schedule for starting under Fls

Hi

Can any experienced outdoor growers please tell me what light schedule you have used when starting plants indoors under electric lights?

Last year we started all of them under 16 hrs of light. The Sun when we put them outside is about 15 hrs. depending on the exact date they go out.

One of my strains went into flower immidiately. It was not suppossed to be an auto flower strain. However, it was supposed to be a super early flower strain. Other strains that were started the same way and put out at about the same time veged for a couple months before going into flower.

Do you think that the one hour difference is what caused this one strain to flower right away?

What schedule do you start growing your plants under before putting them outside?

Thank You !

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dirtgrower

Hi

Can any experienced outdoor growers please tell me what light schedule you have used when starting plants indoors under electric lights?

Last year we started all of them under 16 hrs of light. The Sun when we put them outside is about 15 hrs. depending on the exact date they go out.

One of my strains went into flower immidiately. It was not suppossed to be an auto flower strain. However, it was supposed to be a super early flower strain. Other strains that were started the same way and put out at about the same time veged for a couple months before going into flower.

Do you think that the one hour difference is what caused this one strain to flower immidiaty?

What schedule do you start growing your plants under before putting them outside?

Thank You !

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It probably wasn't just the one hour difference.
Anytime you give a cannabis plant more than 6 hours of darkness in veg, you are setting it up for flowering. Darkness releases hormones that are a 'gateway' to flowering.
As long as the plant gets less than 6 hours of dark, it shouldn't release these hormones, so it shouldn't go into flower unexpectedly (unless it's an autoflower strain, and then it would be expected anyway).
By giving your plants 8/16, you were essentially teasing them into flower at the first sign of change.

Hey psteve -

Thanks for your advise!

So you would then recomend starting them under like 18/6 or 20/4 or something? I thought that would just be a bigger change when they then went out to a 15 hour day on about 5/1, and therfore be even more likely to cause them to flower right off.

Am I wrong?:

:jointsmile:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dirtgrower

Hey psteve -

Thanks for your advise!

So you would then recomend starting them under like 18/6 or 20/4 or something? I thought that would just be a bigger change when they then went out to a 15 hour day on about 5/1, and therfore be even more likely to cause them to flower right off.

Am I wrong?:

:jointsmile:

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I would use 20/4 (or even 24/0) and slowly switch to 18/6 for at least a couple weeks before putting them out. That way there's not as much shock to the plant, and it hasn't started pre-flowering until after it's outside.

Thank you again man! I will try exactly that this year since what we did the last couple years was what I originally posted and you already know what the result was.

Anybody else have any thoughts on this?

:jointsmile:

Don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. I use to worry about the same thing with the lights and trying to mimic mother nature. Truth is that 18/6 or 24/0 are really the best, if your electric bill don't matter to you go with 24/0 and you'll get the best results. It does'nt sound like it is right but it is. The shock won't hurt your plants at all as long as harden them off before transplanting them into the ground.:thumbsup: