Need some lighting advice..

Ok so i have a small outdoor grow that i started a little over a month ago from seed. I'm in San Diego, so at night it's still getting a bit too cold. I bring the girls in my garage and have a ghetto nighttime "grow tent".

Im currently saving for a greenhouse so that's why I'm having to improvise for the time being. I'm on a budget and only have a couple CFL bulbs to supplement for the nighttime so that they stay on the 18/6 schedule.

My question is, are TWO CFL bulbs enough to at least fool the plants into thinking it's still daylight? I know its not enough light to encourage growth, but is it enough to keep them in veg?

P.s. I just fed them today so they're a little droopy. Otherwise, very healthy.

Yeah those cfls will keep those plants in veg. I'd start cutting back your hours though. They're usually ok outside sometime after 14hrs of light. Seeds can be started even earlier because they're not mature enough to flower till they're 4 or 5 weeks old anyways but a big light change all at once could shock flower. I have my clones on 15/9 they're going out in a couple days

So i could gradually get them on a 15/9 or 16/8 and they'll stay in veg? I always thought any more than 6hrs of nighttime and they could start flowering.

Oh, i should mention that i take them outside at around 7 and bring them in once the sky goes dark blue or if the temp drops below 55.(whichever comes first)

They're only under the CFLs for the last few hours before bedtime.

If your light depping or doing indoor flowering is 12/12. Outdoors they flower when they feel the days getting shorter after the solstice

Yeah get them down to 15hrs then leave them outside for the season. I'de cut down 15 or 20 minutes less each day or hell you could just put them outside in a week and they'd probaly be fine

Thanks for the advice. I should have a greenhouse within the next two weeks. So I'll use this time to get them adjusted to strictly nature's light cycle

Alexander Magnan said:

So i could gradually get them on a 15/9 or 16/8 and they'll stay in veg? I always thought any more than 6hrs of nighttime and they could start flowering.

Oh, i should mention that i take them outside at around 7 and bring them in once the sky goes dark blue or if the temp drops below 55.(whichever comes first)

They're only under the CFLs for the last few hours before bedtime.

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Most folks gradually cut back to hours of natural light on your target date for going outside. That is around 14 hours for most.