How early can I start from seed indoor and transfer to outdoor and what light hours.

Southern Colorado,
did outdoor clones last year planted june 1st. Had great results. Plants vegged june july and started flowering august
This year I want to grow from seed. Got lots of early finishing good strains feminzed seeds.
How early can/should I plant the seeds? Some ppl say February. and what light cycle?
My only worry is them starting to flower before they should.
If I start 18/6 indoor then transfer to outdoor June, the light cycle will go to about 14.5 hours of light. I think this will trigger flowering in june which is too early. I want the powerful sun the veg them huge outdoors for a while.
Maybe I start the plants at 14.5 hours and leave them like that for march-april-may- mimicking the june natural light? Or maybe start them in april so theyre not in veg too long which might inspire them to flower at the correct time. im lookin for max yield because of plant number limits
please outdoor growers respond its not the same as indoor the plants start to flower as the daylight shortens not only at 12/12.
thanks

Jonah

im pretty much wondering the exact same thing. gunna do the same thing as you

veg them as long as you like/can some varieties will react nicely to long veg some smaller indicas just will never achive huge status and longer vegging may be a waste.
as far as putting them outdoors in less light than they were getting inside some will flower. a very few, maybe none if your lucky. also they will throw some pre-flowers at this time usually but not start to flower. in a week they have fully adapted and are growing 6" a day in full veg. this is just based on my observations.
and if you get one that flowers out hey some early bud.

also on the light cycle 18/6 seems like they would adapt better going outdoors but i have always been on 24 and things work out.

i myself do not veg long a month or 45 days i must drive a distance to put them outdoors and the bigger the more worry and more likely that i will damage them.

arkman said:

S
Maybe I start the plants at 14.5 hours and leave them like that for march-april-may-

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This is would I would do. Or if I were to start them indoors I would have the indoor light times match the light cycle for the date I was planning on throwing them outdoors. I've also made the mistake of putting them under 18/6 and throwing them outside in April
But that was under the advice of "learning how to grow" from someone who I've come to find out didn't know wtf he was talking about beyond the very basics.
I've had good results mimicking the suns hours though and plants staying in veg.

That's what I thought monkey especially since I'm trying early strains which might be more light sensitive like early biddy. How long did u veg them at the 14 hours?
My friend put out 8 inch plants from seed June fir

Cool so I got two different opinions/stories
Anyone else have experience vegging for four months indoor then transfer to full outdoor? I was inspired by my neighbors 3lb plants from stocky little 6inch plants he raised from feminized seeds indoor and put out June 1st

Thanks

Not till April 20. Any earlier and you may get stunted locked down 1 foot plants.

I am on the 45th parallel and in the mountains. I like to veg for 2-3 months and then put them out in the middle of May when temps here are mostly above freezing, I will cover them when needed until mid June. The plants are about 3 feet tall and nicely shaped from vigorous topping and if properly tended will yield between 2-5 Lbs depending on the strain. I also have a hoophouse that allows me to put them "outside" to get used to the sun beginning in March by supplementing the light so they get at least 16 hours of good light.

Here is a link to a great site that will give you sunrise/sunset times for your city and I have found it to be very accurate. http://www.sunrisesunset.com

Caretakerdad, you veg 2-3 months indoor what light cycle? from seed?

Anybody else have experience going from 18/6 indoor to 14.5 outdoor light?
Or has anyone kept plants vegging for 4 months on 14.5 from seed.? Please someone who has done this before
and which strains.. Thanks

Here's some really good info that makes me think goin from 18/6 indoor to 14.5 June first outdoor will work fine.
I still think 14.5 hours for a month before I put them out is good idea?
Another thing that can cause flowering is rootbound plants so ill keep Steppen them uup any more tips before I decide to plant?
i will be cloning as well how long for the mothers to be ready to take cuttings?

Thanks

i just did what ur asking i started from seed with 3 23 watt cfls 3 seeds i had them on 18/6 for about a 2 months indoors and chucked them outside they were a bit tall and leafy but about 3 weeks outdoors bulked them right up no i have the problem of there gotten way to big and i have to cut them back now so just becarful as they will take off shuve em in the ground and ur qustion about flowering yes mine did a semi flower thing lol were it started to grow buds for about 2 weeks then the leaf just over took the bud think it reverted back to veg as one old guy i no has had 1 plant in the ground for about 3 years every time summer swings around she starts to grow again somtimes he get a little winter harvest not much but very very nice

$420 is when I drop my bombs/ and u can start and vegg as long as you want too start now for monsters

If the weathers good here, I shoot for mid to late may. Ive decided that the best way to go about it is to put your veg cycle on the hrs, or as close to as possible, as the light hrs present outside the day you plan to bring them out, mid-late may here for me is about 14h 45m to 15h. I plan to veg inside under 15, I suppose 14h 45 might be better just incase Im able to get them out earlier, but then again I cant imagine the plants would begin flower only dropping 15 min with the outside introduction and then ever increasing days from there. basically whatever the light hrs are at the time you plan to bring your plants out, is gonna be your veg cycle. 14.5 will keep them vegging as long as that's the cycle they were started under. if you try going say 16-14.5 they may begin to flower. don't try squeezing the extra light hrs in and slowly drop, its likely to cause more problems than aid in any growth,