agentsmiley777
New member
I moved my plants outdoors from the inside and am trying to force bloom on them. I was wondering what time of the day I should cover them in order to induce flowering.
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How to force outdoor plants into bloom?
- Thread starter agentsmiley777
- Start date
Well, you have several options for how to do it, but the basic idea is to provide your plants with at least 12 hours of uninterupted complete darkness.
1.(the easy way) The first method I will outline involves picking a time in the morning where you know you will be home to uncap the plants, for example 6, 7, or 8am, and then 12 hours later you cap the plants to provide darkness.
The downside is that this method leaves the caps on the plants overnight. The caps can trap humidity, and once the bud is getting thick it could cause mold to form, I have used this method personally several times, and it can cause mold. But is good for situations where traveling to the location at night is difficult, like mine.
Of course if you bring the plants indoors to provide darkness, the mold shouldn't be a problem.
2.(the best way) For this method you will need to know when the sun rises, you will count 12 hours later, and this will be the time of day you cap the plants. This time of day will get earlier from now to to June 21st, and then will get later after that date, so check the paper weekly to ajust the time of day you cap the plants.
After the twilight has faded alot, but before you need a flashlight to visit your plot, you will uncap the plants to prevent mold, then it will remain uncapped antil capping time late the next day.
One thing to consider if the plants will capped onsite rather than moved inside to provide darkness, is to place the plants in a plcae where the sun will not shine on them much after they are capped, as the cap will catch heat from the sun and cook the plants inside.
Does this help at all?
1.(the easy way) The first method I will outline involves picking a time in the morning where you know you will be home to uncap the plants, for example 6, 7, or 8am, and then 12 hours later you cap the plants to provide darkness.
The downside is that this method leaves the caps on the plants overnight. The caps can trap humidity, and once the bud is getting thick it could cause mold to form, I have used this method personally several times, and it can cause mold. But is good for situations where traveling to the location at night is difficult, like mine.
Of course if you bring the plants indoors to provide darkness, the mold shouldn't be a problem.
2.(the best way) For this method you will need to know when the sun rises, you will count 12 hours later, and this will be the time of day you cap the plants. This time of day will get earlier from now to to June 21st, and then will get later after that date, so check the paper weekly to ajust the time of day you cap the plants.
After the twilight has faded alot, but before you need a flashlight to visit your plot, you will uncap the plants to prevent mold, then it will remain uncapped antil capping time late the next day.
One thing to consider if the plants will capped onsite rather than moved inside to provide darkness, is to place the plants in a plcae where the sun will not shine on them much after they are capped, as the cap will catch heat from the sun and cook the plants inside.
Does this help at all?
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agentsmiley777
New member
right now i am seeing the sun rise at about 5:30 and have been caping them at 5:00 I leave the cap on all night. The thing is my cap is in the sun but only heats for like two hours.
check the temperature in there. you can put something there to keep your plant and cover in shade.
if mould is a problem can you vent the cover somehow?
if mould is a problem can you vent the cover somehow?
agentsmiley777
New member
I have decided to uncover them after the sun goes down in the afternoon, I think that will help stop the mold if occurs
Are they getting a complete 12 hours of darkness? 12 hours of complete darkness, no visable light at all?
Styles P said:
What are "some light leaks" Can you see 4 inches in front of your face?
In my limited experience, marijuana outdoors is a lot less sensitive to photoperiods than indoor plants. If its just one hour that the light leaks through, I'd say you'll be fine. There's a good chance that more experienced growers will tell me I'm wrong, but I think you'll be fine.
In the end though, you're better off trying it to see if an intermediate grower telling you it should be fine is right than listening to an expert tell you that it's wrong and prevent you from trying.
NPK
Active member
I force-flower crops regularly outdoors; am actually doing so right now. Most of these plants have been flowering for six weeks:
This shot was taken a week ago:
A Grape Ape cross I'm forcing:
You can see the tent I'm using this year in the background of the second picture. Since it's just a few feet from my house, I'm able to run a dehumidifier in there. In a structure like this, and in the one I used last year, a dehuey is absolutely necessary during the second half of flowering if you want to avoid mold. I also leave all the window flaps about a quarter open for fresh air.
Styles, neither of the structures I've used was/is perfectly light-proof, but it's not a problem. In fact, you can use a structure with opaque walls (like one of those canvas carports) successfully. Some of my plants last year did have a few seeds, but not enough to be a big deal. Actually, I've got 'em in the fridge to grow out at some point, as those plants (Mr Nice Shit) were the biggest yielders I've ever had in my garden! Don't know whether they were caused by light leaks--however, the Shits were the only ones to throw seeds, and I grew other varieties in there that didn't, so make of it what you will.
My force-flowering thread, if you're interested:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=60460
This shot was taken a week ago:
A Grape Ape cross I'm forcing:
You can see the tent I'm using this year in the background of the second picture. Since it's just a few feet from my house, I'm able to run a dehumidifier in there. In a structure like this, and in the one I used last year, a dehuey is absolutely necessary during the second half of flowering if you want to avoid mold. I also leave all the window flaps about a quarter open for fresh air.
Styles, neither of the structures I've used was/is perfectly light-proof, but it's not a problem. In fact, you can use a structure with opaque walls (like one of those canvas carports) successfully. Some of my plants last year did have a few seeds, but not enough to be a big deal. Actually, I've got 'em in the fridge to grow out at some point, as those plants (Mr Nice Shit) were the biggest yielders I've ever had in my garden! Don't know whether they were caused by light leaks--however, the Shits were the only ones to throw seeds, and I grew other varieties in there that didn't, so make of it what you will.
My force-flowering thread, if you're interested:
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=60460
G
Guest
i want to start force flowering some of my plants. they are already showuing pistils, but I want them to start really blooming . I think I will just bring them in as the sun starts to set. Then put them somwhere dark for 12 hours, like a closet or something, then bring them back out.
You think that is good enough?
You think that is good enough?
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G
Guest
ha i never even got a answer to q either. but its all good. i got it figured out
A layman's Reader's Digest version:Family said:
The plant tries to flower from day one. It develops a flowering hormone at night that's allergic to light. Enough light and every bit of the hormone produced earlier that evening dies. And every night the plant produces more.
As days get shorter, there's not enough light to kill all the hormones. Some are left alive and saved. Every day the hormone pool gets larger until it hits critical mass and BLOOM!
Most strains will flower with less than 12 hours of dark. But, different strains have different "clocks." A 12 hour night simply saves you from calculating the needs of individual plants as they'll all flower with 12 hours of dark.
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NPK
Active member
family said:
You can leave the plants outdoors, but you'll need some sort of outdoor structure to move them into. Yep, it does a few minutes of effort every morning and evening. This season I spent about 20 minutes total each day moving plants in and out of the tent in my back yard.
And actually, because the days are getting shorter now, you probably don't even need to force your plants at all. I put out a bunch of closet-started gals about two weeks ago, and they're beginning to flower without the help of an outdoor structure. Styles, since your plants are flowering in earnest now, you can probably just leave them out without any fear of revegging. I stopped using my tent last week.
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