Container size and veg for Malawi.

I'm considering a run of Malawi under the 600w HPS, but since I have little experience with real sativas I'm unsure of how much I should veg them and how big containers I should use. I want to aim for 50-60 grams / plant and would normally use 10 liter buckets to reach that with indicas. Are Malawi similar in soil requirements or should I use smaller pots to stimulate flowering?

Edit - And what would be a good size / age to switch to flower at?

Hi blackone,

Thanks for your interest in our Malawi line.

Malawi's node length is not very long and she has a moderate stretching in early flowering, but plenty of vigor in growth so it's easy she overgrows the indoors space if you let them grow for too long. Not sure about your height limits, but take in consideration Malawi stretches 50-100 % when switched to 12/12 flowering photoperiod.

In these cases (growing pure sativas in small indoor spaces) i recommend to keep the sativas in small pots (3 liter pots) for the whole growing stage and until they finish the early flowering stretching, and only then transplant to 7-10 liter pots so their size will stay under control and they will have plenty of nutrients to face the rest of the flowering.
From clones it's even easier.

Let me know if you have any other doubt Regards!

Thanks for the tips. I have 2 meters of height, so effectively I can accommodate plants of up to 100-120cm.

I also plan to do either lst or topping to make them bush out and even out the canopy some, because I would prefer to grow only 9 large plants for the first grow after a long break, whereas I would normally grow 16-25 indicas or hybrids before in 6,5l pots.

Typically these plants would yield around 15-30g each depending on veg time and plant count with a maximum for me of 35g from those pots. Plants of such a size were a lot of trouble to keep watered enough in such small pots, needing water every single day at the end of the stretch and early bud-building phase. I don't know if sativas are less thirsty than indicas?

I've also grown 50-60g indicas in 10l buckets and that worked very well but required a good amount of veg first. I would expect less veg time being needed to reach the same plant size at the end of flower, somewhat balancing the long flower time?

You are welcome,

100-120 cms is what a 600w HPS light can effectively cover. To grow bigger plants won't produce more benefit, because the lower parts of the plants won't receive enough light intensity to yield something worth the extra growing time.

You can follow my previous recommendations or grow them directly in 10 liter pots, it's up to you, if you follow the second choice then make sure they will grow not taller than 120 cms.