Pondering An Outdoor Summer Grow

[The Bard]

Good evening, everyone...

I am still a novice at this, but I have caught the grow-bug. My first grow is currently indoors, and just hit the 30-day mark in veg. (You can see my amateur efforts in my journal in my signature line).

I am thinking about doing my second grow outdoors this summer, and would appreciate some advice. I live in Southern Ontario, and it is pretty safe to plan around a last frost date of May 24, and first frost date of October 24, so about 5 months or 21 weeks frost-free. I am thinking that I will grow in-the ground (good soil in my veggie patch). My goals are: 1) save the electricity by not growing indoors during the heat of summer; and 2) grow some monster plants, if possible!

As I was thinking about this, I came up with three options that I would appreciate your comments and criticisms of....

1) Take clones from 3 of my 4 current plants (the 4th one is an auto, which I don't think can be cloned successfully). The three are GSC, Green Crack, and Trainwreck. (The 4th is an auto Purple Kush).

2) Start from scratch with seeds that I already have (they are all FEM/Photos): White Widow; Tangie, Blueberry, Northern Lights, Granddaddy Purple, and Zkittlez.

3) Buy new seeds that are autos, so I don't have to worry about sunrise/sunset/daylight hours.

Of these options, I am least excited about #3, as I understand that autos will ultimately be relatively small in stature, more limited yields, which kind of misses the opportunity of growing outside without space restrictions. I'll be back in the tight little tent come the autumn. But if there is a good reason to reconsider autos, please let me know.

If I were to take the cloning route, it would be a few weeks from now before I could take cuttings - my plants are still pretty small (I think). So if I took a cutting in late April, grew inside for 4-5 weeks, would it be far enough along to transplant outside on June 1? Would June 1-October 1 be long enough a season for the flowering cycle to complete?

On the other hand, if I dropped FEM/Photo seeds in the next day or so, they would have about 6 weeks to germinate and start veg cycle before being transplanted outside on June 1. But the same rough window of June 1 - October 1 for the outside season.

What do you think of my idea, and the various options I raised? Other options that I should consider?

Thanks!

 

[Old Salt]

I checked an on-line photoperiod calculator...

Aug 16th is when sunlight drops below 14hrs per day for Toronto. You can probably grow plants with six to eight week flowering times.

© 2015, Jarmo Lammi (revised 22-November-2001)
Daylength: 13:58 hours
Begin of Nautical Twilight: 04:14 hours
Begin of Civil Twilight: 04:52 hours
Sunrise Time: 05:23 hours
Sunset Time: 19:21 hours
End of Civil Twilight: 19:51 hours
End of Nautical Twilight: 20:29 hours
Max. height angle is 60:05 degr at noon time 12:22
Declination of Sun: 13:44 degr
Sun altitude -31:57 degr, azimuth 10:57 degr (UTC 05:00)
Solar power 1052 W/m2 at noon
Date: Friday on 2019-08-16, the 228. day of the year
Location: Toronto, latitude 43:39, longitude -79:20

 

[J Obadiah]

Good evening, everyone...

I am still a novice at this, but I have caught the grow-bug. My first grow is currently indoors, and just hit the 30-day mark in veg. (You can see my amateur efforts in my journal in my signature line).

I am thinking about doing my second grow outdoors this summer, and would appreciate some advice. I live in Southern Ontario, and it is pretty safe to plan around a last frost date of May 24, and first frost date of October 24, so about 5 months or 21 weeks frost-free. I am thinking that I will grow in-the ground (good soil in my veggie patch). My goals are: 1) save the electricity by not growing indoors during the heat of summer; and 2) grow some monster plants, if possible!

As I was thinking about this, I came up with three options that I would appreciate your comments and criticisms of....

1) Take clones from 3 of my 4 current plants (the 4th one is an auto, which I don't think can be cloned successfully). The three are GSC, Green Crack, and Trainwreck. (The 4th is an auto Purple Kush).

2) Start from scratch with seeds that I already have (they are all FEM/Photos): White Widow; Tangie, Blueberry, Northern Lights, Granddaddy Purple, and Zkittlez.

3) Buy new seeds that are autos, so I don't have to worry about sunrise/sunset/daylight hours.

Of these options, I am least excited about #3, as I understand that autos will ultimately be relatively small in stature, more limited yields, which kind of misses the opportunity of growing outside without space restrictions. I'll be back in the tight little tent come the autumn. But if there is a good reason to reconsider autos, please let me know.

If I were to take the cloning route, it would be a few weeks from now before I could take cuttings - my plants are still pretty small (I think). So if I took a cutting in late April, grew inside for 4-5 weeks, would it be far enough along to transplant outside on June 1? Would June 1-October 1 be long enough a season for the flowering cycle to complete?

On the other hand, if I dropped FEM/Photo seeds in the next day or so, they would have about 6 weeks to germinate and start veg cycle before being transplanted outside on June 1. But the same rough window of June 1 - October 1 for the outside season.

What do you think of my idea, and the various options I raised? Other options that I should consider?

Thanks!

I think your best option is #2. You wont have to wait too long for germ, and you really can save money if you buy smart and be resourceful.

Dont waste your time on autos in summer. I wasted a whole 7 gal pot last season (thats big for my current space).

Clones wont really produce like from-seed plants will. They'll give you a fair harvest, but I dont think itll be worth your time.

Hope this assists you.
Obadiah

 

[CO Finest]

One advice I will give is you might want to stay away from long flowering sativa's that flower 9-10+ weeks. In Colorado we have a short summer and we never know if frost and snow comes early in October. Hybrid sativa's with short flowering time are better to take the flowering risk with. Last year we had a early frost that killed my whole crop. It lasted seven days straight plants had no chance not being in a green house. So if looking for outdoor do the research on what strains you like with the shortest flowing times. Wish you the best luck take care.

 

[J Obadiah]

One advice I will give is you might want to stay away from long flowering sativa's that flower 9-10+ weeks. In Colorado we have a short summer and we never know if frost and snow comes early in October. Hybrid sativa's with short flowering time are better to take the flowering risk with. Last year we had a early frost that killed my whole crop. It lasted seven days straight plants had no chance not being in a green house. So if looking for outdoor do the research on what strains you like with the shortest flowing times. Wish you the best luck take care.

So funny you mention this, I was JUST reading an article on it not even 20 mins ago. Excellent.

 

[J Obadiah]

Hey looking good. Question: how long do you let them veg in solo cups? Im outdoors, and I usually xplant when I see roots in the holes I've made, but they're not as big as yours, not even close! Lol whats up with that?

Thanks

 

[The Bard]

I checked an on-line photoperiod calculator...

Aug 16th is when sunlight drops below 14hrs per day for Toronto. You can probably grow plants with six to eight week flowering times.

© 2015, Jarmo Lammi (revised 22-November-2001)
Daylength: 13:58 hours
Begin of Nautical Twilight: 04:14 hours
Begin of Civil Twilight: 04:52 hours
Sunrise Time: 05:23 hours
Sunset Time: 19:21 hours
End of Civil Twilight: 19:51 hours
End of Nautical Twilight: 20:29 hours
Max. height angle is 60:05 degr at noon time 12:22
Declination of Sun: 13:44 degr
Sun altitude -31:57 degr, azimuth 10:57 degr (UTC 05:00)
Solar power 1052 W/m2 at noon
Date: Friday on 2019-08-16, the 228. day of the year
Location: Toronto, latitude 43:39, longitude -79:20

Cool way to think about it, Salt, thanks!

 

[The Bard]

I think your best option is #2. You wont have to wait too long for germ, and you really can save money if you buy smart and be resourceful.

Dont waste your time on autos in summer. I wasted a whole 7 gal pot last season (thats big for my current space).

Clones wont really produce like from-seed plants will. They'll give you a fair harvest, but I dont think itll be worth your time.

Hope this assists you.
Obadiah

Thanks! Yes, I think autos are off the list. I didn't realize that clones weren't as productive as the originals? Why do you think that is?

 

[The Bard]

One advice I will give is you might want to stay away from long flowering sativa's that flower 9-10+ weeks. In Colorado we have a short summer and we never know if frost and snow comes early in October. Hybrid sativa's with short flowering time are better to take the flowering risk with. Last year we had a early frost that killed my whole crop. It lasted seven days straight plants had no chance not being in a green house. So if looking for outdoor do the research on what strains you like with the shortest flowing times. Wish you the best luck take care.

Thanks CO. Good advice, and lines up with what @Old Salt mentioned above. A buddy here in the city who grows outdoors said that he targets eight weeks flowering. So I will go through the seeds I currently have on-hand and see what the quoted flowering period is.

 

[PaleSun]

I've been doing the same in your neighborhood. Purple Kush Feminized in pots. Germinate around 1 April, in and out on warm days. Outside for good mid May. I don't think they have enough time to flower though. Still get great harvests. Potency could be better due to harvest time restrictions.

So, this year I am going to experiment with a couple auto-flower White Widows. And, I'm hoping to build a "Far Red" 730nm LED array to stimulate flowering early in the Kush, even outside. A couple weeks earlier would make all the difference.

Many other ideas too: blackout tarps, or going under artificial light for flowering. Could go on lol

 

[J Obadiah]

Thanks! Yes, I think autos are off the list. I didn't realize that clones weren't as productive as the originals? Why do you think that is?

Well in my personal experience, from a general standpoint, you just can't get the sheer size and development in a clone that you can in a regular photo. I cant honestly say this is always the case, but I haven't been able to do better.

If I can opine, I think it has to do with the fact that your pulling the shoots off of a whole plant. In time they can get very large, but regulars just have a bigger expression as they have a taproot, and clones do not.

Obadiah

 

[J Obadiah]

I checked an on-line photoperiod calculator...

Aug 16th is when sunlight drops below 14hrs per day for Toronto. You can probably grow plants with six to eight week flowering times.

© 2015, Jarmo Lammi (revised 22-November-2001)
Daylength: 13:58 hours
Begin of Nautical Twilight: 04:14 hours
Begin of Civil Twilight: 04:52 hours
Sunrise Time: 05:23 hours
Sunset Time: 19:21 hours
End of Civil Twilight: 19:51 hours
End of Nautical Twilight: 20:29 hours
Max. height angle is 60:05 degr at noon time 12:22
Declination of Sun: 13:44 degr
Sun altitude -31:57 degr, azimuth 10:57 degr (UTC 05:00)
Solar power 1052 W/m2 at noon
Date: Friday on 2019-08-16, the 228. day of the year
Location: Toronto, latitude 43:39, longitude -79:20

Loving the good work! Way to toss down some knowledge to the new ones/questioners.

 

[The Bard]

I've been doing the same in your neighborhood. Purple Kush Feminized in pots. Germinate around 1 April, in and out on warm days. Outside for good mid May. I don't think they have enough time to flower though. Still get great harvests. Potency could be better due to harvest time restrictions.

So, this year I am going to experiment with a couple auto-flower White Widows. And, I'm hoping to build a "Far Red" 730nm LED array to stimulate flowering early in the Kush, even outside. A couple weeks earlier would make all the difference.

Many other ideas too: blackout tarps, or going under artificial light for flowering. Could go on lol

Thanks... good luck on your summer grow, and your experiments. Hopefully you'll share some pics when you get a chance. Have you already germinated your seeds?

 

[PaleSun]

Yup, the Kush are already sprouted in poo-pots. Will likely germinate the WW autos early in May.

Good luck to you too Bard, you'll be happy with your outdoor plants, and harvest for sure.
cheers

 

[DrSeeds]

Hi, chiming in on this thread, following a message sent to me from The Bard. He was asking me about Fast Flowering seeds for outdoor.

There are some unique use cases for Fast Flowering seeds and Autoflowering seeds for outdoor.

Fast Flowering seeds have a very small amount of ruderalis in the genetic mix - but they are not autoflower. This small amount of ruderalis is just enough to speed up the flowering process. However, the seeds still require a change in lightcycle.
If you decide to use these seeds for outdoor your plants are going to finish in early fall rather than late fall. You will notice they will start to show pre-flowers earlier than standard photoperiod seeds. Once the days become shorter in the late summer the flowering will be aggressive and fast.
They are good for people who don't want to wait all the way until late fall to harvest.

Autoflowering seeds have some unique benefits for outdoor. Not all regions have the same climate and sun patterns. For example, Iceland and Alaska have months where there is almost no sunlight and months where there is close to 100% sunlight. Or in Mexico it is warm enough in winter to grow outdoors but because of the short days photoperiod seeds won't work properly. My point is that the sun patterns in certain regions may not jive with your growing schedule, creating a problem for you, the outdoor grower. In these cases Autoflowering seeds are very beneficial because they require no lightcycle change to work. You could grow them in Iceland during the summer when there is close to full sun, or in Mexico during the winter when there are short days. If you are not sure about your lightcycles for your region you can look it up online.

Thank you to The Bard for inviting me to contribute to this thread.

 

[Joe Brewster]

You could also try planting your plants on the east side of a bush, building or some other structure. So that they get shade later in the afternoon & evening, to help trigger flowering , Darker the better so it don't reflect light

 

[The Bard]

Hi, chiming in on this thread, following a message sent to me from The Bard. He was asking me about Fast Flowering seeds for outdoor.

There are some unique use cases for Fast Flowering seeds and Autoflowering seeds for outdoor.

Fast Flowering seeds have a very small amount of ruderalis in the genetic mix - but they are not autoflower. This small amount of ruderalis is just enough to speed up the flowering process. However, the seeds still require a change in lightcycle.
If you decide to use these seeds for outdoor your plants are going to finish in early fall rather than late fall. You will notice they will start to show pre-flowers earlier than standard photoperiod seeds. Once the days become shorter in the late summer the flowering will be aggressive and fast.
They are good for people who don't want to wait all the way until late fall to harvest.

Autoflowering seeds have some unique benefits for outdoor. Not all regions have the same climate and sun patterns. For example, Iceland and Alaska have months where there is almost no sunlight and months where there is close to 100% sunlight. Or in Mexico it is warm enough in winter to grow outdoors but because of the short days photoperiod seeds won't work properly. My point is that the sun patterns in certain regions may not jive with your growing schedule, creating a problem for you, the outdoor grower. In these cases Autoflowering seeds are very beneficial because they require no lightcycle change to work. You could grow them in Iceland during the summer when there is close to full sun, or in Mexico during the winter when there are short days. If you are not sure about your lightcycles for your region you can look it up online.

Thank you to The Bard for inviting me to contribute to this thread.

Thanks for joining this conversation. What you shared here is really informative - I think the "fast" idea might work really well for my situation.

 

[PaleSun]

DrSeeds, could you please give examples of seeds which fit into the Fast Flowering category. No doubt these would be of great interest to most people growing outside in southern Canada and northern US.

 

[Joe Brewster]

DrSeeds, could you please give examples of seeds which fit into the Fast Flowering category. No doubt these would be of great interest to most people growing outside in southern Canada and northern US.

just click on the link Drseeds posted above
there are 4 of them
Bruce Banner #3 Cannabis Seeds *FAST VERSION*
Northern Lights Cannabis Seeds *FAST VERSION*
Cinderella 99 Cannabis Seeds *FAST VERSION*
Critical Mass Cannabis Seeds *FAST VERSION*

 

[PaleSun]

LOL thank you hhahahhahz got it