I got some fem seeds for a outdoor grow. Is the plant life span, during a outdoor grow, approximately 12-13 weeks? I’m located in the upper Great Plains. Is it possible to start plants too early? There are so many knowledgeable people here, I hope to find my way through all of my dumb questions.
Hot Dog
Did you buy Autoflower Fem Or Plain Fem (Photo Period).
Welcome to the forum btw
welcome to the community
I bought standard fem.
They wont start to flower till the daytime light gets short enough.
So wait till the danger of frost is over to plant outside.
You can start indoors a couple or 3 weeks before if you have decent light. A window wont work and poor light will stretch them out and they wont be good.
Some places in North Dakota have a frost danger till middle of June.
I’m dumber than a sac o’ fertilizer, so cut me some slack. Weather here is upper 90’s middle of summer and fall tends to have cool nights.
After looking at the first last frost dates for the middle of north Dakota it looks like on average a 3 month period of frost free growing. That may be too short.
Is growing inside out of the question?
Hey , No judgement here. Just want to help if I can.
I have been up there, Around Bottineau. Nice place.
Anyway a photo period plant will need at least 3 to 5 weeks before it can even begin to flower. Once mature enough it needs a minimum average of 9 weeks to finish. This is if everything goes well.
If you are in South Dakota you may have more time.
Beautiful, sunny, tropical SE ND is home.
I can start them inside and move them in/out, as weather dictates. Will I gain much by starting inside?
Yes. They need to start flowering as soon as possible for you so starting inside even two weeks early will give you a jump on reaching the clock on flowering.
We could have 15-20 weeks with no frost. Is it possible to grow that long?
Thats much better. yes. I was using North Dakota State University charts.
Looks like your trending towards longer seasons.
If you can grow them in 5 or 7 gallon fabric pots you can also bring them inside at night when there’s a frost danger.
Thanks for taking the time to set me somewhat straight. Since I was a kid, weather has gotten warmer.
If I start seeds inside, how long should they be under lights each day? Or 24/7? I’ve a caged garden (deer, bunnies) I can move plants into during the day. I’ll transplant them once they’ve gotten too large. Is that ok?
Hey, you threw the banana into my cage by answering. Keep tossin’…
Lol…Love it
Under lights 18/6 is a good spot.
You can do 24/7 for a few days but I never do.
Why fabric pots?
Plants root so much better in them. No root binding. It forms a dense network of roots and the plant stays healthy. This is because the roots dont turn and grow in circles, but try to go through the side and prune themselves. Plus if you get to a point where you need a transplant you just set it into a larger one and the roots grow right through and into the new one.
Here is a pic of just that…
Wow, that’s amazing. I’m going to start my plants on 4-20. I live (sorta) in the country so I can move them in/outside. (Time to start tossin’ bananas) what type of light should put them under? How long of a light period? When we get into May, I’m going to plant outside.
I really appreciate you taking the time to advise me. Last week I was standing on 30” of ice fishing and now I’m getting ready to grow things. What a great life.
Can you tell me if I’m germinating seeds, should they be in a dark environment? My heated concrete floors are at 78F-80F and this is where I’ve got my seeds in moistened paper towels. Should they covered so it’s dark?
@Spiney_norman great advise as always.
@HotDog,
If you all ready know this I’m sorry. If you didn’t know this, it is important.
The days outdoor won’t get shorter until after the summer solstice (June 21st this year I think). So despite having that many days frost free, you have to count the days after the solstice as flower time. As spiney Norman all ready said they take a few weeks to get flowering; and most strains need 9-10 weeks to have any worthy of smoking harvest. I don’t usually see small flowers form until 1st week of august here in seattle. October1st is a pretty typical harvest date outdoor for your latitude.
Throwing a tarp or clear plastic over your deer fence enclosure (at night) may buy you enough extra days past an early frost to get a decent harvest.
