Outdoor to Indoor

Anyone had any particular trouble bringing outdoor plants back inside?

I have one plant, a clone made in November, that I vegged inside all through the winter. This spring I brought it outside and maintained it to keep it small, knowing I'd be bringing it back in to flower.

It will be going into a tent all by itself, so I'm not worried about transferring pests. I have a 600W HPS and a 300W Mars Hydro--can't replace the sun, but it's not bad, I guess. Think the 600W alone would be enough? I haven't heard of anyone doing this, so I'm wondering if I should anticipate any weird problems.

Should I veg it for a few weeks to adjust and avoid stress, or will it be okay to just switch right over to 12/12? I want to make a plan before it starts to flower naturally so I can time it right--either way I go.

I'd flower it outside, but living near the 45th, there's no way it will fully ripen.

I've done it in the past and plan on doing it again this year. I'm right at the 45th as well and have an Ethiopian growing outside that could take 14 weeks to flower that I'm already planning on finishing inside under a 600 watt HPS. I've also taken vegging plants outside during the day so they could get some real sunlight and brought them back inside under the light when the sun went down to maintain an 18/6 schedule. I've never had a single problem.

xtsho said:

I've done it in the past and plan on doing it again this year. I'm right at the 45th as well and have an Ethiopian growing outside that could take 14 weeks to flower that I'm already planning on finishing inside under a 600 watt HPS. I've also taken vegging plants outside during the day so they could get some real sunlight and brought them back inside under the light when the sun went down to maintain an 18/6 schedule. I've never had a single problem.

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That sounds really good. I didn't think about bringing it outside for some of the day. I could use that tactic depending on when exactly I want to flip and how large the plant is.

Thank you very much!

Are you in a dry climate at the 45th? I ask because I am interested in growing a landrace variety--but I'm not sure which one to go with. I imagine an Afghani strain might be okay where I am. How is the Ethiopian doing where you are?

JimmyJackCorn said:

That sounds really good. I didn't think about bringing it outside for some of the day. I could use that tactic depending on when exactly I want to flip and how large the plant is.

Thank you very much!

Are you in a dry climate at the 45th? I ask because I am interested in growing a landrace variety--but I'm not sure which one to go with. I imagine an Afghani strain might be okay where I am. How is the Ethiopian doing where you are?

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Portland Oregon and considering this current drought we're in I'd say I'm in a dry climate. The Ethiopian is doing fine outdoors for now. I did put it and my other plants in the shade during our 116°F heatwave awhile back. But it was close to 100°F yesterday and it wasn't bothered at all. And the humidity is 55% at 8:00 am but in the middle of the day when it's hot it drops below 30%. So hot and dry.

If you want a landrace that can finish outdoors then an Afghanica strain would be a good choice.

As for taking plants outdoors each day for natural sunlight some people will have an issue claiming that you'll get pests. I haven't had that issue and people get pests growing indoors frequently even though they never take their plants outside. I've found that they grow better with the natural sunlight so I turn off the light in my veg tent, take them outside, and bring them back inside when they are no longer getting any sun. I have never gotten any pests but I do preventative spraying in veg. I use to use neem now I use sesame oil. I haven't gotten pests to date. I keep a good eye out for them though and if I did get them I'd spot them early and then knock them out with a simple citric acid solution and keep growing.

If you're looking for some landraces check out The Real Seed Company. They have a lot landraces from Afghanistan and the Hindu Kush region. I've grown their Mazar I Sharif which turned out well but I grew it indoors. Some of the pictures they have of it on their website were from plants grown here in Oregon. It's known for having those red pistils that are merely cosmetic but people seem to go crazy over. I would also mention ACE for landraces but they focus on sativas.

Good luck with your grow.

JimmyJackCorn said:

Anyone had any particular trouble bringing outdoor plants back inside?

I have one plant, a clone made in November, that I vegged inside all through the winter. This spring I brought it outside and maintained it to keep it small, knowing I'd be bringing it back in to flower.

It will be going into a tent all by itself, so I'm not worried about transferring pests. I have a 600W HPS and a 300W Mars Hydro--can't replace the sun, but it's not bad, I guess. Think the 600W alone would be enough? I haven't heard of anyone doing this, so I'm wondering if I should anticipate any weird problems.

Should I veg it for a few weeks to adjust and avoid stress, or will it be okay to just switch right over to 12/12? I want to make a plan before it starts to flower naturally so I can time it right--either way I go.

I'd flower it outside, but living near the 45th, there's no way it will fully ripen.

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You'll be totally fine. Bringing plants from outside to inside is SIGNIFICANTLY less stressful than the other way around.

Take your outdoor plant and put it inside, and you can either flower it out or let it veg for as long as you want. That's entirely up to you!

As you pointed out, obviously yes only the sun has the power and spectrum that is has. However, with any plant, root mass/quality is what will dictate your grow.

Bring the girl inside, you'll be totally fine!

Bugs

About the only issues I’ve had. So be carful on that end

Yeah, I have a bit more headroom in the 5G pot for top-dressing and mulches, but I'll have it full by the time pistils are really popping. Kind of an experiment for me, so I really appreciate all the input. Sounds like the plan could work!

I want to move toward SIPs with living soil, so I repotted from the 5G to a 15G. Two weeks later, she started to flower. Moths are starting to get thick outside, so I put her in the tent yesterday.

I put river rock in the bottom four inches with geofabric between it and the soil. I put the pot in an oversized tray. It's more of a bottom-water situation, but I'm looking for wicking rather than having soil soaking all of it up at once.

I've been mulching with fresh alfalfa and mother trimmings on top of EWC and 3-5-2 with mycos. The fungus is happy. I also transplanted some clover from my yard to the edges of the 15G.

My 600 W SE HPS was getting me up to 85dF, so I put the TSW2000 instead (300W).



Next grow will be a full-on SIP in totes. I'll be taking cuttings for that soon.

My outdoor plants never have thrip problems, but I brought one indoors last year and it had a thrip explosion.

If I were to do it again I would thoroughly inspect them and spray them with water before I brought them in, then add a layer of good EWC and then do an IPM regimen (alternating between bti, spinosad, neem, insecticidal soap, essential oils, etc).

friedguy said:

My outdoor plants never have thrip problems, but I brought one indoors last year and it had a thrip explosion.

If I were to do it again I would thoroughly inspect them and spray them with water before I brought them in, then add a layer of good EWC and then do an IPM regimen (alternating between bti, spinosad, neem, insecticidal soap, essential oils, etc).

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That will happen to everyone bringing plants indoors. Most common at least.

Iv had it just with taking outside clones then after root placing them under the veg light. BOOM! Outta no where Soap or neem works great

DrOgkush said:

Iv had it just with taking outside clones then after root placing them under the veg light. BOOM! Outta no where Soap or neem works great

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A few days after repot, when any potential for shock was passed, I hit the whole thing with some horrendously nasty chemical insecticide (right before flowering started). I still did some fairly thorough inspections before I brought her inside anyway, and I will keep a good eye. I was mostly looking for worm eggs.

I'm not horribly worried about outside pests when outside, but bringing a plant inside and away from the natural balance makes me nervous. No predator wasps live in my tent! I will definitely monitor the plant closely, especially for these first couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up.

Hopefully I'm not back here asking for suggestions on pests in the near future. I'll try citric acid before I bug anyone, though.

JimmyJackCorn said:

A few days after repot, when any potential for shock was passed, I hit the whole thing with some horrendously nasty chemical insecticide (right before flowering started). I still did some fairly thorough inspections before I brought her inside anyway, and I will keep a good eye. I was mostly looking for worm eggs.

I'm not horribly worried about outside pests when outside, but bringing a plant inside and away from the natural balance makes me nervous. No predator wasps live in my tent! I will definitely monitor the plant closely, especially for these first couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up.

Hopefully I'm not back here asking for suggestions on pests in the near future. I'll try citric acid before I bug anyone, though.

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Wouldn’t that be some shit. Have wasp in your tent. Lmao

Im confused, youve vegged a plant indoors all winter then brought it outdoors in spring but maintained it to keep it small to bring back into where you started to flower it?
Im sure there's a reason but please give logic as i cant see it

bam0813 said:

Im confused, youve vegged a plant indoors all winter then brought it outdoors in spring but maintained it to keep it small to bring back into where you started to flower it?
Im sure there's a reason but please give logic as i cant see it

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lol Right, I see how that's ridiculous.

It's my first clone ever. It kinda monster cropped a bit, and didn't grow super well. I almost tossed it due to plant limits. Long story short, it survived to spring and I transferred it outdoors. It finally took off, so I kept it small, repotted it and here we are.

I never planned for any of this to happen.

JimmyJackCorn said:

A few days after repot, when any potential for shock was passed, I hit the whole thing with some horrendously nasty chemical insecticide (right before flowering started). I still did some fairly thorough inspections before I brought her inside anyway, and I will keep a good eye. I was mostly looking for worm eggs.

I'm not horribly worried about outside pests when outside, but bringing a plant inside and away from the natural balance makes me nervous. No predator wasps live in my tent! I will definitely monitor the plant closely, especially for these first couple of weeks. Thanks for the heads up.

Hopefully I'm not back here asking for suggestions on pests in the near future. I'll try citric acid before I bug anyone, though.

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Why would you use a nasty chemical insecticide on a cannabis plant?

xtsho said:

Why would you use a nasty chemical insecticide on a cannabis plant?

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Aack, the judging! It will be okay. If not, my ghost will log in and warn other newbs.

Huh??

If you're actually curious, I don't mind talking about it. I thought I was being teased, so I was trying to be funny.

I used lambda cyhalothrin (a variant of pyrethrin), the kind you attach to your hose.

I had some left over from killing mosquitoes for the Fourth. I broke it out to knock some jumping beetles (springtails? flea beetles?) off my potato plant, the only thing I can find that works for those little bastards. This drought year has been weird and brutal. Since it was in my hand, I hit the cannabis plant as a preventative, since I knew I was about to bring it in. I did everything I could to barely wet the leaves, so as little as possible would drip into the soil.

I had a spider mite problem that I brought home from the nursery (never again). This stuff worked on them really well, and since I was seeing what could be a bit of mite damage on some of my cannabis leaves, it seemed like a quick fix. I read that it breaks down pretty quick, and the label agrees with that, so I went for it.

Soil is good, plant is good--least, far as I can tell.

Is this concerning?