Can I grow a short but good yielding plant?

[Mrvinc911]

Alright, so I have this little table like box that has my salvia plant any window level so it gets light. I want to turn it into a grow box since it has a big hollow body, however it's not very tall 20'' High x 24'' Wide x 18 1/2'' in Depth. So I was thinking about trying to grow Autoflowering plants since I haven't grown one yet, however can I yield a good amount by having a short but wide plant? I saw this picture and this would make me really happy if I can get something this size. So I'm asking if I can have a 10'' plant size total from the soil up with a good yield (min. 5 grams would make me happy). If I can do this, how do I keep the plant short to fall within the 10 inches?

Examples:

 

[Weaselcracker]

Your lighting- presumably a cfl(?) in that space, will take up a few inches of room, and the plant needs a bit of distance from the light, and the pot will take up at least 8 inches or more so I think realistically 10" of plant height is about the most you could expect. I would be inclined to grow a photo (non auto) plant (or a few) in there as a scrog- under a screen. It can be trained to grow low and wide and make the very most of the space you have. Autos grow in such a short timespan that it's best not to train them because you're slowing them down and every day counts with them. I'm not saying the idea with the autos is a bad one- I have less experience with them- I just think they won't take to training. Just throwing in my 2c.

 

[Mrvinc911]

Your lighting- presumably a cfl(?) in that space, will take up a few inches of room, and the plant needs a bit of distance from the light, and the pot will take up at least 8 inches or more so I think realistically 10" of plant height is about the most you could expect. I would be inclined to grow a photo (non auto) plant (or a few) in there as a scrog- under a screen. It can be trained to grow low and wide and make the very most of the space you have. Autos grow in such a short timespan that it's best not to train them because you're slowing them down and every day counts with them. I'm not saying the idea with the autos is a bad one- I have less experience with them- I just think they won't take to training. Just throwing in my 2c.

My calculations for the plants are 7'' for the pot, 10'' plant, 3'' space from the light (CFL) then CFL Light 3''.
Just noticed I'd be 3''s over, maybe instead of 1 big 125W light have multiple CFLs scattered across the top of the box and have the plant in between them? Also I got 4 regular cannabis seeds so I might just grow them before I get some Autos, I think I'll just grow them to test it out.

*EDIT*
Just saw a picture of a vertical scrog, would that work to solve the plant distance from the light?

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yep. I haven't grown with cfls. But that's what I see people doing- having them scattered all around the sides of the plant, or sometimes spread out oriented horizontally above. You can get as close as one inch apparently.
Perhaps just try one (or two assuming you may get at least one male) regular seeds and a scrog and see how it goes. Or skip the scrog and use Lst and other training methods to spread it short and wide.

 

[Mrvinc911]

Yep. I haven't grown with cfls. But that's what I see people doing- having them scattered all around the sides of the plant, or sometimes spread out oriented horizontally above. You can get as close as one inch apparently.
Perhaps just try one (or two assuming you may get at least one male) regular seeds and a scrog and see how it goes. Or skip the scrog and use Lst and other training methods to spread it short and wide.

Yea I was planning on LST with the plant, however I wasn't sure if that would be enough to keep it short. I'll try scrog since I haven't done it yet. Huge thanks for the help, I'll be fixing this box up pretty soon

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yeah scrog is easy and fun and as long as you don't veg way too long (depending a lot on the stretchiness of the strain) it's fairly easy to control the plant by tucking and tying down as needed. I missed your edit about the vertical scrog I'll check that out

 

[Weaselcracker]

I thought of something that may help give you some ideas. My scrog setup uses four screens per (600w) light, and each screen is almost exactly the size of your box - 19" x 24" When I first joined the forum a few months back I posted a thread trying to figure out when I should 12/12 some new strains I was trying. I was obviously hoping to fill the screen but worried about vegging too long . I never got an answer to my long winded question so just went ahead and winged it. Originally - I thought all three strains were sativa dominant and would stretch tons. I was wrong - it turned out that two of the three were indica dominant.
One of the strains was a 'Jack Herer' - but an indica dominant version and I didn't scrog it- just lst and one topping. It looked quite a lot like one of the ones in the pictures you linked to- ended up very dense and about 9" tall. Never took a photo
Let me dig up that thread....
Sativa (dominant) strains when would you 12/12 these ones?

I've got a bunch of these screens going- the size of your box. Different plants at different stages. I could check some of them sometime if you like- measure the height of screens including the pot and see what it would take to make one fit in your grow box.

 

[Mrvinc911]

I thought of something that may help give you some ideas. My scrog setup uses four screens per (600w) light, and each screen is almost exactly the size of your box - 19" x 24" When I first joined the forum a few months back I posted a thread trying to figure out when I should 12/12 some new strains I was trying. I was obviously hoping to fill the screen but worried about vegging too long . I never got an answer to my long winded question so just went ahead and winged it. Originally - I thought all three strains were sativa dominant and would stretch tons. I was wrong - it turned out that two of the three were indica dominant.
One of the strains was a 'Jack Herer' - but an indica dominant version and I didn't scrog it- just lst and one topping. It looked quite a lot like one of the ones in the pictures you linked to- ended up very dense and about 9" tall. Never took a photo
Let me dig up that thread....
Sativa (dominant) strains when would you 12/12 these ones?

I've got a bunch of these screens going- the size of your box. Different plants at different stages. I could check some of them sometime if you like- measure the height of screens including the pot and see what it would take to make one fit in your grow box.

If you can get those measurements that would be great. Also those plants in that thread looks really nice, no harvest pictures though.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Sorry man. I am away from my grow most of the time these days and hanging in by the skin of my teeth. The reason I am not doing a journal is I'm not able to give them much time at the moment, which also accounts for the fact of why I forgot to take harvest pictures, etc. I'll update that thread I linked to. I got a little over 2 oz from the mama thai and about 1 1/2 from the PC.
Okay. Anyway, I was at the grow today and snuck in there, in the dark with a green light, and watered everything and I measured that stuff for you. I measured a typical looking plant setup out of the 8. It came to this-

pot height-(actually soil height, it's a ten gallon pot I didn't fill) - 8"
Height of soil to screen - 7"- this could be reduced by few inches
Height of buds above screen. -4" (this particular plant has very small short buds, other plants were closer to 8 inches above the screen)

I think it would be possible for you to work something out with the space you have. If it was me I would put the whole thing in the box on a slidable piece of plywood, or rollers, so you could roll it right out and access the plant to tend to it.
This is the plant I measured. A picture of when it was just three weeks into flowering. I could not take any photos today because I was there in the dark.

 

[Mrvinc911]

Huge thanks for getting me the measurements, thought you just forgot about me lol. Alright, so I guess I could fill my planter up with 5'' of soil (it's long for 1 plant) 6'' inches above the soil (where the shelf is at) turn that little thing that slides out into the screen. Then the buds should have 6'' above the screen if the light is above them. I think that a vertical scrog would be good though, give me 9'' above the screen if I do it vertically. Also I'll build a little cart like you said, or just have all the walls removable pretty easy like with some short screws.

 

[Weaselcracker]

Yeah I checked out some of those crazy vertical/circular scrogs. Really amazing.
I would just have it so the front side doors open wide and the plant slides out. You'll want to be accessing it all the time for watering and inspecting and admiring.
No reason you can't train it to just 3 or 4 inches height above the pot. Maybe even less. I usually keep more space so I can try to get in there and trim under foliage, and water the plant. (A long necked watering can is what I really need) . But for a small one plant grow you can maybe get by with it being very low. Access shouldn't be as difficult especially if you can get at it from all sides.

 

[Mrvinc911]

Alright, I'll be making a little tray so I can easily slide them out. I think wheels are too big for a tray, I guess I can try doing 2 plants at once? I'm not sure as I don't want to spike my electrical bill, price in electricity is already high for me.

 

[Weaselcracker]

It will probably amount to the same electrical bill however many plants you grow because you'll probably want to end up filling the available space I'm guessing. I can't imagine it being very expensive though.

Assuming you use the same wattage per area that I do (4 of my screens per 600w) it would be 150 watts.
18/6 veg would use 81 kilowatt hours per month. At 10 cents per KWH (my rate is about 8 cents) that would be $8.10 per month.
During 12/12 flowering- 54 KWH per month. $5.40.
Even if your rates are double this- it seems affordable. (?)
Maybe cfls use less/more wattage overall. I'm not sure.
You'll need to put some ventilation in there- maybe a computer fan or two and it will be good to go. I think. I've never had a grow box. It sounds fun.

 

[Mrvinc911]

My calculations are with the 125W light and just 2 pc fans at my power tier it comes out to $10/mo so I thought it'd be $10/mo per plant and also it'll go up during summer so I'm not sure. Who knows I might give it a try for the 1st grow. Also those calculations were based off of the 18/6, however I was thinking 24/7 for vegging but I may just do the 18/6. I'll try to get this grow box setup once I get the material for the walls since I already have everything else. Also I was looking at an fan that will be able to be strong enough to have a carbon filter on it so if I end up having a party people wouldn't be asking why it reeks. What type of fan will I need for that? I was reading that I'll need a kitchen vent fan but they're sorta out of my budget and they're pretty loud I'd assume $80/ea Thought that'd be more for a grow room not sure.

 

[Weaselcracker]

I don't think I can help you much there because I haven't had much experience with small fans. You can probably find cheap or free used bathroom fans in all sorts of junkyard/thrift type situations. The ones I've tried were noisy as hell for what you want. A lot of people do the complete-stealth grow box thing though, so it is possible. I'm sure that checking around other journals will produce the answer you need.

 

[Mrvinc911]

Okay did a quick search and found some squirrel fans that I can use online. they're like $13/ea and I'll need 2 so I think I'm good on that information now. Huge thanks for helping me out

 

[FloridaSunset]

I don't have much experience, and none on a cabinet grow, but I know you can pick up a 4" inline fan for around $20US online. That should be more than adequate for you. 4" ducting isn'tpricey at all and a 4" Carbon filter isn't a lot either. To gain room you'd want to have the fan mounted outside the box itself.

 

[Mrvinc911]

Oh the plant is about 1 1/2 months into vegetation. She's looking good and 1 4'' fan that I had laying around is working just fine with the 125W light. Also I decided I don't mind the smell so I think I'll be good now.