Starting in a grow box then moving plants outdoors question for the pros!

[RyKnow]

I have grown about 15 or so plants outdoors, and finally bought a small grow box for the Midwest winters when outdooor grows aren't an option. I'm just finishing my first hydro plant so my box will be freed up in a few weeks, so I have a question about starting plants indoors in the spring and moving them outdoors around mid-May.

Here, in my state, it shows that come mid-May, sunrise is about 5:15 AM and sunset is about 8:45 PM. That gives me a bit over 15 hours of daylight total for outdoor grow sun time at the start of the season. My question is, if I have my box lights set for 18/6 initially for the first 3-4 weeks I'll be starting 6 plants indoors to move out when weather permits and we don't get nights below the high 40s/low 50s, will it mess up my plants' growth schedule if moving them outside from 18/6 light schedule cuts about 2.5 hours off what what they'd started as? I didn't THINK it would be much of an issue and wouldn't interfere with flowering schedules for my non-autos, but wanted to be sure that this wouldn't stunt growth too much if I start them on a longer light schedule indoors before taking them out when they're about 8-12" high.

If anyone has any input on this, either good or bad, I'd love to hear it before taking the risk with a half dozen plants I want to move outside around May 15th or so!

 

[Rootsruler]

I would be more concerned about moving a hydro born root system into dirt. Roots grown in hydro use a different method to uptake nutrients than they do in soil.

My suggestion would be to start them in dirt if you're going to be growing them in dirt over the summer.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

I've got zero experience with hydro. I bring my outdoor plants directly from my tent 18/6 to outside with my photoperiods. Any time over 14hrs of light works. 12hrs or less triggers them into survival mode to flower and reproduce. And i will transplant into 1gal pots as seedlings or clones bring them in and out of house set them on a table in sunshine to begin to harden them off for the rough life there gonna get. I do it for few days then stick them into the forever homes 15gal where they stay in direct sunlight from about June to early Oct. I'm in Oregon i wait till overnight temps don't dip much below 55f.

 

[RyKnow]

I would be more concerned about moving a hydro born root system into dirt. Roots grown in hydro use a different method to uptake nutrients than they do in soil.

My suggestion would be to start them in dirt if you're going to be growing them in dirt over the summer.

Sorry, should have clarified, I'm just going to use the box for light/temp/humidity control but soil for the growing medium for everything I'll be transferring outdoors, planning on another hydro grow AFTER I get those soil-started plants out after about a month once weather permits. That definitely would have helped to know

 

[RyKnow]

I've got zero experience with hydro. I bring my outdoor plants directly from my tent 18/6 to outside with my photoperiods. Any time over 14hrs of light works. 12hrs or less triggers them into survival mode to flower and reproduce. And i will transplant into 1gal pots as seedlings or clones bring them in and out of house set them on a table in sunshine to begin to harden them off for the rough life there gonna get. I do it for few days then stick them into the forever homes 15gal where they stay in direct sunlight from about June to early Oct. I'm in Oregon i wait till overnight temps don't dip much below 55f.

Thanks, good to know you take them right outside as long as there's at least 14 hours of sunlight. Made the mistake last year of putting a few outside way too early in the first days of May when we hit a cold snap for a few nights, managed to stunt a Northern Lights so badly it looked like a 9" tall Xmas tree at full growth :super-cry: Just trying to avoid the mistakes of the past for getting too excited to move things outdoors too early and wanted to make sure that reducing light by a few hours from 18 at start won't trigger things to go the wrong direction.

By the way, any issues with putting autos out this way, or do you stick mostly with photoperiod strains? Appreciate the reply!

 

[Rootsruler]

No worries. If you're doing them in dirt then you should have no issues.

 

[SoOrbudgal]

Well yes i do have experience with autos outdoors. Learned a huge lesson last summer when i put the seedling sprouts of autos out way to early cause the overnight temps were too cool and they took forever to gain root growth. Really bad experiment almost took as long as a indoor photoperiod to ripen. So yes.........i'm gonna start autos indoors under lights in their final pots and move them outdoors once there about month old. You time those autos right you can get 2 harvests i've done it. Along with waiting 6 months for theose photos to finish.

That's right 6 months seed to finish that's why i start mine indoors mid March , veg for 2 months then put them in the sun full sun all day.