Very little direct light

[ghdaddy]

Hey everybody...
So i was thinning my indoor garden getting it ready to flip it to flower. Part of that thinning included removing 4 plants. Rather than tossing them or giving them to a friend ( and hopefully a little kicked back a few months later) I decided to try my hand at an outdoor grow. Never done one before. My homelife doesnt really allow for me to do this out in the open so I had to go ninja and grow 4 plants outdoors in plain sight yet always in stealth mode. The ONLY, and I mean ONLY spot I could find was between the back wall of a shed and my property lines fence (which light does not permeate). Its a 4 foot wide 10 foot long space with very little direct light.

I thought it was zero hours of direct light, but today I went back there around 5 and the tops of the plants were basking in golden delicous sunlight!!
So they will probably get 4 or so hours (maybe) of light. Since I just transplanted from #3s to #10 sized pots, I am expecting some stretch...which might help the tops actually hit direct light for longer each day. My expectations are not high at all. They were just taking up valuable canopy space indoors, crowding the rest. I put them in 10 gallon smart pots and filled them with Vermi Fire blend. Three are LA Confidential and one is a Purple Kush. I'll upload a few photos of them currently in indirect light and then in sun.

Has anybody knowingly grown with 0-4 hours of DIRECT light per day and had success? Or failure? What kind of expectations should I have given this handicap? Any pitfalls to avoid? Precautions to take?
I was thinking about getting on some type of a preventative Neem schedule to ward off the Borg and such. Can I put that into a fogger or atomizer or something to make easier to dispurse?

Sorry about the sideways pics. They were fine and upright when I uploaded...once on icmag they fell over

 

[ghdaddy]

https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?...d=68530&pictureid=162885030&pictureid=1628849

 

[ghdaddy]

I cant quite figure out the sizing. At least I got the orientation right

 

[bombadil.360]

hello,

those will flower no problem, provided that as the seasons change, that the plant keeps getting enough direct sun-light, since the angle changes with seasons, so it may be that for that specific spot you may end up getting more or less direct light.

I've flowered outdoors with an average of 4 hours of direct sun-light per day. yields are not great, but quality is very good, maybe because less terpenes get evaporated by the end of flower? could be.

some varieties will flower under sky-light too; I grew a blue moon rocks in a room full of windows, but no direct sun-light. that bitch flowered all the way. got 8 grams dried from a 1 liter container. not too bad.

good luck!

 

[ghdaddy]

That's great news. I figured that whatever yields from those are just bonus buds...I grow indoors. I'm excited! Will the buds be a little looser or larfy due to less hours of direct light?

 

[bombadil.360]

that will depend more on genetics imo. I've had some plants with very firm buds grow next to plants with very airy buds, same spot, same hours of direct sun-light, different varieties though.

never done a comparison of the same cut grown indoors vs outdoors with little direct sun-light to tell for sure in that respect though.

good luck!

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Paint the shed wall white and put up a white board on the fence. This will provide some good reflection and increase your direct light time. Just move the plants out for a few minutes. You can use fast dry spray

 

[neongreen]

^^ That's what I was going to say regarding the walls.

You could also try raising the pots up if that helps them reach the direct light, then lowering them gradually back down as they get taller. If you just leave them on the ground, and there is not much light down there then they will stretch towards the light anyway. However I would expect them to grow stronger/better with the first option.

 

[ghdaddy]

I was just out there assessing the light. I like both of those ideas. I may staple panda paper to the back of the red shed as well as the fence. I need to figure out a simple way to raise/lower them. Its damn tight back there and they are already heavy. I wish I could push a button. Anything for the right price.

 

[ghdaddy]

Ask and ye shall receive! I wanted a push button solution. I went out to look and see if I could figure out an easy way to raise and lower the plants. The table actually has adjustable height legs. I was on the lowest setting. I was able to raise it 18". That is huge! Just the tips are currently at fence height (visible to back neighbors). Not that I should care at alll. I peeked over the fence to see how their cannabis garden is progressing. Not too shabby.

 

[ghdaddy]

The one pic shows the much improved light. The other shows the adjustable table legs that I just noticed.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=68530&pictureid=1629861

https://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=68530&pictureid=1629862

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Trim out the bottoms and insides a little too. Let the root system concentrate on top growth on the best light

 

[theJointedOne]

Remember that thread years ago with the plants in a trash can on a balcony?

It was a good one lol

 

[corky1968]

Those pots look heavy. But you could raise them until they are almost a few inches
below the fence line for maximum light while still maintaining your ninja status. Maybe
a small table of sorts or large pails would do the trick.

 

[ghdaddy]

As of a few hours ago they are already just at or below the fence line. I included the pic since I raised it nearly 24". Big difference. Just glad those ain't my only girls going...just bonus buds. Might actually turn out ok. Tyes, they are heavy. About 30lbs each. I may need to further support the table so it doesn't buckle under the weight of the 10kg combined of killer sticky colas. Lol

 

[ghdaddy]

Another question. ..I've never done an outdoor crop so I don't even know when plants start to flower outside. I'm in the Pacific nw at the 45th parallel. I'm thinking that mine may act differently due to less then optimal light. But what would be normal?

 

[corky1968]

Less light normally makes things go slower.

But they should be showing in the next few weeks like around August 10.

Keep us posted on the Ninja buds.

 

[ghdaddy]

Will do. For sure

 

[Hash Zeppelin]

Another question. ..I've never done an outdoor crop so I don't even know when plants start to flower outside. I'm in the Pacific nw at the 45th parallel. I'm thinking that mine may act differently due to less then optimal light. But what would be normal?

They will probably start flowering now. My plants don't see direct light until 11am, and they are flowering already and I'm in the sf Bay Area.

 

[ghdaddy]

Now that I've raised them, I'd say currently they are getting good direct sun from 5-8pm, they rest of the day all indirect.