how early to start outdoor grow?

petert

petert

Well-Known Member
I’m in Oregon. Will pop seeds next weekend indoors and keep under 18 hours of light through March, then move to my greenhouse in April and keep supplementing light but slowly dial it back to 16 hours of natural and supimental light until I plant outside in its permanent spot after May 15th.
 
FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
I'm in 6B/7A, probably your neighbor in the mountains, and I'm debating putting this big son of a bitch out as soon as the last frost threat is over. I accidentally let it get too big to flower in my tent and had to take clones off her to start over and I just don't have the heart to kill a 4' motorbreath 15 plant. It will be 5' tall by then most likely and 5 months old. I'll have to dig a hole in the backyard for it and figure out how to deal with keeping it as low as possible as I'm disabled and don't do ladders. I'm sure if left alone it could be a monster, I just can't handle it.IMG_20220217_042434792.jpg
 
doublejj

doublejj

Well-Known Member
FirstCavApache64 said:
I'm in 6B/7A, probably your neighbor in the mountains, and I'm debating putting this big son of a bitch out as soon as the last frost threat is over. I accidentally let it get too big to flower in my tent and had to take clones off her to start over and I just don't have the heart to kill a 4' motorbreath 15 plant. It will be 5' tall by then most likely and 5 months old. I'll have to dig a hole in the backyard for it and figure out how to deal with keeping it as low as possible as I'm disabled and don't do ladders. I'm sure if left alone it could be a monster, I just can't handle it.View attachment 5087510
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she's a beauty. You may have to use supplemental lighting until May to insure she won't go into flower as soon as you put her out. Best of luck
 
FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the heads up on the supplemental light. I'd hate to have a bunch of pre flowers and then reveg. I saw a bunch of threads on that last year with first time outdoor grows. I still don't know what to do with it. I had a hard time with my first outdoor grow last year and it was a relatively small 7 foot plant. This would get way bigger especially in ground but I'm soooo tempted just to see what it could become. I got to decide soon because it's headed up into my lights and I need to top it again and train it more or cull it. I wish I could just post it on a weed classified site for donating to a needy veteran or somebody that has space but that's not an option in the real world.
 
MannyPacs

MannyPacs

Well-Known Member
FirstCavApache64 said:
Thanks for the heads up on the supplemental light. I'd hate to have a bunch of pre flowers and then reveg. I saw a bunch of threads on that last year with first time outdoor grows. I still don't know what to do with it. I had a hard time with my first outdoor grow last year and it was a relatively small 7 foot plant. This would get way bigger especially in ground but I'm soooo tempted just to see what it could become. I got to decide soon because it's headed up into my lights and I need to top it again and train it more or cull it. I wish I could just post it on a weed classified site for donating to a needy veteran or somebody that has space but that's not an option in the real world.
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Why not take a bunch of clones so you have as many manageable sized plants as you want. Some people live in great locations to grow trees but I would almost always rather have 4-8 plants I can manage than 1 huge problem after the other
 
Burt Hooter

Burt Hooter

Well-Known Member
This year I'm trying something new, I popped some beans and am keeping them with 11 hours on 13 off. They are growing sloooowww. But from what read somewhere ? When I put my plants out in the spring they wont go immediately into flower. They will just grow.
IDK outside, I always waste a month or two, in the past, while the plant switches from grow to flower then from flower to grow then flower
 
FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
MannyPacs said:
Why not take a bunch of clones so you have as many manageable sized plants as you want. Some people live in great locations to grow trees but I would almost always rather have 4-8 plants I can manage than 1 huge problem after the other
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We have a four plant count law where I live. I'm doing two motorbreath 15 clones and either two pre 98 bubba kush or one and keeping this mother plant around until summer and then picking something else to run once the indoor girls are done. It's more of a fun idea at this point than a need. I would get plenty of meds from the three indoor plants to take care of my wife and I so the outdoor plant would pretty much be like a project to experiment with and if it gets out of hand and goes south it wouldn't be a huge deal. It would be nice to have a nice surplus to donate to veterans that don't grow that need meds and a tree full of MB 15 would help. I have a couple good spots and security is not an issue so it's pretty much just the maintenance of the bulk which would be the challenge. I have no idea what the stretch is on motorbreath, I've asked a couple times but nobody can seem to give me an answer so I'm flying blind kind of.
 
Mr. Bakerton

Mr. Bakerton

Well-Known Member
@FirstCavApache64 & @Burt Hooter interesting comment about plants starting to flowering when placing them outside. I wouldn't think everybody has this issue, longitude dependent I guess? I saw a handy total light hour by day by zip code calendar once a upon a time, I need to find that again. I know in my area, i could get away with a 14 hours light schedule and go right outside in June with no hiccups. Mid may, I still technically get 14 hours but given the mountains, I miss that last 2 hours - BUT it wouldn't be dark per say. I found it interesting that a family member that lived 4 hours south had soo much more light than I did in those early spring days- we were doing a side by side and then at some point it worked out and we got about the same.

I wonder how many people with that issue was running on 20/4 or 24 on? I see so many people doing that and that I could see would cause some stress to toss them outside.
 
FirstCavApache64

FirstCavApache64

Well-Known Member
Last year I saw a few threads about it as states went legal and people were going outdoors for the first time. We didn't get the go ahead here until July 1st so it wasn't an issue for me. I'd imagine genetics play a big part as well as what the geographic location is as well. Late spring is a bad time for me anyway as I'm dealing with a lot of bear activity at my place and don't feel like having baby bears destroy my baby plants.
 
Babalonian

Babalonian

Well-Known Member
petert said:
I’m in Oregon. Will pop seeds next weekend indoors and keep under 18 hours of light through March, then move to my greenhouse in April and keep supplementing light but slowly dial it back to 16 hours of natural and supimental light until I plant outside in its permanent spot after May 15th.
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This sounds ‘bout right. Everyone here posting June/July in a zone 7 has me wondering how they’re going to finish a big outdoor plant before the first frosts of October.
 
Week4@inCharge

Week4@inCharge

Well-Known Member
I'm starting mine in March-April.. (Southern Cal) first outdoor grow, and I'm planning to set up one of them 4x4 Grassroots raised beds to get my feet wet. I'm gonna use (or reuse) the soil I have in my current indoor grow pots. (Cost of Electricity is a bitch) So I'm really hoping this outdoor thing works out for me. Going with Autos. And the companion plants will be Basil and German Chamomile to attract predatory mites (besides the few I'd be introducing myself) I think I have this super soil thing down already and the large bed would make it even easier to manage. (Just add water they say). My only questions or concerns is the rare high winds that blow through here and one rare downpour (rain) and I'm envisioning the bed getting flooded out. A pull up canopy should be enough to shelter the pot if it does rain I guess. Anxious and excited at the same time here.
 
petert

petert

Well-Known Member
riuoldmember said:
doublejj and gardenboss were always my favorite growers here
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Haven’t seen those guys post in a while. I followed their posts and used some of their advice.
can’t always rely on peoples advice on here no matter how experienced they are. If you’re not touching the plant, super hard to diagnose or know everything about the circumstances.
a lot of stuff you just have to learn from trial and error and experience.
 
doublejj

doublejj

Well-Known Member
buckaclark said:
Setting outdoor plants out early doesn't make them flower sooner.Zone 7 here last falls first real killing frost was around Dec 1.GL
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if you place clones out too early in the spring many strains will start to flower because the daylight hours are still short enough to trigger them. Seeds are a little more forgiving because they aren't sexually mature enough to flower until they are 5-6 weeks old. However clones are already sexually mature and it only takes a week of short days to trigger most clone plants. We always run lights over clone plants in the spring. Best of luck
 
DrJ->5600ft-247co2-7a/7b

DrJ->5600ft-247co2-7a/7b

Member
Mr. Bakerton said:
I've grown outdoors twice. Once was a lifetime ago gorilla style and I don't remember much detail other than it worked and carrying water into the woods without leaving a trace can be harder than one would think. And last year. I started late and got a good harvest.

This year I'm wondering about starting time. Do most people get a head start and put out a small shrub or just harden off a young stick and go from there? I grow tomatoes, peppers, kale, broccoli, and all that with my indoor setup and harden them off and understand all the mechanics of that process.

I did notice that bud worms came last year and having a manageable size plant helped a ton in picking them all off the plant. I can't imagine going through that with a tree. I also get some late season heavy rains which def put some pressure on the plants. This year I am looking for shorter flower period plants like green crack to try and beat the wet cold. I think I'm only going with photos for outside. I did run an auto outside and inside last year at the same time and the inside plant looked 10 times better, grew faster, etc. Summer can be funny, we hit a period of cloudy days and that had an impact.

I may start early and late just to get both experiences.

I'm in zone 6b
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I started seeds for this season on Feb 19th but in my environment I need the extra time indoors for a successful season outdoors.

The plants wont be outdoors until after daylight exceeds 9pm. I mimik that day, everyday, indoors and then in the greenhouse with lanterning. From there its downhill, the days will get shorter and viola. We all know the rest.
 
Mr. Bakerton

Mr. Bakerton

Well-Known Member
doublejj said:
if you place clones out too early in the spring many strains will start to flower because the daylight hours are still short enough to trigger them. Seeds are a little more forgiving because they aren't sexually mature enough to flower until they are 5-6 weeks old. However clones are already sexually mature and it only takes a week of short days to trigger most clone plants. We always run lights over clone plants in the spring. Best of luck
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this is a fantastic post. This really helps me in my path forward, I was considering starting a seed plant early and taking clones but I will just run them each from seed, so much easier and straight forward.
 
B

bertie57

Active Member
FirstCavApache64 said:
I'm in 6B/7A, probably your neighbor in the mountains, and I'm debating putting this big son of a bitch out as soon as the last frost threat is over. I accidentally let it get too big to flower in my tent and had to take clones off her to start over and I just don't have the heart to kill a 4' motorbreath 15 plant. It will be 5' tall by then most likely and 5 months old. I'll have to dig a hole in the backyard for it and figure out how to deal with keeping it as low as possible as I'm disabled and don't do ladders. I'm sure if left alone it could be a monster, I just can't handle it.View attachment 5087510
Click to expand...
thats going to be a monster
 
R

realhaileselassie

Member
I am a first time grower in the horn of Africa where the climate is extremely suitable. I haven't used anything but natural soil and compost. I started off indoors and moved my pots outdoors when they looked strong enough. I had repotted once and I lost 1 out of 5 plants. Now my plants are in the flowering stages and two of the pots are looking tight. I'm wondering if I should repot it into the ground?

Thanks!
 

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Mr. Bakerton

Mr. Bakerton

Well-Known Member
realhaileselassie said:
I am a first time grower in the horn of Africa where the climate is extremely suitable. I haven't used anything but natural soil and compost. I started off indoors and moved my pots outdoors when they looked strong enough. I had repotted once and I lost 1 out of 5 plants. Now my plants are in the flowering stages and two of the pots are looking tight. I'm wondering if I should repot it into the ground?

Thanks!
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I wouldn't repot them once they start to flower. Even if you were to have a successful move without disturbing the roots, the growing environment, water needs would all change and I think that could be detrimental to your hard work. As a first time grower, congratulate yourself for getting this far, keep at it and take notes for changes next go around.
 
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