Starting autos for outdoors…

Hi….going to attempt my first autos with some Northern Lights. The last frost date where I live is generally May 20 or so. Should I start these indoors, putting them outside every sunny warm day and bringing them in at night? Or wait til the end of May? If I do start early is it ok to start them in peat pellets then popping them in larger pots to finish? From what I understand it’s best not to disturb the root structure by repotting, but peat pellets avoid that I think. I’ve had good luck with the pellets in previous years….thanks for any advice….

Best to avoid bringing plants in and out as it can introduce bugs into your indoor area.

if no other plants can be contaminated and you clean your grow space before the next run it should be fine.

Autos typically have 2-4 weeks of veg then they transition into flower.

Best to just germinate in the final container

Thanks… I never grow cannabis inside. It’s impossible to do that due to my situation…

Well you’ll be fine then Good luck!

Depending on where you are, I might wait a little longer than that. Consider the three month grow window for an auto, and plant it when it will be getting the most sun light. The more the better for autos. Putting them out too early might limit their potential due to less sunlight. Just a thought. Reflecting on putting some autos out early last summer, lol. My takeaway was that I should have waited longer, and also that in my climate, pretty far north, autos do better with more light than nature provides ‘round these parts.

grapenut2457 said:

Hi….going to attempt my first autos with some Northern Lights. The last frost date where I live is generally May 20 or so. Should I start these indoors, putting them outside every sunny warm day and bringing them in at night? Or wait til the end of May? If I do start early is it ok to start them in peat pellets then popping them in larger pots to finish? From what I understand it’s best not to disturb the root structure by repotting, but peat pellets avoid that I think. I’ve had good luck with the pellets in previous years….thanks for any advice….

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Not sure what part of Canada you are from but if you start late May, you won't finish until September

I typically start germinating my seeds mid April so the plants are established by early May, this allows my plants to harvest by late July or early August

So I guess it really depends on where you live and your typical weather patterns (I'm in Vancouver).

Don't worry about transplanting them, autos are no different than a normal plant....I often use a solo cup or a plastic cup to start in, then just cut the cup open to ensure no stress/damage to the roots.

All you need is a small light source such as a 23 watt CFL or a LED to get the plants established

As for bringing the plants back & forth is not a problem unless you have other indoor plants that can be impacted with bugs being introduced into your home.

Good luck

@ISK…..thanks…..nice plants. I’ve never had a problem with bugs with any seedlings whether it be cannabis or veggie seedlings.

Another question if I may? What might be the minimum size pot I can use to expect a decent harvest?

grapenut2457 said:

Another question if I may? What might be the minimum size pot I can use to expect a decent harvest?

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I typically grow the hempy/drain to waste style (manual hydroponics) and use only perlite

I'm going to grow in soil this year and will use a 3 gallon pot like the one on the left....the blue bucket on the right is actually hempy with only perlite.