Contents
Introduction
Hello growers! It seems that you’re ready to start your next(or first, probably) growing mission. And finding the right tent size is what brought you up here, right?
Well, let’s agree on one point first-
“The size of a tent has a role to play in yield, cost, harvest time and whatnot?”
Taking that for granted, it can be either as small as 2’x2′ for 1-4 plants, or as big as 10’x10′ for 20-30 plants, or anything in between. And the choice definitely depends on several factors.
Not to let you end up with a wrong size of grow tent, we’ve crafted a MEGA guide in this concern. At the end of the piece, you’ll be super-sure about the exact tent size you need.
You are welcome. 🙂
Grow Room Size Per Plant: What Matters?
Let’s pretend that you’re not certain about none of the grow tent size and the number of plants you want to grow. So, what would be the relation between these two? And what matters the most in this relation?
Well, you will find tons of answers to this question. Because there are many determining factors such as-
- The growth style.
- The lighting conditions.
- The size of the containers.
- The yield expectations.
- And so on.
Taking all these into the calculation, you can grow a different number of plants in a particular tent. As an example- if you want a yield of 2 pounds from a 4×4 grow tent, you’ve to put 2 pants inside and provide about 1000w of light. If you’re okay with 1-1.5 pound from the same circumstances, the plant number can be doubled.
However, we don’t overwhelm you with a complicated formula with so many factors to consider. Instead, we’re going to show you the rule of thumb that depends on only one factor- the plant training style.
Let’s learn about that first-
Size Guide for Low-Stress Training(LST)
Usual plant training practice is associated with low-stress training style(LST). LST is all about making the plants stop natural growth vertically, and maximizing the yield.
It takes quite some times than other less-practiced training methods(HST, Super Cropping). But as it’s the safest kind of practice, most of the growers love to stick to that.
There are two kinds of LST methods. SOG (Sea of Green) and ScrOG(Screen of Green) are the most familiar kinds, however.
SOG Training: Plant-vs-Size Guide
In a SOG plant training process, the intention is to provide appropriate light energy on the top layer of plants. If you make sure that the plants are at the same stage of growth, plants will create a green canopy, known as “Sea of Green”.
To provide sufficient light on the top layers of plants, the grow space should be utilized properly. And the rule is to keep a density of 1 plant/square foot, all at the same time.
Summary line? 1 plant/square foot is the ideal plant density for SOG style growing.
Here is the complete grow room size calculator for SOG-
Table: Grow Tent Size Guide for SOG
# of plants | Plant Density | Size of Tent | Our Pick |
1 plant | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 1.3’x1.3’ | TopoGrow 16″X16″X48″ |
2 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 1.3’x1.3’ | TopoGrow 16″X16″X48″ |
4 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x2’ | CoolGrows 2x2x4 |
6 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x4′ | iPower 48″x24″x60″ |
8 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x4′ | iPower 48″x24″x60″ |
9 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 3’x4′ | TopoGrow 48″x36″ |
10 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 3’x4′ | TopoGrow 48″x36″ |
15 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x4′ | Apollo Horticulture 48”x48” |
16 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x4′ | Apollo Horticulture 48”x48” |
20 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 5’x5′ | Helios 60″ x 60″ |
30 plants | 1 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x8′ | TopoGrow D-Door 96″x48″ |
ScrOG Training: Plant-vs-Size Guide
Growers who’re still new to plant training practices, often mix up SOG with ScrOG. Where there are visible differences between them.
Let me make them simple-to-digest.
In the ScrOG method, you have to put a screen with multiple openings in between the plant medium and the light source. Plant tips will grow naturally till the screen and start growing ‘horizontally’ above the screen.
You see, plants should be provided with a horizontal space to grow. For obvious reasons, that will occupy more space of the grow tent to facilitate the growth. And in usual cases, it’s taken as about 0.25 plant per square foot.
Summary line? 0.25 plant/square foot(4 sq. ft. for 1 plant) is the ideal plant density for ScrOG style growing.
Once again, here is the complete chart-
Table: Grow Tent Size Guide for ScrOG
# of plants | Plant Density | Size of Tent | Our Pick |
1 plant | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x2’ | CoolGrows 2x2x4 |
2 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x4′ | iPower 48″x24″x60″ |
4 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x4′ | Apollo Horticulture 48”x48” |
6 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 5’x5′ | Helios 60″ x 60″ |
8 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x8′ | TopoGrow D-Door 96″x48″ |
9 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 5′ x 9′ | Gorilla Grow Tent 5′ x 9′ |
10 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 5′ x 9′ | Gorilla Grow Tent 5′ x 9′ |
15 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 8′ x 8′ | Gorilla Grow Tent 8′ x 8′ |
16 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 8′ x 8′ | Gorilla Grow Tent 8′ x 8′ |
20 plants | 0.25 plant/ sq. ft. | 10’ x 10’ | Gorilla Grow Tent 10′ x 10′ |
Other LST Trainings
Apart from SOG and ScrOG, there are Topping and FIMing that we can relate to LST methods.
Although Topping doesn’t require any kind of stress implementation at all. But as these two are sibling kind of practices, we’ll discuss plant densities of both at the same time.
Topping and FIMing: Plant-vs-Size Guide
In both topping and FIMing, you need to pinch or cut off some of the top growth of the plant. They’ll eventually achieve a vertical growth and make better use of available resources(lights etc).
The basic rule of both of these training process is the same- you’ve to expose more tips towards lights instead of one. Eventually, there are 4-10 growth tips instead of a Christmas tree style single cola.
To let that happen, you need to allow some vertical spaces around each of the plants. The amount of area each of the trees may occupy is more than bush-style SOG plants and less than spacious ScrOG style. So, we can take a plant density of 0.75 plant/square foot as an ideal case.
Summary line? 0.75 plant/square foot(1.5 sq. ft. for 1 plant) is the ideal plant density for Topping and FIMing style growing.
Table: Grow Tent Size Guide for Topping and FIMing
# of plants | Plant Density | Size of Tent | Our Pick |
1 plant | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 1.3’x1.3’ | Casolly 16″x16″x48” |
2 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 1.3’x1.3’ | Casolly 16″x16″x48” |
4 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x2’ | CoolGrows 2x2x4 |
6 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x4′ | iPower 48″x24″x60″ |
8 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x3′ | Secret Jardin Lodge 4′ x 3′ |
9 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x3′ | Secret Jardin Lodge 4′ x 3′ |
10 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x4′ | Apollo Horticulture 48”x48” |
15 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 5’x5′ | Helios 60″ x 60″ |
16 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 5’x5′ | Helios 60″ x 60″ |
20 plants | 0.75 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x8′ | TopoGrow D-Door 96″x48″ |
Size Guide for High-Stress Training(HST)
The idea of high-stress training is based on manipulating the hormonal harmony of the plants by implying a high amount of stress on the plants. If done properly, it results in busher plants and higher yields than any other training styles.
Supercropping is the most recognized practices of HST so far.
Super Cropping Training: Plant-vs-Size Guide
I don’t know if you guys have tried out super cropping yet or not. But I found it extremely efficient to enhance your yield.
In this training style, growers control the height of the plants by bending tips of the branches and insisting the hormone go back to lower branches and boost up the harvest.
We’re not getting deep into the steps of super cropping(saving it for another post). But we guess you’ve got the scenario on what the plants look like when bent in this way.
While super cropping, plants need a decent amount of spaces between them. Because you’ve to bend the tips at an angle of 90 degrees and let them not touch each other.
So, the plant spacing should be not-so-narrow as SOG gro neither so spacious as ScrOG. A general plant density for super cropping is 0.5 plants per square foot, which means
Summary line? 0.5 plant/square foot(2 sq. ft. for 1 plant) is the ideal plant density for ScrOG style growing.
Let’s see the complete chart-
Table: Grow Tent Size Guide for Super Cropping
# of plants | Plant Density | Size of Tent | Our Pick |
1 plant | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x2’ | CoolGrows 2x2x4 |
2 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 2’x2’ | CoolGrows 2x2x4 |
4 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 4′ x 2′ | Amagabeli 48″x24″ |
6 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x3′ | Secret Jardin Lodge 4′ x 3′ |
8 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x4′ | Apollo Horticulture 48”x48” |
9 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 5’x5′ | Helios 60″ x 60″ |
10 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 5’x5′ | Helios 60″ x 60″ |
15 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x8′ | TopoGrow D-Door 96″x48″ |
16 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 4’x8′ | TopoGrow D-Door 96″x48″ |
20 plants | 0.5 plant/ sq. ft. | 5′ x 9′ | Gorilla Grow Tent 5′ x 9′ |
Importance of Selecting The Right Size for Your Grow Tent
Well, you must have enough attention in selecting the right size of the tent. Because you know that’s what can either ruin or flood you with yields.
Just as a reminder, here are the 3 importance of selecting the right grow tent size-
- It will influence your selection of supportive items and accessories.
- An oversized tent will definitely increase your overall growing cost.
- An undersized tent may create crowded and unhealthy plants resulting in bad or no yield at all.
- A bad size selection may end up with either overheating or over-freezing inside the grow tent.
Bottom Line
We’ve tried to keep the guide brief, just not to overwhelm you with tons of tips and advice. All you have to do is decide the growing style of yours, and follow the table associated with that style.
If you’ve anything in mind that we should include in the post, please let us know in the comment section. We’ll soon update it accordingly.
Happy growing!
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