New Farmer/Many General Questions

[foxracer199]

Hey guys. First off I've been reading alot of forums/ sites/ anythings I could find but theres alot I need to know still. With no personal experience I'm hoping an experience indoor growing can answer my many questions.

First of all, how many plants can i grow in a certain area. lets say a 5x5 foot area from start to finish. When full grown I dont wan them crowding each other.

This question is the basis for several lighting and hydroponics questions. I know theres other forums but i really just want one forum where i can ask a bunch of questions about anythings.

 

[Seamaiden]

Totally depends on how you grow them.

If you let them get big, not very many will fit. For instance, I use a 600W HPS currently and just finished a ScroG with 6 girls. Could have controlled the canopy a little better but MAN was it tough with the post-flip stretch on this strain.

If you SoG and go small when you flip them, then many more, the numbers of which would require using math with a toddler at the sleeve, not reliable so I'll let someone else give you those numbers. I'd say you could probably do a dozen easily with my set-up, which is a 3'x6' table in a larger room, 600W HPS on an old 3' mover. Crunch the light down low and flip 'em small, no more than 8" or so I'd guess (can't let the canopy get too deep with such a rig or you'll spend your life trimming popcorn and 'larf' <--- good word), depending again on post-flip stretch.

The other big deciding factor is which light you decide to go with.

 

[BlueWater]

Under a 1000w light you can do anywhere from 6-49(or more I guess..and less too obv) depending on how you want to go about it. 9 in 3gal or 5gal buckets. My preferred method for production is 49 per light in 1gal pots. I just flower rooted cuttings w/ no veg time. Some strains simply need some veg time, I'm thinking of the Sensi Star in my case where it is a slow vegger and just needs 10-14 days to get going, plus it's fan are just too large for a super dense planting. The primary strain I was running by that method was AK47, they finish at roughly 22-26" and are a good yielder--I shoot for(and get) 23g per plant in that setup. But I've grown in 6, 8, 9, 16, 20, 25 and 49 per light over the years, you kinda have to find one that works for YOU. Most strains are able to fit in various configs, it comes down to how big they are when you flower them etc. SOG you need to be pretty dialed in or you could have a mess.

Now, just starting out, I'd suggest working one of the lesser plant# configs(9-16). Just start growing some plants and pay attention. The more you learn about the plant and how it grows the more you'll see what way works for you. A lot of stuff works. Are you growing to maximize? Or just for some buds to puff? Most of the work is truly simple(not necessarily easy, running larger scenes is a ridic amount of work), it can take some time and experience to get there though. Just start growing some plants and be willing to try some different things don't be too rigid and unwilling to change--I've seen enough rooms where the grower, if they just made some changes could greatly improve but just wouldn't for one reason or another. It's easy to get complacent. Christ, I grew indoors for a living for over 15yrs and tossed it all away to do outdoors 2yrs ago. Now I want a steel building on my place lol.