Putting seedlings outside and avoiding that they would flower?

[flexy123]

This year I want to experiment with having some grown entirely outside.

So I started some seedlings which are (still) at 18/6 LED in my greenhouse.

They are now 2" or so tall and about 3 or so days old, in rock wool.

It is my understanding that end of March is the earliest for starting plants outside (temps, sun etc. is not a problem where I live) - but this may only apply for starting plants completely from seed outside.

The issue is, what happens if I put seedlings that are about a few days old, that were started under 18/6 outside now? Would they start to flower because of the change of light?

Is there a span of time where I can set very young seedlings outside WITHOUT them starting to flower? (I am of course aware that any mature plant that I would put outside now after having vegged them under 18/6 is starting to flower!)

Or should I ditch the idea to put my seedlings outside and try to start some *from seed* outside, to avoid all this?

Thanks!

 

[Cdogg]

Re: Putting seedlings (!) outside and avoiding that they would flower?

I'm no where near a grow expert but think it's the sudden decreation of light that triggers flowering rather then exact timings that have been developed for optimal harvests indoors ! There's not many parts of the world your plants would receive a full 18 hours of direct natural light! But timing the outdoor grow right can provide the longest and thus most optimal amount of light at most needed development points in your plants life cycle. As the light period decreases with night time temps later in the year it will tribute your plants transformation to flower and begin budding process ,..... Hope this helps


cdgg

 

[Mcjoint]

From my underling what causes flowering is 12 hrs of uninterrupted light. If your worried about them flowing try to place them near a light source and turn on the light for an hour during the middle of the night.

 

[flexy123]

My thought is that plants may (perhaps) first need some time to "learn" a light-schedule, it is clear that a plant that vegged a month under 18/6 would get a "shock" if I put it outside to 12/12 in Spring and it would start to flower.
But maybe if a seedling is only a few days old it can be set outside and it would grow (veg) normally since it had no time to get used to the 18/6 schedule?? This is my reasoning here.

 

[Spitz]

3 days old? They won't flower for a month after planting anyway. Northern hemisphere, you'll be fine and flower in 4-5 months. If your in the Southern Hemisphere, they will flower as soon as they are mature (3-6 weeks). Good luck!!

 

[jonny64]

put em outside!...gently though so as not to shock them, you still have to harden them off to the outdoor enviroment.