when to start outdoor

[-Hand->Of<-Eris-]

Im planing on having a out door crop this coming year. i plan to veg indoor for a bit.
my question is when should i start my plants (i plan to grow from seed). and when should i transfer them to the natural outdoor cycle?

 

[84VW]

depends on where your located... i will be attempting a guerrilla grow this year and i will be starting my beans inside in february as long as my indoor plants are done flowering by then

 

[-Hand->Of<-Eris-]

im located in so ca. i was thinking of starting around that time too. you think it will be good to put them out in mid April?

 

[Alistair]

In southern Cali you could feasibly put those outside the beginning of January, but personally I'd wait until February or March to put them outdoors. It's rare in Cali that it gets cold enough, long enough to kill your plants. However, once and awhile it gets rather cold and orange groves suffer. In fact, that happened a couple of years ago with Cali's orange groves.

I see no need to wait until mid-April. Personally, I'd put those outside no later than the beginning of March.

 

[-Hand->Of<-Eris-]

ok, sounds good. thanks for the help...
off topic, but know anything about early sexing?

 

[Alistair]

I've been thinking about that some more since I last commented. I said not to put them outside any later than the beginning of March, but perhaps I should have said to wait until March or even April as you said in the first place. I've had second thoughts since my first comment, because I can remember some rather chilly February nights in the past, probably cold enough to harm plants. It could work out as I said before, if you put them outdoors as early as January, but it all depends on the year and what the unpredictable weather might bring. In other words, it's hard to guess what might happen.

Maybe you could start those inside in January and wait a couple months before putting them outdoors? Actually, depending on how much room you have to veg, you could veg those 2-3 months inside before they got too big. I've known people who let their plants get to about three feet tall before putting them outside. Those plants grew into some monster plants.

 

[mistisrising]

i'm way north of you but, I start seeds by feb 1st. The idea being two weeks veg on 24 hrs, two weeks of 12/12 to determine sex (maybe three)., then four more back on 24 hrs to bring them back to veg and shake off any shock. Then make sure to harden them off to the sun. We put them under a bush and move them out into the sun slowly over two weeks, or else some of them will get burnt up by the sunlight. You can also just put them out in the sun for an increasing amount of time each day. Like 1 hr the first three days, then two, etc. Another problem that not hardening off the plants can cause is flowering. We had a few plants this year from another grower, and they flowered out, and then returned to veg. What this did was make the plants eight inches tall. Not exactly what I was looking for. He didn't know that you have to do that.

 

[Slartibartfast]

I put some clones out April 1'st last year (I live in SC) and they flowered too soon. I had 14" tall plants with big fat buds in mid June. One of them re-vegged and went full term and I harvested the last week of September. It was about 36" tall that time. I got enough bud to last me a whole year, smoking a couple of bowls a day.

 

[Alistair]

Mistisrising just gave some real good advice. What he said sounded just like it came out of one of my grow books. I think he's right on with the information.

Also, in California there's somebody growing something all year round, strawberries, for example.

 

[eastla_kushsmoka]

it depends on how big of a plant u can have put somethin out in march its gunna be 5 - 8 feet by the time its done flowering in the late months and heat becomes an issue durin the mid months