Auto Grow 25 No3 - Pink Runtz Auto

@pepe16 , For me a maximum of 4 plants in 60x60 is possible with 5L pots, but this is a little mess already. I struggle to reach the single pots for watering sometimes and the airflow and also the light distribution isn't that good anymore. I think 4 is only working because I have different lifestages of each plant over the whole time. So every plant has another size and density so I can arrange them. If I would grow 4 plants IN THE SAME CYLE with the same starting time it wouldn't work well, I think. Already with 4 different stages I have to manage the plant's positon very often to avoid direct contact with the tent's walls and also with the other plants. My pots including the drainer below have a diameter of 25 cm, so the space on the bottom and the distance to the walls of the tent are most limiting. But nevertheless also the light distribution and the ventialtion would be much less effective. Anyway I think for 40x40 it could be possible to have 3 plants in 3.8L in different stages but this would be already really dense and you have to manage a lot of things over the whole grow. I think 2 with 5L should work if you have enough light and constant ventilation. Regarding your experiences with the Titan F1 you could check out my diary #6. This was my overall second run of a Titan F1 and the plant stayed very small in 5L pots. I also did it in 11L before in another grow and there it almost reached the promised 60 cm. So maybe you shouldn't wonder about the dwarfyness since it's a small strain anyway. And for me this is also the reason why it do not perform very well in small pots. You always have to remember that the size of the plant only has a limited relation to the size and amount of the roots. I checked the medium after the 5L grow of my Titan F1 and it was consisting of almost nothing but roots, while other strains kept less dense and the medium was more fluffy in the end. And I also NEVER reached the minimal size given by the breeder in 5L pots. So if you give more space for the roots you will have a more powerful plant. The more you reduce the possible space for the roots the less yield you will have with one an the same strain. If you raise the volume the upper limit finaly is defined by the genetic and if you still raise the volume at some point there will be no more possible effects. I often read it's recommended to go for at least 15L pots with automatics in the past, so you should always take the breeders data on this basis and then predict what you can achieve with the smaller pots. This finaly is one of the conclusions for my 2025 Automatic Project you can find here on GD. Hope this helps for your decision.

@TanteEgan, Thank you for such a well thought out and long reply. It has been very helpful. You are right in that autos need bigger pots to thrive. The Titan's turned out to be very strong indeed. Couchlock and then a mild uplift, and fantastic sleep. But it's been two years off THC, so it's more to do with that I think. But it was good to see how small they grow, so for a micro grow, they would be perfect. I've not grown photos in a while. But have some decent seeds now. I grew three bruce banner in 5L pots, and vegged them out trying topping, fimming and high stress training to learn. They turned out good, so pondering now - autos or photos? I think I may go with photos this time, and maybe a couple of autos in a v small tent. Anyway, thank you for the reply, and good luck with future grows.