First (sorta) Grow! Question about 4x8 grow tent layout...

[umop apisdn]

Hi! Thanks in advance for any tips you may be able to give me before I get started! I am just about to set up my 2nd grow tent (first one was just a 2x2) and have been doing a fair bit of reseach, so I wanted to run my plan by you guys since most of you have probably forgotten more than I even know at this point about growing lol...

Anyway, here is my plan... (attached is a diagram of how I wanted to lay it out).

- 4x8 Grow Tent

- (9) Autoflower plants on each side (too crowded? even in 3 gal fabric pots(i know fabric doesn't really make a difference, but just in case lol)? with various methods can't i keep the size down?) And/or selective breeds known to grow smaller?

- (2) HLG550 V2 R-SPEC lights (1 over each side)

I just keep flip-flopping back and forth whether to just do like 4 bigger plants on each side (8 total) or 9 smaller ones on each side, considering im kinda a little OCD and I want to either just go 2 plants x 2 plants or 3 plants x 3 plants on each side.

Again, thank you in advance for any help you can give me here!

 

[umop apisdn]

Oh.. .and those grey circles in my diagram are supposed to represent the 10" wide pots, not the plants themselves...

 

[Proph]

I have a few questions... Is this your 2nd grow? Have you ever grown 9 plants, auto or photo, at the same time before? You said you were thinking about 4 large plants on each side (8 total) or 9 smaller pots on each side (18 total Im guessing). Problem is, you didn't mention the size of the small pots.. 3 gal pots are not small pots for autos. Some auto growers don't go larger than the 3 gal pots. The size of the plant will depend on genetics and pot size. More so the genetics than the pot size. There are soo many strains that grow short.. Too many to possibly name. If you train or lst the plants, just remember that doing so will make the plants grow in width instead of height. You can run out of horizontal space just as fast as vertical space.

If this is your second grow, I would honestly steer clear of both of your suggested set ups.. I would grow as many plants as I could properly take care of. Think of them as your kids.. As a new parent (grower), do you want to raise 9 kids all the same age, at the same time? I've been growing in multiple tents for a lot of years.. The highest amount of autos I've ran at once is 5.. And it took a couple years to get there. Im not saying you can't do it, it's just something to think about. It takes a lot longer to water 18 plants than it does 4.. It's a lot easier to care for 4 plants than it is 10, just like it is with kids. Sickness, bugs, ect. travel from plant to plant.. If/when something goes wrong, it will probably be on a grand scale with 9-18 plants going at once.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Hi! Thanks in advance for any tips you may be able to give me before I get started! I am just about to set up my 2nd grow tent (first one was just a 2x2) and have been doing a fair bit of reseach, so I wanted to run my plan by you guys since most of you have probably forgotten more than I even know at this point about growing lol...

Anyway, here is my plan... (attached is a diagram of how I wanted to lay it out).

- 4x8 Grow Tent

- (9) Autoflower plants on each side (too crowded? even in 3 gal fabric pots(i know fabric doesn't really make a difference, but just in case lol)? with various methods can't i keep the size down?) And/or selective breeds known to grow smaller?

- (2) HLG550 V2 R-SPEC lights (1 over each side)

I just keep flip-flopping back and forth whether to just do like 4 bigger plants on each side (8 total) or 9 smaller ones on each side, considering im kinda a little OCD and I want to either just go 2 plants x 2 plants or 3 plants x 3 plants on each side.

Again, thank you in advance for any help you can give me here!

Soil or hydro? Hand water or irrigation system? How much environmental control so you have?

I can answer you much better if you can answer those.

 

[umop apisdn]

I have a few questions... Is this your 2nd grow? Have you ever grown 9 plants, auto or photo, at the same time before? You said you were thinking about 4 large plants on each side (8 total) or 9 smaller pots on each side (18 total Im guessing). Problem is, you didn't mention the size of the small pots.. 3 gal pots are not small pots for autos. Some auto growers don't go larger than the 3 gal pots. The size of the plant will depend on genetics and pot size. More so the genetics than the pot size. There are soo many strains that grow short.. Too many to possibly name. If you train or lst the plants, just remember that doing so will make the plants grow in width instead of height. You can run out of horizontal space just as fast as vertical space.

If this is your second grow, I would honestly steer clear of both of your suggested set ups.. I would grow as many plants as I could properly take care of. Think of them as your kids.. As a new parent (grower), do you want to raise 9 kids all the same age, at the same time? I've been growing in multiple tents for a lot of years.. The highest amount of autos I've ran at once is 5.. And it took a couple years to get there. Im not saying you can't do it, it's just something to think about. It takes a lot longer to water 18 plants than it does 4.. It's a lot easier to care for 4 plants than it is 10, just like it is with kids. Sickness, bugs, ect. travel from plant to plant.. If/when something goes wrong, it will probably be on a grand scale with 9-18 plants going at once.

No, I have grown many times, but always just a plant or two outside and a few times indoors with 5 or 6 plants max. But this was over 10 years ago and I know a lot has changed. And I said "1st grow sorta" because not only has it been awhile, but it IS my first time with autos...

I have lots and lots of free time and have RO water, so the watering thing doesn't bother me. Especially if I'm growing in 3 gallon (or even smaller) pots. However, the more I think about this, if the results are going to be comparable whether i have 8 big plants or 18 small plants, then i guess it makes sense to grow less, bigger, plants. But what you said about running out of horiz space, ya, that makes total sense too and so I am starting to lean towards just going with 8 and see how it goes.

 

[umop apisdn]

Oops, forgot to include that small detail haha..

Medium: Soil (hand watered) -- As I mentioned above, time is no concern and I have RO water, so this isn't a deterrent.

As far as the environmental control goes. I live in Southern California and the weather is pretty optimal. I haven't had to do much to keep temperatures within the appropriate range. For example, with no AC or heater my current 2x2 tent's high/low for today was 68F/82F (just ventilated with 4" inline).

Soil or hydro? Hand water or irrigation system? How much environmental control so you have?

I can answer you much better if you can answer those.

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Oops, forgot to include that small detail haha..

Medium: Soil (hand watered) -- As I mentioned above, time is no concern and I have RO water, so this isn't a deterrent.

As far as the environmental control goes. I live in Southern California and the weather is pretty optimal. I haven't had to do much to keep temperatures within the appropriate range. For example, with no AC or heater my current 2x2 tent's high/low for today was 68F/82F (just ventilated with 4" inline).

You could do living soil or whatever soil you use with Blumat drippers and be able to manage 8 plants per side. Especially if you pick some shorter strains the worst you might have to do is top them but you would halfway to a semi sea of green style and you wouldn't need to really train them at that point. Irrigation would be gravity fed through moisture sensing.

If you your environmental control is perfect which it sounds like you'll be fine. I think manipulating the plants less leads to better growth especially if you have the space.

What nutrients, if any, and beneficials do you plan to use? Any strains in mind?

 

[umop apisdn]

You could do living soil or whatever soil you use with Blumat drippers and be able to manage 8 plants per side. Especially if you pick some shorter strains the worst you might have to do is top them but you would halfway to a semi sea of green style and you wouldn't need to really train them at that point. Irrigation would be gravity fed through moisture sensing.

If you your environmental control is perfect which it sounds like you'll be fine. I think manipulating the plants less leads to better growth especially if you have the space.

What nutrients, if any, and beneficials do you plan to use? Any strains in mind?

Good stuff! Thank you. I will look into those drippers. I was just planning on using that Pro Mix HP or HF and I just have GH's Flora Gro/Bloom/Micro + Cal-Mag at the moment. In my 2x2 I have a viparspectra par600 (actual 274w) over 4 Mephisto Chemdogging seedlings (exactly 1 week old today) in HF (3 gallon fabric pots). But I need a bigger tent already LMAO! About 2 weeks into this is all it took. As far as strains go... I have been going back and forth on some but I do know that

- I want high THC (so the GG and/or GSC strains look good)
- I love purps (so those Purple Lemonade & Blackberry strains are looking cool)

As far as strains go, I'm open for suggestions. I think if I were to go with 9 plants on each side though, I might consider something taller than bushier? Or if I just go with 4 on each side, then go for the bushier strain(s)?

 

[Death The Cultivator]

Good stuff! Thank you. I will look into those drippers. I was just planning on using that Pro Mix HP or HF and I just have GH's Flora Gro/Bloom/Micro + Cal-Mag at the moment. In my 2x2 I have a viparspectra par600 (actual 274w) over 4 Mephisto Chemdogging seedlings (exactly 1 week old today) in HF (3 gallon fabric pots). But I need a bigger tent already LMAO! About 2 weeks into this is all it took. As far as strains go... I have been going back and forth on some but I do know that

- I want high THC (so the GG and/or GSC strains look good)
- I love purps (so those Purple Lemonade & Blackberry strains are looking cool)

As far as strains go, I'm open for suggestions. I think if I were to go with 9 plants on each side though, I might consider something taller than bushier? Or if I just go with 4 on each side, then go for the bushier strain(s)?

I would go moderate, not too tall. @Iriee Vibez is running living soil with two different GG autos.

Less plants would require larger plants to fill the space, but 9 moderate sized plants could do the same with less training. You're probably going to have 5.5ft of headroom so with pots probably 4.5ft. Plants will stretch 2-4x so if height of a big concern and you don't want to do a lot of training then a shorter variety might fit but growers can compensate for height issues by bending, super cropping, and or topping. The issue with 18 plants is going to be uniformity from seed so that you don't have to work harder just grow smarter lol

 

[umop apisdn]

I would go moderate, not too tall. @Iriee Vibez is running living soil with two different GG autos.

Less plants would require larger plants to fill the space, but 9 moderate sized plants could do the same with less training. You're probably going to have 5.5ft of headroom so with pots probably 4.5ft. Plants will stretch 2-4x so if height of a big concern and you don't want to do a lot of training then a shorter variety might fit but growers can compensate for height issues by bending, super cropping, and or topping. The issue with 18 plants is going to be uniformity from seed so that you don't have to work harder just grow smarter lol

You rock! Thank you so much for all your feedback so far, it's truly appreciated!! That makes sense. The tent is 96x48x80in, so if the height is 6'8" and im losing 1' from the pot, i'll have about 5'8" but the light will be probably 6-8" of that (i think that HLG550 V2 R-SPEC needs to be pretty much as high as it can be in there right? And still might have to dim for veg? I think they want it 22" off the plants too... so i guess 22+6+12 (40 inches) lost, looks like i'll have room for up to 40" plants? my math look ok here?