How old are your seedlings "ideally" when set outdoors?

[dirty-joe]

For many years all I ever had to put out were basically sprouts, 2 leaves, a week old at best.
Now with legalization, the last two years I've had the luxury of putting out plants about 3 weeks old (plus 1 week for germination, and getting above ground) at the end of May.

I know some people start theirs as early as January or February, I don't want to go that extreme, for one I don't want the plants to be too root bound in say 7 or 8 inch pots, (something manageable, size-wise).

So I'm thinking something between 35-42 days old at end of may would be maximum age / size "for me". Get seeds wet April 14, day one will be about April 20, and the plants will be 6 weeks old at end of May.

That's also old enough that most any "regular" seed will have pre flowers, so you could eliminate any males before they even go into the ground.

Am curious what others think about the "ideal" age for setting out.

I guess since 3-4 week old plants are just fine to put out, I should say the goal is a bigger yield.

 

[exploziv]

I do 2-4 weeks usually. I would do more but I don't want monster plants that can be seen for a distance. Are you constrained to using pots? Making some nice holes and filling them with good soil mix would do wonders for yeld in most cases.

 

[Creeperpark]

When the stems turn from herbaceous to woody you can plant them outdoors if it's after the last average frost of the Season. .

 

[Petrochemical]

Hardening off type?

 

[troutman]

I prefer to do it before they root bound in my solo cups. Which is around 2 or 3 weeks for me.
To harden them off I place the plants still in the cups in the shade of a tree or on the North side
of a house for a few days to adjust. Misting also helps during the hardening off period as well.

One time, I brought out a bunch of solo cups to a guerilla site in large clear tote boxes which I
drilled small holes on the side to allow air exchange. I placed them under a lot of pine trees and
was glad I left them in there with the lids slightly open. Because the next day it snowed 3 inches
and the plants were happy inside when I went back.

 

[Koondense]

3-4 weeks, depending on size.

 

[dirty-joe]

Are you constrained to using pots? Making some nice holes and filling them with good soil mix would do wonders for yeld in most cases.

No definitely not constrained to pots, but I do like the wide open sky I get from the roof top last year, and I think for sure there will be plants up there again this year. That's not to mention the benefit of being out-of-reach of most of the critters.

I am thinking of throwing some tires "out back" and filling them with good dirt, and putting a couple there. I do need to cut a few more trees for that to work though.

Time is getting short now, today being the 14th. I'm getting real itchy. I'm definitely going to start at least a couple on the 16th, that will be two weeks older than last year, 2 or 3 sets of branches bigger ?

 

[dirty-joe]

I prefer to do it before they root bound in my solo cups. Which is around 2 or 3 weeks for me.

Thanks, troutman, I hear you there on rootbound in solos. I like two weeks max for those, then I have been moving into 2 liter "chapman" ice cream containers 5.5 inch diameter, and 5.5 deep.

Again "ideally" I'd like to start in much larger pots. You know how the roots reach the sides of the solo cups so quick, then have no choice but then bend down. For eventual outdoor plants this creates a rather small unstable rootball, and the plants need staking if there is any wind at all. I also know there is really no way around this, as small plants do grow better in small pots, but I would like to start in something say a foot wide, and deep.....HAHA or move to where there is a longer grow season.

 

[dirty-joe]

OK, not a large sample size, but of those who did reply with an answer (THANKS) the average seems to be 2-4 weeks.

So for this year I am going to extend this by just one week, for at least a couple of plants, to 5 weeks. I will be getting some seeds wet on the 16th, they should be above ground on the 23rd, and will be 5 weeks old on May 28.

 

[tobedetermined]

I am in a similar quandary about when. I have only tried 3 outdoor plantings so far and every one of them had problems. Bugs, PM and budrot. My local weather from mid-August thru September is ideal for PM and often budrot as well. This year I am going with some autos, which I will put outside at 4 weeks or so with an expected finish in early August. I also will be away for a week at the end of July so the plants will have to fend for themselves. I am using free seeds and cheap ferts so if it fails, I am not out any $s. Meanwhile, I will keep my tent humming inside . . .

 

[TychoMonolyth]

At least 4 weeks. I use Peat Pots and Jiffy pellets. Sure they get a little big, but it's all about numbers sometimes. Peat pots for plants close to HQ, and jiffy pellets when I have to transport many in one shot. I can carry 18 Pots or 100 pellets in a tray.

Week 5

Week 1

I've transplanted a few favorite plants into 2 gallon pots at week3 and put them out at week 6. To be honest, those plants didn't do much better than the plants in peat pots and jiffy pellets. I suspect it's because I have a good climate June to October.

Just sticking them in a hole in the ground produces poor results. What they absolutely need is a good hole and amendments. The soil here is tough to break through and work for this old man, so this year I'm hauling a roto tiller to my spot. A 2' x 2' x 12" hole should do the trick. For bulk planting, I'll use my trusty Cordless Drill and Ice Auger.

 

[tobedetermined]

and amendments

What is the easiest and cheapest option? I was going to use potting soil and something . . .

 

[TychoMonolyth]

I don't know your situation so I'll give you two options.
1. DIY easy supersoil,
or
2. Only the amendments you can stuff in and around the hole.

DIY Easy Supersoil
Don't mistake "easy" for not very good. This shit rocks.

You can use this in holes in the ground or in pots.
Now's the time to make it so it'll be ready June 1st.



Amendments
Canadian Tire has all this stuff.
- 1 gallon vermiculite (for the silica)
- 1 gallon Promix HP.
- 1 gallon Kelp or Seaweed meal (for the PGRs, vitamins, minerals).
- 2 cups Dolomitic lime (for the cal-mag)
- 1 cup Pelletized Gypsum. (Calcium and Sulphur).
- 1 cup of Miracle-Gro Shake 'n Feed Flowering Trees & Shrubs
= Mix everything in a bin.
= Use it 1-2 cups in the hole mixed with your soil, and spread 1 cup around the plant.

At flowering time, put a few Jobes spikes around your plants.

If I had my choice and didn't mind hauling soil, I'd haul the Supersoil and plant in that.


Lastly, if you're worried about dry spells this summer, and you can't get there to water, use Soil Moist at 1 tablespoon mixed in the hole (no more than that or it'll push your plant out of the hole when it rains). I get 6-7 weeks here with zero rain, so I always use them.

 

[tobedetermined]

Thanks for all of the tips, tycho. I swear that my area of NE Toronto is starting to desertify. Like you, we have had substantial dry periods every summer lately.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

NP.
Then include the Soil Moist. It'll help a lot. I'm close to Ottawa and we get a dry spell every year.

 

[dirty-joe]

At least 4 weeks. I use Peat Pots and Jiffy pellets. Sure they get a little big, but it's all about numbers sometimes. Peat pots for plants close to HQ, and jiffy pellets when I have to transport many in one shot. I can carry 18 Pots or 100 pellets in a tray.

Week 5
View attachment 18122983

Thanks Tycho, well if you can go 4-5 weeks in 3 inch peat pots, then I can surely go 5 weeks in 2 liter (5.5" X 5.5") Chapman ice cream containers. Reduce, reuse, recycle...eh. (that was last year BTW, may 23)

Excellent quality video too, yeah, of course, you know it.

AND, what I'd really like is a 7 inch container of some kind, for an even 1 imperial gallon, but they don't seem to exist.

 

[TychoMonolyth]

Love Chapman's. Lol

 

[hamstring]

Damn Tycho thats a shit load of seedlings brother.

Dirty-joe : Looks like you are a caramel praline kind of guy. I am a bit of a ice cream freak myself.

In the past I started everything from seed in a cold frame sometime in the beginning of May. So, I never worried about harding off. I did get a shit load of stretch but I just buried them a little farther upon transplant. This year it will be a mix of clones and seedlings. I usually dig around a 14"x12" hole, just loosen up the native soil with my hands and add Osmocote slow release ferts 1/2 cup per hole. I guess it all depends on your enviroment.

Nice work guys.

 

[therevverend]

I get my seedlings going by April 1st so I can pre-sex most of them. I want them big enough they show hairs by late May-June instead of waiting until August. Just transplanted them into 1 gal containers. I could put them in the ground any time starting now but I like them big enough the slugs can't damage them. The cannabinoids from a larger plant seems to deter the slugs. When they're about 8 inches to a foot tall.

 

[f-e]

I'm limited by the climate here at 53. That an illegality limiting my carry.

They look really nice, and on schedule