how close is to close

Ten plants in 7 gal pots placed in a tight circle. Two 600 watt HPS lamps hanging vertically with very good air flow. Lights have a fan blowing from the bottom, good air exchange and humidity controlled at 45%. As the plants fill in do I spread the circle? Tie down branches? Just raise lights? How close is to close tohave the containers together?

Critical Mass

I would recommend at least 14 inches away from a barebulb, yes you can get it closer without burning or bleaching but the closer you get in a vert system your canopy coverage shrinks drastically. You want a balance between light intensity and canopy coverage,,, the same rule applies with all indoor growing methods.
Iv seen tops growing and developing just fine up to a foot above the bulb so keep that in mind.

I try to keep mine at 20- 24 in. This gives me a 4 ft radius to work with.

What about rotation? I was not gonna rotate thru flower but just did to make the plants lean the other way. Want them to b strong !

Dr.D81 said:

I try to keep mine at 20- 24 in. This gives me a 4 ft radius to work with.

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4ft diameter*

ProPheT 216 said:

What about rotation? I was not gonna rotate thru flower but just did to make the plants lean the other way. Want them to b strong !

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Rotation thats up to you. You may also want to think about some support to keep them from leaning too close. To answer you original question though, too close is when you hold the back of your hand near the light for 20 seconds and if you can feel heat that means too close.

Enviroment means a lot. When the leaves get crispy (sacrificial 1 or 2 fingers) back off 2 inch and go. That's a pretty hard push. But if your root system is solid,, it'll work good.

Dr.D81 said:

I try to keep mine at 20- 24 in. This gives me a 4 ft diameter to work with.

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I would like to point this out and agree, in my opinion that is optimal spacing when using a scrog to keep the canopy flat ie: no depth for a bulb at that distance to penetrate anyways. This gives you way more canopy coverage and still sufficient light intensity to grow some fine nugs. I would not say the same thing if it wasn't barebulb.

ProPheT 216 said:

What about rotation? I was not gonna rotate thru flower but just did to make the plants lean the other way. Want them to b strong !

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What about the containers. I'm asking how close is to close together for the containers. Should I gapp the containers... Right now they all touch and form a 4 to 5 foot circle

Well if their all touching already then I don't think they can get any closer. Don't overcomplicate this.

whodatnation said:

Well if their all touching already then I don't think they can get any closer. Don't overcomplicate this.

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I wonder if he was thinking his 10 plants are too much? Maybe drop it down to 8 with a few inches between containers.

What would be a good number for this setup (4 ft. diameter)?