Trouble reading today's article? Click
here: Issue #304 - Sunday, February 11, 2018
Dear Fellow
Grower,
In today's issue... - Should you grow 2 cannabis plants at a time, or 8, or 50? There are trusted methods to finding out the ideal number of plants for you to grow. Read below to learn! (The answer isn't 50; please don't grow 50 plants
at a time because of us!)
- We're answering a (good) question that we get fairly often: "Why do you prefer overseas seedbanks for cannabis seeds?"
- Cooler night temperatures have turned this weeks trophy pic so purple it's almost black! I'm pretty sure this is the kind
of cannabis Darth Vader would grow...
Nebula Haze & Sirius Fourside (founders of GrowWeedEasy.com) "When you have mastered numbers, you will in fact no longer be reading numbers, any more than you read words when reading books.
You will be reading meanings." ~W. E. B. Du Bois
How Many Plants Should I Grow? Nebula Haze |
If you’re about to start growing cannabis, you have a decision to make: How many plants do you want to grow?
This is one of the most common questions I hear from new growers, and it’s great if you’re asking yourself this
question because it’s actually pretty important.
If you grow too many or too few plants, you may not get the yields you want, and it can possibly take longer than needed until you get to harvest. It’s a little bit of a balancing act of finding the right amount of plants to achieve your goals.
The short answer is that for one grow light, you should plan on growing 1-8 plants. If you grow
more than 8 plants under a single grow light, chances are you're hurting your yields by not giving each plant enough space to thrive.
Don’t grow more than 8 plants under a single grow light
In the following pic, there are too many plants to grow all the way to
harvest under a single grow light; each plant will get less light and space than is needed to produce a significant amount of dense bud. The small pot size needed to fit this many plants in a small space will also eventually stunt each plant even if they did get enough space and light. This grower would likely get bigger yields by growing fewer plants in bigger pots.
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There are several factors that make a difference when it comes to how many cannabis plants you should grow including the size of your space and what grow lights you're using. I’ll explain each
factor so you can grow the perfect number of plants for your setup to maximize yields and harvest as soon as possible!
Factors to Consider
- Size of grow space
- Type/Size of
containers
- Grow light
- Ease of growing
- Yields
- Desired timeline (How soon do you want to harvest?)
Size of Grow Space
The total size of your grow space affects the number of containers you can fit in your grow space. If you have small containers you will physically be able to fit more plants in your grow space than if you were using big containers. If you’re growing with extra big
containers (for example a DWC reservoir) you may only be able to fit one or two plants in your grow space. The size of your grow space also limits how big your plants can get.
Because the DWC reservoir is large, there really isn't enough
room for another container in this grow tent.
Type/Size of Containers
Going along with the size
of your space, the size of your containers affects how big your plants will get. Smaller containers can support smaller plants, but if you want big plants you want big containers. Which size container? (full guide)
The max number of plants is
determined by how many plant containers you can physically fit in your grow space.
You will likely end up growing fewer plants than the maximum you can fit, but you won’t be able to grow more! Once you know what size container(s) you plan to use, you’ll be able to
figure out the upper limit of how many can physically fit in your grow space.
As a general rule, for hand-watered plants, if your final (desired) plant size is...
- 12" ~ 2-3 gallon container
- 24" ~
3-5 gallon container
- 36" ~ 5-7 gallon container
- 48" ~ 6-10 gallon container
- 60" ~ 8-10+ gallon container
The space around each plant container needs to be big enough to support the desired plant size! Keep in mind that each plant is likely going to be bigger than the width of its container, and needs enough room to spread out! Think about how big you want each plant to get, and leave enough room around each container to support the plant you want.
Grow Light Part 1 - Figure Out Your Light
Footprint
The grow light you use determines your total available light coverage (how much space can actually support plants). If you have a small grow light, it will only have a small amount of coverage even in a big grow space. You can only grow vibrant plants within a grow light’s “light footprint” - where the plant is getting direct light.
Therefore, the size of the light indirectly determines how much space you can use to grow plants. If desired, you can actually measure your light footprint directly by using a cheap lux meter. Or use the following general guidelines...
For CFLs & Other
Fluorescents (like the T5), the light footprint includes only the space directly under the bulbs, as the light (usable by plants) from fluorescent lighting does not travel much further than a few inches. All parts of the plant should be within a foot of a bulb, otherwise, they’ll be outside the light footprint. Therefore the total footprint depends on how you configure your CFLs or fluorescents.
CFLs or fluorescent grow lights should be kept just a few inches away from your plants
For MH/HPS, your light footprint is as follows:
- 150W - covers 2' x 2' (0.6m x 0.6m) area
- 250W - covers 2' x 2' (0.6m x 0.6m) area up to 2.5' x 2.5' (0.8m x 0.8m)
- 400W - covers 3' x 3' (0.9m x 0.9m) area up to 3.5' x 3.5' (1m x 1m)
- 600W - covers 3.5' x 3.5' (1m x 1m) area up to 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m)
- 1000W - covers 4' x 4' (1.2m x 1.2m) area up to 5' x 5' (1.5m x 1.5m)
A 150W HPS grow light can cover up to a 2'x2' area, so all the plants in this picture are getting good light levels. However, any plants outside that main area would be starved for light. You can actually see the corners of this tent are in shadow.
For LEDs, the light footprint is different depending on the model, and you can get this information from the manufacturer. Feel free to check out a short list of some cannabis-tested LED grow lights which
includes their light footprint information.
The Kind "K3 L600" LED grow light (like the one pictured below) has a light footprint of 3'x4'. That means any plants growing inside that area under the lamp will be fine, but plants outside that footprint won't be getting enough light.
Grow Light Part 2 - Make Sure There’s Enough Total Light Power for Each Plant
When it comes to the size of the
grow light vs how many plants, you never want to give a plant less than 75W worth of light per plant for HPS/LED, and 150W per plant for CFL/T5. A plant that receives less light than this likely will never get big enough to produce a significant amount of bud, or buds will be airy. So make sure to consider the size of your light so you don’t grow more plants than your grow light can handle!
HPS/LED/LEC: At least 75W per plant
CFL/T5: At least 150W per plant
As an example, if you had a 400W HPS grow light, you use the formula this way: Take 400÷75=5.3. That means you probably shouldn’t grow more than 5 plants under a 400W HPS grow light.
If you had 400W worth of CFLs, you would take 400÷150=2.6. That means you really shouldn’t grow more than 2-3 plants under that many CFLs.
It's important to keep in mind that these figures are bare minimums! For example, in my current setup, each plant I grow gets 250W to itself, while Sirius' plants get 300W per plant.
You've got a bunch of good info, but we still have more tips on how to make sure you're growing the right number of plants.
Why Order Seeds from Overseas? |
A few weeks back, we sent out our "2018 Trusted Seebank Review". As a result, we had a few growers write in to ask us "Why do you recommend seeds from overseas? Aren't there companies in the U.S. you can recommend?"
Although there are U.S. seed companies in existence, it's safer for ALL parties involved when seeds are purchased overseas. It comes down to how laws are enforced...
- Cannabis seeds shipped to the U.S. from outside of the country are confiscated by U.S. Customs if found, and the package continues on its way minus
the seeds.
- Cannabis seeds are still classified as "Schedule 1" in the United States federally, so shipping them domestically is the same as shipping heroin or methamphetamine through the mail!
Overseas seed
banks typically are located in countries with laws that are more friendly to seed banks (for example the U.K. and the Netherlands), which allows them to continue operating legally. This is why there are European seedbanks that have been selling to the U.S. since the 70s, but my cat is older than any of the most established domestic seedbanks I could find online.
In short: until we can get more cannabis-friendly legislation in the U.S., overseas seedbanks are definitely the way to go!
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"Just wanted to say THANKS for posting my pics of the blueberry kush! You have a lifer here.. your articles are spot on and information is readily available. I send folks to you numerous times a day! Keep up
the great work! Stay Lifted to the Moon!!"
~NugWitch |
Trophy Picture of the Week! |
"Nebula @ 65 days flowered, leaves purpled under cool night temperatures. Spent 36 hrs in dark before harvesting purpling look almost black. This strain is a really good mood elevator."
-Barny |
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Check Out Our Growing Community! |
Check out our friendly growing community to ask questions, discuss your grow, share pictures, or otherwise talk about growing cannabis with other real growers!
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Who Runs This
Newsletter? |
Nebula Haze:
I'll be honest with you, when I first started growing, I struggled. Now, it is my mission to
make it easier for new growers to get started as well as help advanced growers get bigger, better yields with less time and money. We are updating and adding articles every single week and our goal is to eventually build a comprehensive growing resource so anyone and everyone can grow if they want to! If we all share the knowledge there's more buds in the world for everyone :) |
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Learn which seed sources are personally recommended by Nebula Haze |
Sirius Fourside:
Sirius Fourside is a hobbyist grower who has gained the bulk of his experience growing in water as a medium (deep water culture, bubbleponics).
"Growing cannabis can be a relaxing hobby in and of itself, but it also saves you money and keeps you from having to deal with shady characters. Cannabis is much easier to grow than people give it credit for, and growing in water
doesn't increase the difficulty much, if any. But whether you want to grow in water, coco, or a different medium, we'll show you how easy it can be!"
Get Your Seeds Delivered
Safely! |
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GrowWeedEasy.com has put together a hand-picked list of all the available seed
banks including what type of payment they accept and where they ship in the world!
List of trusted seed sources:
http://www.growweedeasy.com/seeds Get Seeds!
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2017 GrowWeedEasy.com NOTE: If links aren't working or if pictures are not showing up
properly, please view the full newsletter here: http://archive.aweber.com/gwe-updates Disclaimer: Grow Weed Easy only recommends products that we've either personally checked out ourselves, or that come from people we know and trust. For doing so, we may receive a commission. Nothing in this e-mail should be considered personalized Financial, Legal, or Medical Advice. The
contributors to this magazine grow legally under their local laws but are not lawyers or medical professionals. Any decision to grow marijuana should only be made after consulting with an experienced lawyer or other legal adviser. Any medical decisions should only be made after speaking with a doctor or other medical professional. Be safe! How Did I Sign Up For This Newsletter?
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