Need advice on making my SOG more optimal (Trimming, pot size, plant height)

I just finished my second hydro SOG grow with 24 plants under two 600W HPS in a 4X4 growing area. I ended up with just over a pound which was cool, but I know I could have done a lot better. I think my pots were too small for my plant height (~3 Liter pots with plants just under 3 ft.) and the flood level reached about half way up the pots, so the roots were mainly crammed in to about 1.5 Liters of space. Are you supposed to use shorter but wider pots in flood tables?

Secondly, I trimmed all the branches on the lower third and nothing else. I see some SOG grows where it looks like they trim the lower third as well as everything besides fan leaves. Which of these methods produces more bud (more plants and more trimming vs less plants and less trimming)?

So my confusion about SOG is mainly about pot size, and plant height, count and trimming technique. What would you guys say is optimal for these three areas?

sog is usually done with much smaller plants placed closely together.. check out my thread below..

do you have any pics i sure would like to see what you did..

Here's a couple pictures. I was just trimming the lower third, so by the end they were definitely getting in each others way. Do you recommend cutting off branches on the upper two thirds of the plants as well so I can fit more in there?

those look nice man.. i seen some people that top there plants once but thats it for the upper branches.. you would get more by doing that..

what i do is literally cut off all branches that grow away from main stem that way i only have one cola per plant and no small buds to mess with

I have another 24 clones ready to go so I'm going to stick with the same plant count for my next grow. I plan on switching to 12/12 when they are around 7 inches and just trimming the lower third again. I'm guessing they should make it to about 2 feet. Anyone know how much volume I should give the roots in pots of hydroton? (The roots will only fill the lower 3.5 inches of whatever size pots I use)

i think you will prob get better results if you transfer @ 7" and trimming just the lowers.. as far as your watering goes you can flood longer and the rocks will soak up the water higher in your pots.. i usually flood for 7 min that gives enough time to stablize the mediums ph and also soak all the way thru

Are you still using rockwool? I know rockwool will wick water up, but as far as I know hydroton doesn't wick regardless of how long you flood it.