Let's talk about bringing indoor plants out with excessive veg time.

[PsillyRabbitOG]

For sure, my soil is far from old dirt my beds go about 2-3 feet down into the ground and consist almost completely of compost that has taken me 10 years to produce. There is only 3-4 yards of top soil mixed in. Additionally since I live on the water I have as much seaweed as can be hauled. Its a lot of work to mulch the plants since it breaks down so quick but I try. I treat my yard with biotone every year and will give each bed 4# of biotone each this spring.
I agree string lights are the least conspicuous, being that two of my neighbors have them already. Although, other than theft i don't have to worry about LEO anymore and that is 100% the reason im doing this. So your saying return the Adjustable Length LED String 6 light $75 that claim to be " full spectrum" grow lights for plants and get a cheaper 35$ option from homedepot. I'm all for saving money thats what you would do?
I appreciate your trouble shooting with me.

 

[Sto42]

all I can throw in here is I started march 1st indoor last year and transplanted in the ground may 20th and it finished oct 10th. It put out 2lbs of finished bud. I had to support it with 8 ft steel t poles and lots of rope and finally with duct tape too to hold it together. Next year I am cutting 8 weeks off the veg. It was interesting to grow that monster but I was always out there doing something to keep her together. the trunk at the base was 6 inches across. I wish you good luck on your monster.

 

[Sto42]

I’ll try. Im new here. What I’m saying is I live in northeast usa. I haven’t grown in a while and so got a little ahead of myself like I thought you might be doing after reading your thread. I was hoping to cheat mother nature and the law of averages by not being satisfied with one outdoor Harvest I was thinking greedy. I was rusty on growing from long hiatus and had unrealistical expecations. I started From seed inside March by July 5 feet tall and healthy. Began flowering inside and July 1 hoping they would be ready to leave outside in August and that I would harvest mid September. That was not the case at all since after 30 days of flowering inside they had beginning nugs when I left outside beginning of August they went back into revenge mode and vegged again as buds stop growing Till mid September and then begin flowering again from natural light change and what I noticed is the temperature change that really was the catalyst for flowering and not the light Dep 12 and 12 LightCycle change pound they were 5 feet tall andweek veg* I agree 18 months would be a waste of time.

sto42 please elaborate I cant follow. They should not have to "go back" to veg. They should stay in veg with the supplemental lighting.


Just want to remind people this is strictly for fun/experiment, just to push the limits of what can be done. I know non of this is necessary. I'm 100% doing extra work.indoor anmanually induce budding

 

[Sto42]

I’ll try. Im new here. What I’m saying is I live in northeast usa. I haven’t grown in a while and so got a little ahead of myself like I thought you might be doing after reading your thread. I was hoping to cheat mother nature and the law of averages by not being satisfied with one outdoor Harvest I was thinking greedy. I was rusty on growing from long hiatus and had unrealistical expecations. I started From seed inside March by July 5 feet tall and healthy. Began flowering inside and July 1 hoping they would be ready to leave outside in August and that I would harvest mid September. That was not the case at all since after 30 days of flowering inside they had beginning nugs when I left outside beginning of August they went back into revenge mode and vegged again as buds stop growing Till mid September and then begin flowering again from natural light change and what I noticed is the temperature change that really was the catalyst for flowering and not the light Dep 12 and 12 LightCycle change pound they were 5 feet tall andweek veg* I agree 18 months would be a waste of time.

The nugs came out really good after it all

 

[Sto42]

The nugs came out really good after it all

My point is it’s hard to pull off 2 outdoor harvests in northeast doing a light dep situation or force flowering. I know it can be done in ne but it’s level 3 shit. It was naive of me to think i could pull off such an advanced move without training or battle tested. But it is like riding a bike man.

 

[PsillyRabbitOG]

I see, well thats no where near what i'm doing. Im glad you got learned something tho.
thanks for adding your experience to the conversation.

 

[sambapati]

I am in the Northeast US. I grew monsters last harvest. Mold is inevitable in this climate, Everyone of mine came down early due to mold, some a month early, some a week or so. Culling the bottom branches for airflow is a necessity. Strains the produce giant colas are not suited for this climate. Never heard of a Hybrid outdoor/lights set up, but 18 months is an extreme veg. I put seeds in March 1st and put outside end of May, so, about 13/14 weeks of veg. Lower the lights down slowly over about 2 weeks before transplant, from 16 down to 14, which is about what the sun will be doing when they go out. They also get hardened off over about 2 weeks and learn to love the real sun... along with any early may warm days that they can spend in the shade. I started a grow diary but just didn't have time to keep it up. The ladies were more work than I bargained for lol... and harvest was ridiculous... glad I staggered it due to mold to be honest.
Honestly, that long of a veg seems like a waste of resources to me, and it sounds like it's going to be hard not to confuse the girls and possibly have them herm...
My biggest yeilder was 2 and a quarter pounds of good bud, and another quarter of popcorn buds. She was a white widow but I dubbed her big mama. I make my own soil and use Dutch Science bloom when they start to look hungry in the ground. Use promix and feed w the veg formula Dutch Science whilst inside. I made some mistakes and learned a lot this past year... mainly that I can't grow 12 monsters, it's too much. Good luck with your experiment. I guess my point is that I had a slightly extended veg and grew 6+ foot ladies so prepare for the work that an 18 month veg will require when they take off outside. ✌

My indoor plants also get daylight (really strong during the afternoon) from their window. The air conditioner cooling the grow inside fans the plants outside, so a lot of synergy happening between the outdoor and indoor. The NE climate has been the hardest hit by climate change according to today's Boston Globe; we're drawing our plans in lines of sand regarding weather predictability. My last grow had these really chunky Indicas with big colas -- problem was mold and had to toss some of them into the hellfire. Have a great and Green 2022

 

[ezenzyme]

Exactly what i am saying!

 

[PipeCarver]

My indoor plants also get daylight (really strong during the afternoon) from their window. The air conditioner cooling the grow inside fans the plants outside, so a lot of synergy happening between the outdoor and indoor. The NE climate has been the hardest hit by climate change according to today's Boston Globe; we're drawing our plans in lines of sand regarding weather predictability. My last grow had these really chunky Indicas with big colas -- problem was mold and had to toss some of them into the hellfire. Have a great and Green 2022

I keep reading about folks in Canadian and North Eastern USA climates grow big fat beauties. I say good luck it not an easy grow. I had someone on here recommend I should try bringing outdoor plants inside for 1 week the first of August and put them into flower mode early.. Then back to finish outside again......I don't get buds forming outside until late Aug....meaning they don't get to finish...if I could be at 4 weeks flower by then it might be a different story.....Last year sucked for weather...I might giver a try this year...but I'm not counting on outdoor for my supply...just an added bonus for eatables maybe.

 

[ezenzyme]

And on the dirt note, IMO any dirt thats been used once or has been sitting(fallow) for a season will be rather devoid of nutrients. After a season of either or its time to treat you soils. Aged manure is a great media but a mediocare nutrient. Same with compost, theres a window of opportunity while its alive full of organisms, hummus and nutrition but after its been sitting and gotten totally dry it starts to rapidly lose the bennies. Compost made more than a year ago will be rather benign. Top soil can be good and can be bad, usually has some amount of nutrients in it but nothing like compost or manure generally speaking. A lil elbow grease and motivation can produce you a nice truck load of local and hopefully free sh*t. If your rocking 1000 gal beds you should put 350 gal of hot compost or freshly composted/aged manure and a few bags of amendments. I would put kelp, neem seed meal, basalt dust, malted barley and Calcium Carbonate to really get it poppin up in there. If you put too little your going to bust the bank buying ferts.

 

[PsillyRabbitOG]

I assure you my soil is rich and fertile, not old dirt. Non the less that is great advice. I will for sure be spending more money then I want on additional ferts and amendments.

Anyone have an estimate how much water a day big trees need in the pique of the summer?

 

[flowerdave]

Guess it depends on your climate. The monster I grew last summer was grown in a rich mixture of 2 year old chicken shit , seaweed wood ash and everything under the sun. Anyways all I had to do was water it in. then Mother Nature did the rest. I also had a good layer of mulch on it. But we had inches of rain at a time here in Michigan all summer long

 

[Madbud]

I used Black Cow a couple years ago, very sandy and low pH. Xmas lights should be on clearance for night light. Good luck.

 

[ezenzyme]

I grew in 600gal smart pots last year and in my climate(high desert) it drunk up to 50 gal daily at the peak of summer sometime a little more and a hose down but i deal with pretty serious temps well over the ideal range

 

[sambapati]

I grew in 600gal smart pots last year and in my climate(high desert) it drunk up to 50 gal daily at the peak of summer sometime a little more and a hose down but i deal with pretty serious temps well over the ideal range

If you still have concerns, it’s easy to make your own soil wetter from agar-agar, a naturally occurring gelling agent derived from various seaweeds and algae. You can buy it in powder form from health food shops. To make a soil wetter, simply mix the powder with boiling water to make a paste, then combine 250mL of paste with 4.5L of water. Apply to water repellent soil and potting mix. Agar is so benign that it’s most commonly used as a vegetarian substitute for gelatine.

Above idea might help in water conservation/retention....I haven't used it yet, but bought some today and will cook it up for the outdoor plants....

 

[PsillyRabbitOG]

Transplant timing for your final up pot is a big deal, getting the timing correct to be able to up pot into their final soil is a critical moment, time it wrong and your waiting for it to root into a 10gal pot when it should have been rooting into the final soils.

I have a question man, it seems like there is a chance I wont be able to transplant enough and the plants will be root bound in their final pots.
Is that just as bad or worse than planting them before they fully root out?

 

[PsillyRabbitOG]

Stressing about the date I tun the lights off. My plan is July 4th. 15 hours of sunlight decreasing everyday from that point. They will receive a sudden drop from 17 hours of direct light to >15 hours at this schedule what do you think will happen?
It will continue to grow vegetative until the light cycle is closer to 12/12.
It will trigger early flowering uninterrupted until maturity.
It will trigger early flowering but re-veg before going back to flower later in the season.

edit-Thinking on it now I will lower it 15 mins every day(ish) starting 4th of July. Until fading it out by august.

 

[ezenzyme]

Me personally i goes like this, start end of febuary everyone up by march first, one gal pots for 1 month approx transplant begining of april, times out perfectly for transplant beginning of may and thats about as early as i can get out here in my neck of the woods. Middle of july is fine, i like to run veg nutes hard up till then, off with the lights and blast them with balanced NPK and flip hard into the stretch. Turning off the supplemental lighting is fine if the light cycle is making them flower, no need for tapering off. Second week in july is fine

 

[PsillyRabbitOG]

Thanks man
My plants are already started in 1 gallon pots. 10 seeds two will be selected . I will kill the males, transplant the inferior plants+ clones and flower them to maturity in a separate tent. The two selected will veg in a tent all to their own untill the end of april.
I know i can turn off the supplemental lighting if the light cycle is making them flower. I just dont know when exactly that is. One of the strains I've never grown and the other has been 10 years since I have grown it.
I will take the suggestion of the second week in July.

 

[ezenzyme]

Middle to end of July seems to be flip time across 'merica, with small variations depending on climate and strain. I mean regardless of what time in july it is i think that the light cycle will not allow them to re veg, IME it takes a few weeks for re veg to set naturally and the shock of turning off the lights will make them flower regardless of the time of year. But second week in july i have personally tested and used for the last three years and works fricken brilz. It is really nice because it takes the guess work out of when they are flowering and you can immediately start blasting them with P n K. Planning on going into #10 pots before you go outside? it looks like your plants are already ready for bigger houses.