I think your right inline with the same output...I was lucky to have a variety that only shot maybe 1x...flipped at 1.5ft..it stopped at 3ft and thats the big plant shown above..Its a BubbaOkush f4 from seed...(BubbaKush x OGers originally by Motarebel)
So it also had new seed vigor...but you are still better off with Air roots rather then what I was dooing which is the roots soaking till they drank it all....heh,....
Reason for my solo buckets tho is...I could alter formulas to suit a variety and I ran about 8 diff varieties at a time..no mono crops...
So if I had a cut that would shoot 4x or more just flip it at 6"in...it ends up as a cpl feet...Like a Haze or Thai or Super Sativa type Skunk...
But because I used solo buckets it is a diff sitch cause the Liquid in the bucket would reduce and concentrate as the Plant drank and ate,...So to understand what the variety wanted I just tested the liquid to see how much it ate and drank daily....I had 2 air pumps, 1, 4 site and 1 commercial 12 site pump...I ran 16 plants under 2k, 8 /light and avr 3-4oz per on heavy yielders...
2-3oz on test runs or less productive types...
But my goal was 1lb+/1k....so lets estimate 16 plants pullin 3oz each - 48z / 3lbs off 2k...of killer bud..not mids....But bro it was so fast it was work to keep up with it....
And in the end it matters if your after yield or top shelf...
You could always pinch tops and super crop a bit to keep plants more low profile....mainly the jumpy ones....just a idea but very useful...sry for the long post Im high and guess a bit yappy...
power to it man
FOE20