How Many Colas Per Square Foot... How Much Is Too Much?

SnappyJack · Apr 13, 2024

Working on my 2nd grow... started wondering.. what it optimum amount of colas per sq foot of grow space.. will too many yield smaller buds.. are a fewer amount better overall for health and size?
Looking for a general consensus of opinions and hopefully some facts.

Choppr · Apr 13, 2024

I only top mine once, and then bend down lateral/side branches, usually 8-12 cola's, they are then usually longer and bigger and always need to be held up - I try to find strains that have a good branching habit and mostly grow Sati's.
almost all of mine are shaped like this, a kind of candelabra shape in early training.. I run a perpetual grow so there are always 3 plants popping off every 8-10 weeks - I have plenty of weed so I dont really need to go crazy with training, Im usually about 6-8 oz per plant x 3 plants. This was an out of sequence loner had a tent to herself, just harvested yesterday, next 3 are pictured too (wk 4 and wk 3 of flower), right on!

SnappyJack · Apr 15, 2024

Nice size.... your buds seem fatter than mine had turned out .. I had close to 17 on the last grow.. wondering is that part of the reason for smaller buds.

I'm guessing your expressing your just content with the size and volume your producing.. I'm just working through the novelty of it... not the amount more like the "grow" ... different methods... this grow I'm trying a scrog.. it's been fun and interesting... but the curiosity side of me wonders how many you can pack in a square foot without diminishing returns.

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LoveGrowingIt · Apr 15, 2024

SnappyJack said:
the curiosity side of me wonders how many you can pack in a square foot without diminishing returns.

I doubt it could be accurately quantified without including all the factors involved, which probably is nearly impossible outside of a laboratory environment.

PooToe · Apr 15, 2024

I don't really try and grow big flowers as they are more susceptible to bud rot and drying issues. I prefer growing 100 midsized flowers than 10 big ones. Genetics plays the biggest part in how big a flower you can grow. In a 5 x 5 I pulled almost 4 lbs. using ScrOG as the grow method with 5 plants.

7munkee · Apr 15, 2024

Depends on cola size. Say the average cola is 6-8 inches across. Do you want to jam 10 of them in a square foot and have their leaves overlap?

Choppr · Apr 15, 2024

SnappyJack said:
Nice size.... your buds seem fatter than mine had turned out .. I had close to 17 on the last grow.. wondering is that part of the reason for smaller buds.

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I'm guessing your expressing your just content with the size and volume your producing.. I'm just working through the novelty of it... not the amount more like the "grow" ... different methods... this grow I'm trying a scrog.. it's been fun and interesting... but the curiosity side of me wonders how many you can pack in a square foot without diminishing returns.

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Your Plant looks great by the way...Yeah a multi-topped bush in smallish 5 gal pots will only maintain so much mass, unless your runnin hi-frequency fertigation system? I ran 1000w Halides back in the day, 1 plant per Light in 15 gal pots, and a multi-topped bush can put out a lot of weed when pushed hard, but again they were only medium sized nugs, but I was getting over a pound per plant. Ive bred my own crosses for years, and when doing viability testing, sometimes we will strip all off all of the side branches leaving only 4-6 mains and buds will get huge (pictured) - this tent is 6'6" tall, So yeah, how their trained is how it works, Think of just 4 mains and all that energy feeding 4 buds - lol (buds this big can get moldy - have to keep that humidity way low we were at around 10% RH) keep at it Jack!