The plant looks great. What caused the bleaching to the one leaf i see? Light? Or the hot soil? I think with the 2 sq ft the 8 sounds good, youll be able to access her better and give her lots of TLC, plus maybe the 8 per sq will end up being nice big colas rather than the 16 smaller more crampt unhappy colas? Just a thought. Plus is humidity a concern? Would more colas cause more humidity from a bigger canopy? Lol im asking more questions than im answering, sorry. 😁💚