# Length of growing season ??



## Cannabiscotti (Jun 23, 2009)

i'm at the beginning of picking out a good couple strains to grow outdoors next season. does anyone know how to tell the length of the growing season in order to pick out a good strain that will finish in time? i'm up near the 40th latitudenal line. any advice or resources is much appreciated


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## Hick (Jun 23, 2009)

'scotti... google "Old farmers almanac".. 
look at the "zones".. frost dates, ect..


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## Johnnyrotten123 (Jun 23, 2009)

Hick,
Kinda glad ur back to this avitar.  The other one  hmmm nevermind


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## Hick (Jun 23, 2009)

I think it was tcbud said the old one was giving her bouts of nausea . thank her


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## Johnnyrotten123 (Jun 23, 2009)

thanks Tc if u stumble across this


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## vermont_farmer (Jun 23, 2009)

Okay, well, 40 degrees north puts you at about Philly. So you will have a growing season roughly from mid-April to Halloween; that's over six months. If you are going to grow outdoors, I suggest that you have a very small indoor setup to get the seeds going a month or two before the danger of frost has passed [mid-April]. At eight weeks you should have nice 8" plants with 3 sets of leaves t set outside. At this latitude, the diurnal photoperiod should hit the 12-hour-dark point around mid Sept or so, giving you around 50 days flowering. Check the data for the variety that you are growing.

Anyway, I'm  north of you and I get nice 6-8 foot tall mamas growing outdoors, starting a month or two indoors first.


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## Hick (Jun 24, 2009)

NY,NY, Pittsburgh, and Salt lake, all fall on the 40 N. Average frost dates vary from mid-April to mid/late October. 
Your outdoor plants will be "well" into flowering before 12/12 fall equinox in September.
 12 hours of darkness has very little to do with flowering naturally outdoors.


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## Cannabiscotti (Jun 24, 2009)

Hick said:
			
		

> Your outdoor plants will be "well" into flowering before 12/12 fall equinox in September.
> 12 hours of darkness has very little to do with flowering naturally outdoors.


 
so what does help determine flowering naturally outdoors? i'm up for a good read if you've got a link or other resources....or just a quick rundown will do. 

i've got 9 of 12 still goin outside. they weren't too healthy when i put them there, but theres no sense in thrown em out, right?!!? they should give me a good idea of when they do start to flower. 

vermont-- thanks for the info. 

i'm lookin to find some nice sative/sative dom strains for outdoor up here. any suggestions?? when i'm browsn seed companies, what kinda flowering time you think i should look for? thanks ya'll--i love this site!


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## Hick (Jun 24, 2009)

Cannabiscotti said:
			
		

> so what does help determine flowering naturally outdoors? i'm up for a good read if you've got a link or other resources....or just a quick rundown will do.
> 
> i've got 9 of 12 still goin outside. they weren't too healthy when i put them there, but theres no sense in thrown em out, right?!!? they should give me a good idea of when they do start to flower.
> 
> ...



check out the stickie in the indoor section, .."Lights, dark and flowering". 
Abridged version... when a critical florigen levels are reached, they flower. 
That can be strain/pheno' related, but you should see profuse flowering "by" mid/late August in your area. Males by early/mid August in most cases.
"IME"...Most indica hybrids will finish/mature 'by' mid October, less than 3 weeks after fall equinox.(12/12)
"Pure" sats may be difficult to mature before your final frost date. I would look for early/shorter flowering hybrids with a sat dominance. Names evade me......


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## vermont_farmer (Jun 24, 2009)

Well, I must admit that this is news to me too. All these years I understood that it was the phytochrome pigment as the primary agent of flowering trigger in cannabis. In the case of cannabis, there are other factors that can affect, typically delay, the onset of the photoperiod response. These include: the specific genotype, the age of the plant [the propensity of senescence hormones], of course the sex [early for males....see, even plants have early ejaculation issues], and any environmental stress. But like I said, I have always understood the phytochrome to be the primary agent. I think the existence of a specific 'florigen' is still a matter of general hypothesis, I would suspect that it is more likely a critical ratio of other plant growth hormones, such as Gibberellins and Anthesins, that set the stage for flowering, that is then triggered by the phytochrome agent.

So my curiosity is really up now, if not the phytochrome response, then what is the main trigger for flowering in cannabis?

You are correct that flowering does start well before the equinox, albeit rather weakly. 
Perhaps it is an even more complex interaction between a broader set of hormones.


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## Cannabiscotti (Jun 25, 2009)

sounds like a few botany classes are in order....


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## Hick (Jun 25, 2009)

You're correct in that 'florigen' was a _"hypothesized"_ hormone, Heres a link to a bit more recent study...


> However, recent experiments suggest that florigen does exist. Its existence is substantiated by experiments that indicate that the substance that triggers blooming is produced or activated in the leaves of the plant, and must be given time to pass out of the leaves before the plant can flower.


 hXXp://www.reference.com/browse/florigen



> You are correct that flowering does start well before the equinox, albeit rather weakly.


  For nearlly 30 years, my OD plants have been "well" into flower by sept 22,(equinox) "most" hybrids are within 2-3 weeks of finishing/maturity. 
......according to my camera data(I'm positive it is correct) this first picture(akxbb) was taken sept 18, the second(apollo13) was taken sept 22, on the fall equinox.


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## eastla_kushsmoka (Jun 25, 2009)

everything i put  outdoor so far started to bud early i have i / s and hybrids all budding not sure why but o well i have a 100% female rate going on this year cant complain


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## Friend-of-a-friend (Jun 25, 2009)

I had 8 plants (4 from clone and 4 seedlings) I had grown to about 12-18 inches inside before putting out this year. The daylight hours peak at 15 at my lattitude, and I waited till then to put them out. Being that I maintained 24/7 inside, I was worried about them going into flower when I put them out, but so far none of the eight are showing any signs of flowering, just massive insect infestation.


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## Cannabiscotti (Jun 26, 2009)

nice pics HICK! i hope mine get taller than the telephone poles!


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## vermont_farmer (Jun 26, 2009)

Well, never one to flaunt the ego,...I sit corrected. Thanks Hick, very nice bud shots btw.

I was stating from memory, seemed liked flowering just sort of limped along until the long nights set in. But I could certainly be wrong about that, hell, I don't remember what I had for breakfast yesterday. Man, 30 years of growing, and I thought I was an old-timer with just 12.

I will look closely and document flowering on the ladies this year. I might actually learn something.

Hats off to you Hick....keep the great informative dialog comin..


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## Hick (Jun 26, 2009)

I'm a slow learner VF, I'm still tryin' to get it right..
I'm 'around' the 38 parallel. I would imagine the flowering time/date wuld be somewhat delayed the further south you go.


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