Growing from seeds

Hi All,

I am going to start my first grow this year and Ive been soaking in all the good info on this forum, but i have some specific questions.

I live in southern Ontario and the last frost is about mid may and first frost is late September(approx 120 days).I understand the preferred way is to start the plants first inside but could i grow directly from seeds and expect descent results?

Any body else from the area, what day do you put your plants/seeds in the ground?

When they reference flowering time to be 8-9 weeks, what exactly does this time refer to?

Thanks for any answers.

i can't help you on the first part of your ? but when they say that a plant has a flowering period of say 8 weeks, that means indoors you start counting from the day you put the lights on 12 on and 12 off, and go 8 weeks, and it should get you in the ball park of peak ripeness..

outdoors it gets a lil trickier.. but its basically the same thing.. once the plants start to show signs of flowering, ie preflowers, you count the 9 weeks or w/e for flowering,, final decision on when to chop should always depend on what your trichomes look like under a loupe..
i would also just plant outside after the last frost of the season is over,, you can always start seeds indoors under cfl's for a few weeks so that they have a nice head start on things, and than put them outdoors when the weather permits..
i know that dr greenthums has a strain called the iranian autoflower, although its not a true autoflower in that it contains no ruderalis, and it is supposed to be a great outdoor plant that finishes early, like august or sept.. he also has a few x's using the iranian that sound nice too.. he crosses the iranian with a few other strains to bring the flowering time down some..

ok thanks, whats the minimum light i would need to get like 60 little guys going for like a month before they go out?

you want at least 14hr of light before they go outside.

Damn dude first frost in late Sept? Unless you do autos, an early finishing strain is pretty much mandatory. Also, starting indoors, even if it's just for a few weeks, is highly recommended. It substantially increases the chances of survival. I usually start on a 20/4 or 18/6 light schedule then move them straight outside no sooner than the 2nd week of May. Some people "harden off" or adjust the light schedule, but I don't think it's really necessary as long as you wait til the 2nd week of May. This serves two purposes, at least in my area (NE USA). For one, I know I'm past the date of the last hard frost. Plants can survive a minor frost, but why push it? Second, by taking out 2nd week of May, I know the days are long enough that it won't try to flower. Even if it did, it would most likely revert back to veg because the days are getting longer, but that can really throw the plant for a loop and weeks of grow time could be lost.

Thx,

But how much light power is required for 60 little seedlings just to get them going for a few weeks like you said.

you could use a few cfl's or 4' flours. that's enough light for the first 2-3 weeks.

For that many I would suggest 4' flouros like stumps said. I'm not sure if a single 4' 4 tube T8 fixture would be enough for 60 seedlings. You might need two of them. I would use those 16 oz beer cups. Might want to lay 60 of them out and find the best layout for your grow space. The only drawback to flouros is that they need to be really close to the plants, so pretty much every seedling is going to need to be directly under the bulb. Whatever you do, just make sure you use 6500K "daylight" bulbs. Anything about 5000K would work, but generally speaking CFL's and flouro are around 6500K.

I actually put mine out early in pots(mid march), so they'll sex around late april, early may. That way I know I'll have all females. They usually revert back into veggie just fine. From my 3 years of growing anyway.

mrsql said:

ok thanks, whats the minimum light i would need to get like 60 little guys going for like a month before they go out?

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depends how big your pots are (plant spacing) If you were going with party cups then a 4 bulb 4 foot T5 setup with 6500 K bulbs would be ideal.
If it was me I'd stick them out side any day it was warm enough too but make sure they get at least 16 hours of uninterupted light.
Planting directly outdoors is almost out of the questions. You might want to consider trying a pack of autoflowers too.

Thanks for all the pointers, I have a little planter tray that holds 50 starter pellets, how long do you think I could leave them in there for?

I have the exact same planter tray thing. I kept a plant in their for just about 1 week, until roots started coming out the drainage holes. I would go with small styrofoam cups, which will probably last you about 2 weeks, and then put them outside

Greenday735 said:

I have the exact same planter tray thing. I kept a plant in their for just about 1 week, until roots started coming out the drainage holes. I would go with small styrofoam cups, which will probably last you about 2 weeks, and then put them outside

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yeah, what he said.

buckyboy said:

I actually put mine out early in pots(mid march), so they'll sex around late april, early may. That way I know I'll have all females. They usually revert back into veggie just fine. From my 3 years of growing anyway.

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so if you put your plants in pots outside, do you still water and add nutes? or do you just let the rain do its thing and watch for bugs? I was thinking about vegging a plant inside and putting it on my deck (but inconspicuously) lol