I can legally grow 12 plants. I have 9 seeds, all auto flower fem. I can pick up another 3 fem clones from my local hydro store if room permits. I did some work for the local store and they hooked me up with: 600W extreme nano digital ballast Digilux 600w digital bulb 95,000 lumens Lumenaire 6 air cooled sealed reflector hood 6" hurricane inline fan I'm going to be growing in a chicken coop, I want to keep it sealed so here are a few things I plan on ordering: 5x5x7(tall) lighthouse tent iPower carbon filter 2 vent hoods for exhaust and intake. Automatically open and close. I'll be adding some very fine screen to them. Fan speed controller Obvious others like ducting, light hangers, soil and pots. I plan on using general hydroponics floral row, bloom and micro. Any thoughts/advice on my setup? How many plants can I fit, comfortably in a 5x5? Thanks!
Well, it sounds like you've got a good handle on it. The only other thing I might suggest is your grow medium. I suggest to go hempy for a first grow. The three-part GH nutes are great for the Lucas Formula and combined with hempy, it simplifies things quite a bit, and although you still get good "hydro" benefits, it's more forgiving then DWC and more controllable than soil (just my .02). I don't have any experience with autos, but I've always been a fan of growing fewer, slightly bigger plants. I suppose you could use smaller pots and run them 12/12 out of the gate. In that case you may be able to run all of them. In my experience, I wouldn't run more than three or 4 plants in a 5x5. One more thing, so I understand correctly. If you are growing in a chicken coup, although you mentioned sealing it, I strongly suggest making sure you have a decent handle on environmental controls (ambient temps, medium temps, RH, fresh air flow, etc,). That usually goes without saying, but if most growers would focus on actual growing and the needs of their plants beforehand they would have fewer issues along the way and better results quicker.
You might also try the sea of green method which is to grow lots of plants- fill up the grow space and flower them early so you get one good main cola from every plant. I think this would work well with the AUTO experience. Keep us posted.
any other opinions about number of plants in the space? I think I'll stick to 9. (3x3) in a 5ftx5ft tent. I could also fit a 6.5x6.5ft tent, thats 6 inches shorter. I know a normal 600W HPS doesn't cover much more than 5ft though? I was going to go with a pre mixed soil that includes coco hair, pearlite, castings ect. 5x5x7 & 6.5x6.5x6.5 tents - http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00725XD3C/ref=ox_sc_act_title_9?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A3VTE9RTFS7WGL
One thing to keep in mind. When you buy a tent, especially that size, make sure it has zipper access on both sides as well as in the front. The one you picked does. It sucks ass trying to stretch that far to water, or to have to take everything out to get to the back plants.
The shed/coop I'm going to grow in is 9ft 5in x 13ft 8in. Even if the light only covers half the tent well it would be nice to have some room for working/watering. I also have two lights that each have two 42W CFLs that I could throw on both ends.