4x2x5 tent and hydroponics w scrog

Hello.

So after 3 months of work on my plant which turned out to be a hermie AND re-vegged due to, apparently, Nitrogen overdose + stress from stretching into LEDs and burning, I decided to cut her. I opened the tent after 3 days of not touching it, and the seeds were everywhere. Pollen spreading around, it was a mess. So that's gone, it was my first grow and I definitely learned a big lesson that costed a lot of money and time.
I'm cleaning everything now, re-arranging equipment etc, and next week I'm staring a new grow.

I'll use the same equipment, but this time I will do screen of green method. I have one 10 gallon DWC tote that I made, and was wondering, if doing scrog, how many plants should I put in?

I would like to do two plants. Last grow I started with 2 plants, but not scrog and no training of any kind, and it was very messy and busy. In my last grow, if i hadn't pull one plant out (it was a male), and they both stretched, it would be a catastrophe. This is the pic with only ONE plant in the tent:



So it pretty much filled up the whole tent and then some (i got it somewhat under control with gardening wire), there was barely space for a fan in the lower right corner.
I'm wondering, if i do scrog method, could i keep 2 plants under control or should I not risk it and do only one?

I really need help with this, because I just wasted 3.5 months, and I really need something to work out in my life at the moment. It's been a rough year.

Thanks y'all.

P.S.

I'm posting this under "hydroponics" forum, because of the explosive veg / stretch that, from what I've seen, does not happen while doing soil, at least not to the same extent as with hydro.

You should be able to run 2 plants. Probably start tieing them down as soon as you can and don't veg them too long.

This is how it looked like 3 weeks into veg with no training of any kind. It pretty much filled up (horizontaly) the whole tent...


The one on the left was significantly smaller then the one on the right, but still it was like a jungle in there.

I'm afraid it will happen again.

After watching the tent all cleared up, and doing some research I decided to do only one plant.
It's better to have free space, than to have lack of space, as I learned the hard way this morning.

I will do 1 plant, and in about a month will post an update to this thread as how that went, for whoever may have same question sometimes in the future.

White.Black said:

... I'm wondering, if i do scrog method, could i keep 2 plants under control or should I not risk it and do only one? ...

Click to expand...

Yes you can. That's the way I grow in my 2 x 4 x 5.

I grow 2 plants and each plant is spread out to fill up a 2' x 2' net. Then once the net is filled ... they go to flower. Some LST will be required to spread the plants through the netting during VEG ... but it's most definitely doable.

StareCase said:

Yes you can. That's the way I grow in my 2 x 4 x 5.

I grow 2 plants and each plant is spread out to fill up a 2' x 2' net. Then once the net is filled ... they go to flower. Some LST will be required to spread the plants through the netting during VEG ... but it's most definitely doable.

Click to expand...

Looking at the empty tent, i honestly can't see how you can fit 2 plants in this tent. My last grow (you can see on the pic above) was so explosive it completely ruined the plant due to lack of both vertical and horizontal space. That plant was flipped 4 weeks after germination.

I'm sure it's possible if i intentionally stunt their growth somehow, but if I can let one plant rip through the veg phase, and fill up the scrog net by itself, is there any reason why I should put 2 instead of one, and risk running out of space again?

White.Black said:

... Looking at the empty tent, i honestly can't see how you can fit 2 plants in this tent ...

Click to expand...

You can - please trust me on this. You can load that tent with a SCROG from corner to corner - 2 large plants each woven into a 2 square foot net to completely fill that 2 x 4 x 5. I average 12 - 14 oz. finished flower each harvest that way. I have the visual proof if you need ...

You can do it.

StareCase said:

You can - please trust me on this. You can load that tent with a SCROG from corner to corner - 2 large plants each woven into a 2 square foot net to completely fill that 2 x 4 x 5. I average 12 - 14 oz. finished flower each harvest that way. I have the visual proof if you need ...

You can do it.

Click to expand...

I trust you more than I trust myself lol.
I'm a noob, and my first grow failed due to lack of space, and few other things...I definitely am not experienced enough to be sure.

However, I do need the second grow to succeed to recover some money I invested into this. The equipment + 3 months worth of electricity, nutes, and work... was costly, so I'm a bit fearful I might run into same problems.

Still cleaning stuff after hermie spread pollen everywhere, and sourcing some new equipment... so starting new grow on the weekend.
Will decide by then and update this thread.

Thanks for your input.

Ok, so if anybody wonders about hydro with 4x2x5 tent... here's what happened to me 2.5 months in. 10 gallon tote, standard dwc.

I messed up scrog because the plant grew unusually short with tiny internode spacing. The "holes" in the trellis were just too big for the plant. I think it's because I topped it early, but it might be genetics or something else. It's RQS White Widow feminized. Either way, scrog for the most part failed, but the plant is doing well. I played it safe because I need the harvest, so minimal training, defoliation, or any kind of stress. For this grow I can tolerate smaller yield.

I'm glad I went the safe way and put only one plant. The roots are ridiculously huge, the plant is taking 90 % of the space and it's so big it's leaning against the tent walls. If I had two in here, it would be a total catastrophe. The airstones and the water chiller pump are completely covered by roots.

I find two usually works fine, but if you plan over four weeks veg you have to remove a Lot (and I mean a lot) of lower branches and nodes, otherwise airflow becomes an issue.

It's all about defol when it comes to space. Remove more lower shoots, give the plants space to breath. These two would have been a nightmare, but I found removing the lowest node completely and removing the first few nodes on each branch helps to even shit out.

You can get one plant to fill a 4x4 of you don't do any selective defol and open the plant up, or you can have 9 plants in a sea of green with the bottom few nodes removed.

It's all different strokes. I saw a dude on here the other day that has 6 in 3 gallon pots in a 2x4. Heaps of selective defol and work, but nice.

Last time I ran two in a 2x4 I removed more plant then I kept, but still had a scrog like canopy, only topped each plant once at the fourth. They could have both filled the tent by themselves, but sometimes you just gotta remove shit to get it to fit. This was only week two of flower, four weeks veg.


A big bonus of selective defol is that you end up with a bigger root mass supporting only the colas that will produce and get light. All the energy that is wasted on small shoots and hidden plant is directed to what is left.

Trust us, it's easy to fit two in a 2x4 if you are proactive with defol and lolipop heavily. Removing dozens of foot long shoots ends up being a bi-weekly occurrence during stretch.

White.Black said:

I trust you more than I trust myself lol.
I'm a noob, and my first grow failed due to lack of space, and few other things...I definitely am not experienced enough to be sure.

However, I do need the second grow to succeed to recover some money I invested into this. The equipment + 3 months worth of electricity, nutes, and work... was costly, so I'm a bit fearful I might run into same problems.

Still cleaning stuff after hermie spread pollen everywhere, and sourcing some new equipment... so starting new grow on the weekend.
Will decide by then and update this thread.

Thanks for your input.

Click to expand...

Just do one till you learn how to train

I grow 2 plants in a 30x30 with no problems. I use 3 gal pots though

White.Black said:

Ok, so if anybody wonders about hydro with 4x2x5 tent... here's what happened to me 2.5 months in. 10 gallon tote, standard dwc.

I messed up scrog because the plant grew unusually short with tiny internode spacing. The "holes" in the trellis were just too big for the plant. I think it's because I topped it early, but it might be genetics or something else. It's RQS White Widow feminized. Either way, scrog for the most part failed, but the plant is doing well. I played it safe because I need the harvest, so minimal training, defoliation, or any kind of stress. For this grow I can tolerate smaller yield.

I'm glad I went the safe way and put only one plant. The roots are ridiculously huge, the plant is taking 90 % of the space and it's so big it's leaning against the tent walls. If I had two in here, it would be a total catastrophe. The airstones and the water chiller pump are completely covered by roots.

Click to expand...

Looking good, but I would definitely be considering a HUGE defoliation in the very near future. That thing is dense. I am guessing that there will be some serious air flow issues if you leave it as is. How many fans do you have running in the tent for circulation?

TCH said:

Looking good, but I would definitely be considering a HUGE defoliation in the very near future. That thing is dense. I am guessing that there will be some serious air flow issues if you leave it as is. How many fans do you have running in the tent for circulation?

Click to expand...

Three clip on fans, 6 inch. One clipped on to the top frame, and two blowing from the bottom upwards... I will definitely try to defoliate some more, but the trouble with this grow is that the plant is super stocky and I can't even reach foliage on the sides and on the back.

I did not expect it, and it likely happened because i topped her way too early.
Still, the first one was a massive tall monster that grew into the lights. So good experience with two opposites, but I have to find something in between.
Learning everyday.

I just saw your post on another thread that you had a pic of the trunk on that thing. Holy schnikes!!!!

VincenzioVonHook said:

I find two usually works fine, but if you plan over four weeks veg you have to remove a Lot (and I mean a lot) of lower branches and nodes, otherwise airflow becomes an issue.

It's all about defol when it comes to space. Remove more lower shoots, give the plants space to breath. These two would have been a nightmare, but I found removing the lowest node completely and removing the first few nodes on each branch helps to even shit out.

You can get one plant to fill a 4x4 of you don't do any selective defol and open the plant up, or you can have 9 plants in a sea of green with the bottom few nodes removed.

A big bonus of selective defol is that you end up with a bigger root mass supporting only the colas that will produce and get light. All the energy that is wasted on small shoots and hidden plant is directed to what is left.

Trust us, it's easy to fit two in a 2x4 if you are proactive with defol and lolipop heavily. Removing dozens of foot long shoots ends up being a bi-weekly occurrence during stretch.

Click to expand...

I actually was not sure how to defoliate / lollipop this one. I did it "successfully" on my first plant because the plant was lanky and it was intuitive how to do, but this one... it's so bushy and stocky but the leaves and branches were tiny and strange (even though there's a lot of it), hard to explain.... I just did not know what to do with her because of the super tight internode spacing. I can't even reach on the other side of the plant "through" it it's so tight. So on the back of the plant, and on the sides i literally did nothing because can't reach it.

Anyway, yes... I'm learning. I'm not sure why she's so stocky, but I'm thinking i topped her way too early did not have time to stretch out a bit.
Getting them to look orderly like yours do is harder than it sounds.

I can see how an experience grower that know exactly how the plant going to develop can put 2 plants in the tent, but I need to do few more grows before I'm comfortable doing two.

TCH said:

I just saw your post on another thread that you had a pic of the trunk on that thing. Holy schnikes!!!!

Click to expand...

Yep...

Start on the front side. Trim what you can starting at the bottom using your snips. Then just give her a reach around to get to the back side. If you have trouble maneuvering the snips, you may pick up an xacto knife in the hobby and craft section at your local big box store like Walmart.

You're right about the net - squares are way too big and not not enough tension to be effective. You really wanna pin the thing down every day to grow sideways from a young age (i.e. put the screen 8" above the pot and keep the squares at 2.5"). I normally do 3 x plants in a 6 x 2 x 4 space so scrog is the only way. It averages 26-28oz depending on the strain under 2 x 400 hps. Flower space isn't ready yet so I'm trying 2 plants in the 3 x 3 veg tent. They have the same issue as you - really tight node spacing. Think it'll be fine though, just have to veg a week or so longer and keep training

If you can dim your lights or move them higher that will also stretch out those nodes a bit