first time outdoor grow at 10000 elevation

so here we go its my first time outdoors and lucky me I'm a little above 10k elevation in the rocky mtns. I have a Bubblegum and a headband that I've been vegging for 2 months now in 10 gallon containers and a few other small random clones that i figured i would try outside. So at this moment i put them outside in the am and around dusk i bring them back inside for another 5hrs of light. It just recently got to the low 40s at night so I'm hoping after a few weeks of adjusting ill be able to leave them outdoors for there evenings but they will all only be getting around 13.5hrs of daylight so I'm sure they will start flowering once i leave them outside.

My other concern is they really only get direct unblocked sun from 8am till 4pm and after that they got blocked from some big trees. Do you think this will be enough sunlight to grow some big plants.

I know this is my first time outdoors but I'm really struggling with all the elements given for a high elevation grow. We get crazy afternoon storms and this whole next week show thunder storms so i added a clear plastic to protect my plants but i only cover them when i know we have potential for a i big storm. The plastic that i found from my work is heavy duty I'm just hoping it will protect them during the afternoons but I'm still get good light penetration

Any recommendations or concerns that you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

Nice dogs! ....... stay frosty!

at 10,000 feet, you will need a heated greenhouse and abundant direct sunlight to do even one outdoor crop in my esteemed estimation.

UncleBuck said:

at 10,000 feet, you will need a heated greenhouse and abundant direct sunlight to do even one outdoor crop in my esteemed estimation.

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have you grown in this environment and have experience or is this just coming from what you think.... Ive read that some plants can deal with lower tempetures at night. All those afghan strains come from high elevations and probably get hit with different types of temperature changes.

i guess ill see how the crop goes. this is more of a experiment than anything i just need someone with some outdoor high elevation experience.

Frosty69 said:

have you grown in this environment and have experience or is this just coming from what you think.... Ive read that some plants can deal with lower tempetures at night. All those afghan strains come from high elevations and probably get hit with different types of temperature changes.

i guess ill see how the crop goes. this is more of a experiment than anything i just need someone with some outdoor high elevation experience.

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family used to live at 8500 feet in colorado and their season was too ridiculously short to grow much of anything, much less to finish a cannabis crop in time.

you'd need a heated greenhouse and would probably have to light deprive the crop to get it done in time at 10000.

I'm cool with the light deprive. i understand i need to finish by mid september plus i would rather get these girls outside and use to the cold weather and start them flowering early. Ive grown them for the past 2 months indoors to mature plants and hopefully they can adjust to the different changes.

My outdoor girls are doing good. They are adapting very well to the high intensity sun up here at 10000 elevation. I am still bringing them in at dusk and giving them some 4hrs of led and cfl love but hopefully in a week or two they will be outside for good. No more lugging 10gallon plants around my home.

So i got the big girls in 10 gallons to start flowering. Everything is going well and they are use to the low 40s every night. Some of the buds have started to look a little purple with the leaves but I'm sure thats due to the cold temperatures every night and the high intensity sun during the day.

my other plant that is doing well is my other bubblegum that started inside for roughly 24 days but about a month ago it looked like it was going to start popping manners out so i threw her outside and she took a week or two to get use to the new home but after that she starting growing very well. Not sure when she will be ready to cut her down but I'm hoping it will keep growing till mid august and i hopefully i can have a good 2 zips off my first outdoor. Ohh ya and the smell off the bubblegum is AMAZING. Cant wait to smoke some.

forgot to mention i have two new girls that just got put outside. I have a 303 seeds ambulance and a third dimension that I've grown inside but this will be a test to see how they do in this weird 10k mtn environment.

Looking good man yeah just light dep them before it gets to cold like by the end of September for sure.
Like have them done by the end of September.

thats exactly what i was thinking. I'm not sure if these new girls i put outside will keep vegging or start to flower but we will see shortly... I live in between mtns and my sunrise comes late and my sunset is always early. I think at this point i have 10hr of darkness and 14hrs of 10k sunlight. Im definitely surprised how the bubblegum has put up with the colder nights at the beginning of june. There were a lot of 39 degree lows for a few hrs in the night but i think she really like the suns intensity up here at 10k.

I'm subbed, id love to see how this turns out my brother. I was interested in doing a high elevation grow with my buddy but he is too un-experienced and it would have been closer to him. I am interested to see how you flower these girls. Also what is the material you are using to heat/hide your plants?

Hey triply hippy. Thanks for stopping by.
Im just using a plastic 10 gallon potting container from any grow shop, and I've dug a hole the same size so the pots just sit inside it. Im not really using any material to heat/hide my plants. I have no neighbors around and my back yard is the forest and my mj plants blend in very well. My first two plants the Bubblegum and Headband i started bringing outside in may to get some natural sun then i would bring them inside for more light but i thought they were starting to pre flower early june so thats when i started bringing them inside for close to 10hrs of darkness and around june 15 they went outside for good all night. I was covering at first with a big black trash bag but i stopped after a week or so because the plants were getting to big for plastic black bags. But they have seem to adapt to the cold nights and the 9hrs of darkness so far.

Thanks for the reply buddy! I really admire what you're doing. How has the smell been in the past being in your back yard? Is it diffused well by mother nature? That Headband is going to be prime. I think I'm going to use pots for my outdoor grow next year. I went straight in the soil this year but moving plants and choosing when they go into flower is a nice option.

Sure doesn't look like you're going to need that heated greenhouse, does it?

Hey triply the smell is not bad at all unless I'm a couple feet away from the plants and then it smells little skunk. I also thought of planting straight into the ground but i wanted to be able to bring them inside incase of a freeze. We get some crazy weather in colorado so you never know...

Ya i think a greenhouse is always nice but not everyone can have one or have the money for one but it sure looks like these girls are doing fine without it.

greenlikemoney said:

Sure doesn't look like you're going to need that heated greenhouse, does it?

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leadville co, elevation 10700 feet, has gotten hard frosts in july.

evergreen co, elevation 8600 feet, has seen two feet of snow in early june.

the growing season at 10000 feet is approximately 25 days. growing at 10000 feet without a heated greenhouse is a recipe for an eventual total crop failure.

if you're gonna pipe up, you might as well be helpful.

Im sure denver has seen a snowstorm in the summer. Im not sure what your point is, also thats why i plant in containers vs the ground.

All the plant are doing super good. Im really getting into the outdoor growing. Ive never seen a plant veg so quickly out here in the sun. I had a few other little guys that i wanted to put outside and see what they do. Another ambulance and a third dimension.