If you are spreading creep using a single tumor, the next tumor will be ready before the creep has spread to its full extent. More creep tumors will make the creep spread faster.
But, too many creep tumors and you will essentially be wasting queen energy (assuming you're continuing in a single direction).
What is the optimal number of creep tumors to balance creep spread with queen energy?
I understand that "too many" creep tumors allows you to fan out in other directions, but I'm curious to know a rule of thumb as a basis for decision making, and tweak per the situation.
Best Answer
I did some testing and found that about 5 is nearly optimal. You have to wait about 1 second for the creep to reach its maximum spread, which seems ok considering you have to macro other stuff.
With 6 there is no waiting, but I think 6 is too much.
Further information:
TLO hotkeys his active creep tumors so he can hit the perfect timing consistently. He also plays a Zerg style that relies on 4 queens. You might want to watch some of his replays.