So I have 11 plants that are 3.5 weeks old that I started indoors and are on a 24hr light cycle and put them outside whenever it is sunny. I'm going to be planting them outside in like 3 more weeks once the heavy rains pass and the threat of frost is no longer a worry. There are some nights that are still getting to cold for comfort, high 30s. When planted outdoors they will be at approximate 42 degrees N latitude. May I add, this is my first time growing outdoors. My 1st question is as followed. Should I keep it on a 24hr cycle till its time to transplant or should I start shortening the light cycle so it'll sync up with the natural sun cycle? My 2nd question is how big should I expect them to get and when would be optimum time for harvest. I'm going to be starting a log of my grow and post pics up as well as I have some questions on deficiencies which I'll post in there.
I'm kinda doing the same thing only much farther south. My plan is to transplant on 5/23 numerologically significant if you are a discordian type such as myself. I have currently set my timer for 6:23am to 8:27pm to match my sunrise and set on at day. The plants will then notice that days are lengthening from there, keeping them in a vegetative state through solstice and flowering towards the end of August where I live and will keep them growing until they show me that they have finished.
Yeah I'm thinking about sometime between May 13th and the 21st which will be about 15hrs of sunlight. I just hope there is no cold snap while in mid flowering. If there is a cold snap can buds be saved? I just started a log of my grow so you can check it out here and view my pics! http://forum.grasscity.com/indoor-grow-journals/802147-afgan-kush-purp-kush-sd-strawberry-etc.html
He ima add a question i am doing the same thing but my plants will only be like 2 weeks old when they go outside into the ground but i really dont wanna do nutes or anything so how much would you say i get off 5 plants saying 2 are female?
That's hard to say, weather, type of strain, region, direct/indirect sun will determine output also if your doing in the backyard or in the woods somewhere. I've seen plants here in the midwest harvest anywhere from 1/4lb up to a full lb each plant! If you want the most out of your plants take proper care in trimming and getting rid of competing plants that may overshadow your plants. I'm doing in the woods approach so the other factor are animals, rabbits and deer mainly so an easy solution is to get wolf/coyote urine and do like a 50ft radius around your plants that way they will be scared shitless to enter in your area, otherwise you risk getting your plants getting eaten or nibbled on(you can order from amazon.com). Also another good investment is pesticide for spider mites! I'm shooting for 3/4lb each! Well hope that helped and keep me posted on your progress.
its a little wooded area no deer here but there are a couple groundhogs i had saw but no there because theres a shit ton of thorns and i am gonna plant in the middle of the thorns... fingers crossed this works out but i could do a little bit of fertilizer .. would cow manure do good?
I am doing something similar. Have 4 plants 1 week old vegging under cfls. Figure they will be strong enough to go outside in a couple of weeks. I have the same question as GTRKush:"Should I keep it on a 24hr cycle till its time to transplant or should I start shortening the light cycle so it'll sync up with the natural sun cycle? "Right now I have them on an 18/6 cycle. But will putting them outside with the current 13hrs of sunlight cause them to go into flower, or will they figure it out on their own? What is the process?
The safest thing to do to cause least stress on the plant is to ween the plant slowly into the natural light cycle
The seeds I'm using came from some buds I got (Purple Kush, Sour Diesel, Purple Kush Diesel, Afghan Kush, Strawberry Crush, Silver Pearl, UM). Wouldn't call it bag seed, those lucky 1-3 seeds you find out of 5 lbs of merch.
Okay then. In regards to your first question, I usually run 16/8 for plants on their way to the great outdoors. I set the off cycle to match sundown to. I've heard that plants under 24 hours of light can start flowering as soon as they're put outside, but I can't speak from first hand experience on that. 16/8 has always been good to me. For you next question, you can't begin to predict a yield until your familiar with your own strains and grow methods. With an assortment of strains, you can't have a set harvest time either. Individual plants will be finishing off throughout the harvest season.
I understand I may have made a mistake by starting them off at 24hrs of light. Do you think switching down to say 20/4 one week then down to 16/8 week before outdoors would be best or just go straight into the 16/8 cycle?
Hell yeah, if they are surrounded by thorns then that's natures best defense. I don't see why cow manure would be bad, its all natural, I'd just do a little bit of research first tho to make sure right mixture amounts.
I am doing 24/7 for the first week then second week go to 18/6 then third go to like 16/8 but thats just me
Well I'm going to have to move them out a week sooner than planned so I gotta speed up this light schedule process... Hope this doesn't make them go into flowering mode... wish me luck.
Find out the sunrise/set times for the date you wish to transplant outdoors and set your timer accordingly for at least a couple of weeks before transplanting. the plants will be acclimated for that light cycle and, if you are planting before solstice, the days will get longer until said solstice and won't shock yer transplants into early flowering.