Acclimating Clones to Outdoors/Sunlight

last weekend I bought 5 clones. Put them in some Ocean Forest (they were rooted in their cubes) and put them outside. Within a few days the leaves all seemed to burn, so I went to a few grow shops to ask questions, they said the transition from indoor lights to sun was just too much for them to handle.

So it looks like at least two aren't going to make it. I picked up a few more clones, and just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing here. We have a dayroom which gets indirect light from outside. I bought a little T 5 light...like about 2 feet long, is 25 watts and 2280 initial lumens. I have it hanging over the clones a few inches away. I'm also getting that indirect sun reflection. Since a few of the clones have white hairs, I am leaving the light on 24/7 for right now...is that good or should I only have it on 18 hours?

I plan on putting them out into the morning sun for a few hours, then in the shade the rest of the day and under the light after dark. They still need to root better, especially the ones I just got. Am I on the right track here?

you want your indoor lighting to be about 14 hrs so you plants dont freak out and start flowering when you put them out doors, change it to 18/6 for a couple days then 16/8 for a few more then 14/10 or move them outdoors. when you put them out put them where they will get morning sun until about 10am then give them partial shade the rest of the day. increase their sun exposure by 1 hour every other day for about a week.

SCCA said:

you want your indoor lighting to be about 14 hrs so you plants dont freak out and start flowering when you put them out doors, change it to 18/6 for a couple days then 16/8 for a few more then 14/10 or move them outdoors. when you put them out put them where they will get morning sun until about 10am then give them partial shade the rest of the day. increase their sun exposure by 1 hour every other day for about a week.

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basically what i would have said...LOL nice SCCA

Well, right now we have just over 14 hours of actual daylight, still short enough to cause flowering. So a change from 24 hours to 14-15 outdoors is too drastic at once?

Going to be a few more days before I can start them back on direct sunlight, clouds and thunderstorms next few days where I'm at. I guess clones are more sensitive to all this, back in the day I'd grow plants a month or 2 under flourescents and just throw them outside with no burn

you wont get much more than 14.5 hrs of light outside. yes that is too drastic a change and the plant could freak out. im in northern cali too, and iv got tarps covering my veggies and some small moms that im growing for cuttings (side note: they have been out for about a week and a half and they started flowering). these late season storms suck!! you must have have been lucky before, even my seedlings sun burn if i start them under lights and dont harden them off. i find that a week under a 1000w light helps a ton.

Thanks for the info. So in our area, about when will the days be long enough that supplemental lighting isn't needed to keep them from flowering?

you have between now and the end of june to plant and still get a good crop. i wanted to plant this weekend but im waiting until this storm passes. in a couple gardens i take care of the cold is holding on and we aren't going to plant until the last weekend in may.