square footage questions

I have a 2x2.75 square foot area. It is 2.5 ft to the top. Its in a cabinet and this space is the flowering chamber. My question: what would be a better configuration... 7 2 gallon pots or like 15 one gallon pots. I know that plants need a gallon of soil per foot of growth, but would 7 plants in 2 gallon pots yield more than 15 plants in 1 gallon pots? I will most likely be spearing these gals, and am running 1-400w mh, 1-250w mh, and 4 26w cfls. from what I can tell, I am running around 58,000 lumens in a 5.5sqft area... thats about 10,500 lumens in a sq ft. temps are between 75 to 85 deg F(day-night), lights are vented, and there is plenty of filtered airflow into the cab. Sorry, no way to post pics, I wish.. people would probably like this cabinet.. its pretty rad but kinda small. Im almost positive it could house at least 12 to 15 single cola gals Any Ideas of yeilds with this box.. I know different strains vary, but I have no way of knowing whats what. mostly all bag seed, 2 early girls I got from a friend

less is more

That is some pretty intense illumination. As for your pots, I'd go for the 2 gallon ones because having the roots tangle up is detrimental to the plants. If you want to use a 15 gallon pot then divide it up with bin liner to prevent this. Still, the 2 gallon pots will allow you to turn them around, sex and remove males easily. Besides, you're bound to lose a few plants to sex so you may be able to upgrade the size of the pots after this. Happy growing.

no, no. I would never put 15 plants in 1 pot or even two plants in the same pot for that matter.. sorry if I confused you. I can only fit 7 two gallon pots or like 15 one gallon pots into my cab. Would it be better to have 7 bigger plants or 15 smaller ones? and yeah, the light is super intense! PRETTY AWESOME ACTUALLY. The big problem with this box is that it will only allow 2.5ft for vertical growth. there is no way I could fit a 15 gallon pot in a 2 x 2.75 x 2.5 ft cab. would 7 plants in two gallon pots yield more than 15 plants in one gallon pots..

That is a difficult one! I'd be inclined to go for the 1 gallon pots unless your using feminized seeds. Since you have height restriction, you probably won't be vegging them very long anyway. After sexing you can move the females to the 2 gallon pots. It's going to be a tight squeeze so lollipopping may be your best option. If you're going to use feminized seeds then less is definitely more, besides, those things are expensive!

no feminized seeds unfortunately, I am trying to get some clones, but its a slow process when you don't know another grower around. Bag seed will have to work for now. how much could you yield out of A one gallon pot with a lollipopped plant under 650w of metal halide light? I guess thats the real question

Well, the MH will work beautifully for vegging the plant but it leaves A LOT to be desired when it comes to flowering. For that you'll want a High Pressure Sodium (HPS) bulb. If money is tight (isn't it always?) you can buy a HPS conversion bulb which will work in a MH ballast. If you use the HPS then as for your yield, that depends on so many things including strain. The ideal which professional growers aim towards is 1g/watt but if you get more than 0.5g/watt then you're doing well. My guess will be about 10oz in total if nothing major goes wrong. That is only a guestimate though so please feel free to grow beautifully and prove me wrong! Happy growing .

I was shooting for 8 to 9 ounces. The cab is super bright and Im planning on gettin a sunmaster warm deluxe red spectrum metal halide for flowering. I dunno though. Ive read a lot of people say more from hps, but some swear by metal halide. If I get a sunmaster 400w, then I can have 400w of red, 250w in blue, and whatever else i n cfl's for supplimental lighting. Also, not that its true< but ive heard that mh produces lighter buds, but they are more potent??? I think im gonna shoot for a conversion bulb instead of red spec metal halide. Just looked at them and if I go conversion its 15000 lumens more than the sunmaster

HPS does throw out more lumens than MH does and it that lovely red spectrum that flowering plants love. Personally, I grow exclusively under a 400w HPS but then again, most of my crop are autoflowering which more or less do away with the vegetative stage of growth. The little stretching it causes isn't an issue (not worth forking out £40 for a conversion bulb anyway). I haven't heard anything about MH causing more potent buds. The biggest factor in potency is not harvest too early (a huge temptation I know). Other tricks of the trade include leaving the plant in darkness for 24-72h once ready. This reputedly increases the THC content by 1-2% .