Less pot, more plant.

I have a very small grow space, 12" x 12" x 30". The top 6 inches is for CFL's. That leaves a total of 24 inches for the pot and my plant.

The grow box only has one plant, so i could use a pot with a 12" diameter - but it's the height of the pot I'm worried about.

I don't want a 10" tall pot, and only have room for a 14" plant.

But I'm sure if my dirt was only 2" deep, it couldn't support a 22" tall plant.

What is the best balance for a total of 24 inches of grow space ????

2" tall pot -> 22" tall plant
4" tall pot -> 20" tall plant
6" tall pot -> 18" tall plant
8" tall pot -> 16" tall plant
10" tall pot -> 14" tall plant
12" tall pot -> 12" tall plant

if i had to do this and i had no other alternative than growing in that space, and i'm only assuming, then i would do this, get thick nylon membrane sheet or growbag that fits in that box as to fill the entire root area with medium and fill it 4" then start the seed in a small pot first, i would make a false ceiling through which only the bulb of cfl showing with ballsat over the ceiling with gaps at the sides fan on top, creating a cooltube over the lights, also, i would make holes in the box itself to drain and place a tray below when i water. then get the small type cfl', like 6 11w because the smaller cfl's usually give more lumen/watt ratio but check out for it, i think you need 2700k for flowering and 6500k for veg, there;s a subforum about cfl's check it out. well then i will transplant the small seed bury the stem in the bottom, then i would top it after it shows sex keeping only the 2 bottom side branches giving me 2 busites in that area. you might also need to tie them a bit. it would be a cool microgrow for a really light smoker

seems pretty simple to me.

Just get a big ass tupper ware. they are a lot wider then tall.

I like Zem's idea about a grow bag for your soil. The false ceiling/cooling is good, too!

My box is 18" x 12" x 30" and I wish I'd have gone with soil bags.

Thanks for the tips. I want to use some sort of container, a 9" square, 4" inch deep would fit.

So, four inches of soil depth / root system is adequate to support a 20" plant?

When you harvest and uproot a plant, what shape do the roots grow? are they narrow/deep? shallow/wide? Or will just just grow to fit whatever they're in without caring?

Here is the link to the grow journal I started on here. Yeah, I'd like to keep it a discreet/microgrow, though once I get this box/setup designed and working just right, I will probably built another identical unit (or two or three) for addition plants/clones/mothers, etc.. This is my first grow, but I'd say I've figured out a lot in the last month -- from an unprepared impulse buy on a clone, having to bring it home and hide it in a dark room for two days! (lmao, i know right)

But that got this project moving - now that it's in its new home with proper lighting, i have to wonder how much damage was done in those three weeks -- you can notice a LOT of stretching in that periods growth. But, if it dies, I'll get a new clone, only ten bucks wasted or, I have one seed of Sensi Star, so I may try that next.

And don't worry, I know my baby loves light. She's got 8x 26 watt CFL's. Four of them are 6500K, the other four (lower) at 2700K - (high noon is bright light, dawn/dusk is red light). She's 1 month, 10 days old. 18/6 for the first 30 days (under crappy conditions) and flowering for 10 days in the new box.



~n07m3

My grow journal (more pics) --> https://www.rollitup.org/grow-journals/410724-my-first-try.html

roots grow any direction they can. 8x26w cfls is a bit much in there and there's no point whatsoever in making another identical box, if you have a slightly bigger space, get a 150hps you will use less power have more weed...

roots "can" grow in any direction, but not without limiting the plant. I'm just trying to find the "right" balance. I think I'll try about a 5 or 6" inch deep pot - as wide as will fit in the enclosure - and starting with a small pot for cloning/veg (very short cycle).

I thought about HPS, but for such a small enclosure, heat would be a problem - or if enough ventilation was added to handle it, sound would be a problem.

WHAT!@!? " 8x26w cfls is a bit much in there" WHY? How could I possilbly have too much light if I can keep the temp and RH in check? (temp varies from 67 to 76 F, over a 24 hour period)

LMAO.. with 8x 26w, @1750 lumens each, I have a total of 14,000 CFL Lumens - All within 3" of the plant - approximately 140% power of normal sunlight.