First indoor closet grow/ questions / 18 plants! Lets hope for a turnout

For light to be most effective, you want it to be bounced around, in an area that is optimal for the amount of Lumens you plan to use.
-Now, for optimal growth in flowering, you will need 5,000 lumens per sqft. This way, you can build the room to your light, or figure the Watts needed for your room.
-Your current setup is fine for Veg.

**Say you use the 3x8 area --> 3x8=24sqft x 5,000L = 120,000L
-Most400W= 50,000L
-Most600W= 90,000L
-Most1000W= 130,000L

-Or, just cut your space in half since you already have plans for the 400W.

And males will be easy to spot, youll have enough time to notice and pull before they drop pollen
Attachment 278088

Very helpful post smoke my piece! At what point should I be able to see those features? A few weeks into flowering? I am kind of hoping / counting on the fact that a portion of the plants will be males and I'll be able to cut down on the area needed for the grow and get by with one HPS. Idk, i can get two if needed. I just want some dank nugs:)

Just an update for ya

Attachment 278118

Heres an update! And I do apologize for the lack there of inbetween! Were about a month into veg now and I think the plants are looking great. My roomate thinks a couple are blatantly males based on their "lengthiness and stemmyness" but I'll let you be the judge. In fact I do have a couple of questions.

What size pot should I transplant into? Do I need to transplant? What would happen if I kept the current pots? would yields be durastically reduced? I'm counting on atleast 7-8 good females.

This first picture features one of the plants that looks most likely to be a male. Its growing very "deformed" or atleast different compared to the others, and this first picture shows the suspected male plant(left) and hopeful female(right)
http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/7...levsfemale.jpg

The second picture here shows a picture of a plant I think got over watered. I was out of town for 5 days and my roomate was watering them. Only one plant has yellowing of the leaves and its the lower fan leaves; confirm this is over watering?
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1182/day29ish.jpg

ANd the last two final shots are group photos of the plants. Spot any "obvious males?"

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6...29ishgroup.jpg

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/9...9ishgroup2.jpg

Im just mainly stuck in debate on the pot size. I know I need bigger pots but I dont know how much bigger I want the plants to get. Arent they already gonna get 3x bigger in flowering?

Hey, I would def get some plastic, or something down, or your carpet will get ruined. Doesnt look like there is anything under your pots, and, spills happen. Even if they are showin sex, there is no way to tell in those pics. You would need really clear pics of the nodes. As far as the "stretch" being an indicator, you could have females stretched also, depends on distance to the lights, and lots of other things. Just be patient, and wait till you can see pistils or stamens. (hairs or balls) Most likely, all you will find first is males, as they seem to show about a week or 2, maybe more, sooner. I started with 26, and ended up with 9 males. But, I am outdoors, and lost some due to animals and weather. As far as the transplant, it looks like they are about ready. If you feel comfortable, slide one out of the pot and see what you see as far as roots. If they are wrappin around at the bottom pretty good, then its time. As far as pot size, it all depends on how big you are gonna grow em. They say a foot for every gallon pot size. I got some in 3.5 and 5 gallon buckets, and the bigger ones are about 4 ft tall. You will def want bigger pots before you go much farther. Before they start flowerin. They are lookin good, tho. Keep it up.

Sorry, I ended up with 9 females, not males...... Stoned moment!

Whats wrong with these guys? THe one on the right looks like overwatering, I've just never trimmed those off... but the one on the left im not sure about. The outer edges of the lower leaves are yellowing, not just tips, and I have another plant with "lightening" edges more towards the top of the plant.
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2591/sick2.jpg

Topped plant - topped two additional plants but they're still getting there.
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4307/topped.jpg

And now for the group shots! Everybody smile!
http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/2...pshotweek6.jpg

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/166...shot2week6.jpg

Group shot on 20th(ish) before I moved them around in my closet.
http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/3226/sep20.jpg


This is 11/18 plants seen below
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/4494/sep202.jpg

This is one of the better looking plants
http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/5940/sep203.jpg


One of four topped plants
http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/5962/sep204.jpg

Another big one, tallest plant up to my belly button probably 3-3.5 feet. sorry its kinda blurry
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/4391/sep205.jpg


NOW for a couple of thoughts and questions
I can tell the plants are starting to get kinda root bound. Im going through hard times financially and between 18 pots and hte soil, and added lights Im looking at 2-3 Hundred atleast.... That being said, what would happen if I left them in the current pots? They are 1 maybe 2 gallon pots at most, and two are slightly larger. Is it a bad idea to flip a root bound plant into flowering?

Assuming I have 8 females out of 18 plants, what do you think an approximate bud harvest will be with 3-4 foot plants

i cant believe you're growing with 6 cfls. impressive

I got 8 girls and a lil tiny short one. All are about same size as yours now. Yours should grow a good bit after you flip em. I got mine in 5 gallon buckets, outdoors, and I think you would def want bigger pots. Ill let you know what mine bring. Should be choppin in a few weeks or so. Good luck.