I could use some help understanding where I’m going wrong with my photoperiod plants. I am aware that the amount of darkness triggers the changes from veg to flower. I live in zone 6b. Started plants a little too early (March 3) and now they’re getting too big for their containers. I start indoors under LED with 16-18 hours on. As soon as I transplant outside usually early May the plants begin to flower then get backtracked into re-veg. Is it the change from being on 18 hours inside to what I believe to be around 13.5 hours on outside that triggers the unintended flowering? @Cannabian I tagged you because I read a couple posts about you mentioning this and would love to hear more from you as I would like to grow “trees” like you and not get shortchanged by lack of growth during re-veg. Peace and love out there, happy growing to everyone this season!
I’ve done this and mine started to flower went back to veg until end of September where it started flowering again. I had put mine out whith 11 hours of dark and it was enough to go into flower but only the sativas did the indica stayed veging
@TerpZilla your unintentionally’flipping’ the plants into flower by reducing the light from 18 regulated to whatever nature allows this time of year. Then she starts to give you what she thinks you want but the days grow longer so she flips back to veg until the Fall.
That’s interesting about the sativas doing that and not indicas. I am growing mostly sativa dominant and a couple hybrids. My plants did the exact thing last year. Stayed in this re-veg reverse for like 6 weeks. A few plants did alright last year but the yields were severely diminished on most. Just don’t want to keep goofing this up and catch a real heavy harvest.
That makes a lot of sense, thanks for your reply. Any ideas on how I should change the indoor light cycle to eliminate this issue? @Cannabian mentioned reducing the on time from 18 down to 16 over a period of maybe two weeks. I’m guessing 15-16 on is probably where I should be whenever I’m getting close to transplanting outside.
The move from inside to outside under shorter schedule is what triggers them to flower. Adapting to environment and identifying that light hours are extending throws them back into veg.
In short, you are moving sexually mature plants outside too early. You either have to wait longer to move them out, or start plants later so they’re not mature enough to flower when you move them outside. The actual amount of light hours makes zero difference in this scenario if moving from longer light time to shorter light time while daylight hours are still extending.
Thanks for your reply, that is very insightful. I went ahead and started some more plants today from seed. I figured I was starting too early. I guess my intention was to start early and get some mothers going to take clones whenever the timing was right to plant outdoors. I boofed by using 3gallon containers and this was a mistake as they quickly filled them out. Starting over seems like the best option as the season is just getting started. Love-peace-chicken grease
You’re in same state as me, starting plants now indoors is great idea. Get them outside 2ish weeks from sprouting and you should be in really good shape. This is plant started indoors first week of may
Wow! She’s gorgeous 
way to go on that one. Okay, that puts my mind at ease a bit. Thank you. I may have some other questions for you since we’re IL residents and it seems like you’ve got a handle on growing pretty well! Keep up the good work 
I can’t take all of the credit for that. I started this plant intending to run indoor, but just too strong of smell for my wife’s comfort. I gave to my dad and was one of the plants in his very first grow. He had a lot of help, obviously. But just followed pretty simple directions and kept her pretty healthy. This prime example of benefits of growing in soilless media with high frequency feeding. Plant off to right grown in supposed water only soil and ran start to finish outside.
Happy to answer any questions i can, fire away.
That’s a funny set of circumstances to result in such a beautiful plant. And it looks like it’s in a 3-gallon pot? Just incredible. So yeah, I’m having a bit of trouble with my feeding schedule/pH issues. I use Roots Organics line of dry fertilizer as well as some of their liquid nutrients. I’m starting to feed every time I water with a fish protein (13-1-2) and terp tea (3-7-4) and cal/mag (0.25-0-0.25) I am now experimenting with using a 5-gallon bucket with air stone and compressor to add oxygen and ‘turn on’ the microbes within the nutes. My water is at a pH of 9. I think I am experiencing nutrient lockout because I don’t adjust the water with pH down. New growth tips are lacking green luster and having some brown spots on leaf blades and leaf margins. Plants aren’t quite as vigorous as the should be. I guess my question is how do you go about addressing your feeding with adjusting pH? Do you mix your nutrients, check pH, then adjust down?
Yes. Mix Nootz, Ph water. Im new as well, but am catching on. The experienced guys will chime in soon ! Good luck !
You put a plant that was mature enough to flower outside too early. I start in april and put out end of May. That being said, If you start a seed outside in May by the time its mature enough it will be in veg mode anyway.
It’s a 5 gallon fabric, i think true volume is about q/- 4 gallons. The proportion next to 5 gallon bucket is about right, shorter but slightly larger circumference.
What soil? Layering the organics with synthetic calmag can cause some problems. Calmag is always going to look different depending on brand, but it’s basically concentration of nitrogen-0-0. You may see 1-0-0 or 15-0-0 with different dosing directions, but both are adding nitrogen, calcium, magnesium, and maybe some iron. If you start mixing with something like 13-1-2 is a red flag. Best advice i have here is to take a look at what you like or have confidence in as a base, and then see what others are supplementing that with. I like the terp tea, but i don’t feel it’s a one and done recipe for success. If i was trying to do that would be mixing or top dressing with uprising line and maybe still adding some stuff. I have only tinkered with it though, so don’t really have a good path to send you.
Regardless of info above, this can be a problem. What does your final solution ph at?
I don’t use organics or well water, so pretty much the opposite. My synthetic nutrients mixed in ro or distilled come in between 4-4.5ph, but i absolutely adjust up prior to feeding. I think this is probably biggest thing you want to get a handle on.
Yes you are on the right track with that. What it is most likely is the abrupt change in hours of light. Typically I start plants indoors under light in Feb or very early March. Here in BC the light hours for most cannabis, not all, is long enough to transplant in around the middle to end of May, but just barely. The way I do this is to start my plants on a veg schedule of 18/6 and slowly back that off to 16/8. This more accurately resembles the light available at that time of year, while not lessening it enough to trip them. Keep in mind that somenplants like Lebanese, or plants crossed with plants with day neutral characteristics may flip also. I had this happen last year. Amazingly not only did I get seed from the female that reverted I managed to get seedless bud later in the same season of the same plant. In fact, I am growing a few Lebanese with that seed this year. I hope this helps?
Really appreciate your input, it helps for sure. I had my whole garden re-veg last year and missed out on a better yield. I already ran into the same issue this year so I’m trying to correct it before it gets out of control. They formed a single calyxe at the upper nodes with the pistil hair or two arising. In your experience, is it still early enough to switch them back fairly quickly if given the correct amount of lighting? Doesn’t seem like they could be more than a week into the flowering switch.
Getting to reveg is never quick, but if allowed could be some very large plants if kept healthy.
If that is forming in the branch unions, it may be just telling you Im a girl or a boy, if they start stacking then its flowering. You will begin to form small tight buttons. My plants will typically tell me their sex in the first 6 weeks of growth, but they wont enter flowering for months.
This is not flowering. However, that can be pollenated and make a seed.
Last year’s re-veg left my plants stunted and they didn’t much at all for two months. It was a nightmare to go out and look at the garden everyday and feel like I was in a grower’s groundhog day movie. I’m hoping that they switch back faster since I caught it earlier but we will see. Fingers crossed.
I am using feminized seeds. I hope it’s them just showing signs of sexual maturity but by their growth pattern I wanna say they flipped because of the difference in darkness periods once I moved them outside. It happened pretty quickly, maybe over the course of four days. This is what one looks like. Couldn’t get a good close-up photo of a bract forming at a node near the top of the plant. I am unfamiliar with what stacking looks like. Got any good photos of what that may look like?
