Moving plants outside to inside

I decided to try something I haven't done before and take two of my outdoor plants that are in pots and move them into my garage to finish them, to avoid late season mold and mildew.

I'm wondering from people who have done this, how they found it works. How much light did you put them under, and what kind? Were there any issues you had not anticipated? Did ones that finished inside lose some of that great "grown outdoor" smell and flavor? I'm also wondering, since when we go from indoor to outdoor we need to "harden" the plants for sunlight, and these plants lived up until now under sunlight, can I put the lights closer to them than I normally would?

I'm using around 500w of COBs (that's what I had on-hand) and one 600w HPS (new to me, bought just for this), and they are over 2 plants in an area approximately 5'x8'. That's kind of weak on the "watts per square foot" measure, I hope its enough. I only have one (clean) 20amp circuit running to the garage, so that's about all I want to run.

One tip... When you bring your plants inside be sure to check everything for spider mites. I failed to do that my first time and had infestation by week 3 of flower, it sucked!!!

Kcbscrogger said:

One tip... When you bring your plants inside be sure to check everything for spider mites. I failed to do that my first time and had infestation by week 3 of flower, it sucked!!!

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Thanks for that. That was a big risk/concern, because while I might not grow again in the garage until next fall, I am using the lights and fans from my indoor. I expect I'll bug bomb the whole space with all the equipment in it, before bringing any of it back into the house.

It does suck to bring plants inside and lose the bugs natural enemies. We have little birds in the garden picking white flies off of our plants, but in the garage there's nothing there to eat them.

Here are some quick pics, its a small space and hard to photograph. Some of these were taken while I was still working on setting it up. I reused a bunch of reflective rigid insulation from an indoor closet grow space I built and later decommissioned a while ago. As temporary spaces go, I think this isn't not too bad.

Yes, I do this all the time. Outside it is a free veg room under a big light. I do spray them with a Neem mix before bringing them in. I place them under a 1000w hps with no shock. Has worked good for me. Good luck on yours.

blak said:

Yes, I do this all the time. Outside it is a free veg room under a big light. I do spray them with a Neem mix before bringing them in. I place them under a 1000w hps with no shock. Has worked good for me. Good luck on yours.

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Thanks. I'm just finishing mine there, so they came inside about 5 weeks into flower and I don't spray once they are in flower.

How many plants and about how big was the footprint of the canopy?

I got some pics of the final light layout. As I mentioned, its my first time running an HPS light, it sucks for taking pictures but more important its almost as bad as blue/red LEDs for messing with judging the leaf color/plant health. I guess I've been spoiled with white COBs.

The one in the front is a Jillybean, in the back is a Bruce Banner #3. The Jillybean is in a 20g cloth pot, but that tall lanky BB#3 is in only 5 gallons of soil, but its a SIP pot. It's way stressed and I'm having trouble getting enough nutes to it, hopefully it will finish OK. Looks like I'm going to have to get a pH kit and feed through the water in the res. Never done hydro, so lots of new stuff in this experiment.

I added another Optic 120, so now the COBs are up over 600w which brings the total to 1200+ and the w/sf to around 30. At least the top half of the plants should finish well...

Kcbscrogger said:

One tip... When you bring your plants inside be sure to check everything for spider mites. I failed to do that my first time and had infestation by week 3 of flower, it sucked!!!

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Biggest and best tip he is speaking the honest truth I never bring anything from outside and not even pots without completely sterilizing them what you go through something like that and completely lose the war it will change your life from that point forward

Humanrob said:

I decided to try something I haven't done before and take two of my outdoor plants that are in pots and move them into my garage to finish them, to avoid late season mold and mildew.

I'm wondering from people who have done this, how they found it works. How much light did you put them under, and what kind? Were there any issues you had not anticipated? Did ones that finished inside lose some of that great "grown outdoor" smell and flavor? I'm also wondering, since when we go from indoor to outdoor we need to "harden" the plants for sunlight, and these plants lived up until now under sunlight, can I put the lights closer to them than I normally would?

I'm using around 500w of COBs (that's what I had on-hand) and one 600w HPS (new to me, bought just for this), and they are over 2 plants in an area approximately 5'x8'. That's kind of weak on the "watts per square foot" measure, I hope its enough. I only have one (clean) 20amp circuit running to the garage, so that's about all I want to run.

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Hi there @Humanrob, as has been said watch out for pests.
I moved a Lemon Widow from outdoors to indoors about 3 weeks ago. Started out with 400 watts of cobs , now ramped it up to 700 watts of cobs.

It was originally cloned and vegged under p150 led indoors then shifted it outside around June time.
I've kept a close eye on it and noticed " the borg " on a few leaves on Saturday.
I removed the damaged leaves and ordered 1000 " phytoseiulus " predator mites on Sunday, arrived Tuesday and now happily munching the spidermite!

Moflow said:

Hi there @Humanrob, as has been said watch out for pests.
I moved a Lemon Widow from outdoors to indoors about 3 weeks ago. Started out with 400 watts of cobs , now ramped it up to 700 watts of cobs.

It was originally cloned and vegged under p150 led indoors then shifted it outside around June time.
I've kept a close eye on it and noticed " the borg " on a few leaves on Saturday.
I removed the damaged leaves and ordered 1000 " phytoseiulus " predator mites on Sunday, arrived Tuesday and now happily munching the spidermite!

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The pest that surprised me the most was worms. I had to run a dehumidifier at night (which puts out considerable heat) and the lights during the day, unintentionally creating 24/7 warmth. Outside the worms seemed to slow down as the nights cooled off, but inside they ate and got fat at a crazy rate. Lost the entire Jillybean to them.

That experiment has pretty much come and gone. The first two to go in are out (as I mentioned, one lost, the other dried and curing now). I did drag my last plant in there, but I'm not sure what will come of her. She's just taking too long to finish. We're having wind and rain, since the lights were already set up and she happened to be in a pot, I figured I'd give her a shot. She's showing signs of bud rot and other mold issues, even with the dehumidifier and (obviously) no rain in there, time is not her friend.

Edit: as a side note, I'm finishing this last one (Chemdawg OG x Rugburn OG) under only 300w of COBs. The 600w HPS was removed and used in a hoophouse, didn't feel like setting it back up again. It's a weak set up, but its the only shot she's got. It's probably apparent from the lack of care on my part, I've already harvested more than I need. The only reason this plant is still alive is that I had to take down most of this year's outdoor before they were fully ready, and it would be nice to have one that actually goes full cycle.

Yeah i do it this year first time. Got two mystery plants and they started flower very late. I have a room facing south and when the sun shines they get a couple of hours direct sunlight. Buds are fattening better than the years before and sofar no pm or mold. But check for bugs ! I sprayed them carefully avoiding the buds preventive before takingthem inside. So far so good, one is alm,ost done, the other has at least one more week to go.
So, no lights only a fan and fresh air.

I've 3 Grand daddy purps still out in the elements with a week or so to go by the look of them. Not big plants by any means but something at least. No sign of mold on them .....yet. Might chop them sooner rather than later as it's getting cold now damp now.
The Lemon Widow is looking ok under the lights.
It covers an area of about 42 inches x 42 inches- ish or just over 1m2 if you are that way inclined lol. Hopefully it will yeild ok.

You can check it out in a thread called leds to sunlight to cobs.

Humanrob said:

I got some pics of the final light layout. As I mentioned, its my first time running an HPS light, it sucks for taking pictures but more important its almost as bad as blue/red LEDs for messing with judging the leaf color/plant health. I guess I've been spoiled with white COBs.

The one in the front is a Jillybean, in the back is a Bruce Banner #3. The Jillybean is in a 20g cloth pot, but that tall lanky BB#3 is in only 5 gallons of soil, but its a SIP pot. It's way stressed and I'm having trouble getting enough nutes to it, hopefully it will finish OK. Looks like I'm going to have to get a pH kit and feed through the water in the res. Never done hydro, so lots of new stuff in this experiment.

I added another Optic 120, so now the COBs are up over 600w which brings the total to 1200+ and the w/sf to around 30. At least the top half of the plants should finish well...

View attachment 3784146 View attachment 3784147

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Damn baby....love my optic 360...i got one of the very early ones on supra's recommendation.

testiclees said:

Damn baby....love my optic 360...i got one of the very early ones on supra's recommendation.

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Yeah, when I got my Optics they were the best deal at that moment in time. It was just them and Area 51 at the top of their games... how times have changed.

Humanrob said:

Yeah, when I got my Optics they were the best deal at that moment in time. It was just them and Area 51 at the top of their games... how times have changed.

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i think youve seen how i attached a couple of sinks to the ends of my optic. each has 4 cxb 3590 cd's 3500K @ 56W each. The fucker is so bright it's a challenge to get clearance.

testiclees said:

i think youve seen how i attached a couple of sinks to the ends of my optic. each has 4 cxb 3590 cd's 3500K @ 56W each. The fucker is so bright it's a challenge to get clearance.

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I don't think I've seen that... it sounds interesting!

Humanrob said:

I don't think I've seen that... it sounds interesting!

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LOl compared to the sexy pin sink rigs that folks now build mine looks like

But it runs cool, ~48% efficient with a 730nm lights out bar strapped on and a UVB t5 hanging down. About 600 dissipated watts. I never liked that the 360 was in a 12 x 18" case so i built it out to match my ~50" x 24" space.