? Getting clones ready for outdoors

[caregiverken]

Im sorry if this has been already discussed here a million times.

I can't work the search very well...:worried

They are under 24 hour fluorescent right now and I took them outside today in filtered sunlight for about 6 hours.

Can some one explain(again) In simple terms the best way to take a clone outside from indoors?

thanks

 

[Blaze]

Step 1: Adjust their light cycle appropriately.

Step 2: Harden them off

Step 3: Plant!

Step 1 is what seems to throw a lot of people off. When you move a plant from a 24 or even a 18 hour light cycle outside, then drop down to a lower cycle, they can start to flower on you, which is no good. For example, we are at 14 hours of light right now where I am at, so when you go from 24 or 18 down to 14 all of a sudden it can cause the plant to think it is fall and begin to flower.

However, this is strain dependent. Some can go from 24 or 18 outside with no adjustment and no issues. However in my experience, many cannot. Generally strains that finish earlier are more finicky and are easier to trigger - later finishing strains tend to handle the transition more easily.

It actually is not the length of light that causes flowering, but the length of darkness - that is what you need to look at. Hence it is not the 14 hours of light that makes the plant possibly trigger, it is the 10 hours of darkness.

IMO it is kinda late in the season since it usually takes time to adjust them. Since your clones are at 24 hours of light right now I think your best bet would be to try an "interrupted light cycle." Basically you set your main light cycle at what ever the length of the days are when you aim to plant, and then interrupt the night cycle with two hours of light right in the middle. So for example, if you were shooting to plant now, at 14 hours, you would set your cycle to do 14 hours on, 4 hours off, 2 hours on, 4 hours off, or 14/4/2/4. This way when the plants go outside in the natural light cycle, their light cycle is always getting longer so they do not trigger.

I can't be sure it will work this late in the year, but the interrupted light cycle worked well for me this year, however I started them on it 8 weeks before I planted. You could try moving them out form 24 hours with no adjustment and see what happens, but be prepared that some may start to flower on you.

For step 2 all you have to do is put them under shade cloth for a few days, then filtered sun for a few days and they will be good to go. The natural sunlight is much more powerful than any grow light so you have to transition them over a period of a week or so, or they will burn on you. You could do step 1 and step 2 at the same time if you have a cold frame and power at your garden.

 

[caregiverken]

Thanks Blaze.

Very helpful...Now, I thinking im gonna set up a small hoop house with shade cloth over it and have a couple cfl's in there with a timer set to go on 11pm then go back of at 2am..

think that would work?

and how long would I have to keep interrupting the dark period?

right now Civil Twilight hours here are 5:09 AM to 8:39 PM

 

[caregiverken]

Seamaiden?
I know you know your stuff and I trust your Judgement....
Care to add anything?

Be gentle with me...Im not the sharpest tool in the shed...Try to keep it in simple terms so I can understand...LOL

Thanks in advance :)

 

[Seamaiden]

Blaze is someone I know personally and he's taught me a lot. He's totally got ya on this one. :)

 

[Confuten1]

Thanks Blaze.

Very helpful...Now, I thinking im gonna set up a small hoop house with shade cloth over it and have a couple cfl's in there with a timer set to go on 11pm then go back of at 2am..

think that would work?

and how long would I have to keep interrupting the dark period?

right now Civil Twilight hours here are 5:09 AM to 8:39 PM

thats what i did las yr, worked jus fine.

turned mines on fir 20 mins. prolly could do less if needed.

confu...

 

[Blaze]

Thanks Blaze.

Very helpful...Now, I thinking im gonna set up a small hoop house with shade cloth over it and have a couple cfl's in there with a timer set to go on 11pm then go back of at 2am..

think that would work?

and how long would I have to keep interrupting the dark period?

right now Civil Twilight hours here are 5:09 AM to 8:39 PM

Hey ken, I think that is likely to work. Like I was saying I've never done it this late in the season or in such a short period of time, so you are treading new ground here. You probably do not need to run the light from 11-2 either, I think 12-2 (two hours total) would be more than enough. With as long as the days are now, you might even be able to get away with 1 hour.

As far as how long to do it, again I've not done it this late in the year. I have seen other people do supplementary lighting up until the summer solstice (June 21) to ensure their plants do not flower. This was done by extending the daylight not interrupting it though. I would think that if you did the interrupted cycle until June 21, that would help ensure they do not trigger before that on you. Once you are past June 21 the days start getting shorter so you do not have to worry about it anymore (usually.)

Actually the supplementary lighting might work too. In order to do that, figure out how long the length of daylight is on June 21 at your place, and then set your lights to extend the light cycle to that same length. This does mean you need to adjust the cycle every week though to compensate for the days getting longer. However since you said your clones are coming in off 24 hours of light I am not sure if this technique would work for you.

If it was my plants I think I would do exactly what you have planned, except with a shorter interruption in the range of 1-2 hours. I cannot say for sure since I have not done it quite like that myself but I think that is probably your best bet.

 

[caregiverken]

Cool..I started doing it last nite..I will go set that timer for just a couple hours.
then in a week I will switch to one hour..

Thanks again Blaze.

Back on April 15, I put some 16inch, month old clones outside that were under 17/7 600w MH before that. Cause I figured 13 hours of light was enough,
I really didn't want to admit that here..

Dumb newbie mistake :(

But Im gonna start a new thread about it with pics of them now, so other newbies can learn from my mistake...and success's too.

Seamaiden;; You and Blaze and others here at the farm are good people for helping newbies like me out with good info.

 

[Blaze]

Back on April 15, I put some 16inch, month old clones outside that were under 17/7 600w MH before that. Cause I figured 13 hours of light was enough,
I really didn't want to admit that here..

Dumb newbie mistake :(

Hehe, it's not a newbie mistake at all ken. I see a lot of EXPERIENCED people doing the same thing. Adjusting clones to go outside is tricky! It takes practice. I still do not have it down 100% myself.

 

[vaporedout]

yeah, who knew you couldnt just plop those clones outside...... i made that mistake this year...... put em out, 1st they got bleached bad.... turned white. then they recover and look perty and then, they start to flower..... ive never done clones outback so i was shocked, im assuming they will re-veg, or should i get some new ones?? its funny though, i was reading another forum and i think it was seamaiden, that said seeds dont usually have problems if you plant em before june 1st, just clones.... my one seedling isnt flowering at all.

 

[OGONLY]

I've been told by some people who should know that if you put freshly rooted clones outside at or around June 1 you are good as far as not flowering. They have to be freshly rooted though.

I just put 2 3 foot SFV OG plants outside today. 1 in a 20 gallon smartpot and the other in 10 gallon. I had brought the light cycle down incrimentally to 5:30 am on and 10:20 pm off. I'm really hoping they continue to veg for a couple more months!!

 

[Blaze]

yeah, who knew you couldnt just plop those clones outside...... i made that mistake this year...... put em out, 1st they got bleached bad.... turned white. then they recover and look perty and then, they start to flower..... ive never done clones outback so i was shocked, im assuming they will re-veg, or should i get some new ones?? its funny though, i was reading another forum and i think it was seamaiden, that said seeds dont usually have problems if you plant em before june 1st, just clones.... my one seedling isnt flowering at all.

Yep, if you pop seeds and keep then under NATURAL light (like in a greenhouse) you will never, ever have these issues, even if you plant them in May or even April. If you start them under lights inside and the move them outside you can still have them trigger on you - happened to a few of mine last year. However that was also using and adjusted rather than interrupted light cycle.

 

[motherlode]

they will more then likely reveg unless you have them in a real shady area

 

[Seamaiden]

While I love watching the wunderground interactive weather map, it is currently a little depressing. I missed my window of opportunity last week to get the new veggie planting beds tilled and amended. We have a major series of storms coming in.

****Sorry for the scare, those who were concerned. The marker is the reporting weather station. No worries, no hard feelings, but I'm glad to know it works. Pretty cool, huh?****

 

[below frigid]

Yes Seamaiden it works. Your quite a ways from the ocean to be a Seamaiden? I am on the central coast near Monterey I drive by your place on the way up to Kirkwood. I like the Weather Underground page as well. been using it for while now. Lots of info there.

 

[motherlode]

yeah SM that map works

 

[greenthumbdanny]

hey seamaiden>>i edited your post for your safety<<>>Please dont map out your location like that:)

:passingjoint:

gtd

 

[Blaze]

This weather has been fucking terrible. I have NEVER seen a June around here this cold or this wet. Already have well over an inch this week, with three more inches on the way over the weekend, and temps as low as the high 30's. I actually ended up building cold frame over all my individual planter beds to help keep them warm, which is a first. I so need to build a greenhouse for next season, fuck this bullshit weather!

 

[vaporedout]

will re-vegging cause any quality loss?? is it best to start over?

 

[Blaze]

Depends on when it happens in the plant's life and how bad the plant re-vegges as well as genetics. There are too many variables at play to really give a definite answer to that question - you will just have to watch the plants and use your judgment. If the plant snaps out of it early and vegs normal you are probably all good. If it gets confused during late veg or during flowering it can really fuck up flower development. Sometimes what will happen is the plant will start to flower, then veg, the start to flower again, and when it vegs, the buds get all blown out and super airy. One of the plants that triggered on me last year I ended up having to thin pretty heavily because otherwise I would have had nothing but fluffy crap.