Posted a similar thread in newbie probably should have been here. I am a newbie to outdoor and slightly faceplanted this past spring. Somehow I was elected to start plants indoors for friends' outdoor grows. Sprouted late March/early April. Did the normal 18/6 lighting. Plants went out early/mid May. All was well but within a few weeks, a few started flowering. Looking at day length charts, I saw why. Less than 14 hr days plus chilly nights (mid 40s ish F). Subsequent longer days mostly arrested bud production and those affected appear to be on track to do ok. I do like the idea of getting a good head start but wish to avoid this issue in the future. Advice on best practices going forward would be much appreciated. My feeble mind leads me to consider a combination of solutions: 1-start plants a month later (early to mid April). 2-reduced lighting schedule for seedlings to 14 or 15 hours or so or whatever mimics the expected day length of outdoor transition. 3-attempt cooler nighttime grow space temps. The main unknown for me is how the sproutlings would react to the shorter lighting schedule regarding triggering flower tendencies. Obviously going from 18/6 to 14/10 isn't a preferred recipe but only saw issues in less than 1/4 of cases so perhaps this light/temp threshold dipped below a red line of sorts. Would love to hear opinions. Thanks
Opinions welcome
- Thread starter Fishmon
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MissinThe90’sStrains
Well-Known Member
If you just put your plants out later in the season, you can avoid this exact issue of early-flowering and revegging. The plants sense the shorter days, and it triggers flowering.
The other option that outdoor growers used to do it to expose the plants to light for a few moments during the night time. They do this to interrupt the dark cycle and prevent flowering. You can set up a spotlight on a timer, or even go out there with a handheld lantern if you need to. They do this until the days are “long enough”, and it keeps the plant in veg mode, even if you’re light hours are “too low”.
The other option that outdoor growers used to do it to expose the plants to light for a few moments during the night time. They do this to interrupt the dark cycle and prevent flowering. You can set up a spotlight on a timer, or even go out there with a handheld lantern if you need to. They do this until the days are “long enough”, and it keeps the plant in veg mode, even if you’re light hours are “too low”.
I've grown like that for years. First, shorter light cycle during seedlings stage or veg stage cause stretching. Longer light cycle and the right lighting prevent that. Second, anything set outside before June, to start flowering, will try to reveg. The plant senses days getting longer. Third, humidity is high during this time of year, outside. That causes major problems with seeds bought online. Older, full blooded seeds never had that problem. And that is where most issues come from; bloodlines, genetics, etc. Chances are, you're doing everything right and it's the seeds. For example, I grow a few ilgm seeds for someone each year and always have problems with those. I just expect it from them. Old way, you had to sex the plants when you started flowering, to weed out the males. So if you started 10, expect half to be males. I only expect half of ilgm seeds to produce much of anything, using the same basic principles, only no males.
I started the ilgm seeds in mid May, so they would be ready to go outside and start flowering mid to late June. Out of 6, only 4 are actually going to fill out and produce right. And one of those 4 will only yield a few ounces. So about half crapped out. I've also got some from royal queen and crop kings. Only one of 6, from each crapped out. But all looked amazing during veg. Only way I could ever avoid the hit and miss of online seeds,is to collect bag seeds and do it the old fashioned way. Usually not many problems that way, but you have to deal with weeding out males. Most online seed companys need to be outed and done away with.
I started the ilgm seeds in mid May, so they would be ready to go outside and start flowering mid to late June. Out of 6, only 4 are actually going to fill out and produce right. And one of those 4 will only yield a few ounces. So about half crapped out. I've also got some from royal queen and crop kings. Only one of 6, from each crapped out. But all looked amazing during veg. Only way I could ever avoid the hit and miss of online seeds,is to collect bag seeds and do it the old fashioned way. Usually not many problems that way, but you have to deal with weeding out males. Most online seed companys need to be outed and done away with.
Farmer's Hat
Well-Known Member
Why dont you just start seeds outdoors in May? I would germinate the seeds on the second week of March. They need at least 4 weeks of maturity before they can flower, and by then the days have started to get longer.
This year I noticed volunteer seedlings sprouted in Feb, in my raised bed that is in the greenhouse. Those same seedlings are now big ass bushes and they haven't begun to flower yet. I will remember to take some pictures tomorrow.
Why are you starting stuff indoors if its going to end up outside? Are you aiming to produce 10lb plants? With the right genetics, most plants grown outdoors can produce 1-5 lb per plant. How you fertilize, water, etc plays a big role.
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