moving indoor to outdoor

I started off with 10 seeds (white russians possibly) and tried to start growing them out in the bush.. they did not get enough care and water and stuff and 4 of them died with 5 growing pretty slow and one nearly dead.. after 3 weeks brought them home to put in the garden and they picked up a bit of speed due to more care. They are still pretty small for 5 weeks though but i got them under a 400W HPS globe today.
I currently have it on 18/6 and plan on putting them out in the bush in about 6 weeks when the hours get to 14/10 outdoors. Should i gradually bring the light down say half an hour every week or should it be fine to put themstraight out in 14/10 after 18/6 without forcing flowering? I want them to continue vegging for another month after gonig out before the days start getting shorter. Is it possible that doing that could let them show their sex and then revert back to growth?
Im also going to start some more seeds in some jiffy pellets.. should they be fine once there germinated to go under the HPS light without burning them and stuff?

Cheers

BoxHot said:

Im also going to start some more seeds in some jiffy pellets.. should they be fine once there germinated to go under the HPS light without burning them and stuff?

Cheers

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I have been trying to find a good answer on this also. Searching threads I have found many are having success with seedlings under HPS but I've also been told this causes too much stretch.

Anyone out there that can provide some real proof behind this?

Transplanting indoor to outdoor I'd recommend transplanting when your plants are strong enough to effectively compete with surrounding plant life. I'd veg to 1-2 feet in a 2.5 gallon pot then transplant during the day. Any time you're transplanting you should do so during light, during the day cycle the energy of the plants transfers to the foliage to help with photosynthesis. During the night cycle most of the plant's auxins have retreated to the root system, therefore stressing the roots while the plant's strength is packed into them is a bad idea. With mid-day transplant I never get any transplant shock.

do 4-7 days of 16/10 before moving them outside into the 14/10.

Its possible your plants will show pre-flower sex during veg depending on how long you go. You can re-veg plants. Darkness for 24 hours, Put them onto 12/12 or 10/14 whatever you want, study for signs of sex then go 20/4 for a week to put them back into vegetative. Some plants will not respond very well to re-veg.

Before placing your plants under HPS I'd make sure they have at least 1 full internode.

Thanks for the reply. That's interesting about transplanting in the day time... I may not be able to though because it might not be a good idea carrying plants out in the middle of the day.
I am planning on taking about 4 clones each of the plants i have in a couple weeks to determine the sex and grow some more. Then after that is done i'll take out the males and put the females in the bush, when they are strong enough, while growing more clones inside. Anyone had experience with cloning for sex.. can you just put it straight into 12/12
I was thinking of just putting the seedlings on the windowsill until they sprout and then putting them under the hps but a greater distance away compared to with the other plants and maybe use a shade cloth for a week or something.

You can always switch your photoperiod so the "middle of the day" to the plant is 1am. All the auxins will be in the leaves and transplant away.