Jorge Cervantes
Time to Start Planting for the Outdoor Crop
by , 01-31-2013 at 07:14 AM (10562 Views)
Time to Start Planting for the Outdoor Crop
We are at the end of January 2013 and now is the time to start gardens in warmer climates. For example at Sacramento, CA – 38.5 N latitude, 121 .5 W, the following photoperiod is occurring. Note that if you put plants out in March they will receive right at 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of nighttime. If you grow a crop indoors and set it outdoors in a warm climate in earl to mid-March, the cannabis plants will flower under the longer nights.
Once seedlings and clones are strong and healthy, they are ready to set out in a small greenhouse. Wait until plants are at least two feet (60 cm) tall before setting into the heated greenhouse. The first week or two will be very difficult for the plants and the cold weather could stunt them. Set them out in a small greenhouse so that the nighttime temperatures do not slow growth too much. The sun is not as bright in the spring, but it is bright enough to flower plants and get a good harvest, albeit not as big as plants grown in the summer in big pots.
People in other medical states can also grow plants in greenhouses this time of the year, but the greenhouse may require so much heat that it is too expensive and best to grow indoors.
In any event, if you are planning on growing medicinal cannabis outdoors and the last average day of frost is between April 1-30, you should be preparing your outdoor land and also germinate seedlings indoors. Rooted clones can be planted in a week or two. Starting the outdoor garden now is the way to grow big plants, or a short crop in the spring. Make sure to start and grow the little seedlings and clones organically.
Prepare outdoor soil now, and keep all ingredients organic. If the soil is in good shape from last year, add another layer of chicken manure, compost and more mulch on top. Water the mix so that the planting bed or hole is completely moist. This will ensure the nutrients are activated and soil microbes start to work. Preparing the soil early on gives it a chance to become active before planting.
You can see from the research below that supplemental light will have to be added to the outdoor light regimen if plants are set out before the end of April. It is easy to rig a few low energy consumption CFL lamps over plants when they are in a small greenhouse. Anticipate setting up one small CFL lamp over each plant. The light will need to burn about an hour after dark. Most gardeners run an extension cord to a series of light sockets filled with CFLs.
Sacramento, CA – 38.5 N latitude, 121 .5 W
Note: Further north or south of 38:5 degrees N latitude, days are progressively shorter (north) and longer (south)
31 January 2013 – 10 hours 15 minutes light
07:12 sunrise
17:27 sunset
28 February 2013 – 11 hours 19 minutes light
06:39 sunrise
17:58 sunset
30 March 2013 – 12 hours 20 minutes light
05:53 sunrise
18:27 sunset
30 April 2013 13 hours 09 minutes light
05:09 sunrise
18:57 sunset
I hope this blog stimulates many medical cannabis outdoor gardeners to post threads including fotos and diaries of their gardens. Posting your gardens here on this forum will help many other medical cannabis gardeners around the world. They will be able to see how easy it is to grow good organic cannabis properly outdoors.
Tags:
None
- Categories
- Uncategorized
Email Blog Entry
Go to Profile
Mark as Read
