Natural vs Artificial Light

I've got 5 plants going on 3 weeks old on their third tier of leaves. Started under CFL, they are looking good, and now under 600W MH plus a few 6500K CFLs.

The last couple days the local weather has been good, like 65F afternoon for 5-6 hours. Anyway the last 2 days I've hauled them up from the basement grow room (no big deal they all fit on a cookie sheet) and set them outside in the sun and wind. I made a mylar reflector and my thermometer/hygrometer said my little pile of plants is sitting at 85F and 37% RH in the sun.

I guess my question is whether it's worth the effort to get them in natural sun. I think they really like it. They look happy getting bounced around in the fresh air and sunshine. I'm thinking they are liking this, but if there is some reason not to do so let me know. These will be finished off indoors, but right now when they are still small enough to be transported up and down out of the basement I'm thinking even late winter sun and outdoor conditions are better than the girls confined to a artificial environment in the basement.

Kind of rambled I know - Peace AIM

Natural sunlight will always be better than artificial light. The sun is much much stronger, and produces light over a much more broad spectrum. Plus if you think about it logically, the whole concept of artificial light is to MIMIC real sunlight, and obviously, nothing is better at what is being copied than what is being copied. If that makes sense. If the temperature is good I see no downside. Unless they get pollinated by some ninja hemp pollen, or develop pests, unlikely though.

NORML said:

I see no downside. Unless they get pollinated by some ninja hemp pollen, or develop pests, unlikely though.

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No chance of that, these are going to flower indoors in a couple months.

I'm going to start some outdoor varieties in a few weeks to outplant, just as I have done for many, many years.

Anyway this is my 1st total indoor grow, just wondered if there were problems moving plants from artificial to natural light back and forth.

I honestly couldn't see a downside really! Fresh air and sun along with a bit of natural breeze can always be good for your plants!

I like to sometimes give my plants sunlight from a window. I would not want to actually take them outdoors and risk bringing pests into the grow. Once established, thrips andor spider mites are a complete beast to eradicate, and would more than offset the advantage of that intense and spectrally-ideal light. cn

Direct sunlight has a luminous efficacy of about 93 lumens per watt of radiant flux. Bright sunlight provides illuminance of approximately 100,000 lux or lumens per square meter at the Earth's surface. Sunlight's composition at ground level, per square meter, with the sun at the zenith, is about 527 watts of infrared radiation, 445 watts of visible light, and 32 watts of ultraviolet radiation

cannabineer said:

I like to sometimes give my plants sunlight from a window. I would not want to actually take them outdoors and risk bringing pests into the grow.

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Yeah I have thought about that, as far as bringing unwanted pests indoors.

This is all new to me as I've always cultured indoors and moved plants out. Got a lot of things to learn and think about on this total indoor grow.

topfuel29 said:

Direct sunlight has a luminous efficacy of about 93 lumens per watt of radiant flux. Bright sunlight provides illuminance of approximately 100,000 lux or lumens per square meter at the Earth's surface. Sunlight's composition at ground level, per square meter, with the sun at the zenith, is about 527 watts of infrared radiation, 445 watts of visible light, and 32 watts of ultraviolet radiation

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OK Topfuel, gotta say you hosed me on this one. I do not understand one single thing you just typed. But my son is in final 4th year of Electronics Engineering and I don/t understand half the shit he says either.

Just know it all started with a Les Paul guitar.

Peace and happy faces - AIM

cannabineer said:

I would not want to actually take them outdoors and risk bringing pests into the grow. Once established, thrips andor spider mites are a complete beast to eradicate, and would more than offset the advantage of that intense and spectrally-ideal light. cn

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Yeah, everything seems to be a trade off. Thanks for your input. Kinda doing a stoners analysis of everything tonight. Having some fun with it.

lets see some photos! im sure the sun is better than artifical lights!

the closer youre located to the equator, the better. the closer the sun is, the better (summer time)

regardless, i have some strong sun up here, so you have even stronger sun down there.

ive always grown indoors but on nice days I always stick my plants outside cuz they like it a lot, almost makes em' seem perkier. Worst problem ive had was fungus gnats and it was from over watering, not the outdoors lol GL with them

Id say being outdoors is more prone to pest.

I put my plants into the sun when shinning....I think they like it and seem to do well.

I'll put my vegging plants in my sun room on nice days, can't beat the sun.

But you can stress the plant out by going from artificial light to sunlight and vice versa. If the plants are acclimated to CFL, HID, or Fluoro's then the sun might be too much for them without properly acclimating them. This all depends on many factors but its something to look out for.

I got spider mites on a few of my indoor palm trees over the summer, so I stuck them outside on a sunny day to spray them down with the hose and treat them for the mites. By the end of the day the sun literally bleached them to death and burned up em, because they were so acclimated to low light indoor conditions. Not that this would ever happen to you or your cannabis plants, its just something to keep in mind.

AimAim said:

OK Topfuel, gotta say you hosed me on this one. I do not understand one single thing you just typed. But my son is in final 4th year of Electronics Engineering and I don/t understand half the shit he says either.

Just know it all started with a Les Paul guitar.

Peace and happy faces - AIM

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sorry man.
imagine (1) 1000w light every square yard outside. So every 3'x3' square outside has @100,000 lumens in it. LoL that's how I have to imagine lol..

I was outdoors for four years and this is my first year indoors.
Sunlight blows artificial light away.
The sun penetrates the entire canopy and is much more intense. Plants grow faster and bushier in real light. The increased production is not just noticable but amazing.
I would recommend putting your plants in the sun when possible.
BE CAREFUL putting your plant outside expossese it to a vast number of PESTS, which can easily be transported inside and destroy your entire room.
Nameless also has a point about stress, but if done gentillay and wisely during vegatation I think this could be kept to a minimum.
I personally can't move back outside, but for those of you that can try this I would with maybe just one plant. then compare it to a plant that has only been under artificial light.
Good Luck and Good Growing.

Thanks all. All good thoughts. Yeah several years ago on a warm spring day I set out some houseplants in the sun and fried several.