Sea of Green help

ok so i am a little over 2 weeks in and my plants are starting to get a bit crowded. I want to do the SOG method with 8 small plants in a 2 sq feet hydro system with a 400w MH/HPS. I have lots of questions since im having a hard time finding some detailed info on how to do this properly. The reason i want to do this method is for maximizing my small setup and to get a good rotation going to have fresh bud more often.

my questions are:
How long should i let them veg before i flower? (height wise)
how do i properly cut the plants back to prevent bushing and overcrowding?
when should i begin cutting them back?
Ive read about toping them in a way that you can get 2 main colas- is this popular? successful? recomended?
I currently have 8 plants- 4 per sq ft. Is this ok? too many plants? should i switch to 6 plants over 2 sq feet?

Im sure this info is all out there but im having trouble nailing it down so that it fits my set up- any answers or references to other thread will be really helpful in helping for my first grow. Also please feel free to comment on my grow journal as that progresses.
Thanks!!! RDC

i would suggest switching but you could just go into flowering after the plants get to about 6-9 inches in height. you couuuld go straight into flowering but that decreases yield and some say potency.

vanslyke said:

i would suggest switching but you could just go into flowering after the plants get to about 6-9 inches in height. you couuuld go straight into flowering but that decreases yield and some say potency.

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yeah i think one of my plants is def ready- but at least 3 are def not- they are the ones i transferred a little later and they are really not big enough.

I would like to know a lot more about cutting back and trimming.

check out the growfaq in the top left corner. hit some bowls and do some research lol its good times.