How do you grow outdoors if year round its always 11-12 hours of sunlight?

L

Ludicium

Member
Hi everyone, I live on Guam and all year round we have 11-13 hours of daylight. I was going to start planting soon, but wont it automatically make the plant flower?

I'm pretty sure people have grown outdoors here on guam but how do they do it?

Here is a link to a table showing our sunlight hours (On the bottom of the table)\

http://ns.gov.gu/climate.html

Thanks.
 
D

Drifter126

Active Member
The plants grow with 11 hours of light and Flower with 12 hours or more.If covering the plants isn`t possible,it looks like the plants would have to be started in Nov.or Dec.to give them time to grow. BUT I`ve also heard of guys runnin 12-12 from the start. ???? Just a Thought. Good Luck on Your grow..
 
L

Ludicium

Member
I'm not going to be able to do any kind of growing indoors. So the plants will automatically flower outside then..?
 
L

Ludicium

Member
Someone just told me that there are certain strains that mature before flowering under these light times. Does anybody know of any of these strains, or where I can get them?

EDIT: Does this person mean AUTO FLOWERING strains?

SECOND EDIT: Okay someone else just told me that even if the lighting outdoors is already 12/12 the plants will still grow vegetatively for about 4 weeks before even flowering. Is this true? If it is how big will the plant get in 4 weeks for say a hybrid strain, and how much would the average yield be?
 
veggiegardener

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
Hey!

Autoflowering strains begin flowering a few weeks after germination, regardless of day length.

"Normal" flowering occurs outdoors in the Fall of the year, with the first flowers appearing about August 1st.

During winter, normal strains can be flowered during the short days but generally don't produce the quality of Fall buds, due to increasing day lengths after the Winter solstice, on December 21st.

Normal strains generally are sexually mature and capable of flowering after about four to six weeks, and after the sixth leaf node appears(excluding the cotyledons. Look it up. It is a very important term in our hobby).
 
L

Ludicium

Member
veggiegardener said:
Hey!

Autoflowering strains begin flowering a few weeks after germination, regardless of day length.

"Normal" flowering occurs outdoors in the Fall of the year, with the first flowers appearing about August 1st.

During winter, normal strains can be flowered during the short days but generally don't produce the quality of Fall buds, due to increasing day lengths after the Winter solstice, on December 21st.

Normal strains generally are sexually mature and capable of flowering after about four to six weeks, and after the sixth leaf node appears(excluding the cotyledons. Look it up. It is a very important term in our hobby).
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Thanks for your informative post. It's helped me a lot. :)
 
I

Ihull2005

Member
In my experience clones thrown outdoors under 12/12 will start flowering almost right away. Seedlings seem to take longer. I think the clone thinks its older than it really is (because its a cutting from an older mature plant) where as the seedling knows its not big enough to produce yet so it will take a little time before to veg before it kicks into flower.
 
veggiegardener

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
Drifter126 said:
The plants grow with 11 hours of light and Flower with 12 hours or more.If covering the plants isn`t possible,it looks like the plants would have to be started in Nov.or Dec.to give them time to grow. BUT I`ve also heard of guys runnin 12-12 from the start. ???? Just a Thought. Good Luck on Your grow..
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Not to be negative, but factually, this is so backwards it is silly.
 
veggiegardener

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
I finally looked at your photoperiod chart.

#1) Use sativa strains. Malawi or Ethiopian strains, or maybe Thais would be excellent(Look at Afropips Seeds. They specialize in African strains.)

#2) Start them in March, and don't worry about a few flowers, if they show up, early. You can start immediately but your plants won't get as large as if planted earlier. Probably nothing larger than 12 feet, depending on strain. Realistically(and 12 feet isn't impossible) if planted in the ground, I'd expect six footers.

If you start now, and pay close attention to their progress, you'll be well armed to try your first full season grow. Keep notes! You'll be amazed how much you will use them as a reference.

With your wonderful climate, you could delay flowering with artificial light until October 1st, and harvest before Christmas, assuming your garden is near your house. A strong (100w?) would be enough, I think.

Your strong equatorial sun will make them bushy.
 
veggiegardener

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
Ihull2005 said:
In my experience clones thrown outdoors under 12/12 will start flowering almost right away. Seedlings seem to take longer. I think the clone thinks its older than it really is (because its a cutting from an older mature plant) where as the seedling knows its not big enough to produce yet so it will take a little time before to veg before it kicks into flower.
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Exactly right!

Clones are as old as the mother plant which germinated from a seed.

My E32 Trainwreck was first cloned in 1982, and has been continuously cloned ever since. Those plants KNOW they are of age, and will flower with any reduction in day length.

Plants sprouted from seed reach sexual maturity at about six weeks old(some a bit earlier) and/or when the sixth set of true leaves appear.
 
L

Ludicium

Member
veggiegardener said:
I finally looked at your photoperiod chart.

#1) Use sativa strains. Malawi or Ethiopian strains, or maybe Thais would be excellent(Look at Afropips Seeds. They specialize in African strains.)

#2) Start them in March, and don't worry about a few flowers, if they show up, early. You can start immediately but your plants won't get as large as if planted earlier. Probably nothing larger than 12 feet, depending on strain. Realistically(and 12 feet isn't impossible) if planted in the ground, I'd expect six footers.

If you start now, and pay close attention to their progress, you'll be well armed to try your first full season grow. Keep notes! You'll be amazed how much you will use them as a reference.

With your wonderful climate, you could delay flowering with artificial light until October 1st, and harvest before Christmas, assuming your garden is near your house. A strong (100w?) would be enough, I think.

Your strong equatorial sun will make them bushy.
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Thank you for your help. How about this Thai sativa: http://www.nirvana-shop.com/en/full-moon-feminized-5-seeds.html
Say I started it in march then it would grow for about 2 months before being able to flower, then it will start to flower in May and finish 3-4 months later in August right?

And when you talk about delaying flowering, do you mean let it grow out doors 2 months then bring it indoors and keep it vegging until October 1st, then put it back outdoors to flower?

I could take many clones too right?, and put them outside after they develop roots and they'll flower almost right away?
 
veggiegardener

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
I think you may misunderstand how photoperiods work.

If a seed is planted in March, it should NOT begin flowering until about the beginning of August.

Remember I've never lived in the Tropics, but I think I have a pretty good grasp of how Cannabis reacts to changes in day length.

indicas are from temperate zones, whereas most sativas developed near the equator.

Sativas are more sensitive to photoperiod changes than indicas, and will revert to veg, more easily as well.

Your day length cycle in Guam should be enough to get you a good harvest.

Just be very careful to avoid interruptions of the dark period. No street lights or porch and window lights after August 1st.

Hope this helps!
 
L

Ludicium

Member
Oh, sorry about that, I misunderstood what you meant.

Thanks for the help really. What I'm going to do is buy the Full Moon sativa strain and Ill also buy Northern Lights, and I already have Jock Horror seeds.

I'll plant a couple Northern Lights in a PC case Micro grow, so Ill have some bud early, and Ill plant Jock Horror & Full Moon outdoors, and the Jock Horror will finish a bit earlier than the Full moon, so I'll at least SOME sativa dominant bud before the end of the year.

Here on Guam we don't have plenty of stores, but we do have a home depot, and I was bummed to see that they almost only carry Miracle Gro soil and I heard that miracle grow is not the best because its not organic? So, what soil do you suggest I get which is not extremely expensive? Is there a organic line of miracle gro soil that would be good to use? Same with fertilizers, I'm not sure what to get to be honest.. :/
 
M

me8980109

Member
For you it's all about the strain, nothing else really matters. You cannot grow indoors to start them so you are forced to find strains that typically grow near the eqautor. There are plenty fortunately, I lived in Panama and Columbia for 6 years, plenty of good quality strains with nice yields. They are simply going to take forever in flower. Some of these strains will go 14-18 weeks in flower, maybe even longer.

Plants will flower once mature and the light is acceptable. Some of these strains need only an our or two difference from sunlight used in vegatative growth verses what is needed to trigger flowering. I spent time on Guam and in the Philippines as well, good smoke can be found on both. It might be far easier to find a local connection and grow something the locals grow already, why try to force something to fit your schedule when strains are already growing in your area just fine. Just get some cuttings from an outdoor grower near where you live.
 
y0ungna

y0ungna

Member
Drifter126, plants veg once they get more than 12 hours of sunlight per day. They flower at 12 and below.
 
veggiegardener

veggiegardener

Well-Known Member
me8980109 said:
For you it's all about the strain, nothing else really matters. You cannot grow indoors to start them so you are forced to find strains that typically grow near the eqautor. There are plenty fortunately, I lived in Panama and Columbia for 6 years, plenty of good quality strains with nice yields. They are simply going to take forever in flower. Some of these strains will go 14-18 weeks in flower, maybe even longer.

Plants will flower once mature and the light is acceptable. Some of these strains need only an our or two difference from sunlight used in vegatative growth verses what is needed to trigger flowering. I spent time on Guam and in the Philippines as well, good smoke can be found on both. It might be far easier to find a local connection and grow something the locals grow already, why try to force something to fit your schedule when strains are already growing in your area just fine. Just get some cuttings from an outdoor grower near where you live.
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That's good information.

It has suddenly dawned on me why sativas I've grown, whose breeders claimed extremely long flowering periods were talking about. My experience is, at 38 degrees latitude, these strains finish by the first week of November, or earlier. Much shorter than expected.

It seems to be related to the rate of change in day length. Slim evidence, but worth thinking about.

I wonder how the same strain would do in an Alaskan greenhouse?
 
L

Ludicium

Member
veggiegardener said:
Yes.

ASAP!

Bigger post.
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Alright (:

I'm going to order that Sativa strain and I'll start growing some bag seeds while im waiting for my seeds. I've also PM'ed a couple members on this forum that grow and live on Guam. Hopefully they can give me some more pointers on growing on this island and maybe let me buy some clones, who knows.
 
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