6 is the absolute max you'd want to try.. And by doing 6, you would only want to veg until plants are 12" in height. . . Even if you LST, shoots will grow and overwhelm your space horizontally. More so for me because I have white widow... (big plant) lolz

[Weedologist]

So if I had 3 strains going at the same time, lets say Northern Lights, Super Silver Haze, and Aurora Indica... HYPOTHETICALLY!! That would be too much for a 400w bulb to handle? I'm starting to get sad here. :(

[Delta]

No , it would'nt be too much to handle. Just do 2 of each strain for a total of six

and you will be fine.

[seventhchild]

sea of green with 36 clones , 4 verities , 4 to 10 inches tall at start of flowering, yield = 9 to 16 oz's in a 3x3 with a 400 w HPS. note that this requires a separate mother/veg/clone area. i grow a perpetual sog, harvest a few every week, move a few in. the sativa dom are flowered shorter [as soon as they show roots], yield less , and take longer to ripen. the indica's are veged a few days after rooting to get them to a good flowering hight

[bigtopsfinn]

I'd say every answer here is correct already, but in theory, you can grow as many plants as you can fit containers in that space.

Many factors though... since you are growing from seed you will need bigger pots versus growing from clones. And with a 400w you can't let them get too tall, so topping/FIM/LST/SCROG are things to look into (Scrog only if you have feminized seeds).

Having a separate veg/clone/mother chamber would obviously be a huge plus (doesn't need to be huge, check out the bonsai moms link below). You could veg out one of each strain, do some training (LST) so you'll have a lot of clones (Bonsai Mums: A Guide - Grasscity.com Forums (http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-growing-techniques/291687-bonsai-mums-guide.html)), and put the rooted clones into 3 gal containers filling out the space. Veg for a week then flip. See how they grow and make adjustments from there. Some kind of screen or netting will help keep an even canopy. If it gets too crowded you won't feel bad taking out a couple runts, versus taking out a 3 footer or dealing with shading and mold issues.

^^That's something I was planning to try (if I ever got over having such a high plant count).

[seventhchild]

It may have been asked and I just cant find the answer, but how many plants can one finish under a 400w HPS. The grow space would be 3x3.5 ft. And could I use SOG in this small space? What about height, when should they be forced to flower? Im losing my mind here... :i feel stupid:a 400w HPS will only form tight bud on the upper 12/16 inches so having your plants finish flowering taller than this is wasteful and is what a SOG is all about. a SOG needs clones... usually LOTS of em....in a 3x3 area some growers put 100+ clones,i put 36 , others may grow 9 or less,but in the end only YOU can decide how many is best for yourself.

[budlover13]

I like the idea of 100+! :hippy:

[seventhchild]

I'd say every answer here is correct already, but in theory, you can grow as many plants as you can fit containers in that space.

Many factors though... since you are growing from seed you will need bigger pots versus growing from clones. And with a 400w you can't let them get too tall, so topping/FIM/LST/SCROG are things to look into (Scrog only if you have feminized seeds).

Having a separate veg/clone/mother chamber would obviously be a huge plus (doesn't need to be huge, check out the bonsai moms link below). You could veg out one of each strain, do some training (LST) so you'll have a lot of clones (Bonsai Mums: A Guide - Grasscity.com Forums (http://forum.grasscity.com/advanced-growing-techniques/291687-bonsai-mums-guide.html)), and put the rooted clones into 3 gal containers filling out the space. Veg for a week then flip. See how they grow and make adjustments from there. Some kind of screen or netting will help keep an even canopy. If it gets too crowded you won't feel bad taking out a couple runts, versus taking out a 3 footer or dealing with shading and mold issues.

^^That's something I was planning to try (if I ever got over having such a high plant count).you right mo better than i BIGTOP mo cler info but a three gal pot for a clone thats only veged for one week seems to large imho. my pots are 5.5x5.5x6deep i havn't mesured thier capisity but i'd guess 3/5 to 3/4 of a gal.at harvest 8 to 10 weeks later they are NOT root bound but are filled with healthy roots.wouldn't using a 3 gal pot be wastful of soil and space??

[bigtopsfinn]

you right mo better than i BIGTOP mo cler info but a three gal pot for a clone thats only veged for one week seems to large imho. my pots are 5.5x5.5x6deep i havn't mesured thier capisity but i'd guess 3/5 to 3/4 of a gal.at harvest 8 to 10 weeks later they are NOT root bound but are filled with healthy roots.wouldn't using a 3 gal pot be wastful of soil and space??

Could be :D That's just theory pulled out of my ass, I think you have more knowledge than me through your experience with this setup. I have a tendency to err on the side of caution, and I'd rather have the problem of my pots being too big than too small.

Are you using soil or coco? Because (in theory again ;)), you can get away with smaller pots using coco...

Oh and one more thing for Weedologist, square pots will fill in a space better than round ones :jointsmile:

[seventhchild]

Are you using soil or coco? Because (in theory again ;)), you can get away with smaller pots using coco...

Oh and one more thing for Weedologist, square pots will fill in a space better than round ones :jointsmile:I use 40% peat moss. 10% vermiculite ,50% perlite these days feed with JACK'S.Ditto your advice on the square pots...for more soil volume go taller not wider.in a SOG you don't want your pot wider than the plants max leaf spread during flowering.

[Dutch Pimp]

my first grow...(2005) I germinated 18 seeds and had 13 females and one 400 watt HPS light...in a closet.

I thought...I can't throw anybody out?...:wtf:...what can I do?...well, I did have a separate darkroom....so....I just rotated 6 in and 7 out...every 12 hours, and 7 in and 6 out...12 hours, later...:thumbsup:

I did this for 60+ days. I was committed. End result...enough personal smoke for almost 2 years....
which was the orginal plan...anyways...:rastabanna:

[bigtopsfinn]

my first grow...(2005) I germinated 18 seeds and had 13 females and one 400 watt HPS light...in a closet.

I thought...I can't throw anybody out?...:wtf:...what can I do?...well, I did have a separate darkroom....so....I just rotated 6 in and 7 out...every 12 hours, and 7 in and 6 out...12 hours, later...:thumbsup:

I did this for 60+ days. I was committed. End result...enough personal smoke for almost 2 years....
which was the orginal plan...anyways...:rastabanna:

I did something like this for about a month on my last grow, wanted to veg longer on one of my plants. Works great, but puts a hamper on your social life and sleeping in on the weekends :D

[Dutch Pimp]

I did something like this for about a month on my last grow, wanted to veg longer on one of my plants. Works great, but puts a hamper on your social life and sleeping in on the weekends :D
where there's a will...there's a way...:thumbsup:

[bigtopsfinn]

where there's a will...there's a way...:thumbsup:

Yeah, I don't have a social life, I have a wife :o

[GetThisOrDie]

I had to do that for one of my runs. Every 12 hours moving big heavy ass 4g pots with large ladies in them... it was horrible. It does pay off in the end though!

Ok I lied, I made the wife move some too! Dont forget bigtops... having a wife means you have an automatic assistant.
:D

[Dutch Pimp]

I had to do that for one of my runs. Every 12 hours moving big heavy ass 4g pots with large ladies in them... it was horrible. It does pay off in the end though!

Ok I lied, I made the wife move some too! Dont forget bigtops... having a wife means you have an automatic assistant.
:D

you learn the 'lift the pot' method for knowing when to water; real quick this way, too...:D