Best Month to Start Outdoor plants from seed in Socal??

Title pretty much says it all I'm in the high desert of southern California and for outdoor I've always liked starting from seeds rather then clones, but I always start a little late with the seeds. Whats the best month to start seeds straight outdoors? My last frost date is like feb. 8th and I was thinking starting them March 1st, my light hours will be at like 11:45 or something like that and in 5 weeks when its even mature enough to flower my lighting hours will be around 12:30 or so.

spend $40-$50 on a t5 single 4 ft. bulb and an extension cord. oops and a $10 timer give it 4 hours of light from about 4:30 - 8:30 9ish and you will do fine after march 1st in so cal. the plants will grow slow for the first month and you might have to keep them out of the rain on a couple of days but you will be okay, and off to a great early start. by the end of 4/20 you should have strong 2 ft. plants

shynee mac said:

spend $40-$50 on a t5 single 4 ft. bulb and an extension cord. oops and a $10 timer give it 4 hours of light from about 4:30 - 8:30 9ish and you will do fine after march 1st in so cal. the plants will grow slow for the first month and you might have to keep them out of the rain on a couple of days but you will be okay, and off to a great early start. by the end of 4/20 you should have strong 2 ft. plants

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I really like this idea, thanks for it!! I think I'm going to do this to fersure keep them veggin and from 4-9 having lights on in a vineyard isn't too suspicious rather then having some supplemental lighting in the middle of the night haha! Another question though would I be able to just leave the bulb facing upwards towards the plants to just give them that extra light so they don't induce flowering or do I have to setup some type of green house and hang the light above.

WallaY said:

I really like this idea, thanks for it!! I think I'm going to do this to fersure keep them veggin and from 4-9 having lights on in a vineyard isn't too suspicious rather then having some supplemental lighting in the middle of the night haha! Another question though would I be able to just leave the bulb facing upwards towards the plants to just give them that extra light so they don't induce flowering or do I have to setup some type of green house and hang the light above.

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just point the light towards the plants and rotate the pots every few days,as long as the plants are within 2-3 feet away from the light you should be fine unless your plants outgrow that space then you will need more light

shynee mac said:

just point the light towards the plants and rotate the pots every few days,as long as the plants are within 2-3 feet away from the light you should be fine unless your plants outgrow that space then you will need more light

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Okay, thanks for the tip! I will definently try this this year!

WallaY said:

Title pretty much says it all I'm in the high desert of southern California and for outdoor I've always liked starting from seeds rather then clones, but I always start a little late with the seeds. Whats the best month to start seeds straight outdoors? My last frost date is like feb. 8th and I was thinking starting them March 1st, my light hours will be at like 11:45 or something like that and in 5 weeks when its even mature enough to flower my lighting hours will be around 12:30 or so.

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What county are you in? I'm in LA and I'm terrified to put anything outdoors. I'd almost be more afraid in San Berdoo. How do you keep yourself safe from rippers?

curious2garden said:

What county are you in? I'm in LA and I'm terrified to put anything outdoors. I'd almost be more afraid in San Berdoo. How do you keep yourself safe from rippers?

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LA also and I'm in the high desert I gotta good size property and I just ordered a little green house haha 6x5x3 to start them early I think I'm going to start feb. 15th, now I just need to pick up one of those little grow start t5 lights for a little supplemental lighting. I also got my seeds in the mail yesterday. 3x seedsmans white widows fem'd, 2 barneys farms blue cheeses, 1x auto seeds purple cheese automatic, 1x auto seeds auto pounder with cheese, and then I got 2 freebies, a blueberry bliss auto and a blue power by vision seeds!

All of my seeds are fem'd I forgot to mention.

WallaY said:

All of my seeds are fem'd I forgot to mention.

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So are most of mine even the ones I selfed. I love Fem seeds. Hey you ever get to Kinetic or Bravery? Although I prefer Kinetics beer LOL.

Mhm, saves the hassle of having to sext your plants, And what do yu mena by kinetic and bravery?