When and how to move marijuana plants outdoors

Dani Alchimia 2023-05-30
Hi john, As long as it doesn't take too much space in the root area (and too much nutes from the soil), there should be no problem. Best!

Dani Alchimia 2023-05-09
Hi Betty, Sure, your plant will continue flowering during May, but then (from June) it'll start revegging, growing again (you'll probably have your top buds dried by June, so you can put the plant back indoors with a flowering photoperiod). Hope it helped!

Dani Alchimia 2023-05-09
Hi Chris R, Sorry for the late reply, I guess the temps may not be a problem anymore! Cannabis can withstand low temps, but 30F is way too low, especially for small seedlings. I would have started the grow later (either starting outdoors or starting indoors and moving the plants out from June). All the best!

Dani Alchimia 2023-04-13
Hi Rocco, Honestly, I would not take any risk and put them outside at the end of May. They'll be ok in your indoor grow until then, and you really make sure to have no problems. As soon as they adapt to the outdoor environment, they're going to thrive! What I mean is: you're not taking any great advantage by putting them out on mid May instead of late May, you're basically taking risks. All the best!

Tim Alchimia 2022-10-17
Hi John, thanks for your comment and question. Cold weather affects cannabis plants' growth, slowing down the metabolic processes inside the plants, but they will continue to grow and to mature. It's really only freezing weather that you'll need to worry about, in particular frost. Check your weather forecast and if frost is predicted, you could try protecting the plants with horticultural fleece, which will help to keep the worst of the cold from damaging them. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-09-12
Hi John, thanks for your comment. The answer to your question will depend almost entirely on the type of cannabis you're growing. There are varieties that can finish flowering within 6 or 7 weeks while others can take 16 weeks or longer! However, I'd say that the average flowering time would fall between 8 and 10 weeks so you'll need to count backwards from the first frost date in your area to establish the latest time you can realistically start flowering your plants and still hope to get a good harvest. I hope that helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-07-18
Hi Jesse, thanks for your comment and questions. It sounds like you've got a good plan for next year! Those 65-gallon smart pots will be great, you'll get some lovely big plants there, but make sure that your flat roof will be able to take the weight of all that soil, and remember that the pots will weigh an awful lot more when the soil is wet! As for the soil mix, I would recommend that you mix your own "super soil", you can find comprehensive instructions in our blog post "How to make organic Supersoil". This way, you won't need to mess about with liquid nutrients, as the plants will only need water and the occasional compost tea or booster during cultivation. I would also recommend the use of a deep mulch layer on the soil surface to retain moisture, encourage healthy soil microbes and reduce irrigation requirements in the hottest part of summer (Check out our post on Cover Crops, Green Manure & Mulch for cannabis)- it will also help a lot to buy smart pots of a lighter colour, white or tan... almost anything but black, because the sun can really cook the roots in there! If you're gardening on a roof, the chances are that winds will be lively, so ensure that the plant is well-supported with netting or stakes well ahead of time - just don't wait until the first strong winds knock the floering plants over to think about plant support! Another thing to consider is the use of pruning and training techniques to increase canopy size and the number of bud sites, as well as keeping the lower areas of the plants clean to encourage good air circulation, which helps to discourage fungal problems. It's also important to think about a regular IPM program (Integrated Pest Management) to keep the plants healthy throughout vegetative growth so that they enter the flowering phase in the best possible health. This IPM program should rotate various organic pesticides and fungicides (neem oil, horsetail, propolis, to name a few) alongside foliar and irrigation applications of beneficial microbes (Bacillus subtilis, Trichoderma, etc) which will all serve to reinforce the plants' defences against potential pests or pathogens that can attack later in the plants' life. I hope that helps you plan for next year's crop, and good luck for this year's harvest - those are some really tasty-sounding genetics! Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-07-11
Hi John, thanks for your comment and question. You can reinforce your plants against fungal attacks by doing a number of things. Firstly, start feeding them with some Silica - for example, Botanicare Silica Blast or Grotek Pro-Silicate, to name just a couple. You should also be reinforcing the plant's resistance to pathogens by adding beneficial microbial life to the soil, a good product that we recommend is Green House Feeding Enhancer, which contains Bacillus Subtilis and Trichoderma, which work well together at warding off mould and mildew. It can also be applied as a foliar spray to the plants, inoculating the aerial parts of the plant with beneficial microbes and offering another layer of protection. I hope that helps, Best wishes for the rest of the season happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-06-08
Hi John, thanks for your comment. It sounds like the problem could most likely be powdery mildew, to confirm this, check out the pictures in our powdery mildew blog article, which also has some information on how to combat it. Personally, I like to use wettable sulphur when the plants are growing, so I can deal with the issue well before they start to flower, at which point there's not much to be done apart from spraying diluted hydrogen peroxide. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-05-19
Hi Frank, thanks for your comment and questions. Glad to hear you're ready to get going with this year's grow! Now is a great time of year to start your autos but I'd recommend using larger containers - at least 5 gallons if possible. They'll definitely need some shade in the early stages, so I'd suggest using some shade cloth suspended over the containers until the seedlings have established themselves. 12-14 hours of direct sunlight per day is definitely enough for them to grow nicely and give a great harvest. Breathable pots are a great idea to reduce the heat, especially the white ones. They will need more regular watering though, as they evaporate from the sides and the top surface, but if the plants have got enough water, they'll be okay at high temperatures, especially the more Afghani-influenced genetics so common in today's cannabis varieties, which have evolved in harsh conditions of infernally hot days and cold nights. That said, if you can rig up some way to hang shade cloth over the plants during the hottest hours of the day (without damaging the plants) and reduce the potential for heat-stress, they will be thankful for it! I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-05-16
Hi Kelsi, thanks for your comment and question. Right now is the perfect time to move the plants outside and put them in larger containers so they can flourish. Place them in the sunniest spot on your porch and they'll be happy - just make sure that once they begin to flower in late summer, there's no light contamination from street lamps, house lights etc. which will prevent them from flowering properly. There's more information in our blog article about growing on terraces and balconies which I think you will find very useful. Good luck for the season, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-04-29
Hi John, thanks for your comment and question. There are a number of possible causes for red-coloured petioles and while it's not a serious problem, it can be a sign that things are off-balance with the plants. The most common cause is low temperatures in the grow space, but it can also be genetic, as some varieties naturally grow reddish petioles. It can be caused by exposure to the light, where the petioles receiving a good amount of lumens will turn a red colour while ones in the shade remain green, in which case it's nothing to worry about. Another potential cause is low nutrition levels, as a mild potassium deficiency can show as red or purple petioles, as can a magnesium deficiency. These nutrient deficiencies can be caused by or exacerbated by a pH imbalance in the substrate or nutrient solution, so ensure the pH is within the recommended levels for the stage of growth your plants are in. Lastly, the red stems and petioles can be a sign of stress in the plant, caused by anything from them being rootbound to transplant shock to poor conditions to an insect attack. The best thing to do would be to first see whether the genetics you're growing develop purple colours naturally, then double-check that all the parameters of your grow are on point, fro temperature to pH, not forgetting the nutrient levels. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-04-25
Hi Dave, thanks for your comment. Due to the influence of the Ruderalis genetics, most autoflowering plants will handle cold weather fairly well. The daytime temperatures certainly won't be a problem for them, but if there's any way to protect them from the cold at night, then that'd be a good move. Try situating them by a south-facing wall which will retain heat through the night. If that's not an option, you could move them indoors at night until the weather improves. The beauty of autos is that any light contamination doesn't matter, so you can potentially bring them into your garage or shed and have a light on them to maximise production. At the most basic, a double layer of horticultural fleece draped over the plants at night would keep the very worst of the cold off them. I definitely wouldn't recommend doing anything to stunt their growth as that would affect the end harvest negatively. Because autos are effectively on a countdown to harvest from the moment they're germinated, anything that slows them down or stresses them out too much will have a knock-on effect on yields and performance, which is why we don't recommend transplanting autos but instead starting them off in the same container that they will finish in. I hope that helps, best wishes for the season. Happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-04-20
Hi, thanks for your comment and question. I take it that your plants are started from seed, which makes it all a bit easier to deal with. At this stage, the plants are not sexually mature yet so any changes in the photoperiod shouldn't have any serious negative effect on them. If you want to err on the side of caution, start by reducing the photoperiod to 18 hours of light for say a week, and then take it down to 16 hours for another week before placing them outside. Having said that, I don't think that they'll suffer unduly if you simply put them outdoors directly from a 24 hour light cycle, being as they are still in the premature phase and not yet receptive to changes in the photoperiod. Changes in conditions can be a big stress factor too, so if there's a big difference in the temperatures indoors and outside, then it's a good idea to provide some kind of protection for the plants at first, especially at night. A cloche or horticultural fleece will usually be enough. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-04-20
Hi John, thanks for your comment. For now, I would recommend keeping them under lights with a photoperiod of 18 hours light and 6 hours darkness, and then gradually reduce the indoor photoperiod to match up to the natural hours of daylight in your area during summer - usually a maximum of around 16 hours a day. By mid-May, you should be able to plant them outside without them suffering any setbacks due to the photoperiod. Alternatively, you can plant them out now but give them some additional light at night - just an hour in the middle of the night to break the dark period is enough to stop them from flowering too soon. Simple solar-powered LED garden lights can be enough for this purpose. If you're concerned about the low temperatures, try using some horticultural fleece to cover them at night when it's coldest. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-04-19
Hi, thanks for your comment. Sorry to hear about your lack of success so far, but don't worry, you're in the right place! Firstly, we can't recommend Miracle-Gro unless there's absolutely nothing else available. It will work okay if you're careful with the dosing but there are many, many different organic fertilisers formulated especially for growing cannabis, so it's not the best to use a general-purpose chemical fertiliser when there are so many better options. Whether or not you move your plants outside o not will depend on the climate in your area. If like most places, you're past the last frost date, then there's no problem at all in putting the seedlings outside. In fact, they will most likely do much better outside in the sun and the natural environment than in the window. If you're wondering why your plants keep dying on you, maybe check out our blog posts on that very subject: How to prevent the death of cannabis seeds and seedlings & Causes of death in plants during the growth period. I hope that helps, but feel free to ask us anything. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2022-04-08
Hi, thanks for your comment and kind words, I'm really happy you've found the information here helpful! Those 70gal containers sound like a great option for protecting the plants from the cold. They'll be great keep off the overnight temperatures, and even if it gets cold during the day too. If you are using them in the daytime, I'd recommend raising them up off the ground with a few bricks to allow airflow around the plants and avoid fungal issues. However, the biggest challenge you're going to face is that the plants may start flowering when you put them outside. This will depend on the genetics, your latitude and the hours of daylight. For example, here in Spain, if I put plants outside now (cuttings or mature seedlings) they would be triggered to flower by the short day length. I would need to give them some supplemental lighting at night to stop this. You can either use lamps to extend the daytime by a few hours (so that the nights are shorter than 12 hours) or give them just 30 minutes or so of light in the middle of the night, which is enough to break up the dark period and prevent flowering. In the past, I've used solar-powered LED garden lights for this purpose. I hope that helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2021-08-16
Hi and thanks for your question. Unsure whether the plant is indoors or outside, but from what you describe, it could be a reaction to an overly-powerful light source or to a strong, drying wind. Because the issue is only appearing in one specific part of the plant I'd predict that the brown leaf edges are in response to an environmental factor rather than a deficiency or a pathogen, but if you could provide more info regarding the cultivation conditions then I could probably give more accurate advice. I hope that helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2021-07-07
Hi and thanks for your comment. WPM? White powdery mildew, maybe? Check here: https://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/powdery-mildew-fungus-on-marijuana-plants/. Direct sunlight should be the best for cannabis plants, although the full heat of midday sun in really hot climates can be too harsh and some growers use shade cloth during the hottest times of day to protect the plants. If the leaves are drooping, it could mean either a lack of water or possibly an excess of water. Check the soil, if it seems very dry then increase the frequency of irrigation... if it looks too wet and waterlogged then reduce irrigation. Bear in mind that some plants will just "flop" at the end of a hot day, but recover fully by the next morning. It may be nothing to worry about. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2021-05-27
Hi, thanks for your comment. I'm glad to hear the seeds have popped up! You can put them outdoors now and they'll develop even faster. Just make sure that they are well protected from potential pests like mice, slugs, snails and birds who are all capable of eating your baby plant before it develops its first set of true leaves. It's a good idea to place the seedlings in a semi-shaded area for the first few days, but if they're outdoors from day one they'll quickly adapt to the full sunlight as opposed to growers who start plants indoors under fluorescent lights and then move them outdoors, the change in light intensity can shock plants badly. There's no need to bring the plants inside at night as long as it's not too cold out there and I guess that you're past the last frost date for this season! I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-08-20
Hi Chops, thanks for your comment and question. The best thing to do is to keep them in the sunniest spot available to you, to maximise the light they get while they are flowering and to give you bigger yields. It's true that the cannabis plant relies on the darkness to initiate flowering, but this refers to the hours of darkness at night rather than the levels of light received during the day. However, the plants still need lots of sunlight to keep producing flowers, so by moving them to a shadier spot you would, in fact, be reducing your yields somewhat. I hope that clears up any confusion. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-08-19
Hi August, thanks for your comment and question. The answer depends mainly on one thing... are your plants in pots or in the ground? If they're in pots then there's absolutely no problem with moving them to more advantageous spot, quite the contrary, in fact it will do them a lot of good! If, however, they're planted in the ground and you're considering uprooting them and replanting them in another spot... don't! It's too late once they're flowering and the shock of transplanting them would effectively halt flowering until the plant recovers, which could be a couple of weeks. I hope that answers your question. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-07-03
Hi, thanks for your comment and question. If you've got a nice sunny spot to put the plants outdoors then personally I would recommend it. Yes, the plants may experience some changes in conditions but that's natural and as long as you carefully introduce them to the power of the sunlight then there's no real reason for them to get stressed enough to limit their growth. In fact, I'd say the opposite would be true, that the benefits of the quality of illumination received from the sunlight will more than compensate any negative factors. To acclimatise the plants to the sunlight it will be necessary to place them in a semi-shaded area for a few days before exposing them to full sun. This is vitally important as otherwise, plants that are only accustomed to artificial light will be fried by the intensity of the sunlight. I hope that helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-06-26
Hi Bryan, thanks for your comment and question. If you want to move it outside now then you won't have much problem because we're at the height of summer and the chances of it suddenly flowering are very low indeed. If I was in your position I would probably just put it outside in the morning around 9 am, that way it will have one very long day before settling into the outdoor photoperiod. This will ensure it doesn't initiate flowering as soon as it goes outside. Just make sure that you don't place the plant in full sun for a few days or the power of the UV rays will stress the plant out and potentially damage the leaves. Give it a few days in partial shade before exposing it to the full strength of sunlight and it'll be just fine. I hope that helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-04-09
Hi again David, I'm glad I could be of help! In the past, I've done the same as you're doing now, essentially a light dep grow but moving rather than covering and uncovering the plants. It's a lot of work, as far as I remember! Personally I would be tempted to leave them where they are until early May as they will continue flowering without you moving them to a dark place, it seems like unnecessary work to me! And then around the beginning of May, I would probably begin to move them inside like you're now doing, just to keep thigs at roughly 12/12 and only if I estimate that the plants won't be ready to harvest by Mid-May. Again, that date is approximate, as is the 14 1/2 hours of daylight, things will be different depending on the variety being grown. A Sativa influence will mean they are more likely to re-veg whereas a lot of Indicas will just keep on flowering as if nothing happened and take a long time to re-veg. I hope that helps, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-04-08
Hi David, thanks for your comment and question. I'm very happy you're finding our blog useful! Yes, you're right, as the days get longer, the plants will start to revegetate. However, in my experience, this doesn't occur until the days are around 14 1/2 hours long, which at my latitude occurs around mid-May. Until then, the plants will continue to flower, albeit in a slightly less productive way than in autumn, mostly due to lower temperatures and the light spectrum in spring not being the same as in autumn. I've also found that whether a plant revegetates easily or not will depend greatly upon the genetics being grown. Sativas and Sativa-dominant hybrids will re-veg easier than Indicas or Indica-dominant varieties, which can take a lot longer to get back to vegetative growth again. If you would like the plants to re-veg after you've harvested, you'll need to cut off the large flowers (with a sterile blade/scissors to avoid infection) and leave the lower parts of the plant intact, making sure there are still some small flowers and some healthy leaves. Presuming the plant has used up all the nutrients in its container during the flowering cycle, you can also re-pot in fresh soil and even prune the roots at the same time, which can help to encourage new growth. Light doses of Growth fertiliser will also help promote regeneration. It's a great way to get 2 outdoor harvests in one year... in fact, maybe check out our blog post on Off-Season growing for more info. I hope that all helps. Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-02-24
Hey Tyler, thanks for your question. That sounds absolutely awesome! If you're planting out in late June/early July (personally I'd aim for around the summer solstice) then you don't need to worry about light cycles too much, at that stage in the year the plants won't get a shock and won't suddenly start to flower unexpectedly (which can be the case when planting out earlier in the year), so up until that point I'd be concentrating on getting the best growth possible from the plants and would have them on 18 hours light and 6 hours darkness, in other words, the standard veg photoperiod. I hope that answers your question, best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2020-02-13
Hi Rocco, thanks for your question. Firstly, you need to change your photoperiod to 18 hours of daylight ASAP otherwise your plants will begin to flower as soon as they are mature, usually at around 3-4 weeks after germination. The short daylight hours you're exposing the plants to right now will trigger them to flower (depending on the genetics, anything under 14 hours can trigger bloom!) so unless that's what you want it's really important to give them the proper photoperiod for vegetative growth, which is 18/6 or 19/5 if they're Sativas. I put my plants outside in mid-May when the days are about 14 hours, but I also give them a little supplemental illumination with a solar-powered LED garden light, which helps extend the photoperiod for a few hours and assures that they won't start to flower before I want them to. I hope that's all clear. If you've got any more doubts please don't hesitate to ask us! Best wishes and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-09-20
Hi Shane, thanks for the question. Yes, you can put the plants outside and they'll finish fine, although it's not the ideal end to their flowering cycle. In your case, it's not the cold that's a problem, the plants will be good at those temperatures. The only slight issue is the low number of hours of sunlight the plants will receive, only around 12 hours of daylight right now, short enough to flower non-autos. This means you might not get the same yields you'd be getting indoors, although the difference probably won't be staggering if there's only a couple of weeks left. If you really wanted to, you could use some supplemental lighting to increase production, if that's even an option where the plants will be. I hope that helps, all the best and happy harvests!

Tim Alchimia 2019-06-21
Hi D.T. Thanks for your question. Sounds like a fairly dire situation you've been left with there, sorry to hear about it. Honestly, I think the best thing you can do is to get them outdoors as soon as you can. The warm summer weather and the full spectrum of sunlight will get them back into good health relatively quickly, you should prune away any mouldy parts, use a hose to spray off any bugs before treating with natural insecticides and fungicides. Make sure they're well-fed and in the correct size containers and before long you're sure to see a huge improvement in their condition. Make sure you thoroughly clean, disinfect the indoor grow space and get rid of any pests before using it again. Let us know how you get on! All the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-06-10
Hi Jase, thanks for your comment and question. Firstly allow me to congratulate you on your "depth of winter" temperatures, they're pretty much what we're getting here in Northern Spain at this time of year, I'm jealous! It sounds like the climatic conditions outdoors will be pretty good for finishing them off, the only question is about the lighting, obviously, at this time of year the sun will be at its lowest where you are, with a shallower angle of incidence meaning that the light doesn't have the same intensity as in summer, which means that calculations regarding yield based on full season harvests are not much use. Add to this the very short days of 8-9 hours, roughly 30% less than the ideal of 12/12 for flowering, and it becomes clear that yields will be lower than under "normal" outdoor circumstances. However, it's definitely an idea worth pursuing, not only because you'll save electricity but also because the spectrum from natural sunlight is so much more beneficial to the plants, giving higher and more diverse and cannabinoid terpene content. Personally, I would try and use some kind of supplementary lighting to extend the daylight to 12 hours for the plants once they're outdoors, I think this may be the only way to increase production. Otherwise, I think you can expect higher quality flowers outdoors but I can't guarantee you'll get a larger quantity than if grown indoors under lights. I hope that helps, I'm sorry I can't give a more definite answer regarding yields. All the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-06-04
Hi Eric, we're glad to hear you're starting to grow for yourself again, great news. Thanks for your question, sounds to me like you've got everything under control. Transplanting indoor-grown cannabis plants to the outdoors won't cause them to flower as long as you do it after 1st June (this depends on latitude, the further north you are, the earlier you can put plants out, weather permitting) and before mid-August when the nights become long enough to trigger flowering again. In other words, yes, you'll be fine transplanting them to the outdoors now, and your new seeds may even catch up with them in size, as long as you transplant them at the right moment and treat them well, they'll have the best of the summer to get big and strong. You can move all of them outside as early as you want but the seedlings will need regular watering, extra care and protection from strong winds and animals/insects for the first few weeks, but treated right they will grow faster and healthier outdoors under the sunlight than indoors under lamps. Hope that's helped, good luck for the season ahead and happy growing!!!!

Tim Alchimia 2019-05-20
Hi Ted, thanks for your question. I think you'll be fine. At this young stage, I'm pretty sure that the seedlings won't respond to changes in photoperiod in any other way than increasing/decreasing the rate of growth. It's not until they're mature adult plants (generally at the point which the new branching changes from symmetrical to asymmetrical) that they will be able to begin flowering. Because of this, I personally like to start my seeds under 18/6 indoors and keep that photoperiod right up until I put them outdoors (usually in mid-May). Clones, however, are a different matter, being already mature plants they can begin to flower immediately and much more care must be taken when we put them outdoors. You say you want them to begin flowering in late June, but I'm pretty sure that the day length in your part of the world will be too long at that time of year to trigger flowering. Unless the plants are receiving less than 14 hours of light every day, they won't enter the flowering phase. It looks to me like that would be around mid-August in Ontario. If you want the plants to begin flowering early, then really the only option would be to do light-deprivation, which involves covering the plants for 12 hours with some kind of light-proof tarpaulin to trick them into thinking the days are shorter. It can involve a great deal of work and dedication but the grower is rewarded with a very early harvest! I hope that helps. All the best, happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-05-07
Hi KP, thanks for your comment and questions. Don't panic, you're definitely not too late! If I were you, I'd start my seeds indoors following the method in our post about germination and then put them straight outdoors rather than use artificial lighting. At this time of year, the days are long enough that there's no risk of them starting to flower, and they'll develop better under the natural light spectrum of the sun anyway. Just keep them in light shade for the first week or so, to avoid them getting damaged by the strong sunlight or drying out too quickly, although they'll soon get used to it. The seeds you've got are mostly Indica/Sativa hybrids (apart from Jack Herer which is a Sativa-dominant hybrid), so they could get quite large by the time summer ends, so we'd recommend at least 3-5 ft between plants, more if possible, especially if you want to train them to grow in a more horizontal fashion, because what doesn't grow upwards will grow outwards! Generally, more space means healthier plants, better air flow and bigger yields at harvest time. As for training and pruning the plants to control height, we've got a couple of great articles explaining the various techniques that can be used: Pruning cannabis plants and LST – Low Stress Training for cannabis plants. If you're concerned about excess heat at the height of summer, you could try hanging some shade netting over the plants at the hottest time of day to protect them from the harshest sun rays, but I think as long as they're kept well-watered they'll be fine. Some organic mulch on the soil surface will definitely help to retain moisture and keep soil temperatures relatively nice and cool. I hope that's helped clear things up a little, feel free to ask any more questions. All the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-04-25
Hi Luke, thanks for your question, and thanks to Deez for your answer, you make some very valid points regarding the light intensity of LEDs compared to the sun, and also about the possibility of bringing pests or pathogens into the indoor grow space. That said, I have successfully flowered plants, and got some of the most beautiful flowers I ever grew by using this technique, which I treated more like a light-dep grow, with the plants outdoors for almost the entire 12 hours (except on bad weather days), I would take them outside just after the lights switched on in the tent, and put them back inside just before the lights went out again. For me this meant I had all the advantages of a light-dep, but without committing myself to pulling a tarp at the exact same time twice a day... if one day I felt like a lie-in, or had to be somewhere else, then no worries, the lights in the tent would still keep my plants in flower, whether I was able to move them outside or not, but they were also benefitting from the sun's energy, meaning I got more, and bigger buds than would otherwise be the case. I didn't have any problems with pests or diseases, but I was sure to thoroughly clean and disinfect the tent after I'd harvested (indeed, I do the same after every harvest). I'd say try it, if your plants are healthy and vigorous they oughtn't to fall prey easily to pests, just be sure not to place them right next to any of your garden plants, which could easily be home to all kinds of insects. The sun's light spectrum and intensity will mean more buds, with more resin and more terpenes, and at the same time, you'll be saving on electricity and gardening in a more sustainable way. Happy growing, whichever you decide to do, all the best!

Tim Alchimia 2019-04-04
Hi Angel, glad to hear your seed sprouted fine. Really the only factor stopping you from putting your plant outside is the weather, and as you're in SoCal I don't think you'll be having too many problems with that! I'd wait until the plant is a bit bigger, let it grow a little more under lights indoors, then once it's got a few sets of leaves you can place it outside. For the first few days, try and situate it in dappled shade, or at least not full sunlight, this allows it to adapt to the string solar rays rather than get shocked and stressed which will hold back its growth. I hope that's helped. All the best and happy growing!

Tim Alchimia 2019-03-19
Hi Gabriel, thanks for the question. Yes, that'll work fine, however, unlike the case with cuttings/clones, there's usually no problem with moving seedlings outdoors into a shorter photoperiod than they are used to, they are unlikely to trigger to flower, and even less so from mid-May onwards. Most plants will need to have less than 14 hours of daylight to trigger flowering, and it's even fine to move most clones outdoors at that time of year (although clones of some particularly sensitive varieties may need to be put out a little later to avoid triggering early flowering). Personally, I usually start my seedlings in April under 18/6 photoperiod and then put them outdoors in mid-May with no problems at all. I think you'd be fine doing the same thing, although if you want to err on the safe side, your original plan is fine. The plants will just grow a little more with 18 hours of light as opposed to 15 and will be a little larger when you put them outdoors. I hope that's helped, all the best and happy growing!