I've started several seedlings under CFLs on a 24/7 light schedule. These seedlings are only several days old but I would like to get them outside as soon as possible. What's the best way to introduce them to the outdoor environment?? Just a few hours a day then bring them back in? Keep the CFLs on 24/7 or change that to mimic the real world? THanks for any help!!!!
Get a fan on your seedlings, strengthen the plant a bit. Other than choosing a hardy strain I can't think of that much more right now.
of course the easiest way is to plant outside in the first place then theres no need for intergration to the climate
Do it swiftly... take them straight outside and let them tough it out. Great Cannabis plants are ones that have had to fight for their lives on occasion. I'm not saying you should abuse the plant... but you have to push it to get every single last bit of great genetics out of it.
I would wait for a fairly warm day, The replanting and cold could stress your plant out and increase your chance of males for sure. Marijuana ia a fairly strong plant but stress is going to give you male that no one wants.
NOO!!!! it wil not produce more possibility of a male but it may produce a hermi.. the reason a plant might change its natural selection of wether it be female or male would only be to try to survive. every plant has a servival mechanism that kicks in if it gets too stressed and think its gonna die. mj starts to go hermi to try and produce seeds b4 she dies, in hopes that next year there might not be that "stress factor" like the cold. hope this helped....
i dont use a fan i just keep moving the lights around a lil so then light bends in the directions changing the position of the light everyday so the plant bends around alot and eventually stregthens the plants stems worked great for my LR#2 got 5 fems out of 8 seedlings
Go with the fan. That will strengthen your stem. Just moving the lights around may make it grow more upright without the stretch, but the stem is still gonna be weaker. The fan simulates a breeze so theres your hardening off.
to switch from indoor to out, put your plant outside in the shade. after a couple days, put it in partial direct sun and some shade. after a few more days you should be o.k. to plant it in it's final outside area.
i like to bend the stem back and forth to strenghten it... i just put mine strait out... but into a greenhouse with 24/7 light
HIGH All, ^^^^^ yup what Bot said......Hardening O.F.F.F. refers to the process of acclimating plants from indoor temperatures to the outdoors. Initially, you will put plants outdoors only for short periods of time, for a couple of hours a day. You'll want to set them in a semi-shaded area. Gradually, you will increase the time plants are kept outdoors......you also will gradually increase their time in the sun. After 8 days or so, your plants will be ready for outdoor life. Doing this will make your babies hardier....less stress=better plant. Putting a fan on them will not Harden them O.F.F.F. Sorry Bot had to say it again.
actually, my reply was a little incomplete. i didn't put in the very important part about only keeping them out for a few hours at a time. i almost started a plant indoors to go outside this year, but i didn't. i've never grown outdoors. i want to try and get an elbow from one plant! thanks for the heads up!!!
I take my plants outdoors on a cloudy day where they will get full sun, drive some stakes in the ground so the top of them is 6" higher than the top of your plants, then nail some screen wire on top them. This breaks the sun rays real well. I leave them out for 4-5 days then take off screen. This works and is very simple too.