When to Start Seedlings in Spring

[therevverend]

I know we'll all have different answers and reasoning. I like to start mine in natural light at the latest by the end of March, as early as the weather allows. The reason is that in temperate zones at least, most strains that finish outdoors between mid September to early November will show enough pre-flowers to sex early. Almost all the females and some of the males will show in May and June without the plants going all the way into flowering. This trick is a huge advantage. My experience is at latitudes 35-48 degrees N but I think it would work closer or further from the equator.

I start my seeds in the house with a heat mat. It's much too cold to plant out and they stay in containers until the second week of May most years. To wait for the ground to warm and to get bigger. March is usually a cold month so for the first couple weeks of life I'm shuttling my sprouts in at least some of the time. I don't like to do it every night because they get leggy and sometimes I fall asleep and forget to do it. It almost never freezes after St Patrick's Day.

This wouldn't be necessary if I had a cold frame. They could probably even sprout outdoors. I have a building that faces southeast where I put them. This warms them up early although by the mid afternoon they're shaded.

I try to time my planting by watching the weather report. If a sunny streak appears in the 5 day forecast I'll plant anytime after the 2nd week of May. This year has been cool and wet which is average, my germination rate hasn't been as high as I like it to be. Haven't counted but I'm guessing around 65%. Terrible really.

My strains that are acclimated to growing outdoors in this region are sprouting like they normally do. Some of the fancy indoor type stuff is taking a long time. Even with the heating pad my house is cooler then a lot of strains like it, I'm guessing my germination rate would be over 90% if it was 78-85 degrees F. There's are some older seeds and immature, yellowish seeds so I'm not too disappointed.

This doesn't cover clones, I wouldn't introduce clones to natural light until at least mid April. Otherwise they'll flower then have to re-veg. You want to plant your clones synchronized with the season. Another reason to start the seeds early and pre-sex. If you've got a vigorous sexed seedling ready to go by June 1st you'll beat a clone put out at the same time.

 

[troutman]

I start in May.

 

[therevverend]

What's your reasons for starting in May? I've had a dream, actually a nightmare, where I wake up in May and I forgot to start my seeds and I panic. So I don't think I could start that late. Planting seeds is something to do, phase out of winter into spring, to get life started again. I've started in early April, wasn't much different then starting in March except the plants were a little smaller and sexed later.

I've read that during the long summer days plants produce hormones that inhibit flowering. It's theorized that a longer-lived plant, one started in March, will be slower to respond to shorter days then a plant started in May or June. From the effect of the inhibitors. Don't know if it's true or if anyone has tested it. A lot of stuff people come up with sounds good but goes unconfirmed.

One of the main reasons to start later was prohibition, less time in the field and smaller plants reduce the chance of detection. Smaller plants are more manageable, fit into greenhouses, and are easier to move around if they're in containers. Less $ and effort to spend on watering and fertilizer.

I used to worry about plants getting stunted, I was afraid that if low temperatures were under 45-50 degrees F, 10 degrees C, they'd struggle, get cold and stop growing. Along with high temperatures under 60 degrees F, 15.5 degrees C. I learned from watching my outdoor grower friends this is not true. Indoor growing gives you a lot of silly ideas about plants being weak and needing all sorts of pampering. Last year I had seeds in the ground from the year before, volunteers sprouting around March 1 with snow on the ground. Couldn't believe it. They ended up being some of my biggest best plants.

It's not so much the cold as the presence or lack of sunlight. Even if it's cold and wet as long as there's a few days a week with sun breaks, over 50 degrees F, they'll do fine. I haven't tested this with a lot of tropical strains, not sure how they'd react but even equatorial cannabis thrives in mountain conditions that can be quite cold and foggy.

 

[troutman]

I only want seedlings a few inches tall and May is perfect for that seeing I put them out in early June.
Smaller plants allow me to grow more and I still end up with plants that go 4 to 6 feet every year.

 

[HHILL]

Last year I started seeds May 1 and some got really big, like 11 feet tall. Avg. yield was 2.5 pounds, biggest was 4.5, smallest 1.5. Starting that late meant that only some were sexed by the time I wanted them in ground.

I’m thinking of starting earlier this season because I want them sexed and in the ground by June 21, maybe start seeds this weekend. Also, an old timer told me if you start earlier, they tend to finish earlier.... not sure about that though.

 

[F2F]

I had a Couple plants sitting doing nothing in cold spring weather one year. Thought they’d be stunted permanently. Heck, at 8wks they were still at 6”.

Got them in the ground beginning June and ended up with 10ft plants yielding ~0.75lb each. I was really surprised at how they made up for lost time!

Cheers
F2F

 

[AgentPothead]

I think some of it is if it's a legal or illegal grow. If it's legal, you could preveg them in your house and put out some super large plants. If it isn't legal, 3 inch seedlings are way, way easier to move, you could fit like 50 seedlings in the space of 1 prevegged plant. Looking at my grow last year it seems I started the first batch March 17th O_O And let them preveg inside till May 11th. If I'm remembering correctly, those plants started to preflower when originally put out, but then switched back into veg mode. It looks like I kept putting plants out until July 17th. That can't be right though, cause I didn't harvest the GG till October 2nd, which would imply a 16 week growth period. Man this calendar has to be wrong. Now I'm super confused.

 

[therevverend]

I only want seedlings a few inches tall and May is perfect for that seeing I put them out in early June.
Smaller plants allow me to grow more and I still end up with plants that go 4 to 6 feet every year.

I notice a May start works great for strains that Max out at 6 feet. Especially semi-Autos or short squat Indicas. It's weird to start seeds in March, watch them grow with decent vigor until they're 3 feet tall by June, then sit and do nothing for 2.5 months. Sometimes with an early start they'll surprise you, start growing sideways instead of up and turn into super-bushes. I like tying plants over. Sometimes if you tie a squat Afghani bush over in early July that's 6 feet, a month later it's like you've got 5 plants 5 feet tall. I think with some strains there's a height limit but no width limit. Although sometimes you'll tie a plant over at 5 feet and all the tops will get 12 feet. That's a monster.

When I was guerrilla growing I'd start seeds in June, sex and clone in March, and divide and conquer. The mother plants would get huge. If you get the right strain and want to go a truly enormous plant, start under lights in January. That's how people get 20 footers. In places with plant limits it's a decent idea.

Starting under lights indoors is very different from starting under natural light. If you plant out too early they'll switch straight into flowering. Sounds like that might have happened to AgentPothead. When they're synched up with the season they'll know the days are getting longer regardless of day length. Even if you start them in February. There are exceptions, some strains that will flower if you start them that early. Semi-Autos and some landraces from the Middle East for instance. I think strains with hemp genetics, true Cannabis Sativa types, will want to flower early.

When I grew out Sinai seeds a couple years back the males went all the way into flower in May. Started them in late March. By early June they were done. I wanted to make seeds but the females stayed in Veg until August. I've seen quite a few males do this. I believe it's a survival strategy, it pays off for the species if there are males throwing pollen at all times during the grow season. In case there's a female throwing out hairs.

 

[Organilush]

I'm about to start some seeds outdoors sometime this week.

I'm just east of the SF bay area out in the valley.

It's only my 3rd time around growing the plant, this will be the earliest I've started seeds. They'll be started outdoors under direct sunlight right from the beginning.

Last year I started around May 10th.

Looking forward to what an extra month of veg looks like lol. And I'm hoping I'm able to ID the males/females much sooner than last year.




.

 

[GlaZed420]

I planted 35 seeds last Sunday, and in 5 days all but 4 had germinated. Yesterday i moved them outside in a tray and clear cover. Ill transplant them into 5 gallon geopots as soon as possible. I live in the SF Bay Area

 

[noknees]

I'll transplant them into 5 gallon geopots as soon as possible.

 

[St. Phatty]

So far I've been planting the produce I buy at the supermarket.

e.g. brussel sprouts that start growing again.

going to try that on some organic carrots.

it's easy with carrots.

 

[therevverend]

So far I've been planting the produce I buy at the supermarket.

Haven't thought about doing that in a long time. My grandma warned me about it because of the chance they could carry an exotic disease. Considering how far away our produce comes from. Seeds make this less likely. Even so it's fun to do.

My weather's been cold and wet but the early start has been paying off. Lots of healthy green rapidly growing sprouts. Here's my favorite so far, a Black Cherry Garlic from Relentless seeds. One of the fattest seedlings I've seen.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/picture.php?albumid=82778&pictureid=2022296


I still bring my youngest seedlings inside at night, since there's still a few unsprouted seeds in the containers. To save space I'll plant two per container. Or 3 or 4 if the seeds are old and less likely to sprout. This year it's sabotaged me, I have a lot of containers with one not two seedlings. I'm guessing once they get left out in the cold the slow seed is much less likely to come up. It's been a long time since I've used paper towels to sprout individual seeds, maybe I'll go that way next year.

 

[GlaZed420]

View Image

And then ill sex/pheno select and they'll go into 400 gallon raised beds

 

[noknees]

And then ill sex/pheno select and they'll go into 400 gallon raised beds

 

[RED 1]

A March start gives you the option to add in May again if needed
I started this summer's outdoor grow mid March.Not perfect conditions, but..

 

[therevverend]

It's been a bit colder then usual this year. Very consistent, with high temperatures below 15 degrees C/59 degrees F. I'd been leaving my seedlings out overnight for a while, it dipped below 40 degrees F/4.5 degrees C. I noticed purpling at the tips and the overall color on quite a few changing from vibrant growing green towards yellowish/green. So I decided to move them indoors overnight until it warms up into the mid 40s F. Overall the growth is vigorous and there's no more chance of frost but I want my plants to get the best of everything.

The rain has tapered off, allowing my soil to dry out. Still keeping it moist but I'm careful not to keep it soggy for long periods of time. The taproots haven't hit the bottom of my 4 inch pots. I have a friend who always keeps his plants in containers deeper then 12 inches. Probably a good idea but I don't like using such large pots at an early stage. It would take up a lot of room.

I'd like to add to this thread when my plants start showing sex, hopefully by late May or June. I'd encourage other growers to do the same. It'd be nice to have something to reference to, seedlings of which strain started by when are likely to show sex at what latitude by when. Might be a good idea for a sticky, if enough outdoor growers were interested. Data from the Southern Hemisphere would be useful too, since the latitude and equinoxes equal the same day length.

 

[romanoweed]

45 Degre North:
I grow quiet Tropical Strains, started some around 10. March at the Window facing perfectly South.
Had fear they will get enlonged Stems, sometimes i moved them left to right - Morning to Evening.
I felt this worked great until around middle April no Problem when i brought them out, no streched Stems at all.
Yeah around 20th April we got one afternon snow, they all survived with most Leaves not impressed by Snow, just some small PArts rotted away.
I would do it the same, was the first possible Moment to do it, before to risky. Even 15 Weeker Tropicals dont seem to strech Stems at all at Window.
Window-method, very easy

 

[romanoweed]

Vietblack ,Hoabac, Mamathai:

they dont do spaghetti too much

 

[therevverend]

Nice work roman. Good move rotating the plants in the window. Spaghetting, soil gnats, dampening off, growing ganja in windows isn't easy. A lot of the problems are solved by rotation. Moving them outside or opening a window to get fresh air will also help solve these problems. Ganja seems to thrive with daily fluctuation, heat during the day, cold at night. Wind and rain and sun. The constant temperature and humidity we prefer in our houses can be their death.

I think a lot of it is fungus problems, the stem stretch and soil gnats are often the symptoms not the cause. I feel that strong natural light is necessary for good root development. You'll see if you pull up a floppy spaghetted seedling it'll have almost no root system. Besides rotating your plants in the window sill, once they move outside full time it's still a good idea. You'll get much more even branching and development.