Headed for a crowded tent with mainline, when should I switch to flower?

[TofuFlavoredSpam]

Short version
5 plants in manifold/mainline, soil, 5 gallon smart plants. 2x 400w HPS/MH lamps. 4x4 tent. Trying to figure out at which point I should switch to flower to maximize my yields. Don't wanna overcrowd, but don't wanna go too early either. I know now is too soon, but I'm not sure how fast it's coming so I would love some input from some more experienced growers. Photo is from last night, 1 week after second topping, about 5 weeks from germ.


Long version

Hey guys, for my second grow I started a few more seeds than I was planning on growing, but they're all different strains and they all just really really took off so I didn't want to cull any.

I'm about 5 weeks in from germ IIRC. I'm in a 4x4 tent, with 2 400w HPS/MH lamps. I have 5 plants in 5gal smart pots, they've all taken a manifold beautifully, with 8 colas each. They're all at very even heights to themselves, but I haven't quite gotten them level with each other yet. I'm putting in some cut down mid sized tomato cages today to help with training.

I know 5 plants is a lot for this tent size (I see pictures of the 4x4 super full with just 2 plants. I want to fill the tent up really well, but I don't want to like, super overcrowd, so I'm trying to figure out when I should flip. I'm attaching a picture from last night.

It's a roughly 7 foot tall tent, so I have vertical room. Temps are very low as intake is taken directly from a window AC.

Misc details if you're interested:
5 different strains: I've got Barnies Strawberry Lemonade, Barnys Ayahuasca Purple, Seedsman White Widow, Seedsman Gelat O.G., and Royal Farms Sour Diesel.
Super heavily perlited soil
Fox farms trio
Watered with RO water (my tap is >900ppm ) with GH calmag.
PH is currently at 6.5, I let it fluctuate a little week over week between 6.2 -> 6.6
dual vivosun fans (which are sadly loud AF).
Filtered air intake (there are a lot of literboxes in the room, so I carbon filter intake as well as exhaust) direct from an AC
4 inch intake duct/fan/filter at full speed, 6 inch exhaust duct/fan/filter, at 50% speed. Maintains good negative pressure without being outrageous.

[bboyfromwayback]

You’re growing in 16sqft, my tent is 14sqft and I currently have 5 plants 4wks into flower, 4 were manifolded. As long as you keep the humidity down and defoliate enough to allow plenty of light penetration you’ll be fine and maximize your coverage which is what you want. I like all my plants to be over 12” before I flip to 12/12 but sometimes you’ll have a runt or two that may hold you back. If the others get too big I’ll put something under the runt to bring it up to the canopy then flip. You get bigger plants with more yield per plant growing fewer plants per grow. I like variety so I grow more plants at a time which produces less yield per plant. Overall tent yield stays the same.

[ChadWestport]

I typically flip them based on size not duration, but it roughly gets where I want it in 8 weeks. I like between the 18-24" height before I flip there is a lower ceiling or the light needs a lot of clearance. I'll typically wind up with a 36-48" plant at the end of stretch. Some strains will stretch more than others, if you run the same strains a few times you will figure out which ones stretch the most and you can then compensate on the next grow out. Another benefit of going about 8 weeks, is you can do a perpetual grow if you have two tents. While one tent flowers for 8 weeks, the other vegges for 8 weeks and then you repeat the process.

Man, over 900ppm tapwater, that is gnarly. Glad you have the RO set-up. The plants are looking good and will be bushy little monsters in no time. Nice stuff

[dphipps1020]

Just try not to stretch them too wide and you shouldn't overcrowd your tent. Like everyone else said already, it's really personal preference on when to flip. Most people base it on height because they already know what they can fit in the tent without going overboard. That said, you did good with your number for a second grow. If I was using my 4x4 for flowering I would probably have 4-5 going as well and let them get about 20-24" and flip. I too, hate cutting down a girl who's growing strong because I might run out of room. Right now for example, I have 8 extra clones I didn't plan on having because someone was supposed to come get them and hasn't yet. Head start for the next run but I'll be cutting some down because I won't have the room. Anyway, I think you're going to be fine. They should grow together nicely.