Where I live in Northern Cali, outdoor plants that go in the ground outside before June run the risk of going into pre-flower and then having to revert, which can stunt the growth for ~2 weeks. Last year I put my plants with some regular inexpensive "daylight" LED bulbs from the hardware store outside in May and switched them on for just a couple of hours around sunset. My plants didn't seem to flower, so just a few of these bulbs a couple of feet away seemed to be enough to keep them in veg. Did I just get lucky, and the days were actually long enough, or were these bulbs enough to trick them into thinking the days were longer? Has anyone else experimented with regular old LED (replacement for CFL) light bulbs? I will do a personal experiment in the dead of winter with one plant and let you all know what I discover.
I think you helped with the light. Less than 13.5 hours of light and they should flower. Altho in may in Cali you should have enough lite (14 hours) right?
I have had plants bloom in 14 hours light, where I live Late may/june is safe which is about 15 hours daylight and im in northern Indiana. I have had a outside house light keep plants in veg accidently in july/august which messed my shit up years ago so what your doing is probably working.
Any light will work to trick them. I turn on my porch lights to help them. Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum
I use cfl's on a timer. 1-2 hours in the middle of the dark cycle (12 to 1-2am) works well for me. I live in San Luis Obispo County, and my late finishing sativa's will start to flower if I shut my lights off before June 21st.