Cold weather woes

[DirtyDantheman]

I’m trying to finish up my Jelly Breath strain.
All organic outdoor grow.
Just checked the trichs today and they still look mostly clear with a few random cloudy.
I’m only 6 weeks into flower and this particular strain is supposed to take 9+ weeks.
But sadly, I’m running out of good weather here in western NY.
Days are being limited to high 50’s and nights are dropping down to low 40’s.
Will this colder weather hasten the ripening process or would I be better off moving them inside to finish them?
I’ve placed them under my camper awning so on rainy days I can just extend the awning out to keep them dry.
This particular strain doesn’t fatten the flowers until the last 2 weeks.
And I’ve noticed that the buds have quit elongating and now have finally started to plump up.
The weather forecast seems to be holding in the 50’s day 40’s night for the next few weeks.
Do they need warmer weather than this to ripen, or will the colder weather help to ripen them up faster????
I’ve never grown a strain that’s takes this long to flower so I’m not really sure how to proceed.
This is a mostly indica strain so it should handle the cooler weather no problem.
Any opinions????

 

[Roy Growin]

I'd treat it like any other plant in the garden and wait until risk of first frost - the way things are going it might not get cold until November

 

[DirtyDantheman]

I'd treat it like any other plant in the garden and wait until risk of first frost - the way things are going it might not get cold until November

I’m pretty sure that’s what I’m gonna do.
I’ve only got a huge 900 watt LED grow light to work with and I think it would probably shock the plants after being outside all summer.
I had a really bad problem with light burn the last time I used it and don’t wanna go through that again.

 

[SmokingWings]

I’m only 6 weeks into flower and this particular strain is supposed to take 9+ weeks.
But sadly, I’m running out of good weather here in western NY.
Days are being limited to high 50’s and nights are dropping down to low 40’s.
Will this colder weather hasten the ripening process or would I be better off moving them inside to finish them?
I’ve placed them under my camper awning so on rainy days I can just extend the awning out to keep them dry.
This particular strain doesn’t fatten the flowers until the last 2 weeks.
And I’ve noticed that the buds have quit elongating and now have finally started to plump up.
The weather forecast seems to be holding in the 50’s day 40’s night for the next few weeks.
Do they need warmer weather than this to ripen, or will the colder weather help to ripen them up faster????
I’ve never grown a strain that’s takes this long to flower so I’m not really sure how to proceed.
This is a mostly indica strain so it should handle the cooler weather no problem.
Any opinions????

I do not worry about the temperatures dropping a couple of degrees. I do not worry about the first couple of mild frosts. Life it way to short to worry about minor issues like that.

The plants will tolerate mild frosts. It takes a deep frost, down into the upper or mid 20s and staying cold for several hours to do any major damage or kill the plant itself.

In the thread linked below I presented photos showing a couple of outdoor plants. It is not a journal as I kept taking photos and then when the collection was large enough I started the thread. Check dates for the photos in the paragraphs. We can see that the early frosts and light snow did not kill the plants.

Oh, some people will have to click on the thumbnail photos one or two times before they open up into larger pictures.

https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/we-are-past-the-frost-warnings-or-the-lady-finally-sang-the-last-song.474763/post-4696486

At the end of my thread there is a link to another tread on the same topic. Somewhere in that thread there is a good photo of several plants covered with frost....so much frost it looks like snow but it is just frost.

 

[DirtyDantheman]

I do not worry about the temperatures dropping a couple of degrees. I do not worry about the first couple of mild frosts. Life it way to short to worry about minor issues like that.

The plants will tolerate mild frosts. It takes a deep frost, down into the upper or mid 20s and staying cold for several hours to do any major damage or kill the plant itself.

In the thread linked below I presented photos showing a couple of outdoor plants. It is not a journal as I kept taking photos and then when the collection was large enough I started the thread. Check dates for the photos in the paragraphs. We can see that the early frosts and light snow did not kill the plants.

Oh, some people will have to click on the thumbnail photos one or two times before they open up into larger pictures.

https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/we-are-past-the-frost-warnings-or-the-lady-finally-sang-the-last-song.474763/post-4696486

At the end of my thread there is a link to another tread on the same topic. Somewhere in that thread there is a good photo of several plants covered with frost....so much frost it looks like snow but it is just frost.

The plants are 90% indica so I know they will tolerate the cold pretty well.
But from everything I’ve read they pretty much shut down all metabolic processes below 50f.
So am I simply wasting my time and chancing bud rot, or will the plants continue to ripen in these colder temps?
I’ve thought of placing seedling heater mats under the pots to try and keep the roots a bit warmer……….

 

[SmokingWings]

So am I simply wasting my time and chancing bud rot, or will the plants continue to ripen in these colder temps?
I’ve thought of placing seedling heater mats under the pots to try and keep the roots a bit warmer……….

The plants will slow down. It might be cold one morning but the next morning the sun rises, the clouds leave, the temperatures climb, photosynthesis kicks in and the plant is ripening again. Or, it is another cold windy day. Most of the time the weather will improve after a few days and the plant goes back to ripening the buds.

With some experience we can watch what is happening outside and often not need the TV news to tell us the time to end the growing season has come.

 

[Sativa1970]

Temperature effects the growth of the plant. You only have one more week of growth. The last 2 weeks are production of terpenes and resins. The plant is not producing those for you. It is a survival tactic. Terpenes protect the seed from predator's and resins protect the seed from the elements. Cold weather ramps up there production in the bud but slows the uptake in the roots. A seed mat and blanket around the pot will raise the media temp 10-15 deg. That will keep the roots productive and prewarm nutrients traveling up the plant.

I've run pure equatorial sativas down to 45night 55day with an aquarium heater holding the res at 65 for the last 2 weeks of flower. Only problem I had was the overwhelming smell. Yield and potency was on par for the strain.

 

[DirtyDantheman]

There are 2 plants…….
I put the larger plant that’s in a 10 gallon pot in my camper under a 900 watt LED light.
I left the smaller plant in the 30 gallon outside because the pot is too big to fit through the door.
We shall see how things turn out I guess.
I’m hoping the LED light puts her across the finish line without screwing her up.

 

[Sativa1970]

Assuming this is a 900 wat equivalency rated fixture drawing .9 amps from the wall not 8 amps. If you have a dimmer set the light to 75% at 14 inches or full power at 18 inches for 2 days. Then move to 14 inches at 100% power. Gives the plant a chance to acclimate without stress.

 

[DirtyDantheman]

Assuming this is a 900 wat equivalency rated fixture drawing .9 amps from the wall not 8 amps. If you have a dimmer set the light to 75% at 14 inches or full power at 18 inches for 2 days. Then move to 14 inches at 100% power. Gives the plant a chance to acclimate without stress.

The ceiling was too low to put the light directly above the plant, so I had to rig it up at a 45 degree angle over the plant at about 24” away.
I guess I’ll just spin the plant 180 every day to try to get even coverage.
It’s not ideal…… but I guess you gotta work with what ya got.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Sativa1970]

All indoor growers underestimated the stretch at least once and been in the same situation so we can all relate. Or the Christmas tree that looked good in the lot but now the star is sideways pressed against the celling. We'll make it work!

What I did was put multiple hooks in the celling and moved the light each day because it was safer and easier than spinning the plant. Figured that out right after losing a big branch. Also set some 4 foot shop lights on the dark side. It doesn't hurt to add more fill light.