Veg timers with relation to putting plants outside

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smiley87

Active Member
I've heard of outdoor growers getting pre-flowers when putting plants outside in the spring. This never made much sense to me until i was talking to a friend.

A friend of mine is looking to put some plants outside for this season. They're also planning on vegging indoors at 16/8 for 6-8 weeks. Will the plants be shocked (pre-flower) when put outside and the sunrise to sunset time is only about 14.5 hours? Would it be better to run veg at 14.5/9.5 to match cycles? Have a better way??

My friend has never grown to completion, but has been ravaging through the great information here. Many thanks to all!
 
doublejj

doublejj

Well-Known Member
smiley87 said:
I've heard of outdoor growers getting pre-flowers when putting plants outside in the spring. This never made much sense to me until i was talking to a friend.

A friend of mine is looking to put some plants outside for this season. They're also planning on vegging indoors at 16/8 for 6-8 weeks. Will the plants be shocked (pre-flower) when put outside and the sunrise to sunset time is only about 14.5 hours? Would it be better to run veg at 14.5/9.5 to match cycles? Have a better way??

My friend has never grown to completion, but has been ravaging through the great information here. Many thanks to all!
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As close as you can get to the outside the better, but 16/8 should be close enough. Good luck
 
S

smiley87

Active Member
doublejj said:
As close as you can get to the outside the better, but 16/8 should be close enough. Good luck
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I guess the real question at this point is what veg light schedule would be best. I was assuming reducing the hours of daylight so much would be a shock to the plants. They'll be mature before they go out. I just don't know.

Everyone's standard 18/6 down to natural light of 14.5/9.5 seems like it would be hard on the plants. Would vegging at 14.5, 15, or 16 hours of daylight work just as well? Do you foresee problems running any of these unconvenional veg times? Should i stop posting and run 18/6 like everyone else does? The veg lighting will be strong at about 5k/sq ft lumens so shorter lights on time shouldn't be much of an issue.
 
blowingupjake

blowingupjake

Well-Known Member
It would make sense that since people grow from seed under 12/12 with success- that a 15 hour light period would serve you fine, if y'all are that worried about stress.

I know that is worded terribly- medicated a bit to much lol
 
Garden Boss

Garden Boss

Well-Known Member
I'm keeping my seeds for outdoor season on 15/9. IDK if its good or bad, but that's what I am doing. I've heard as seeds will continue to veg as long as the light period is gradually growing. I don't think one day(planting day) would be enough to freak them out, since from there, the days would be getting longer.
 
Mr.Marijuana420

Mr.Marijuana420

Well-Known Member
smiley87 said:
I guess the real question at this point is what veg light schedule would be best. I was assuming reducing the hours of daylight so much would be a shock to the plants. They'll be mature before they go out. I just don't know.

Everyone's standard 18/6 down to natural light of 14.5/9.5 seems like it would be hard on the plants. Would vegging at 14.5, 15, or 16 hours of daylight work just as well? Do you foresee problems running any of these unconvenional veg times? Should i stop posting and run 18/6 like everyone else does? The veg lighting will be strong at about 5k/sq ft lumens so shorter lights on time shouldn't be much of an issue.
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your right it is, and starting on 18/6 when your gonna transition outside 14.5 -15 hrs in a month or 2, your more than likely gonna trigger flower, even if you try gradually. as JJ said your probably safe with 16/8. I personally like to go 15/9 because that's pretty well close to the schedules outside at the time I plan to bring plants out, and I don't feel the extra hr would be majorly beneficial
 
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smiley87

Active Member
Thank you for the reply here. The idea just went off like a light bulb in my head when i was running all the numbers. I've seen too many people say "They're starting to show pistols in May. What do I do?" It makes perfect sense to me now though.

Do you notice a difference in growth vegging at 15/9 as opposed to something like 18/6? I've never seen anyone grow at 15/9 lol.
 
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CaretakerDad

Well-Known Member
There is no evidence that supports the notion that plants will be "shocked" into flowering by going from 18/6 to 15/9 on the light schedule. I always veg my girls 18/6 and then put them "outside" when the weather allows after mid May when the daylight hours go to 15 per day. I said "outside" because I already have plants outside in a heated hoophouse with supplemental lighting to give them 15/9. Marijuana, except for Ruderalis, generally begins flowering at 14/10.
 
mikek420

mikek420

Well-Known Member
I have mine running at 16/8 and 12/12 they should do fine. I am a little concerned about how they will react to the light cycle moving around a little (they go til 1 am, should have thought of that sooner but I see no real problem

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Rollitup mobile app
 
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smiley87

Active Member
CaretakerDad said:
There is no evidence that supports the notion that plants will be "shocked" into flowering by going from 18/6 to 15/9 on the light schedule. I always veg my girls 18/6 and then put them "outside" when the weather allows after mid May when the daylight hours go to 15 per day. I said "outside" because I already have plants outside in a heated hoophouse with supplemental lighting to give them 15/9. Marijuana, except for Ruderalis, generally begins flowering at 14/10.
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I'm pretty high north. At my latitude, the days are longer than 14 hours until mid august. The plants will start flowering much sooner than that.

I'm not saying that length of day has nothing to do with it. Though increasing and decreasing light schedules definitely play a major roll in the plants figuring out if it's time to grow or die.
 
Humboldt14

Humboldt14

Well-Known Member
CaretakerDad said:
There is no evidence that supports the notion that plants will be "shocked" into flowering by going from 18/6 to 15/9 on the light schedule. I always veg my girls 18/6 and then put them "outside" when the weather allows after mid May when the daylight hours go to 15 per day. I said "outside" because I already have plants outside in a heated hoophouse with supplemental lighting to give them 15/9. Marijuana, except for Ruderalis, generally begins flowering at 14/10.
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agreed.......
 
jarvild

jarvild

Well-Known Member
I have lost a few plants outside running 18/6 to 15/9. By my experience I would say in my area it's true. But I'm in the Midwest so max I get is 15 hours and they start to go into flower the end of July first week of August. All my cuttings get put into 15/9 and go out June 1st
 
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smiley87

Active Member
jarvild said:
I have lost a few plants outside running 18/6 to 15/9. By my experience I would say in my area it's true. But I'm in the Midwest so max I get is 15 hours and they start to go into flower the end of July first week of August. All my cuttings get put into 15/9 and go out June 1st
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Thank you. Can you elaborate a little on what happened with the plants you lost? Is there any difference in veg for you between 18/6 and 15/9?
 
jarvild

jarvild

Well-Known Member
smiley87 said:
Thank you. Can you elaborate a little on what happened with the plants you lost? Is there any difference in veg for you between 18/6 and 15/9?
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Sure, They flowered out and never amounted to anything never reveged enough to amount to crap
 
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CaretakerDad

Well-Known Member
smiley87 said:
I'm pretty high north. At my latitude, the days are longer than 14 hours until mid august. The plants will start flowering much sooner than that.

I'm not saying that length of day has nothing to do with it. Though increasing and decreasing light schedules definitely play a major roll in the plants figuring out if it's time to grow or die.
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Length of day has EVERYTHING to do with it !! I don't know how far north you are but I am right on the 45th parallel and at about 4000ft elevation. Here is my "outdoor" set up

IMG_0741.jpgIMG_0742.jpg
 
Mr.Marijuana420

Mr.Marijuana420

Well-Known Member
CaretakerDad said:
There is no evidence that supports the notion that plants will be "shocked" into flowering by going from 18/6 to 15/9 on the light schedule. I always veg my girls 18/6 and then put them "outside" when the weather allows after mid May when the daylight hours go to 15 per day. I said "outside" because I already have plants outside in a heated hoophouse with supplemental lighting to give them 15/9. Marijuana, except for Ruderalis, generally begins flowering at 14/10.
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yea the evidence is a good percentage of my plants flowering(some preflower) as well as many others here. marijuana doesn't flower with a predetermined amount of hrs. Its changing cycles, the decreasing of light hrs each day, or as indoor growers do the "drop" from 18 hrs to 12 hrs, its not the 12 hrs that trigger flower(nor the 14 outside), it is the overall decrease in light hrs that tells the plant "winter's coming and time to get a move on". Ive had plants start flower dropping 18 to 16(trying to slowly transition, still had a good number of plants begin flower, and not amount to what they couldve. Id bet that you could start a plant under 24/0 and trigger flower with a drop to 18/6,
 
Humboldt14

Humboldt14

Well-Known Member
Mr.Marijuana420 said:
yea the evidence is a good percentage of my plants flowering(some preflower) as well as many others here. marijuana doesn't flower with a predetermined amount of hrs. Its changing cycles, the decreasing of light hrs each day, or as indoor growers do the "drop" from 18 hrs to 12 hrs, its not the 12 hrs that trigger flower(nor the 14 outside), it is the overall decrease in light hrs that tells the plant "winter's coming and time to get a move on". Ive had plants start flower dropping 18 to 16(trying to slowly transition, still had a good number of plants begin flower, and not amount to what they couldve. Id bet that you could start a plant under 24/0 and trigger flower with a drop to 18/6,
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Thats silly, a plant will not go into flowering by going from 24hrs to 18hours. but you can flower a plant at 14hours. and the amount of hours of light the plant gets has everything to do with vegg and flowering. Not the decrease in light.
 
Mr.Marijuana420

Mr.Marijuana420

Well-Known Member
Humboldt14 said:
Thats silly, a plant will not go into flowering by going from 24hrs to 18hours. but you can flower a plant at 14hours. and the amount of hours of light the plant gets has everything to do with vegg and flowering. Not the decrease in light.
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well I guess we have differing opinions. The 24-18 is theory, that I will soon test, so I cant say with certainty, but like I said, Ive had plants begin flower with a mere 2 hr drop from from 18-16. not all of them, many will resume veg after they realize days are steadily going up, but Ive also had plants begin full on flower, and never quite make the transition back to veg, and that makes for a pretty shitty plant, and I dnt feel an extra 2-3 hrs of artificial light for 4-6 weeks would be beneficial enough to assume the risk.
 
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