Introducing clones to the sun

This isn't my first rodeo, but it's been a few years. I bought a couple clones from Dark Heart (Fire OG and Blue Dream) Tuesday, put them in small pots with Fox Farms to root, and left them in the shade/indirect sun first day. Wednesday I moved them into the morning sun for 4 hours, all good. 6-7 hours yesterday and have had them in the sun past 5 hours, and I'll move them to the shade in a bit. Nice breeze to help them harden off as well, my main concern is the heat, we'll be in the 100's next week, and these tiny soil containers get way too hot in the sun, so I'll be moving them to larger posts (5 gallon to start likely) which are painted white from past grows so they don't heat up too much. I do think it may be better to wait til next week so the roots can take better hold in the soil, and at that point plan on just leaving them in the sun all day.

What I'm looking at in this photo is the slightly discolored area at the base of the leaf here. I'm thinking it's from a few droplets of water that were on there yesterday with the sun. I just want to make sure it isn't too much sun in general, aside from the heat and small containers, are they pretty much good to leave in the sun all day at this point? Any other thoughts welcome as well.

This is the Fire OG BTW

I took some clones almost two weeks ago May 11th, kept them under T12 lighting for 7 days until I noticed new light green growth pushing out and started putting them outside in direct sun with my other plants May 19th. It's been 3 days and they are loving it. From your photo it appears those leaves were trimmed for cloning, chances are the plant will lose them as it grows. What does the new growth look like?

Not much new growth, the one pictured above has new leaves but small and not coming in fast, probably because it's still rooting. The Blue Dream is a big ass clone, 6-8 inches tall with a tone of healthy leaves. I don't have indoor lighting, just put them in shade first and most of the 2nd day. I just can't leave them in the sun all day so the little pots and soil don;t bake the roots, I want to transplant ASAP but seems pointless if the roots aren't starting to fill the soil they're in

obijohn said:

Not much new growth, the one pictured above has new leaves but small and not coming in fast, probably because it's still rooting. The Blue Dream is a big ass clone, 6-8 inches tall with a tone of healthy leaves. I don't have indoor lighting, just put them in shade first and most of the 2nd day. I just can't leave them in the sun all day so the little pots and soil don;t bake the roots, I want to transplant ASAP but seems pointless if the roots aren't starting to fill the soil they're in

Click to expand...

Last year I grew 6 clones in solo cups on my back deck all the way to flower and harvest without any issues, just had to water in the morning then again in the late afternoon or else they would dry out and wilt. I probably will just keep these clones in solo cups also. I dont see the soil heating up more than the plants in my 5 gallon grow bags. Here's a 4 week old plant from seed right before going into a 5 gallon bag..

Here's last year, very small containers and solo cups. Just had to water a lot.

Yeah, you've got a box around them, that'll help keep direct sun rays from heating the soil too much, although I've used solo cups before and they didn't tend to heat much. My little plastic pots are a dark color so they absorb heat, I actually wrap a white paper towel around them and that works for now, I'll transplant in a few more days anyway.

BTW I'm kind of able to answer my original question now, I googled, and found the following page which is from Dark Heart Nursery, the source of my clones. May be good for others to see as well. Specific to hardening clones:


And other great tips, based on their clone quality and reputation they really seem to know their stuff:


It's funny, last time I bought any clones was 6 or so years ago before it was legal for recreational use, only medical. The clones then were so crappy and weak looking compared to what's out there now