Plant count and veg time question. New to vertical growing

[rickymac21]

Hey RIU, hope everyone's having a good day!
In the near future I will be building a vertical grow box for a 400w hps plus multiple uvb bulbs. The method of cultivation will be aeroponics using GH nutes and some humboldt additives. Multiple strains.
More importantly I'd like to know how many plants should I use? I can only mother 4-5 plants max to a hieght of 2 ft due to space. So the number of clones will be limited.
My personal thoughts were to take 20 clones and veg them 1.5-2 weeks before they switch to flower. With a vertical hieght of 36" I was curious if this would be adequate ?

Or more simply, what is the average rule of thumb for number of plants in a vertical sog? Is it relatively similar to horizontal grows? I just don't want to put to few plants in and come up short, likewise put too many plants with no veg and come up short.

 

[rickymac21]

99 views and no input? Someone has to have something for me. I apologize if its a stupid question, but like I said this will be my first vertical grow and I'd like to have a well thought game plan. If there's any info I left out that would be helpful to answer my question just say so and I can give it to you.

 

[northsidenovis]

? sounds a little short for vertical?? although I don't know anything about vertical grows just seems vry low to me??

 

[whodatnation]

Same rules apply as a horizontal grow. Plant count largely depends on veg time and veg time depends on how your genetics behave and how healthy you can keep them.

 

[rickymac21]

Same rules apply as a horizontal grow. Plant count largely depends on veg time and veg time depends on how your genetics behave and how healthy you can keep them.

Thank you. I knew somebody had some input. But I do have a question related more to sog. Some people say to do 4 clones per square foot with no veg time. Others say less plants with 1-2 weeks veg. My question is how could you even flower a freshly rooted clone and get good results? I feel like its not nearly developed enough to produce anything. Could be wrong. I've only done scrog so I've had long veg periods. But wouldn't it be better to have say 2 plants per sq ft (roughly) and veg for two weeks for root/node/leaf development. ?

 

[Prawn Connery]

If you're growing a 14-week haze, then flowering rooted clones may be the only way to grow indoors if you don't have much height to play with. That's why there is no real answer to your question: it all depends on what strain you're growing and what height you're hoping to finish up at.

You really need to know your strain first before you plan things. I always grow my indicas nice and big (4-6 weeks) before they go into my flowering room - because they don't stretch as much - whereas my sativas need far less veg time (2-3 weeks) before they go into flower, because they grow 3-4 times their height once 12/12 has been initiated.

What strains are you working with?

 

[whodatnation]

What he said.

 

[rickymac21]

What strains are you working with?

This is what I ordered, and some freebies.

Querkle
skywalker kush
sour kosher
Martian kush
Akorn (snowbud)
royal haze.

Querkle and akorn are the 2 most dominant indices so those should be fine. Then skywalker kush shouldn't be a big deal either, but I've heard Martian kush and sour kosher can be stretchy. I probably won't even grow out royal haze.

 

[rickymac21]

I did change my grow area though so I have a little more space. It's now 4'W x 4'D. The hieght varies because the ceiling is sloped. So one side of the area has a maxx height of 3' and the other side has a Max of 5'. Since its a vertical grow I technically could just put the taller strains on the taller side of the box and vice versa. The tallest the plants could get on the low side is 2' by the end of harvest and about 4' plants on the tall side of the box (this includes the 1ft deduction for the pots).

 

[Canon]

Try perpetual? New plants on short side, older on tall side. Bulb down middle.
Bushy will take more floor space than spindly.

Perpetual w/ training would seem like the way to go. 400 sounds good for bare bulb with a V-SCROG. But I'd Mylar everything nice and flat like a mirror. Get the most you can from the light.

 

[LakesideWiseman]

I think the most important variable that has yet to be answered, is... What media are you in? Hydro or dirt. If you are running a dialed hydro system and you are planning on running SOG, I would run multiple levepsl and then you should be able to flip them straight away. Dirt will need at least some veg i would imagine.

I would estimate that the vertical canopy space needed to utilize all the light from the 400 would be somewhere around 18-24", this is at a 18-24" distance from light to the canopy. If you have the veg room, and are at all concerned with plant #'s i would go with a 6 site hexagon, with more veg time, and perpetual would probably be your best bet. Modular scrog would be to your benefit here as well.

My suggestions for hydro: 12 SOG multilevel donut with no veg time. Perpetual would probably just be a hassle with this.

Or

6 site perpetual( or not) donut with 2-4 weeks. Flip around 12-18", depending on strain, size, and ceiling height.

Good luck and stay safe.