Ok to keep moving outdoor autoflowers indoors for more light?

[InTheShed]

I'm in southern California and we get "June Gloom" here, where we can get overcast skies much of the day for much of the month. I had a brilliant idea to bring the autoflower plants inside at night under CFLs so that they didn't feel light-deprived.

I have read varying opinions on whether plants like having their lighting schedules changed or even whether they like being moved. I don't know if autoflowers, given their shortened seasons, would prefer more light over the discomfort of moving or having changing schedules.

I know that my lighting setup could be much better, but all I'm asking is if having the indoor setup is a good idea at all.

Anyone have any thoughts?

My cheap-ass temporary lighting:

Grow details in my journal below...

 

[Scientific]

I don't think plants much care about being moved as long as they don't get mishandled enough to damage them.

Autos don't seem to care too much about light cycles (which is what makes them autos). They just want lots of light.

Rigging some reflectors out of aluminum foil on those CFLs could effectively triple the amount of light hitting your plants! You want your plants to be illuminated like it's a sunny day in summer, and with autos, that can be 24 hours a day!

Good luck and have fun!

 

[InTheShed]

I don't think plants much care about being moved as long as they don't get mishandled enough to damage them.

Autos don't seem to care too much about light cycles (which is what makes them autos). They just want lots of light.

Rigging some reflectors out of aluminum foil on those CFLs could effectively triple the amount of light hitting your plants! You want your plants to be illuminated like it's a sunny day in summer, and with autos, that can be 24 hours a day!

Good luck and have fun!

Thanks! I'll rig up some tin foil hats for the CFL's. I haven't brought these in for the last week or so as the sun has been mysteriously shining (thanks climate change!) but I may bring in the AK-47 at night for extra light since it's so tiny. I want to give these babies every opportunity to maximize their potential and I'm sure we'll go back to overcast skies before long.

Great tincture tutorial btw!

 

[Scientific]

Great tincture tutorial btw!

Funny you should mention it--just before I sat down I just took 25 drops of that same tincture. It's pretty potent. I'm still getting the dosage dialed in.

 

[InTheShed]

Here's the runty AK-47 I moved inside under the foil-hat-wearing CFL's, day 32:

I'll keep this thread updated with anything new from the "indoor" part of my first grow in case anyone is keeping track.

 

[InTheShed]

I just wanted to put a button on this thread so it's helpful to anyone searching for this topic in the future. The answer to the question turns out to be YES, it is ok to move them every night. I made some simple and cheap upgrades to the CFL lighting but nothing major. And my first plant yielded 49 grams off a 24" untrained grow and my second one with LST will better than double that.

So feel free to move your plants if you want. The only caveat is that it's better to have something hard under them to pick them up by (like a saucer or plywood) if using soft-sided pots. Don't use the handles. That way the soil doesn't distort and the roots don't get squeezed at the sides where the handles are.

49 grams dried:

No clue yet...still growing at 96 days!

 

[PaleSun]

Thanks InTheShed, interesting thread.

This year I'm going to try out WhiteWidow auto-femized grown outdoors. I have an old 1000w MH lamp and have been thinking about using it at night over the WhiteWidows. Will be doing LST just like you.

Cheers

 

[InTheShed]

Thanks InTheShed, interesting thread.

This year I'm going to try out WhiteWidow auto-femized grown outdoors. I have an old 1000w MH lamp and have been thinking about using it at night over the WhiteWidows. Will be doing LST just like you.

Cheers

Interesting that you stopped by my old question thread PaleSun! First to the 420mag website in case no one has formally greeted you yet.

I have taken this plant moving and made it an integral part of my growing style, moving plants out every morning and in every night. And if the weather is bad I leave them in during the day as well.

I've got a real light now in the shed so at night I'm hitting them with 300 watts of Samsung LED strips at about 10" off the canopy. So in addition to the sun, they're getting 12 hours of 40,000 lux.

Here is the last auto I harvested, a Blue Treacle auto that gave me 6 ounces dried:

20181227_085437.jpg

• InTheShed
• Dec 27, 2018

Blue Treacle Auto 2, day 84

This is one of the lower branches:

20190112_205220.jpg

• InTheShed
• Jan 13, 2019
• 1

Blue Treacle Auto harvest - day 100

If you're interested in Low Stress Training with autos, check out the tutorial in my signature. There might be some helpful info there for you.

Glad you stopped by!

 

[Carcass]

I always move my plants in at night to keep the moths away-those bastards lay their eggs on the plants at night,and a couple days later you've got about 40 little caterpillars crawling around on your plant,eating everything in sight.

Where do I move them to? I put them... in the shed...

Hey,Shed-I noticed in another thread you mentioned Mega Crop- I'm also going to use it on my next grow-If it's as good as the company says it is-it should do just fine...time will tell
I got their free sample,but the price is also very right when I have to buy more.

 

[InTheShed]

I've been using it on its own for my vegging Candidas (½ tsp/gallon or appx 4g) without pH adjustments and they seem to be doing just fine in the ProMix HP. I'm going to continue with it all though flower and see how it does. It's a heck of a lot easier than all the bottles I'm currently using in flower .

 

[Carcass]

I've pretty much been a miracle grow user ,even though it doesn't work for cannabis,but decided to go a different route this time.
I figure if I use something that DOES work for cannabis,my results may be even better.

Actually,the only reason I started using the MG,is,about 10 yrs ago, my wife bought a 20 lb box of it for her garden,and ended up not using it,and being "thrifty" I wasn't about to let it go to waste.
Still have about 15 lbs of it left,so if I decide to use it again,I'm covered,probably for the rest of my life

 

[InTheShed]

At 4g/gallon may you live a long growing life!

 

[PaleSun]

Wow, nice pics of your Blue Treacle. You're right, LEDs are the smarter choice for this strategy.

With 'autos' do you usually leave them under 24hr light all through flowering?

 

[InTheShed]

I think I do closer to 20/4 just to save on the electrical costs. I figure they are already getting most of their daily dose of lux from the sun.

 

[Spalding420]

Great article here Shed! Took me weeks to find the same amount of info I’ve gotten from a 5-6 hours on your threads LOL

 

[InTheShed]

Great article here Shed! Took me weeks to find the same amount of info I’ve gotten from a 5-6 hours on your threads LOL

Always feel free to ask questions in my grow journal if there's something you're wondering about. We have a pretty knowledgeable group there who can help! Feel free to ignore the first 661 pages and jump right in .

 

[Nickystickybuds]

I'm in southern California and we get "June Gloom" here, where we can get overcast skies much of the day for much of the month. I had a brilliant idea to bring the autoflower plants inside at night under CFLs so that they didn't feel light-deprived.

I have read varying opinions on whether plants like having their lighting schedules changed or even whether they like being moved. I don't know if autoflowers, given their shortened seasons, would prefer more light over the discomfort of moving or having changing schedules.

I know that my lighting setup could be much better, but all I'm asking is if having the indoor setup is a good idea at all.

Anyone have any thoughts?

My cheap-ass temporary lighting:

Grow details in my journal below...

No worries bro. Auto are gonna do their thing regardless of light schedule. Welcome btw im Nick. Thats why i love autos they're so friggin adaptable.

 

[InTheShed]

No worries bro. Auto are gonna do their thing regardless of light schedule. Welcome btw im Nick. Thats why i love autos they're so friggin adaptable.

Thanks NSB...I just wanted to make sure you knew you were responding to a post from two years ago!

 

[Nickystickybuds]

Hahahaha. I scroll through saw what i liked n hit it lol