I've a small cabinet that's 20x20x38. I am going to grow from clones and i'm wondering how many plants i should put in my cabinet. This is my first time growing with this set-up and i'm inexperienced. I have a 400w metal halide and a 400w hps and i'm wondering...since i'm already starting with clones should i bother with the metal halide light or just use the HPS? thanks

i wouldnt do more than 3 plants max in that space. and a 400w bulb in that space is gonna be very difficult to control temps. a direct exhaust from the light will be almost a necessity. use the MH for veg and the HPS for flower to get the most out of their spectral emissions

thanks for the advice. I'm pretty much set with the 400w bulbs since I already paid for them and they are brand new...but i do have 2 seperate fans in the cabinet to hopefully control temperature within a reasonable range. Also, I have considered using one large container instead of a few individual pots to maximize my space...any thoughts?

if you dont veg them too long then the roots shouldnt bind up each other in one big container

One plant would probably strangle the other two to death. Survival of the fittest in the plant world.

i was afraid of a plant version of UFC...has anyone tried one big container before? Also, would I even be able to fit an extra plant if I used that method? Also, if anyone has any cabinet grow experience please share info! thanks

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waywardpal

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Sounds like to me that you are refering to inches and not feet! Plants can easly be 1-2 feet wide and however tall you grow them. My advice is to use Rockwool cubes (4 inch cubes) veg your plants until the fifth level (Y), then put to bud.

Depending on how many plants you wish to grow will determine the space needed for your vegetation area. Your cloning and vegetation area can be one of the same if space is available, since they both are on a 24 or 18 hour lighting cycle. By using some simple math we can determine the space needed. Let's say you want to grow nine plants. We can figure each plant will need two square feet per plant. So, 9 (plants) x 2 (square feet) = 18 square feet of needed space to grow nine plants. Although less space can be used, your plants may not get enough lighting per plant that is needed for good strong healthy stocks and good vegetation. In other words your plants would only grow fast and tall making them weak, not good for budding because stems begin to break from the weight of the buds.

This is my rule of thumb, not everyone may agree! Also you'll have one huge heat problem with the lights your using, if used in a small space.

Grow like below and you should be ok! But heat will still be a huge issue. Veg only to second or third level then set to bud like my pic below.

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If you do it right and it's for personal use you only need to grow one plant. Just get the biggest container you can find. Preferably 30-40 litres, and plant one seed in it. Concentrate both the lights onto the container and suck away all that excess heat. Do everything right and you could get a pound off one plant.

Hi wayward

I'm currently growing in a similar sized space (23x23x54) with a 400w hps.
Heat is not an issue for me. I use a 6" 250 cfm inline duct fan to exhaust and usually use small desktop type fan to blow the heat from between the tops of the plants and the light.
I think your biggest problem will be your headroom. 38" isn't much to work with. Once you factor in container height, room for the light, plant stretch etc you'd have to flower the plants at about 9" tall or less.
So I think you'd be best to either go with a sog or a scrog setup. I've done a sog with 14 plants in a square 18 gallon tub which worked quite well but next time I think I'd go with 9. The tub I mentioned was aprox. 20x20x10 and with 9 plants would be 2 gallons per plant which would be lots of root space if you flowered your clones at 9".

HTH
Q

you fit 14 plants in a 20x20 inch space? that's amazing. You had them all in one container with a sog setup? You currently use a grow cabinet right? I've been trying to get advice for a while now on how to get the most out of my small space so anything you can offer would be great since you're experienced with small space growing. so the heat issue is not a problem? I've got 2 fans so i think i'll be good. I just want to figure out how to get as much bud as possible in my little cabinet. how many plants do u think i could get in my 20x20x38 inch space? keep in mind i don't want them to be to crowded or suffocate due to a dominant plant. im growing from clones. lookin forward to any advice. thanks

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waywardpal