Humanrob
Well-Known Member
This is my first outdoor. Where I currently live we have unpredictable Octobers, that can include high winds and hail or ice. I'd like my plants to finish up in September. The obvious first call is to choose strains with short flower times. Beyond that, anyone know any tricks?
I don't have issues with yield, I'm growing for a single patient and only need about 17.5 ounces to take her through a whole year and can have up to six plants -- so that would be about 3 ounces each from 6 plants, not a lot to hope for when flowering outdoors.
One thing I was thinking of doing was vegging indoors under 24/0 lighting for 6-8 weeks, ending in the third week in July. If I put them outside then, daylight is around 14 hours a day, and I would think that shift would cause them to go into flower... no? If that shift from 24 hours of light to 14 got them started flowering that early, then I'm pretty sure they'd finish before the end of September. Yes, they'd be "small", but a LOT bigger than if I grew them in my small/weak indoor setup (a clue: my indoor is all CFLs).
Another question while I'm here: do larger more mature plants take longer to finish flowering in general, then smaller younger plants? I know its initiated by daylight, but I'm wondering if the energy (and therefore time) necessary to push a 7' plant that is 4 months old into mature flowers, would take longer than a 4' plant that is 2 months old...
Thanks for your thoughts --
P.S. I don't have the logistics to be home twice a day in 12 hour intervals to cover and uncover them, so I can't use light deprivation.
I don't have issues with yield, I'm growing for a single patient and only need about 17.5 ounces to take her through a whole year and can have up to six plants -- so that would be about 3 ounces each from 6 plants, not a lot to hope for when flowering outdoors.
One thing I was thinking of doing was vegging indoors under 24/0 lighting for 6-8 weeks, ending in the third week in July. If I put them outside then, daylight is around 14 hours a day, and I would think that shift would cause them to go into flower... no? If that shift from 24 hours of light to 14 got them started flowering that early, then I'm pretty sure they'd finish before the end of September. Yes, they'd be "small", but a LOT bigger than if I grew them in my small/weak indoor setup (a clue: my indoor is all CFLs).
Another question while I'm here: do larger more mature plants take longer to finish flowering in general, then smaller younger plants? I know its initiated by daylight, but I'm wondering if the energy (and therefore time) necessary to push a 7' plant that is 4 months old into mature flowers, would take longer than a 4' plant that is 2 months old...
Thanks for your thoughts --
P.S. I don't have the logistics to be home twice a day in 12 hour intervals to cover and uncover them, so I can't use light deprivation.