Sprouting indoor or outdoor

Wedding Cake, Kashmir Kush, SFVOG.....

Imo it is easier to sprout indoors under a cfl. Outdoors you have heavy wind and a good chance for stretch.

I like to let them get established too the point of going from a solo to a 1 gallon up pot. Then they are generally strong enough to handle many of the elements of growing outdoors.

rembrandt100 said:

I am somewhat tired of trying to outrun the first frost. My plants will get germinated in 2 weeks. That will give them 4 weeks inside before they go to the greenhouse. Then most of them will go outside. I am going to try two auto's this season and leave one inside the greenhouse all season with the other on a deck in 5 gallon cloth bags. My other 2 plants will be White Widow fems. One in the ground, one in a pot. That is the plan so far but likely to change. I am not sure that they would reach full maturity if I seeded them in the ground where they would grow before frost.

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Hi there. Germinated in 2weeks? care to elaborate? Do you mean- It takes ~2weeks for the seed to become a seedling or to sprout from soil surface?

Highlife42 said:

Hi there. Germinated in 2weeks? care to elaborate? Do you mean- It takes ~2weeks for the seed to become a seedling or to sprout from soil surface?

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Sprouting from soil surface takes anywhere from 2 days to 10 days.

2 weeks after sprout they should be pretty well established and in a veg state.

Highlife42 said:

Hi there. Germinated in 2weeks? care to elaborate? Do you mean- It takes ~2weeks for the seed to become a seedling or to sprout from soil surface?

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I was trying to find when to germinate my seed inside. I usually start seed beginning of April to move to the greenhouse beginning of May then move outside May 18-20th. I will do that with 2 White Widow seeds this year. But I have 2 auto's to try this year. One is Northern lights (8 weeks to flower) the other is Dwarf Low Flyer (6 weeks to flower). Due to reading that auto's grow fast I wondered if starting 4 weeks inside before moving outside was too soon. So I looked at the same plants at a site called Grow Diaries and the plants there were 2 feet tall at 4 weeks. Everyone there seems to grow inside and my lights will not handle that fast growth. I have 2 fixtures @ 33 w Plant and Aquarium total 4 tubes. That is why I asked the question. I just re-read what I wrote and I understand the confusion.

The new plan now is to start the Widow plants as usual. The Auto's will get started with the paper towels method third week of April. After sprouting they go into peat pellets, then when they have 2 true leaves they get placed in 5 gallon cloth bags. I think that will be about 2 weeks. If that goes right they should go into the greenhouse by end of 1 week of May. Any opinions welcome.

doublejj said:

Yes...those are 50gl totes, I use 15gls of solution in each one. The volume of water keeps it from getting too hot...

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i'm an oldie but also a newbie now because things have changed so much, can you point me to a thread explaining the cloning bins?

edblings said:

i'm an oldie but also a newbie now because things have changed so much, can you point me to a thread explaining the cloning bins?

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What i have are DIY units of these.......

@edblings RIU has a DIY section. A quick look turned up this thread on cloners. I'm sure there are more there if you want to give it a look.

injinji said:

@edblings RIU has a DIY section. A quick look turned up this thread on cloners. I'm sure there are more there if you want to give it a look.

DIY Bubble cloner or propagator for seedlings

I made a cloner today. Really simple to do. 40 litre plastic box with lid. Drilled some holes for the nets to sit in. Instead of throwing away the plastic discs I cut out, I decided to cut out another smaller hole in them so that those collars can fit inside them. They fit inside nice and snug...

rollitup.org

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thank you kindly, sir

I'm a fan of outdoor sprouting and doing everything as natural as possible. I have my own worm composter and some rainwater catchment and grow in a spot that has been an organic garden for 15 years. This year I have some seedlings of crosses I created, coming up naturally and am gradually up potting and preparing to sex them. Then they go into the ground. They will probably be big and there will be pm, stem borers, bud rot, caterpillars, grass hoppers, severe storms, leaf septoria, ect, just like last year. Like any gardening endeavor, there will be losses. But you would be amazed at what these plants can take! Some of them survived 29 degrees the other morning!

As I said above I start my plants inside, then move them outside for the summer. Today I found this pic. It is a plant that started from a seed that fell off of a plant the year before. So in essence it is as natural as possible. To be fair it did not get a lot of sun where it was. It is about 3 ft tall. Compare it to the second pic. of a plant started indoors and in a 8-10 gallon pot.

@ OP is your concern about outdoor while the seeds are young?
Do you have access to a mini greenhouse?

Seedlings definitely can be started outdoors, it’s just a matter of if your climate is ready when you want to start. If not, go indoor and harden them off to full sun.

Marijuana seeds prefer darkness during sprouting or germination which are the same thing so I've always done it indoors doing it outdoors they would be exposed to sunlight and colder temperatures.. I've always germinated using the wet napkin and plastic bag method on a shelf in the closet that way they stay at room temperature and they remain in the darkness nothing beats a controlled environment...

Bertalishas said:

I’ve always been curious if it’s better to let them sprout indoors then put them outdoors when there alittle stronger or if it’s okay to let them sprout outdoors. Is the sun to intense for a fresh seedling?

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It's kind of hard to figure out what exactly you're asking I tried my best to answer but rereading your question it's a little confusing. It looks like you're asking is it safe to do the whole germination and seedling process outdoors I would definitely not do it outdoors. The intensity of the Sun could do more harm than good to a seedling plant. I definitely feel starting indoor is a lot better for the plant's health that's why your plants go through a hardening off phase before you put them outside and hardening off is exposing your new plants to a few hours of natural sunlight a day and then bringing them back indoors just to prep them for the intensity the Sun is going to provide in comparison to the indoor lights they've been up under so far. With that being said some seedlings May survive starting outdoors but why run the risk I do pollination projects and make my own seeds but if you have to pay for your seeds which can get quite expensive I would not risk trying to sprout and grow seedlings under the sun.

Buttery Hash said:

It's kind of hard to figure out what exactly you're asking I tried my best to answer but rereading your question it's a little confusing. It looks like you're asking is it safe to do the whole germination and seedling process outdoors I would definitely not do it outdoors. The intensity of the Sun could do more harm than good to a seedling plant. I definitely feel starting indoor is a lot better for the plant's health that's why your plants go through a hardening off phase before you put them outside and hardening off is exposing your new plants to a few hours of natural sunlight a day and then bringing them back indoors just to prep them for the intensity the Sun is going to provide in comparison to the indoor lights they've been up under so far. With that being said some seedlings May survive starting outdoors but why run the risk I do pollination projects and make my own seeds but if you have to pay for your seeds which can get quite expensive I would not risk trying to sprout and grow seedlings under the sun.

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I agree that when you have some pricey, limited genetics, you want to limit risk, but the spring time sun is no threat to seeds sprouted naturally out doors. My out door starts this year have, so far, seen no adverse effects from temps ranging from 30 to 80 degrees, having sprouted the first week of March.

mandocat said:

I agree that when you have some pricey, limited genetics, you want to limit risk, but the spring time sun is no threat to seeds sprouted naturally out doors. My out door starts this year have, so far, seen no adverse effects from temps ranging from 30 to 80 degrees, having sprouted the first week of March.

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Thats why i mentioned they may survive but the elements are not your only concern. Critters and animals love marijuana leaves so here a person is with his seedlings outside exposed and along comes some rodent possum raccoon gopher deer neighborhood cat who happens to stroll into your backyard grow area and assassinate all your fan leaves and for a seedling they'll just eat the tops and leave you with a naked stem. I know this from watching my dogs devour fan leaves that's why animals eat grass if they have a digestive issue animals in nature know the medical benefits of a marijuana leaf and they absolutely love eating them not to mention insects there's just too many risk factors of having a plant that fragile and sensitive and desired outdoors unattended unless you have a secure greenhouse which was not mentioned by the op....that's why I mentioned nothing beats a controlled environment for a seedling but hey to each his own I prefer the safe way.

Buttery Hash said:

Thats why i mentioned they may survive but the elements are not your only concern. Critters and animals love marijuana leaves so here a person is with his seedlings outside exposed and along comes some rodent possum raccoon gopher deer neighborhood cat who happens to stroll into your backyard grow area and assassinate all your fan leaves and for a seedling they'll just eat the tops and leave you with a naked stem. I know this from watching my dogs devour fan leaves that's why animals eat grass if they have a digestive issue animals in nature know the medical benefits of a marijuana leaf and they absolutely love eating them not to mention insects there's just too many risk factors of having a plant that fragile and sensitive and desired outdoors unattended unless you have a secure greenhouse which was not mentioned by the op....that's why I mentioned nothing beats a controlled environment for a seedling but hey to each his own I prefer the safe way.

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This is my solution to pests and weather threats. It worked well last year , so I'm trying it again. When I up pot, I have some bigger cages.

I wish you the best!

Buttery Hash said:

I wish you the best!

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Thanks! Assuming this is directed towards me. Didn't mean to hijack this thread, just wanted to share my approach. I will be starting one batch of rare genetics indoors, but hope to make enough seed to run everything outdoors all the time. Trying to create well adapted out door strains is one of my main goals.

Buttery Hash said:

It's kind of hard to figure out what exactly you're asking I tried my best to answer but rereading your question it's a little confusing. It looks like you're asking is it safe to do the whole germination and seedling process outdoors I would definitely not do it outdoors. The intensity of the Sun could do more harm than good to a seedling plant. I definitely feel starting indoor is a lot better for the plant's health that's why your plants go through a hardening off phase before you put them outside and hardening off is exposing your new plants to a few hours of natural sunlight a day and then bringing them back indoors just to prep them for the intensity the Sun is going to provide in comparison to the indoor lights they've been up under so far. With that being said some seedlings May survive starting outdoors but why run the risk I do pollination projects and make my own seeds but if you have to pay for your seeds which can get quite expensive I would not risk trying to sprout and grow seedlings under the sun.

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I'm outdoors from seed drop. The sun does not burn sprouts when they are outside to start with. It's only ones that have had indoor lighting that that is an issue with.

I will concede there are other things to worry about. Including but not limited to: grasshoppers, caterpillars, too much rain, not enough rain, wind storms, friends with young puppies, nosy neighbors, thieves, etc.etc. But soil is cheap and seeds are free, so plant a few extra.