Maximum Yields in Small Spaces

Maximum Yields in Small Spaces Large, widely spaced plants have gained favor with commercial growers. Fewer plants need to be propagated, management is simplified, and yields are respectable. However, lighting is inefficient, as more bulbs (typically without reflectors) must blanket the growing area. Longer vegetative periods are required widening the window of opportunity for insects, disease, and other pests to become a problem. More can be produced in a year with less time between harvests with high density, low profile plantings. People with limited space who want to use electricity more efficiently are the most likely to benefit by "carpeting" an area green. Beware, crop monitoring requires more diligence with this type of method, but the yields often out weigh the drawbacks.

Here's an example:
Mr. Green lights a 4' X 8' area with two-1000W H.I.D. lamps without reflectors, moderate ventilation, and grows in a peat mix. He grows eight plants in the area in five-gallon pots. The plants are 4-5' high when he harvests and he gets 48 peppers for about four months of work. Not bad, but that works out to about 1.5 peppers per square foot in for months. A lot of the lower plant is wasted due to lack of lighting and it takes longer to clean up the crop after harvesting and leaves a lot of debris to dispose of.

Mr. Jones grows in a 3'X 5' area with two-400W H.I.D. lights with high quality, flat white air-cooled horizontal reflectors. There is always a steady breeze of fresh air circulating between the 20 plants he prunes that finish at about two feet tall two months after the clones have rooted. CO2 is supplied for the first three weeks of flowering only. The plants are grown in rockwool, and he uses a water-based system in warmer months with stainless steel cooling coils in the reservoir. He picks about 24 peppers in two months. That works out too a little over 1.5 peppers per square foot in two months (compared with Mr. Green's 1.5 peppers in four months). Each plant is the same size with little stem, making clean up a breeze and reducing material to dispose of. He is able to avoid insect infestations and diseases with sound growing methods and quick crop turn around time.

Now here's the difference:
Mr. Green ends up harvesting 0.375 peppers in a month, while Mr. Jones harvests 0.75 peppers per month. He also does it with about 53 watts per square foot, while Mr. Green uses a little over 63 watts per square foot; about 20% less electricity is consumed per square foot. In a year, Mr. Green could produce only four and a half peppers per square foot while Mr. Jones produces nine. That's twice the yield in one year, with less electrical consumption in less space.

Mr. Jones keeps four vigorous mother plants under one-250W metal halide lamp, they are replaced every four months or so as they get woody, and can take loner to root. Occasionally, he takes cuttings from the plants three weeks into flower and roots them under 24 hrs of florescent light. They tend to branch profusely when returned to vegetative growth. The cuttings are rooted in 10" X 20" trays with six inch humidity domes for about two weeks. A propagation mat or heating cables are used during cooler months. The clones when removed from the mother with a scalpel or razor blade and are immediately dipped into a high quality rooting gel. They are then placed in two inch or three inch rockwool cubes. The cuttings are inserted to the first 1/3 of the depth. The cubes have been soaked for 24 hrs in a mild high phosphorous, high potassium nutrient solution pH adjusted to 5.5 (critical). Excess moisture is gently squeezed from the cubes before the cuttings are inserted into the snug holes, which have been poked in with the right size screw. One hour before cuttings are taken, the mothers are lightly misted with a B-1 solution and the lamp is raised. As soon as the cuttings are gently pushed into the cubes they also get a nice spray of B-1 solution.

After two weeks of care, the cuttings show vigorous, healthy white roots from the bottom of the cubes. The little plants are then sprayed with a greening solution such as Insta-Green or "Green Up" when they are transplanted into their final containers. A minor addition of Cal-Max or Cal-Mag is also beneficial. After the plants have grown two or three new leaves, the growing point is pinched, removed, or bent with wire. In about one to one and a half weeks, three to six sets of branches have developed and are almost the same height, if he wants them perfect he gently wraps the stems with copper wire and bends them sideways until they are trained to the same height, later removing the wire.

The healthy plants are then ready to be flowered and are usually about nine inches in height, with three to six even branches. For the first week of flowering, the nutrient solution is half of the manufacturer's recommendation of each bloom and grow formulas (half grow/half bloom). Once a week for the first three weeks a mild foliar spray of "Nitrozyme" or kelp based product as a substitute is applied. The nutrient solution is full strength bloom after one week, by the fourth or fifth week into flowering the bloom solution follows the aggressive formula given by the manufacturer or a bloom supplement is added to the regular bloom solution. Mr. Jones keeps a close eye on the pH, maintaining it at 5.5 for rockwool or 6.3 for water-based systems. TDS levels are also checked, but Mr. Jones has a float valve in the reservoir, so he doesn't need to top it with water daily. He finds that TDS and pH wont fluctuate much when the reservoir is kept topped up with plain water or one quarter strength nutrient solution. He flushes the system with plain water two days before harvest. Every week he hand waters the plant sites with fresh water, allowing it to flow and top up the reservoir and leach the plants through out the growing cycle. He lets his crops reach their peak maturity before harvesting, you made it this far, don't rush it if you can help it. Leaves are only pruned after they begin to wither, or if one leaf needs to be sacrificed for the benefit of several main growing points.

Good air circulation is a big part of Mr. Jones's success. The leaves are never touching walls, (a leading factor in the development of powdery diseases) oscillating fans gently sweep his plants 24 hrs a day sending fresh air through out the dense canopy. An exhaust and intake fan are wired into a dehumidisat and cooling thermostat. He makes sure that the temperature in the reservoir is maintained between 65-72 degrees Fahrenheit. Daytime temperatures never exceed 85 degrees Fahrenheit at the tops of the plants. If he grows in containers he move the plants as necessary to optimize light and gives them a quarter turn when he visits the grow room. When Mr. Jones sits down in the evening with a nice bowl of peppers, he feels that the extra work was well with the reward.