Lighting to outdoor

[Girlgrowsgood]

Hi everyone,
question is this: do i keep my clones on 16/8 light/dark cycle until i transplant outside in beginning of May? I have had probs with clones budding early.
Please let me know if you willxoxoxo

 

[Keith Lake]

High

Welcome to 420 Magazine

I've moved your thread over to the FAQ forum where the grow support gurus can help with your question.

 

[flyfishinrock]

If your having troubles with them flowering early, try 24 hours of light. If they still flower its probably an auto flowering strain. Many plants will show their sex without changing the lights after they reach a month old from seed, clones are usually at least a month old (because they take the age of the mother) and may show sex anyways.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Unless you meant that they start flowering early after you move them outside - in which case it's probably the abrupt change from short dark cycles to the (relatively) early cycles of earlier in the season outdoors.

In which case gradually shifting your dark hours to match the actual outdoor amount (at the time you put them out) might work better.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Also remember that just interrupting the dark cycle nightly for a while can keep plants from flowering. If I remember correctly, a really bright LED flashlight ought to do it if you hit all (most) parts of the plant for a bit every night until the number of dark hours drops below 10-14 (depending on strain).

Of course that's not a viable solution if you've got 500 girls spread all over three counties lol.

I have heard that the Moon doesn't halt flowering when it's full. I wonder if it does slow it down a little but I have not yet tested it by completely covering a plant for 12 hours each night when the moon is from 25% before full to 25% after full while a clone from the same mother grew beside it uncovered. Might get around to it in a few years, who knows? One does get curious.

 

[Girlgrowsgood]

Yes! Actually i really was thinking on the lines of trying to gradually fade the hrs to more like 18/6, then 15/8, then 13/11 , then 10/14, then outside. You know...like lowering a dose until you wean off and you are free and natural All on it's own to fend the environment and take on the sun.
Cheers for helping me. Also the tip about shining light on them in the dark. I like that one.I will keep you posted. Yes, they look good. I added a tiny bit of awesome BioOrganics MycroMinerals and also a tiny bit of B's.
Yeow! They luuuuv that. So green, so pretty, so beautiful
Bella Bella Bella! Sing sing sing to them too and they love it also. by the way.
Me Girlgrowsgood

 

[TorturedSoul]

Just remember to check the Old Farmer's Almanic, weather channel or a calendar to make sure you don't end up shortening it more than you need to in order to match reality lol.

Also keep in mind that some strains that might be prone to going hermie if you so much as look at them in a threatening manner might do so if you start spotlighting them at night when they "think" they ought to be in flower.

But mostly it won't hurt as I've known several people that needed to keep a mother plant in veg for an extended period of time (like a year) without it growing all over the place from the light or stretching from trying to raise the light so they gave it good close lighting but only for shorter periods and set their timers to have the lights come on during the dark period a couple of times (one would have probably done it) so the mothers wouldn't flower.