Max plants per ft2

Indoor Growing
#1

Alright - so I’m gearing up after taking June / July off indoor to start up some seeds.

Like most of us here I have been lucky to have too many to choose from, some being purchased, some from growers here and some crosses of my own.

I typically use my 3 x 2 tent, with 1 x 2 for veg / clone and a 2 x 2 flowering area - I did build a separate Male box to use as well.

What I’d like to hear is how I can run as many seeds as possible over the next year to start catching up on everything i want to run.

I did do a 12/12 from seed experiment at the end of last round (which actually worked out quite well) - I ran in 6" x 6" square pot (w/ ocean forest soil) the entire time and probably pulled close to a zip of NL x Grape Krush.

I know I can fit 8 of those pots in a tray and fit 2 of those trays in a 2 x 2 area - but that is pretty damn jammed… not that I’m opposed to that! I’d love to blast 30 seeds off in a week and see how it turns out. I could open up the other 1 x 2 area, but I do have some cuttings and veg plants to keep running.

That being said - I’d love to see what others have done (and I know I’m not alone here!). I know @lefthandseeds runs a good number of smaller plants.

Any guidelines / techniques people are using?

For reference - this is what I am considering starting… but can’t (fully) decide on:

1 of DJ Short varieties:

First Light (likely this one)
Vanilluna
Flo

1 of a Citrus Variety:

Agent Orange x Cali-O (@Barefrog) - leaning towards this one
Orange Sunshine F2 (@50State I believe)
Tangerine Power (Sin City) ** Ran 5 of the 15 before, no tangerine, plenty of power

1 of the crosses i have made:

Chem D x G13HP (** leaning towards this)
NL x C99 (run some more)
(NL x C99) x G13HP
Black Dak x G13HP

Would love to hear from people!

8 Likes
#2

Wow all that in a 2 x 2 area

If you use 5x5 sq pots you’ll only fit 16 plants

I have squeezed 1 or 2 more

Interested to see how this turns out
There’s some great genetics there

Paps

6 Likes
#3

Ya - Its a tall ask.

Ultimately I think I’ll start 20 seeds - assume 50% female I don’t think running 10 x 5.5" square pots in 2 ft2 will be awful. At one point I found tall 5.5" square pots (taller than normal) somewhere online… will have to look again.

It will be tight, but I can stagger 3 pots, 2 pots, 3 pots 2 pots to give them the slightest amount of breathing space. I’ll run them 12/ 12 from seed or maybe give them 2 weeks and flip.

They won’t be big plants but should help me get through some volume to find something.

4 Likes
#4

I think the main things for me are:

  • smaller pots (may also require an autowater/feed system)
  • trimming lowers (widest branches come from the bottom and are furthest from light)
  • topping (keep height down and divert bud production to mains)
  • short veg (keeps plant small, reduces cycle time)

Using small pots is a pretty necessary step, otherwise, keeping up with the amount of required media becomes a major chore/expense.

8 Likes
#5

Thanks!

How quickly do you typically flip to 12/12?

And typically what node do you top at?

2 Likes
#6

I flip to 12/12 based on when my plants graduate from the small pots that I start them in. Usually they’re only about 3-4 nodes at most. I don’t always top, but if I do, it usually goes something like transplant from small pot, wait for recovery and grow 1-2 more nodes, then top. I’m always topping in early 12/12, as late as the end of stretch.

6 Likes
#7

I like to top above 4th node then remove bottom node. Then veg another week before switching.

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#8

And here I am growing 1 plant per 3 ft2 :rofl:

This makes me want to do a sog :thinking:

I’ve never been a believer in 12/12 from seed giving shorter plants but that’s just IMO. I personally think 24/0 veg with some fairly intense blue spectrum lights will help to keep them short first, and then 12/12 flip when you’re ready. Only issue could be the very tight node spacing.

I’ve found waiting to top until there’s at least 5 nodes, working on the 6th, and topping just above the 3rd node, seems to work really well. You can top higher than the 3rd, but I wouldn’t do it sooner than when the 6th node is growing out. I’ve wasted a literal week or growth because I snipped off the 4th node just when it was tall enough to cut and the other nodes didn’t even have a branch really started yet.

3 Likes
#9

This guy was finishing plants in little seed starter trays to maximize plant/space. Its quite awesome, and something I wanna try eventually.

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#10

A run I did quite a few years ago with small plants in a perpetual. Most of the details are in the thread link here:

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#11

I found an a post on another forum outlining called The Bonsai Sultan Method: Typological Breeding In Little Space.

He goes into some basics about selection but the way he sets up his space I thought was interesting. I don’t really have the hands-on breeding experience to evaluate it, but he puts a lot of plants in a really small area, which is a handy feature. :slight_smile:

7 Likes
#12

Wow! Thanks all… some very cool stuff here.

Ya - I dig that this may be a bit ambitious - the dude who grew in the small cells blows my mind.

The big thing is getting some selection done, I fell like there is so much to run and so little time!!

Going to do some reading and then I’ll fire up a journal once I get things germed.

3 Likes
#13

I just got these tree pots to start plants for ebb and flow… but maybe I’ll try finishing some plants in them.

image
image1512×2016 352 KB

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#14

Pretty cool - never have seen those before!

1 Like
#15

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300 some odd watts in a 2x2

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#16

Ive run clones in 6inch pots before; 4/sq ft.
Untopped. Works real well w cuts w minimal side branching. W cuts that branch out it becomes quite a tangled mess.

Good luck

2 Likes
#17

Pretty cool he was talking about the paonia purple paralyzer

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#18

We’re these seeds or cuts?

Solo cups start to finish - nice!

12/12 straight away?

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#19

I think this is how I’ll be running it.

Seeds may be tough with branching - but for the most part I’m good with trimming back branches for cutting as required and focusing really on 1 top per plant.

1 Like
#20

Seeds I think I may have done a week of veg it’s my thunderdome thread other than adding the second light halfway through flower it wasn’t bad

1 Like