Light Cycle Matching: Indoor To Outdoor

[mrking]

Hi Everyone,

I have four plants I started late March with the intent to move them outside at the end of May. I was just thinking now, and I should have thought of this earlier, that if I put an indoor plant with a cycle of 18/6 inside to a light cycle of 16/8 outside in May, there may be issues.

Doing some research, I found a thread saying it is a good idea to match the outdoor cycle when moving plants, so at least that is confirmed. If not, it may start to flower right off the bat due to the reduced light cycle. Ugg. The scary part is that they say that the natural outdoor light changes by 15 minutes/week and this should be used to slowly transition the plants.

That's all good and dandy, but I am late to the party and with that schedule it will take 8 weeks to change the light cycle from 18/6 to 16/8. By that time we are into July. :/ Kinda defeats the purpose of growing them outside, as I wanted to take advantage of the sun and open space to grow them big.

Note that I am growing in fabric pots and not planting into the ground

So, my question for the experienced growers here is, is this information correct and what are your experiences with moving from indoor to outdoor. Can I push the cycle change to 15 min ever 3 days, or something light that?

Saying that, I will start to reduce the light schedule by 15 minutes starting tonight.

Hope you can help.

 

[AdaminCO]

Hi Everyone,

I have four plants I started late March with the intent to move them outside at the end of May. I was just thinking now, and I should have thought of this earlier, that if I put an indoor plant with a cycle of 18/6 inside to a light cycle of 16/8 outside in May, there may be issues.

Doing some research, I found a thread saying it is a good idea to match the outdoor cycle when moving plants, so at least that is confirmed. If not, it may start to flower right off the bat due to the reduced light cycle. Ugg. The scary part is that they say that the natural outdoor light changes by 15 minutes/week and this should be used to slowly transition the plants.

That's all good and dandy, but I am late to the party and with that schedule it will take 8 weeks to change the light cycle from 18/6 to 16/8. By that time we are into July. :/ Kinda defeats the purpose of growing them outside, as I wanted to take advantage of the sun and open space to grow them big.

Note that I am growing in fabric pots and not planting into the ground

So, my question for the experienced growers here is, is this information correct and what are your experiences with moving from indoor to outdoor. Can I push the cycle change to 15 min ever 3 days, or something light that?

Saying that, I will start to reduce the light schedule by 15 minutes starting tonight.

Hope you can help.

You will need to “harden” the plant first. Maybe a couple hours a day outside at first.

 

[mrking]

You will need to “harden” the plant first. Maybe a couple hours a day outside at first.

For sure, I’ve already been doing that for about two weeks now. But for some reason the light cycle never occurred to me.

 

[bebecillo]

You can use a site like timeanddate.com to see how long will the days be around the time you're planning to move them outside. A lunar calendar + hardening them like AdaminCO said will help you with the timing.

 

[AdaminCO]

For sure, I’ve already been doing that for about two weeks now. But for some reason the light cycle never occurred to me.

I flop my timings around a few times in my grow, so I’m sure you’re good. Just pay attention to your dark times if its a photo.

 

[mrking]

You can use a site like timeanddate.com to see how long will the days be around the time you're planning to move them outside. A lunar calendar + hardening them like AdaminCO said will help you with the timing.

I have all the months printed off for my location since March, for planning when to take em outside for good. Just didn’t think of matching the light cycle. Doh!!

I am guessing I have no choice but to slowly transition them down.

Anyone push the 15 min/week reduction time?

 

[AdaminCO]

I have all the months printed off for my location since March, for planning when to take em outside for good. Just didn’t think of matching the light cycle. Doh!!

I am guessing I have no choice but to slowly transition them down.

Anyone push the 15 min/week reduction time?

I don’t... the last couple weeks of flower I increase the darkness. I’m at 15 hours dark right now. I’ll chop this weekend.

 

[mrking]

I flop my timings around a few times in my grow, so I’m sure you’re good. Just pay attention to your dark times if its a photo.

Yeah, they are photos. I’ll have to be gentle.

 

[AdaminCO]

Yeah, they are photos. I’ll have to be gentle.

Anything over 10 will most likely trigger it.
@InTheShed runs indoor/outdoor, maybe he can chime in if he’s around.

 

[mrking]

Anything over 10 will most likely trigger it.
@InTheShed runs indoor/outdoor, maybe he can chime in if he’s around.

That’s good to know. Right now I am aiming for no more than 8 hours darkness.

 

[Justin Goody]

For sure, I’ve already been doing that for about two weeks now. But for some reason the light cycle never occurred to me.

The days are getting longer, I've had good luck putting them outside this time of year, but we have REALLY long days right now in WA.

 

[mrking]

The days are getting longer, I've had good luck putting them outside this time of year, but we have REALLY long days right now in WA.

Hey, I’m just over the boarder in Vancouver, BC! So our days are the same, pushing only about 15.5 hours of daylight.

You’ve moved indoors from a 18/6 cycle to straight outdoors this time of year? After hardening, of course.

 

[Justin Goody]

Hey, I’m just over the boarder in Vancouver, BC! So our days are the same, pushing only about 15.5 hours of daylight.

You’ve moved indoors from a 18/6 cycle to straight outdoors this time of year? After hardening, of course.

Awesome, I'm on Whidbey Island. BC is beautiful from the little I've seen.
I don't do much hardening, just a few days in partial shade before they go into full sun. I love this current LED light I'm using, it's great for that, hardly any transition time. I'm a bit rough with them sometimes, I've had plants full time outside for a while now. We are in a great sun spot and I try all kinds of things outside here, and end up with all kinds of results because of the weather, as you probably know well.

 

[InTheShed]

Anything over 10 will most likely trigger it.
@InTheShed runs indoor/outdoor, maybe he can chime in if he’s around.

I keep mine at 20/4 by having them under a light when I move them indoors. I have seen some plants go into flower going from 20/4 to 16/8, so it's something to watch for.

 

[mrking]

Awesome, I'm on Whidbey Island. BC is beautiful from the little I've seen.
I don't do much hardening, just a few days in partial shade before they go into full sun. I love this current LED light I'm using, it's great for that, hardly any transition time. I'm a bit rough with them sometimes, I've had plants full time outside for a while now. We are in a great sun spot and I try all kinds of things outside here, and end up with all kinds of results because of the weather, as you probably know well.

Good to know you have plants outside full time already. I’ll keep this in mind for next year, although this years weather is amazing compared to last year. Ya never know what you’ll get.

 

[mrking]

I keep mine at 20/4 by having them under a light when I move them indoors. I have seen some plants go into flower going from 20/4 to 16/8, so it's something to watch for.

I appreciate the input. Hopefully 18 to 16 won’t be so bad then. I’ll try a 30min jump in a week and see what happens.

 

[mrking]

@13goody13 How are your plants handling the cool nights? Gets to about 46F here at night.

 

[Justin Goody]

@13goody13 How are your plants handling the cool nights? Gets to about 46F here at night.

They are handling it well, it’s been between 46-51 here at night. The rain and wind are sometimes more menacing than the temperatures, but in the end they will be stronger because of them (if they don’t die lol)

 

[mrking]

They are handling it well, it’s been between 46-51 here at night. The rain and wind are sometimes more menacing than the temperatures, but in the end they will be stronger because of them (if they don’t die lol)

Umm, that’s a hell of a lot of oyster shells there.

 

[Justin Goody]

Umm, that’s a hell of a lot of oyster shells there.

Haha I wish! It’s mostly clams, they are pretty tasty too though. We collect buckets of them and are making a trail kind of thing around the garden. I thought it might be a good place to avoid snails but I was wrong.