Filling a 4x4 Tent

[emerson61]

I’ve had 5 fairly successful indoor grows in a 4x4x7 tent with fabric pots, FF soil+, and 2200 LED watts/625 watts from wall lighting. I’ve used mostly 5g pots, and currently have a 7g grow going. In my last grow with 5 plants in 5g pots I got 19 oz of nice cured bud. We’ll see what yield I get with the current 7g pots of 2 Gelato 33s and 3 Girl Scout Cookies. Check out some recent pics.
With next grow I want to try 6 plants (the legal max) in 3 g pots in SOG style. What size pots and number do others find is the right balance of plant size vs number for optimum yield and quality?

One of the Gelato33’s is a beast! Over 3’- I use two main LEDs and a G8 Red, which allows the right 15-18” above the canopy for flower with plants of different heights.

 

[Lucky Luke]

I find that 9 in 250mm pots is the best for me in a flower 4x4. But its what suites the grow the person is doing to a large extent.
I dont have a legal plant count as its illegal here.

 

[OGBudz]

So with the 5 plant grow did you train, top, scrog? I'm currently growing 3 but don't think I'll get close to a pound. Im currently on my first grow and want to know what kinda things i can do to get a yield like yours with around the same amount of plants.

 

[emerson61]

So with the 5 plant grow did you train, top, scrog? I'm currently growing 3 but don't think I'll get close to a pound. Im currently on my first grow and want to know what kinda things i can do to get a yield like yours with around the same amount of plants.

Yes, I topped at the 5th node pretty early. Then, I like to tie the plant down at a 45 degree angle to get the side branches to rise up and become tops. Then, a couple of weeks later I top to get 12-16 tops. Doing this slows vertical grow in veg, but by time the flip to 12/12, you have a nice bush structure. I think 3-5 oz per plant is possible in a 5g pot, with good genetics.

I got 19 oz due to this approach, vegging for 7 weeks, good genetics, and good lighting. Powerful and proper spectrum lighting is the key to better yield and denser buds, provided you create the structure to produce the tops you want.

 

[twalte]

The rule of thumb that I’ve heard for pot size is one gallon of soil for each month you plan to keep the plant. A quick one month veg and 2 months of flower is 3 months which equals 3 gallons. I also saw someone post this reference for pot size.

Emerson had some great tips on topping. There’s also Uncle Bens approach where you top above the 2nd true node.

Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

Howdy! Based on quite a few questions about topping I've received here: https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/13820-fimming-topping-101-a-12.html I decided to reproduce a thread on my favorite topping method published at cann.com about 10 years ago. Even though I've got much better...

www.rollitup.org

 

[emerson61]

I heard early in my grow hobby, after trying a full manifold approach, to top at node 5, but leave 3 and 4 below, as these low branches below the first breaking of apical dominance at node 5 often become the best tops. I have found this to be true. Especially with big outdoor plants- you want those huge bottom branches!

 

[emerson61]

The rule of thumb that I’ve heard for pot size is one gallon of soil for each month you plan to keep the plant. A quick one month veg and 2 months of flower is 3 months which equals 3 gallons. I also saw someone post this reference for pot size.

Emerson had some great tips on topping. There’s also Uncle Bens approach where you top above the 2nd true node.

Uncle Ben's Topping Technique to Get 2 or 4 Main Colas

Howdy! Based on quite a few questions about topping I've received here: https://www.rollitup.org/general-marijuana-growing/13820-fimming-topping-101-a-12.html I decided to reproduce a thread on my favorite topping method published at cann.com about 10 years ago. Even though I've got much better...

www.rollitup.org

BTW...the technique I described works amazingly well for outdoor. This past summer here in legal Cali, I grew a Sour D and Cannatonic CBD in 10g pots and got over 20oz of huge, dense buds from each plant that were only about 5’ tall! Topped to produce about 20 colas each, then nurtured them and kept bugs and mold/ bud rot in check. Check out the pics...

 

[Havoc0122]

I heard early in my grow hobby, after trying a full manifold approach, to top at node 5, but leave 3 and 4 below, as these low branches below the first breaking of apical dominance at node 5 often become the best tops. I have found this to be true. Especially with big outdoor plants- you want those huge bottom branches!

I agree the one flaw to the mainline is you shouldn't clip those lower branches. On my current grow I clipped them off 2 plants and left them on 2 others. Now the branches are HUGE. I wish Ida kept em on all 4.

The rule of thumb that I’ve heard for pot size is one gallon of soil for each month you plan to keep the plant. A quick one month veg and 2 months of flower is 3 months which equals 3 gallons. I also saw someone post this reference for pot size.

Emerson had some great tips on topping. There’s also Uncle Bens approach where you top above the 2nd true node.

https://www.rollitup.org/t/uncle-bens-topping-technique-to-get-2-or-4;-main-colas.151706/

I've heard 1gal for every foot it grows too, imo it's stoner science. So a 30 gallon pot makes a 30 ft plant? 30 gallon pot for 30 months veg?

Just my 2cents

 

[lilbry]

I’ve had 5 fairly successful indoor grows in a 4x4x7 tent with fabric pots, FF soil+, and 2200 LED watts/625 watts from wall lighting. I’ve used mostly 5g pots, and currently have a 7g grow going. In my last grow with 5 plants in 5g pots I got 19 oz of nice cured bud. We’ll see what yield I get with the current 7g pots of 2 Gelato 33s and 3 Girl Scout Cookies. Check out some recent pics.
With next grow I want to try 6 plants (the legal max) in 3 g pots in SOG style. What size pots and number do others find is the right balance of plant size vs number for optimum yield and quality?

One of the Gelato33’s is a beast! Over 3’- I use two main LEDs and a G8 Red, which allows the right 15-18” above the canopy for flower with plants of different heights.

Greetings. I am in the process of looking for tents and I am considering the 4 x 4 for indoor hydroponics. I am going to start out small and imagine I will grow into the tent. I know everything depends on different variables and systems, but whats a safe guess as far as number of plants that can be grown in a 4 x 4 hydro dwc system? I'm just trying to figure out if the 4 x 4 is too big for me. Please and thanks.

 

[emerson61]

It depends how long you veg your plants. If you flip to 12/12 when the plants are 12-18” tall, you could do up to 6. If you veg them to 2’ plus, 2-4 is about your limit. And remember that if your tent is 7’ tall, the maximum plant would be about 3.5’ (1’ pot+3.5’ plant+ 18” light distance above canopy+ 1ft or so of your lights hanging from cross bar at top). Or, do a big growing Sativa, for example, but veg it long but stretch to fill the footprint with one big girl...

In a 4x4x7, I guess I would say best option would be 4 plants veged to about 18” before flip to 12/12, with lots of topping and plant training to control height and produce the 8-12 colas you’d want. Hybrids and Indicas work best in a 4x4.

 

[lilbry]

It depends how long you veg your plants. If you flip to 12/12 when the plants are 12-18” tall, you could do up to 6. If you veg them to 2’ plus, 2-4 is about your limit. And remember that if your tent is 7’ tall, the maximum plant would be about 3.5’ (1’ pot+3.5’ plant+ 18” light distance above canopy+ 1ft or so of your lights hanging from cross bar at top). Or, do a big growing Sativa, for example, but veg it long but stretch to fill the footprint with one big girl...

In a 4x4x7, I guess I would say best option would be 4 plants veged to about 18” before flip to 12/12, with lots of topping and plant training to control height and produce the 8-12 colas you’d want. Hybrids and Indicas work best in a 4x4.

Thanks for the info. It sounds like 4 x 4 actually might be a good size for me. I am way excited. I've been looking at tents on the internet. Some great options out there. Thanks again for all the info.