I could use an adcanced opinion

okay, I basically posted this in the newbie area but Im guessing not to many of the more advanced people check that so im asking here too

I have 1 1000w hps and basically all I want to know is which would be better in the long run- more but smaller plants -or- bigger but less plants
---remember this is not just a single cycle, it will be numerous---

on the smaller ones I was wanting to top them and only veg for a short amount of time to keep them small and coming fast.
I know that less plants and bigger colas would yield more on a single setup but I would like to do numerous cycles so Im thinking that topping them and doing more plants in a short amount of time may be better for numerous cycles. so which is better

lots of little ones topped off or vegging for 2 months w/ some huge mamas and only a few plants
***only 1 1k w hps***

if they are topped off then how many 2ft plants can go under that light?,
if full size how many will fit? (space is unlimited)

What would you do??? i want everyones opinions please!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sounds like you would benefit from sea of green info to me. [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Instead of growing a few plants for a longer period of time, in the same space many smaller plants are grown that mature faster and in less time. Thus, less time is required between crops. This is important to you when the electricity bill comes each month. One crop can be started while another is maturing, and a continuous harvest, year round can be maintained[/FONT]

mogie, i do understand that but what I need to know then is how many could i put under that one lamp?? I am definately leaning towards that but still need to know how tall I should let them get during veg and when to top them for the clones

Yeah, well like you said, it's gonna be numerous crops. I imagine that you will try different amounts until you settle on what's best for you.

The limiting factor is the lamp. That 1K lamp will light an area about 5x5. (really 4x4 with another outside foot that doesn't get good light)

In that space you can grow 4 plants/sqft and prune to 1 small cola each. Or go with 2 plants/sqft and grow them a little larger. Or 1 plant/sqft because they will get bigger than you think.

It all depends on the amount of medium, method of growing, and time of veg.

HTH