Over-crowding?

[the ginger man]

Hello Folks,

My four Grapefruit babies are now 40 days old and one foot tall. I'm ready to go into flower stage. The plants are healthy and bushy and my main concern now is that they are too crowded in the closet set up I have running. The four are in 11 litre pots and occupy roughly one square foot each. Some leaves and stems are getting flattened against the door and wall and I know this is likely to get even more crowded as the plants will at least double in size during their 60 day flowering stage. Should I remove one plant, I was thinking of keeping it as a mother, to give the other three more space? Is over-crowding a bad thing, does it effect plant health and final yield? Or is it ok to let them grow so close together?

 

[joekikass]

Shit i have grown Grapefruits before and i only veged them for like 3 weeks but they were more than a foot tall , are they all females ? What kind of light are you using ? You will need to transplant aswell and now is a good time .

 

[the ginger man]

Hey Joekikass,

I'm using a 400 HPS in a closet. They're already in 11 litre pots so no need to transplant I guess. How big did yours get towards the end? They're really bushy, eh? I'm worried I haven't enough space though. What kind of yield you get? Apparently it's a good smoke.

 

[the ginger man]

Just to give you an idea of how dense the growth is, here is a picture. You can make out how the leaves and stems are getting flattened against the door and at the back wall it's the same. Can someone tell me if they're too crowded please? I was thinking of reducing down to two plants in this small area.

 

[hondaturbo]

watering is probally going to be your biggest issuie

 

[FilthyFletch]

In such a small area sog would be good for you trimming most of the lower growth as light will not make it there anyways.Crowding will decrease yeild.Make sure you have a fresh air intake going in and an exhaust fan getting air out and a regular fan keeping stale air moving or you ll find a big decrease and health problems too.I would have pulled 1 clone frome ach plant got it rooted tossed it into 12/12 sexed the clone and you know what the original it came from is that way if 1 or 2 are males you yank them and have instant room for growth.

 

[mogie]

First are you sure those are all female?

Yes take one out and keep it as a mother.

Over crowding leads to slower growth, increased problems with disease and lighter yields.

Do you need to transplant?

 

[the ginger man]

Thanks for getting back to me guys. I should have mentioned that the seeds are feminized, Grapefruit from femaleseed.nl.

With the watering issue, it's not too bad, the 11 litre pots take 2.2 litres of water every three days. Ventilation and temperature are also regulated favourably.

I have decided to remove two plants and then go for broke with the two left. One plant will become a mother and a friend of mine is going to 'foster' the other one and incorporate it into his tent set-up where he has more space.

Do you really think I need bigger pots? I thought 11 litres, that's almost 3 gallons would be big enough. Remember the plants are still in veg and are about 14 inches tall and 40 days old. I expect them to reach about 3 foot in flower.

So, I'm looking at a scenario of two plants in an area about 3.5 foot by 1.5 under a 400 hps and being fed on the biobizz range of products. Any ideas on how to maximise yield? I have already FIMed two plants and they are growing more shoots at cut off site. How about pruning etc? Does a bigger, more vigorous plant necessarily mean more bud? What should I be expecting in terms of ounces all going well?

 

[abudsmoker]

yes a transplant to a 5X10 room at least

 

[the ginger man]

Would love to abudsmoker, problem is I'm limited to this converted closet.

 

[mogie]

Your flower room is 3.5 x 1.5 feet?

 

[the ginger man]

Yes sir, it's a closet Mogie.

 

[mogie]

Here is a link to FAQ list of different pruning techniques. Check them out and see which works for you. https://www.rollitup.org/view.php?pg=faq&cmd=category&id=34

 

[the ginger man]

Nice one. I was thinking of going Scrog. Thing is they grew so quick I was taken by surprise. Now the stalks are quite thick but I'll definitely concentrate on the two remaining plants when I have the other two removed. I reckon it's too late for LST, what do you think? Is two big plants in such a small area realistic? Next time around I'm going to go with SoG in smaller pots. But that's the fun of it all, isn't it, experimenting, altering methods and comparing results. Nice hobby this indoor horticulture.

 

[pjboy31]

hey, I was reading about your crowding problem. I have 13 babies in a 4wx5lx8hght room. Now I recently pruned the lower section and this helped alot. I am giving them c02 about 4 times a week. and I have a nice two fan and exhaust system going as well as a mounted wall(window) air conditioner. Now, I have not had any trouble and I am in the second week flowering. But at times a cautiously bring my babies out of the room and check them and water them, not always, but sometimes. So far so good though. I am concerned though about overcrowding so I also have mounted grow lights around the rooms walll and two lamps sit on the floor inbetween all the ladies.

Hope this helps, I would love to hear how it goes. good luck!

 

[pjboy31]

p.s. these pics were from last weekend I have scince then been adding c02 and pruning wait till you see..............lol w00t!

 

[mogie]

I had the same thing happen to me. Too late to scrog so as an experiment I just chopped them in half. Let them veg another month. They turned out so bushy. So you are right experimenting is fun.

 

[the ginger man]

Nice work pjboy31. Again you have more room than my closet but the same principles should apply no matter what the scale. I'm looking forward to doing a bit of pruning and being creative, trying to get the most out of what I have. What height are yours now and how closely packed together are they?

 

[pjboy31]

hmmm well i have them in these elongated ummm planters as to encourage longer deeper roots, ...as for weight not too sure but the pots I am using are long and tall so that helps and right now they are asleep otherwise I would clic some photos but I tell you this it looks better in there since the pruning. The cutting didnt fase my babies at all. I thought for sure they would get mad at me and go into shock lol...........

 

[the ginger man]

Would love to see them pruned and how they look all packed in together. So you're aiming for tall plants with buds only towards the top?