Hello fellow blades! This will be my first grow, and before I get to far ahead of myself I would like some insight from more experienced growers. After countless hours of researching which lighting and what setup to use, I have finally formed a pretty good idea of what I want do. I want the maximum yield out of my grow box, around 4'L x 2'W x 4'H is what I plan, using bubble buckets or ebb-and-flow ScrOG method with a 4' 8 lights T5 setup all the way through. I suppose I will start by asking this: 1) I really don't know how to word this very well, but at what point does it become counter-productive to keep adding plants? Say I have 4 plants that each weigh 1oz when I could have grown 2 plants that each weigh 3oz...follow me? 2) At what point do I begin to supply my plants too much light, if that is even possible? 3) Bubble buckets or ebb-and-flow? I'm really interested in DWC and hydroponic systems because of the simplicity and effectiveness, but I want the best possible option. Any help is greatly appreciated!
your enclosure is 4 foot high. Take away the space needed for the hood and the pots. You are not left with much space now correct? I would say more plants ( as many as you can fit) being short. In alot of cases choosing a size is an option but you do not have that option in my view. 2x4 you can fit more then 4 plants. I would say 8. 2 rows of 4 in 2-3 gallon bags. maybe even 10 can fit. What would you rather have 2 plants that reach the lights that you bend alll around. OR 8-10 shorter plants. your 4 plants idea if you top them ALOT is not bad. Anyway hope this helps. Never to much light unless its to HOT. thats my opinion.
We are almost in the same boat my friend. I have 4'x2'x8' (LxWxH) and am using t5 and scrogging as well. I would say only do 2-4 plants at the most.. The beauty if a scrog is lettin ur plants fill whatever space u need, may have to veg a little longer but it's better than having 6 Plants all tangled in a mess trust me. And the tops will be larger on a more mature Plant If u dont overtop it. as to the light, throw em 2" under the lights if u have a fan.. Fluorescents don't really give off heat and u can never have too much light! I'm more of a soil guy but dwc usually work very well with scrogs and dwc usually yields well. Hope that helped a bit. Keep posting we seem to have almost identical space haha
Under your circumstances I think Bscrog's advice is solid. I've always heard the 1 plant per square foot rule. Being a novice with four grows under my belt I still don't know wtf those people are talking about.
I'm running in a 4'x2'x4' tent. I've been running 6 plants in a SCROG under an 8x4' tube T5. You want the lights as close to the canopy as possible. I have a fan blowing along the length of the fixture would heat doesn't build up. # of plants really comes down to how long you want to veg. Just maintain a flat canopy and you'll be happy with the results. I harvested 4 1/2 oz. on my first run and I'm on round two right now.