Starting inside then moving out

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iEagleV

Member
I read a good technique is to start inside, and then plant outside for the main growing.

So does this mean growing indoors for the seedling stage (1-4 weeks) then moving it out veg after it looks female? Or can I just plant it outside straight after germination?

Also do I start with a small pot, and then move to a larger one as the plant grows, I'm not sure whether it's best to pot the plant or mix good soil in the ground and put the plant straight in the ground.


Thanks :) This will be my first grow.
 
cazador

cazador

Active Member
It all works. What latatude are you? I start indoors in pots then move them out to harden off and to sex them in the short days of early spring. then I transplant the best girls in large plots. both in the ground and above.
 
trichome fiend

trichome fiend

Well-Known Member
...don't forget to harden them off before you put them in their permanent spot....I lost several plants by just moving them outdoors, good luck.
 
golddog

golddog

Well-Known Member
iEagleV said:
What exactly do you mean by 'harden them off' ?
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If they are used to CFL's (or other lights) the direct sun may be to much for them. If you have strong sun this time of the year, only put them in the direct light a little at a time.

If they droop because of the sun, pull them back. A couple of days should do it. :weed:
 
H

hic

Well-Known Member
When moving a plant from the indoor lights to the sun. You must be carefull, either stick in the shade for a couple days. If you stick your plant that is used to indoor lights the sun will burn it!. You have to get your plant used to the sun before you stick it out in it.
 
I

iEagleV

Member
Thanks for the tips, but I have realized I have no place indoors I would feel comfortable growing, so what should I do. Just plant outside straight away? Will this make my plants week?
 
golddog

golddog

Well-Known Member
iEagleV said:
Thanks for the tips, but I have realized I have no place indoors I would feel comfortable growing, so what should I do. Just plant outside straight away? Will this make my plants week?
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What is the weather like? That is probably the limiting factor.

I always toss my extra clones outside, regardless. That way I always have some OD for those people who never have any.

Good Luck :bigjoint:
 
I

iEagleV

Member
At the moment, unpredictable, yesterday was alright but today was very windy at times.

Is it wind/ rain I should be concerned about?
 
I

iEagleV

Member
I'm using white label master kush, which was foolish of me because it grows better in hotter countries than the UK. It's my first grow, and probably my first mistake of many, so i'm just going to go with it and see What I can get :)

And thanks for all the tips golddog.
 
golddog

golddog

Well-Known Member
I didn't know you were in the UK. I'm in California, it will be 80 here today and windy.

No rain in the forecast - 10.4 hours of sunlight.

Everything I put out goes into flower right away. :bigjoint:
 
D

dredward

Member
I just started a thread that sounds alot like this one. I am assuming you are putting them out for a spring harvest? I am very interested in this topic as I am trying to determine the best photoperiod to veg my ladies untill this summer, when I can put them out into the greenhouse. Personally I am torn between a 14.5 hour and an 18 hour day. With the 14.5 hour, it will sync with the photoperiod during the last week in May (when I anticipate managable night temps to set out plants in the g-house), and then continue to veg through the solstice and naturally begin flowering sometime around Aug 1st.

If the time of "set out" was after the solstice and I was using a longer photoperiod I think the ladies would transition smoothly to flower, but I need to get them in the tunnel end of May to achieve a larger individual plant size by flowering (medical grow). The tricky part is deciding weather vegging at 18/6 and cutting supplamental light at solstice (with a 14.7 hour photoperiod here at 38.5 N, ) will be enough to initiate and sustain flowering without the much feared "re-veg".

I am leaning towards the 14.5 hour day from seed (indoor) and not using any supplamental lighting in the g-house by "setting out" when the natty light is about 14.5 hours at the end of May. It will keep increasing till 14.7 hours on solstice then start winding back.

This is a site that allows the user to estimate day length based on lattitude on any day of the year. Very helpful and easy to use...
http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/coordsmotion/daylighthoursexplorer.html

Also, a fellow named silverback over at icmag has a fine thread on light dep for outdoors. Interesting read that got me thinking about photoperiod manipulation and the importance of timing with an outdoor grow. I am at 8000 ft. and am considering tarping the g-house to finish in Sept instead of late Oct.

I don't know how going from 14.5 hour days, to 12 hour days to force flower for a couple of weeks, and back to the natty cycle which at that point would be about 14.25 hours would work. May cause re veg, and may need a longer initial veg photoperiod (18/6) to sustain flower (after a couple of weeks of 12/12?) with the 14 hour days of late July early Aug. This is only going to save a couple of weeks but time is critical to my mountain location. I really am not trying to steal your thread, but am also in dire need of some professional advice on the best way to veg indoor for an outdoor (greenhouse) crop.

PS. Make sure to check that silverback thread @ icmag. It really opened my eyes to what can be done with light manipulation even though it may not be the most applicable to my situation. Thanks to all.
 
D

dredward

Member
As an afterthougt, I thought I would attempt to answer a couple of your page 1 questions.

Transplanting up will create a more efficient use of your soil and container, and thus your watering frequency and nute usage. By stepping your container up (solo cup to 1G, 1G to 3G, 3G to 10G ect...) you will have a fuller and more developed root system in your container as opposed to alot of wasted space. The real benefit is realized by avoiding an extremely rootbound plant during late flowering. Root growth will slow way down after the stretch but keep in mind that too much of a good thing (roots) can be detrimental when they choke each other out.

After a 3-4 week veg period, you should be able to determine sex on your plants. This can be tricky but once the nodes begin to alternate, as opposed to being opposite each other, it signals that your plant is sexually mature and distinguishing male or female can be possible.

Another option is to clone a underbranch of each plant you are vegging, and immediately put into 12/12. Assuming you will be vegging long enough to wait for the results, you will know with certainty what everybody is. This can also be useful to prioritize which plants are more likely to yield big, or have that special taste, and if starting early enough warrant more cloning to increase the numbers of this special variety.Make sure to label well. I'm sure someone else has better awnsers to these questions but I thought I may try to help a bit.
 
I

iEagleV

Member
I have decided it's most likely I will plant straight in to the ground, after digging a little hole and putting good soil in. Can I do this straight after Germination? Or should I keep it in a little pot the first couple of weeks?

Also, I got my seeds today! And I only ordered two days ago, and I ordered at night!

Was very happy, thank you attitude seeds.
 
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