Some Questions About (In)Direct Sunlight

Hey,
So I have access to quite a bit of space but the problem is that it's very heavily forested. Nearly everywhere I am scouting and clearing has trees on all sides that , besides the few hours when the sun is at it's highest point and shining directly down, will block a lot of the light. These sites I have found will get more sun in the morning hours and into the afternoon, and less in the afternoon-evening. I have taken into consideration the suggestion of clearing branches around the site that point east to west as that will open up the canopy following the path of the sun. I don't want to just clear cut a big swath of trees for fear of attracting attention from above, but i've already chainsawed down select trees and am planning on doing limb removal this week. What's my plan of attack here?

Along side of that, any one care to elaborate a little on how indirect lighting effects the growth of the plant? I mean sure it's not as optimal as direct sun would be, but the plant has to be able to flourish with primarily indirect light? Isn't it something along the lines of 5 hrs of direct light? May be pushing it in the current , non limbed state. How does that number change if it's indirect?

Any thoughts and or past experiences would be a big help, thanks for the read. I Understand that the plant will still produce, but I am trying to maximize here and more sun is a HUGE variable regarding how large your plants will grow. Many of you must have, and currently are, stuiggling with this same problem. What decisions did you come to?

I have tried to grow plants in a stand of old growth pines.... Like you said they only received light when the sun was at its highest for about 4 hours.... The plants grew fine in all aspects but size.... after a 3 month veg and 2 month flower they were only 15 inches tall. The beans were delish and top notch just few and far between. IMHO its a waste of you're time....... Just my .02. Good Luck!

B

thanks for the reply, I am interested to hear what people have to say as far as their experiences and thoughts are on the subject... were you growing straight from seeds underneath the pines? I have some clones and seedlings vegging now and have for awhile so they will be good size when they are ready to plant. I feel like with even only 4 hours of light they should grow taller than 2 feet. Did you bring in any soil or just use what was there?

When I say it's heavily forested, it is just that...but I have done some serious work in clearing it out SOMEWHAT. What I mean by this is I don't want to just clearcut a patch and have it pretty visible from choppers. Even when the sun isn't right above and they are getting direct light, they still will be getting indirect light through the trees. I plan to thin it out a decent amount. That's what one of my questions was, and part of it is just curiosity, the plants must be able to make do with that indirect light they are getting during the later afternoon and when the days are shorter.

What do people think though, if I can't get them over five hours of DIRECT light meaning no trees obstructing them will they be able to flourish and can I still grow giants?

From my experience, my plants got about 3 hours of direct sunlight and maybe 5 on good days. My plants were 6 inches tall when i planted them into the ground and when i harvested they were 4 feet. It all depends on the tender loving care you give them. Make sure they get a minimum of 4 hours of direct sunlight. And any indirect sunlight helps a lot.

Warning: If you start them inside, once they get outside they will stretch.

Is stretching a bad thing? I am looking to grow some giants, that's the goal. I feel that a big factor in a lot of peoples success to grow giants is the amount of direct sun, sometimes upwards of 12 hours. I just don't have that luxury, way too many trees. I plan on continuing to cut the branches back as the tree leaves fill in and I can identify areas that need to be thinned.
How much indirect light were yours getting Connor if you don;t mind me asking? I am just trying to gather as much info as I can to create some realistic goals. Thanks for the reply, appreciate it.

My Brother in Law does the same thing every year, I veg some clones for him, he plants 'em in Mar, and by late Sept. they are about 6' or so, stretched and scraggly. Good bud, just not a whole lot of it. The lack of enough hours of direct sun definitely takes its toll on yeild. I think he gets about an once or 2 per plant. IMHO not worth the time or risk, but the risk isn't all THAT great, and it makes him happy!

This makes me sad, I have such high hopes but it's tough to combat just that many trees. I don't mind cutting some down, even a lot but cant make it too obv from above like I said.

argh

Indoors. Get bigger inside. Dont have the room? MAKE the room!!

ok these where grown in a big thick stand of fur trees on a hill side ,i took my lineman spikes and climbed the trees up at the 6-11 am side (east) and then whent and did the same on the west side at about 2,pm -dark on the other side and left the straight up from 11 - 2 covered so the choppers cant see them they flew over these alot and never see any of them oh ya they all where 8-10 ft when done

as far as growing in mostly the shadows, you wont get as much yield if you were to grow in direct sunlight. ive done it before with bush grows where i tied the branches to the bush's branches, except i tried to make it so they got at least 8 hours of direct light at the least. i got maybe 3/4 the yield i would if they were in direct, vigor was however not a problem, they always had the perked up leaves and look "happy".