Advise for Outdoor Grow in Zone 8b Southeastern US, and Daylight Hour Minimum

[Seniorweeder]

Hi guys, Im wanting to germ some photos soon in my grow box with my current "auto flower" grow which Im running lights in for 24 hours as of now. My goal is to get a jump start for them to end up outdoors in my Veggie Garden. Im wanting to know how big into Veg they should be before I transfer, and how much minimum daylight they need to not head into flower? Also what is the lowest night time temp they may be safe in? Thanks as always!

 

[Bill284]

Hi guys, Im wanting to germ some photos soon in my grow box with my current "auto flower" grow which Im running lights in for 24 hours as of now. My goal is to get a jump start for them to end up outdoors in my Veggie Garden. Im wanting to know how big into Veg they should be before I transfer, and how much minimum daylight they need to not head into flower? Also what is the lowest night time temp they may be safe in? Thanks as always!

Hey @Seniorweeder how are you?
The bigger i can get my girls before I take them outside the better. I'd get them started asap and start training. You will want 13 hrs day light to be sure they won't flower. If possible you want your night temps to be in the teens.
Start them under 24 hr light, takem out when you have 13 hrs light and you'll be fine.

 

[bobrown14]

Zone 8b - you're close to time when you can put them out really. Whats the coldest night temps?

If in ground the soil temps dont change much over night. Its the roots you worry about getting too cold unless you get frost. So plant after your last frost date outdoors.

You dont need to really worry about daylight hours... we are getting around 13-14 hrs of daylight every day and its increasing up to June 20th = 18hrs of daylight. Your plants wont flower until around 12hrs of daylight per day and thats going to be in August sometime.

Im in zone 5b and I plant outside mid may - after the last snow storm. But I will take them outside and bring them inside at night before that.

I dont run 24/0 lighting because I dont need to and its costy. I run 18/6 in VEG and a small light for seedlings I will run 24/0 but once they are bigger VEG plants they go into 18/6 and higher intensity.

You cant really run 24/0 high intensity and then put plants outdoors. Thats too much of a change. Suggest switching down to 18/6 indoors. The light intensity is a factor not just time of lighting.

So the sun is much more intense than your indoor lighting. Its ok to go from 18/6 to say 14-10 outdoor for that reason. I would not go from 24/0 to outdoor permanent. I never tried it. gonna be stressful for the plant and could lead to issues.

I don't make drastic changes unless its culling plants.

 

[Seniorweeder]

Thanks a ton guys, sorry I have been out of town. Good to hear from y'all and the good info as well. Yeah we are going to get a full 13 hours of daylight here in zone 8b starting in about a week, so I need to get my seedlings going now. Our night time lows are 40/50ish for now and day time highs are 70/80 on average.

As I have been reading, they recommend high Sativa strains for humid areas like we have so I am hoping this works well for the "AC/DC"s I will be experimenting with. As my grow box will be filling up with my first "Autos" soon, I may have to put a couple of them outside as well. Wish me luck. Heres a pic of my "Tangerine dream" and "Blueberry" autos. How do they look to U for being 17 days old? Thanks U soooo much for your time friends!