Am i better off growing in 2Gal?

[ponzi314]

Just wondering if I’d be better off growing in a 2 gal pot. Right now I’m using 5 gal pots in my 5 ft grow tent. My plants keep outgrowing the space and basically touching the light. If i switch to 2 gal will thst keep my plant smaller? I’m ok with less yield i just want dense nugs. I plan to keep a rolling grow so i really only need 1 oz per grow cycle, if that.

or should i go even smaller? I know i can do LST/topping but still just want to try out a just water solution

edit:
i should mention I’m growing auto flowers with a SF1000 light

[Ckbrew]

What is better, is what is better for you. That said, see https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum...imental-clones for some insight. Imo setting one goal of dense buds may be short sighted when viewed in terms of total yield. And you grind your nugs before use anyway don't you?

[ponzi314]

Thank you for the link, one of comments by OldManGrower says he has a 3 gallon which is actually taller than the 5 gallon one. Im assuming 3/5 is too close in number.

You are correct tho i shouldnt just focus on dense buds, i should just focus on a healthy grow that fits in my space. Right now so far on all my grows if had leaves curling up and crisping due to heat stress i believe and I cant really do much at this point since they are fully grown. Posted a picture below.

[ponzi314]

Current grow where i outgrew space in 5 Gal

[SoOrbudgal]

2-5gal for autos is fine doesn't matter unless you learn to tie down those branches and within the first month of a auto. Photos give you more time to play with the structure.

[MagicMike66]

You should practice better training techniques, then you won’t need to worry about pot size too much.

[OldManGrower]

Two gallon is pretty small. I would go with three gallon pots using topping, defoliating and aggressive LST. This tends to keep my grow short. Also I never buy seeds that are supposed to grow over 100cm. Combining the genetics with the plant training usually keeps my plants short with a relatively high yield. Autos tend to be naturally shorter but applying the plant training is important.

[ponzi314]

Do you think going from 5gal to 3 gal with LST will make a diff or just keep the 5 gal with LST? I was thinking long run 3gal could be cheaper for me too since it requires less soil. I use live soil concentrate so that can be pricey.

Also yes 2gal is small but if i can stil get quality bud from it just smaller size plant then that would be ideal for me. But maybe thats just not how it works.

[Rootsruler]

I'm assuming from your post and pic your tent is 5' high? I'm also assuming it's a 2x2? I would setup a Scrog net to maximize yield potential. As far as "dense nugs" there are a few things you can do to improve density but almost all of it really comes down to genetics.

As far as pot size, a 2 gal will need more frequent waterings but will also not raise the humidity as much as a larger pot. I would say a 3 gal would be the perfect size in a 2x2. I grow in a 5x5.

Veg your plant until you can spread your branches across the net occupying half the net. The other half is to allow for plant stretch before you start seeing flower pistils. You want stretch across the net to fill it out as best you can with the last bit of it to grow around 8" x 12" vertically through your net. This will allow maximum photon coverage and penetration and reduce larf production. Lollipop and defol a week before flip. FIM a couple days before flip.

Scrog in my 5x5. 3 plants in 7 gal cloth pots.

[Ckbrew]

A nice full house

[ponzi314]

Wow that’s one crazy plant! Amazing work! I use those AC infinity self watering bases so I’m not too concerned on the watering.

But seems like the play is to go down to 3gal and just LST. it’s a 3x3x5 tent. I should have went a little taller but hindsight is 20x20 lol

[ponzi314]

Hey all, just wanted to say thank you for your help, seems like the play is to go to 3 gal pot and LST again, i did LST last grow and had great results.

i was hoping there was a way to limit the height without doing any work but doesn’t seem to be beneficial.

[OldManGrower]

I'm pretty sure that you could easily put 3-3gallon in a 2x2 tent. I can get six plants using 3 gallon pots into my 2.5x2.5 tent. This is especially true if you are growing autos.

[dirtymike]

Thats a nice looking bunch of green you got going.

[Rootsruler]

I'm pretty sure that you could easily put 3-3gallon in a 2x2 tent. I can get six plants using 3 gallon pots into my 2.5x2.5 tent. This is especially true if you are growing autos.

Yup. More plant sites means less veg time.

[bdeegan]

I grow in a 2x4x5 and a 2x2x4, and recently switched to 3 gal from 5’s to help restrict the height, and also to help them dry out quicker after a full watering. I haven’t run enough in 3’s to say for sure but I feel like the yields and quality have gone up since making the switch. I honestly attribute a lot of it to the bags drying out more b/t waterings. I have a new run in 3’s just starting so I’ll have a better idea in 3-4 months 😁🤞

BTW doing 4 different mephisto illumanautos. Im super excited about this mephisto run. My first plant of theirs was my last grow, sour stomper, wow 💚.

[OldManGrower]

I tried five gallon bags. The plants were larger but I could only fit four into the tent. A bigger problem is my back. After several surgeries, I cannot lift a five gallon bag, a three gallon is painful but manageable. I feel having more plants vs larger plants is beneficial in that I can try out more strains at once and have a better fall back position if one of them develops problems and that they take better advantage of the light.

[bdeegan]

I definitely hear what you’re saying about the weigh and sorry about your back! I think my issue with the 5’s stems from growing small plants due to my restrictions. The autos roots never consume the whole bag and when growing photos my height and veg time limit them enough to not take over the whole 5gal either. So a lot of wasted water, etc, and likely stayed water logged. All the 3gals had roots to the edges but not bound and like I mentioned the quality and quantity seemed to be better. I’ll keep y’all in the loop with this next grow.

[Rootsruler]

I grow in a 2x4x5 and a 2x2x4, and recently switched to 3 gal from 5’s to help restrict the height, and also to help them dry out quicker after a full watering. I haven’t run enough in 3’s to say for sure but I feel like the yields and quality have gone up since making the switch. I honestly attribute a lot of it to the bags drying out more b/t waterings. I have a new run in 3’s just starting so I’ll have a better idea in 3-4 months 😁🤞

BTW doing 4 different mephisto illumanautos. Im super excited about this mephisto run. My first plant of theirs was my last grow, sour stomper, wow 💚.

Probably has to do more with a larger pot allowing more root mass to develop than anything else.

[Cougar672]

In general a smaller pot = smaller root mass = smaller plant.
I am interested in how pot size affects plant size, too. I currently have a little experiment going with different size pots. Because the same seeds can grow different phenotypes of different sizes, the results won't be definitive, but growing 3 different varieties simultaneously, I expect to see a trend.
For comparison I have 3 Durban Sunrise Autos and 3 Jack Herer Autos in a 3 gallon fabric pot, a 3 gallon plant warrior plastic pot, and a 2 gallon plant warrior plastic pot. Also Poison OG auto in 2 and a 3 gallon plant warrior pots. They're only a few days old so it will be a while before there is a noticeable difference in the plants(if there is any), and a few months before I can compare the weight of the harvest.

[ponzi314]

When i start my next one in smaller pot ill post back. Im hoping that the smaller pot helps but i think ill be doing LST next time just to ensure, i want to make sure it can keep recommended distance from might.One i have now is 3 inches away

[Rootsruler]

I'm also a member of budbuilders.org and one of the members did a solo cup grow where he set up 300 seeds in solo cups in soil and grew them to harvest. I think he's about to start up another solo cup run but this time he's going to do 420 cups in a 5 x 5.

[Rootsruler]

If you have height challenges a scrog will help since you're spreading the branches under the net to keep them at a consistent height and get more even coverage of the canopy.