Light cycle for plants grown from seed?

So does anybody know if plants grown from seed need the light cycle synced with the natural outdoor light cycle before putting them outside (as clones do), or do the plants that are grown from seed know what to do? I’m trying to avoid them going into flower early and then re-vegging, then going back into flower....I’ve heard this can result in reduced yields and possibly plants that never fully mature in time for harvest.

I would try to be synched with the natural cycle.
That said, I don't think the change would have a big impact anyways if you have no choice.

You should sync to outdoor light cycle as much as possible.

The reason is, if you are too far out of sync with the outdoor cycle, for example, you are doing an 18 hr schedule but there's only 15 hrs of light, the plants will get confused and go into flowering for a week or two.

Then they will realize it's actually about to be summer and they will slowly switch back out of it, leaving a bunch of weird veg growth you'll have to trim later, wasting weeks of potential veg time.

poplars said:

You should sync to outdoor light cycle as much as possible.

The reason is, if you are too far out of sync with the outdoor cycle, for example, you are doing an 18 hr schedule but there's only 15 hrs of light, the plants will get confused and go into flowering for a week or two.

Then they will realize it's actually about to be summer and they will slowly switch back out of it, leaving a bunch of weird veg growth you'll have to trim later, wasting weeks of potential veg time.

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Wow OK, never mind my first comment then.

As stated in the OP, I know that plants grown from clone require the synchronized light cycle. However, plants grown directly from seed don’t need it-or so I’ve heard....sort of like the seedlings one might purchase from a greenhouse for the spring or summer garden, notice they don’t all go into flower after being put into the greenhouse? Unless they always have supplemental lighting and I hadn’t noticed before growing weed lol

Poundtown said:

As stated in the OP, I know that plants grown from clone require the synchronized light cycle. However, plants grown directly from seed don’t need it-or so I’ve heard....sort of like the seedlings one might purchase from a greenhouse for the spring or summer garden, notice they don’t all go into flower after being put into the greenhouse? Unless they always have supplemental lighting and I hadn’t noticed before growing weed lol

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That depends on what phase of veg growth the seedling is in.

If the seedling is not sexed, it will continue vegetative growth but synchronized light cycle will ensure no interruptions in vegetative growth.

Source: Over 10 years of experience outdoor growing...

I don't grow outdoor, so take it with A grain of salt.

A lot of strains will start to flower at 13+ hours of light, otherwise they would be mature in late fall and die.

I have had some weird revegging happen and it sucks.... Big waste of time, and it's scary having a bunch of mutants next to healthy girls.

But that being said, you probably wanna go with strains that advertise early harvests outdoors to avoid the frost.
I don't grow outdoor, but I have seen lots of outdoor plants that weren't mature by the first frost in ohio.... I think there's a reason I grew up smoking skunk; early harvests before the frost, and crazy root mass.

Try 12/1 lighting schedule.

6am on, 6pm off, 11:30pm on, 12:30am on. The hour at night disrupts hormone production that triggers flower. Not all strains are perfect with this, but it does work for indoor. It's a lot closer to outside schedule.

I flip to 8/16 for indoor flower. Much more efficient production costs also.

Ok so I figured it out- if I start at 18/6 and then begin to decrease the light hours by 15 minutes per week starting March 1st, by May 23rd I’ll be at 15/7 which mimics the outdoor cycle perfectly for my area, according to sunrise and sunset times data from 2020. The danger of frost should have passed by then and things will go smoothly I think.

Poundtown said:

So does anybody know if plants grown from seed need the light cycle synced with the natural outdoor light cycle before putting them outside (as clones do), or do the plants that are grown from seed know what to do? I’m trying to avoid them going into flower early and then re-vegging, then going back into flower....I’ve heard this can result in reduced yields and possibly plants that never fully mature in time for harvest.

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Yes.

It is a plant just the same as a clone.

I suggest supplemental lighting if throwing outside early.

yes “re vegging” is a bitch and ruins crops.

DougsNugggs said:

Yes.

It is a plant just the same as a clone.

I suggest supplemental lighting if throwing outside early.

yes “re vegging” is a bitch and ruins crops.

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Right on, I am planning on adding a shop light up the middle of the green house. Would you recommend keeping the light on during all dark hours, turn on intermittently, or just extending the daylight hours to get to 16-18?

If you're looking to extend your veg cycle outdoors, look into "Lantern Lighting". It's an old school method.