Need advice on mainlining - 8 vs 16 cola?!

[Randyy]

Howdy

I'm currently growing a couple of plants that I am mainlining. Everything is going well so far, but I am starting to question whether I should do 8 or 16 colas?!?!

This is the second time I do mainlining and the first time, which is still ongoing, I did not manage to fill up my 4x4(120x120cm) tent. I think it's a bit of a waste of a good light(Mars Hydro ts 3000) to not fill out the tent, so that is what I aim to do in this second attempt. Sure I can always veg them longer, but I'm not sure if I should veg longer with 8 colas or if I should go for 16?!?!

One thing that has changed that might make a somewhat big of a difference, between the first and the second attempt, is the size of the pots. In the first grow I am using 11L/3gal pots and I noticed they sorta stopped growing in the late stage of the vegetative phase. I guess it could be a million things, but I suspect that they may have been root bound. I flipped them about two months out from seed and they didn't grow much in the final week or so before flipping.

For the second attempt I got me some 25L/7gal pots, so if pot size was an issue before it should not be this time around.

So I guess the question that I am posing is whether I should go for 8 colas and veg longer, go for 16 colas and veg longer or maintain that 2 month period before flipping. Any advice on this is much appreciated!!!

Also, here is some pictures.

Current state of the second attempt - I topped them a couple of days ago to the point where there are 8 main colas.

As you can see here, there is plenty of room for more growth!!!! They are currently in the 7th week of flower. Also there is only 3 plants in the flower tent, there was suppose to be 4, and I almost killed one plant, so that one only has 4 colas compared to the other two that has 8. Sometimes shit just happen.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I'd say it's a coin flip, but if it were me, I'd go for 16. If need be you could do some pruning along the way. It's easier to make a plant smaller than it is to make it bigger.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

For the second attempt I got me some 25L/7gal pots, so if pot size was an issue before it should not be this time around.

The bigger the pot, the bigger the plant can grow. I use 5-gallon pots, so 7 should provide plenty of room for the roots. Plants might grow slower in larger pots, though, so a long vegetation time might be necessary. Lots of other factors are involved, though.

 

[Randyy]

I'd say it's a coin flip, but if it were me, I'd go for 16. If need be you could do some pruning along the way. It's easier to make a plant smaller than it is to make it bigger.

Yes I agree, been thinking on it for a while now and the more I think about it, the more I wanna try and go for 16. Like you say, I can always trim them down, in case they get too big.

Thanks for the input!