Timing Indoor Lighting With Spring Sunrise and Sunset

Greetings everyone,
I am having a quandary trying to figure out how to time starting plants under lights 60 days ahead that will coincide with the sunrise and sunset on April 1st, 2018. There are growers north of me in Mendocino and Trinity etc that start their plants indoors in January and then put them outside on whatever desired date and their plants don't miss a thing because their indoor lighting matched daylight.

I've always been of the school of thought that you can put plants outside in open daylight in just about every parallel within the State of California(given elevation and/or frost factors), any time after the Vernal Equinox which lands roughly March 21st every year. I usually germinate seeds on my Birthday at the end of February. Come late March-early April I put them outside for the season.

But, I'd like to move the clock back a bit... Instead of starting them at the end of February I'd like to start them at the end of January and keep them under lights until I put them out April 1st.

Sunrise on April 1st, 2018, according to Farmer's Almanac, rises at 6:52am(DST, Daylight Savings Time), and is visible on horizon 8 to 12 minutes later depending on how many hills you have surrounding you to the east.

Now, 60 days ahead of that puts us at Wednesday, January 31st, 2018, of which sunrise is at 7:11am(Not DST).

So does that mean that I set my indoor lighting an hour ahead of January 31sts' sunrise time at 8:11am(to break even with April 1sts' sunrise)? Is there some whole differential that I haven't thought of? I mean, if anybody can help me figure out how to calibrate April 1sts' sundown time so that I can match it with my lights on January 31st, 2018, that would be great too. I want Winnebego-size plants next year.

Again, this is all my math and I don't have a clue what I'm doing but I know that some of you do.

Thanks in advance!

I think .... your over thinking this ...
Start your plants under 24 hours of light
When it starts getting closer to spring , on nice sunny days start taking them outside for a couple hours to get use to sun light.
Then back under your veg light, every day give them more , this is to not shock them so bad from flipping from artificial light to sun. When your climate it right , plant them .

This is what I use to do when growing OD
Worked every time. Never bothered with the sun cycle.

BigHorn is somewhat correct, you are overthinking this. Just put them on an 18/6 cycle indoors until you are ready to put them out. You don't need to match the light cycles like you are trying to do.

Thanks guys! Much appreciated.
I asked the dumbest of questions upon seeing images of these massive plants at the Emerald Cup last year- "How the Hell did you get that thing that BIG?!" The answer was- "Start em' indoors and time the lighting with the sunrise on the Spring Equinox", so that's what started all of this. Apparently somebody out there is timing their indoor lighting with the 1st day of spring.

Kerovan said:

BigHorn is somewhat correct, you are overthinking this. Just put them on an 18/6 cycle indoors until you are ready to put them out. You don't need to match the light cycles like you are trying to do.

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Kerovan said:

BigHorn is somewhat correct, you are overthinking this. Just put them on an 18/6 cycle indoors until you are ready to put them out. You don't need to match the light cycles like you are trying to do.

Click to expand...

I don't know why people run veg @ 18/6 except to save power, or help healing plant.
I find if I had a problem during veg that I'm fixing the down time helps the plant recover a bit faster, other then that it's 24-7 , grows faster and they really don't need a sleep.
Also this way, I don't have to be as anil with light sealing veg spots .

BigHornBuds said:

I don't know why people run veg @ 18/6 except to save power, or help healing plant.
I find if I had a problem during veg that I'm fixing the down time helps the plant recover a bit faster, other then that it's 24-7 , grows faster and they really don't need a sleep.
Also this way, I don't have to be as anil with light sealing veg spots .

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A: It does save power.

B: Plants do need darkness to respirate and heal. Yes, you can go 24 hours, but it's not optimal for the health of the plant.

I admire both sides of the input so this is cool! Each side have their own quirks, advantages and both are capable of producing incredible results. In this case though I am outdoor exclusive and completely au naturel.

My original thought is that I don't want to have teens that are set to one lighting schedule and then put them in the greenhouse with an opposite lighting schedule(natural daylight) and have them herm out or show sex then revert back into veg etc.

Maybe I'm over thinking that one too?

SageFromZen said:

I admire both sides of the input so this is cool! Each side have their own quirks, advantages and both are capable of producing incredible results. In this case though I am outdoor exclusive and completely au naturel.

My original thought is that I don't want to have teens that are set to one lighting schedule and then put them in the greenhouse with an opposite lighting schedule(natural daylight) and have them herm out or show sex then revert back into veg etc.

Maybe I'm over thinking that one too?

Click to expand...

I live in a different part of the world, so your photo period & climate is different.

If they sex n start flowering n go back to veg, then the days where to short when planted outside. (Could add a light , but that draws attention) If you granulatly give them sun and don't stress them, you should be ok. I've taken plants from 24-7 artificial light and right into dirt, I just find the shock will stop growth for 1-2 weeks depending on the shock, and if the light wasn't very strong in veg the sun can burn them if it's hot sunny weather.

I think the best thing to do is talk to a local and ask questions, about his setup n timing.

I just plant around June, but never had a greenhouse, if there was a storm or frost coming , I'd sneak out n cover with poly n get back out asap to remove , but this was alway secret gorilla grows .

I am roughly near 37.764 N 122.463 W

We've got growers here that pull 3 outdoor harvests in a season! My personal season here in the northern hemisphere starts March 21st albeit I usually put them out April 1st and they finish anywhere from the first week in September(indica's) to the first week in November(sativa's).

My prior experience that helped bring me to this inquiry came year before last when I brought home some clones. I transplanted them into 4 inch containers and put them in the greenhouse until rooted. This was the second week in April of 2015. They rooted quickly and were vigorous as Hell BUT... coming from having been under 24 hours of light whence they were put out into early Spring lighting hours my 10 inch tall clones took to the lack of daylight and went into flower. Then after realizing it was Spring and not Fall they went back into veg but the process took a month's time away from what would've otherwise been straight vegetative growth. See what I mean?

If one times on/off indoor lighting with sunrise/sunset the plants transition right over flawlessly.