Left plant 6wks veg right plant 5 wks then flipped and that was probably 3-4wks from flip. Yea people say things but your mileage will vary. I couldnt feed 2x a day like some claim is fine. Some say 3 gallon coco is their favorite while others grow in 1 gallon or less.
It was a nightmare for me I was frantic couldnt wait to be done.. With “2” plants lol. Imagine 8 I think you got. Just wouldnt work for me but if it works for you thats great, but if it doesnt I thought Id share the route I took.
Boils down to just using too much water and growing too uncontrollable of size of plants unless you know strain well. Ive done a few grows controlling the rootball size amd infact see its correlated.
I make small plants for a square foot with that logic. When given a rootball 4x bigger than the enviorment/space called for the plant just exploded like a plant grenade. That can happen on a larger scale like with my first 2x2 grow. Turned to mold.
I just think with those plant counts youd save a lot of time and water doing smaller pots especially if you DIY your coco. Washing 3 gallons per plant is a pain.