Opinions on getting clones ready to go outdoors

So this year I started my clones under some t8 lights in March and by the time I put them outside they were 3 ft tall but lanky looking from stretching under the t8's. I've grown indoors before but this was my first year growing outside. My neighbor put some 6 inch GG4's in June first and got double the yield that I did. This year I want to get my starts in mid febrary and put them under some gavita 1000's. I've asked a few experienced outdoor growers and I've heard half of them say to get small clones that will have a fresh start to get big and the other half say to veg plants as long as possible to get em big.

I've searched many threads on here and icmag for years before being able to live in a state where growing outside is ok

My question is which do you prefer?

The strains I grew this year were Bruce Banner (not the #3 I've had from when living in CO), Hindu Kush, Blue Cheese, Green Crack, GG4, and Blue Dream. The Hindu's were my favorite and yielded the most. I got 3.5 units per pot. The Blue Dream grew the slowest I think it must have gotten off to a bad start and averaged a unit per pot. The Green Crack got a unit per pot and was not as dense as i'd have liked. The Blue Cheese was my second favorite cuz they all grew pretty healthy all year and hit 1.5 per pot and had such good nose to them. The Banner wasn't as dense and had a fruity smell but hit 1.5 per pot.

Also I'm going to change some things next year that I feel I did wrong this year. I used irrigation with one emitter in each pot that watered pretty much a 1.5-2 ft circle around the base of the plant so it pretty much just got the root ball. I'm going to water by hand next year and soak the whole pot. Also this year I used Gro More 30-10-10 until week2 then 20-20-20 up until week 5 then switched over to Age Old bloom til week 7 then used Sweet RAW for the last couple weeks. Next year i'm going to try Dyna-Gro since it has more complete nutrients with only mixing one thing. Since I just watered the root ball area I think the roots that stretched out to the edge of the pot probably just dried up.

I dont think the initial size of the plant is as important as is timing and technique. Mitigating transplant shock, avoiding flower/reveg if planted early, strain selection, etc. are all things you need to be mindful of.

I got ya. I would have put mine in the ground at the end of may but had to this year on the 10th of June cuz I just was not around to do so.

When do you usually get clones waterproof?

I'm gonna get some DarkHeartNursery clones next year. I'm plan on getting Alien OG(if they're available it says limited quantities on their website), Chocolate Hashberry, Dream Queen, Skywalker OG, and Strawberry Banana. They're going in 200 gallon shorty pots that are 18" in height. I've read a lot of posts before growing outside. Tom Hill's growing large plants outdoors thread was really inspiring but after trying it first hand it's definitely harder than it seems to get huge plants. It was a dream come true being able to grow outdoors this year tho. I try to get people opinions and read as much as possible so I can do things better each season.

Depending on the strain you may want to be careful with the number of hours per day you veg outdoor starts inside prior to putting them out. Some strains will jump to flower or a frustrating semi "half flower" state if they go from a 24 hour light cycle to an early June outdoor light cycle.

When I first got my clones this year I put them on a 24 hour cycle indoors under some t8 lights and the blue dream started flowering. I freaked out at first cuz I've never had that happen before but then they switched back after a couple weeks.


DarkHeartNursery just added some new strains that are "Coming Soon" : )

4G (Gelato #45 x Gorilla Glue #4 x Girl Scout Cookies)
BlackBerry Fire (Blackberry Kush x Fire Lady)
Blueberry Muffin (Blueberry x Purple Panty Dropper x Razzleberry)
Chocolate Grape Diesel (Grape Diesel x Chocolate Kush)
Royal Highness (Royal Kush x Cali Dream x Trainwreck)
White Buffalo (Romulan x Blackberry Kush/Bay 11)

Since I want to run early finishers next year the 4G, BlackBerry Fire, and Royal Highness are going on my list of considerations. I'm thinking about getting them in mid February and then putting them out in my greenhouse in mid april. I only have a small shed to keep them for 2 months so hopefully it doesn't get overcrowded in there. Really wish I can find a bigger place to get into before I get my starts. Something with a 2 car garage would be nice. This year I was able to use rooms in my house but I have a baby coming sometime next month so that tightens the growing space a bit haha. This is going to be my first kid i'm 34 years old and going to be having a little girl.

waterproof808 said:

I dont think the initial size of the plant is as important as is timing and technique. Mitigating transplant shock, avoiding flower/reveg if planted early, strain selection, etc. are all things you need to be mindful of.

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There's an old saying, "put a two dollar plant in a ten dollar hole". These were literally about 4" talk with 4 nodes in 4" pots planted in the last week of May to keep them from getting too big. They still end up finishing around 10' wide and 6'-8' tall.

The biggest things in this case is that they're warmer from being in a greenhouse and the soil is warmer earlier from being in a greenhouse, using black mulch, and using a raised bed. The planting beds are huge. They're 8.5' wide and 28' long. The ground is dug down and amended to about 4.5'. These three plants filled a 12'x32' greenhouse and yielded an average of 7 pounds.

If your plant doesn't get a ton of light you won't get pounds per plant either regardless of how long you veg them first. Put them girls in full sun light beginning of june even at 6" tall and they'll explode as long as you can water them enough. Put the same 6" plant in a shady cooler spot that only gets partial sun and you'll only get 1/4 the yield.

I get pretty much all day sun. There's nothing causing shade on the garden and it's in a flat area. The pots I use are 65" across and 14" deep. I think my plants were just stunted from being under fluorescent lighting for too long. The wind snapped 2 of my Green Crack's so I got a couple GG4's to replace them and they ended up catching up to the others in no time. Not sure if it was the strain or the "fresh start".

NorCalOD said:

I get pretty much all day sun. There's nothing causing shade on the garden and it's in a flat area. The pots I use are 65" across and 14" deep. I think my plants were just stunted from being under fluorescent lighting for too long. The wind snapped 2 of my Green Crack's so I got a couple GG4's to replace them and they ended up catching up to the others in no time. Not sure if it was the strain or the "fresh start".

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If it's practical where you are of ditch the pots and do in ground beds. You'll get a bigger root system and not have to water as much.

Rob Roy said:

Depending on the strain you may want to be careful with the number of hours per day you veg outdoor starts inside prior to putting them out. Some strains will jump to flower or a frustrating semi "half flower" state if they go from a 24 hour light cycle to an early June outdoor light cycle.

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This would be latitude dependant. Once you reach June where i'm at you're good to go. Plants under 24 hours veg. take longer to trigger into flowering. Late planting clones can yield great results in little time at just under 90 days

RetiredGuerilla said:

This would be latitude dependant. Once you reach June where i'm at you're good to go. Plants under 24 hours veg. take longer to trigger into flowering.

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I think it's probably more or equally strain dependent.

RetiredGuerilla said:

This would be latitude dependant. Once you reach June where i'm at you're good to go. Plants under 24 hours veg. take longer to trigger into flowering.

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Latitude and strain dependent I'd say are in the mix.

Rob Roy said:

Depending on the strain you may want to be careful with the number of hours per day you veg outdoor starts inside prior to putting them out. Some strains will jump to flower or a frustrating semi "half flower" state if they go from a 24 hour light cycle to an early June outdoor light cycle.

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I totally agree with Rob!

Thats maybe the most important part about putting indoor veg plants outdoors.... besides avoiding sunburn.

Peace

Gbuddy said:

I totally agree with Rob!

Thats maybe the most important part about putting indoor veg plants outdoors.... besides avoiding sunburn.

Peace

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If you keep your indoor veg period close to what it will be outdoors and use bulbs with at least some UV neither of those are an issue.

I like to give them sun from the day of germination if they are going outdoors. As soon as the sun fades away put them under a t-5 and back out into the sun in the morning. Never had a plant that didnt love it. I use a tiki torch to hold my solo cup and protect my baby. This keeps the dogs, critters n bugs from messin with them. They love this program it puts size on them too. I can put them outside in the ground the first week of September with 2 weeks of summer left and get some tasty buds. October is usually clear blue skies with low humidity in the south. I call that my crash program.

SchmoeJoe said:

If you keep your indoor veg period close to what it will be outdoors and use bulbs with at least some UV neither of those are an issue.

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Yeah
Since I had the Problem once in the past, I reduce my 24/7 light cycle slowly to what it is outdoors before they go out. Thats about 16 hours of sunlight in my corner of the woods.
Never used uv. I just place the babies under a tree for the first week to get them used to the sunlight. But I know from others that uv will do the job.

^^ I like the Idea above to mix sunlight with artificial light.

Peace

Gradually cut back your light hours to match natural hours when going outdoors. That will keep you from early flower most of the time. You can cut an hour or two a week.