Here we go... I have a 2x2x4 box already fitted a 250w hps with fans, ventilation holes and fan cooled hood. My first grow grew like a monster and couldn't keep it short enough, outgrew the box and is now 5' tall. I know that 2x2 is very small but i'm in an apt and growing in a closet. So my question is what kind of grow should I do? SOG? SCROG? Or just regular plant, trimmed and topped to keep it short? This may also be a problem, I don't have room to keep a mother for clones. I know that starting a sog or scrog from seed isn't a good idea but how can I start them with only one box? Any advise would be appreciated.
You mean 2x2 footprint and 4' height? Currently I have almost the same set-up. My box is a little wider/longer, and I also supplement with CFLs, otherwise very similar. I can grow four nice-sized plants in there. I use kitty litter bins for pots, they are rectangular so maximize the root volume available for the floor space allowed, plus they are narrow and deep so hold moisture really well. The super-size bins hold over 4 gal each. I pull several ounces per plant per grow. The way to do it is LST to keep the plant a manageable size. You can pre-drill holes all around the top edge of the kitty litter bins to make tieing down a snap. You can add topping/fimming to the plan if you'd like. This aproach is easier than scrog, especially in a tight space. I don't think you want to consider sog, you shouldn't be looking for fast turnaround from small plants in that space. Instead, you should be looking to mazimize yield per plant for that small space.
The kitty litter bin i think is ingenious. I have a couple questions about it though. Do you put holes in them for drainage? Doing the LST do you just tie around the outside of the bin or do you criss-cross? How tall do you let them go? Last one. How much time does it take you from start to finish?
Oh yes, definitely holes in the bottom. Get twice the number of bins you need, make half with holes in bottom and around top, then put those into the others to catch runoff. Put a layer of rock inside the inner bin before putting soil in, that will give extra drainage space at the bottom. I don't have a set pattern for doing LST, and I recommend you don't think of it that way either. That's one of the beauties of the technique, there is no one way to do it. All that matters is you are keeping the buds level and exposing more lower layers of the plant to even lighting, stimulating lots of secondary growth resulting in lots of smaller tops, getting much the same effect as a scrog but without being tied into a screen (try moving you plants when its time for flushing when they are all woven into a screen). So some branches go around, some across, wherever there is space in the canopy for another bud to poke its head up. By harvest time some branches have been trained all the way across the pot and then back again, resulting in lots of zig-zaggy branches. Doesn't matter, the plant wants to grow so let it grow, just take the vertical height it wants and stretch it horizontal. I veg at least 6 weeks, sometimes other factors cause me to go longer. When I start flower the whole bin is covered in foliage across the top and spilling over the sides. I don't let the foliage get more than about six inches above the top of the bins.