The Head Start: A Pro’s Guide to Moving Cannabis from Indoor to Outdoor
Let’s talk about a pro-level technique for growing absolute monsters outdoors: giving your plants a head start.
The idea is simple but powerful. You start your cannabis plants indoors, under a comfortable 18 hours of light, during the cold, dark months of late winter and early spring. You let them grow into strong, healthy, teenage plants in a perfectly safe environment. Then, when the weather finally turns, you move these established beasts outside to finish their lives under the glorious, free, and all-powerful sun.
Recommended Strains
Afghan Kush
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THC: 16% - 21% -
Type of seed: Feminized -
Phenotype: 10% Sativa / 90% Indica -
Flavor: Herbal, Pine, Woody -
Day to flower: 6 - 8 weeks
Afghan Kush Regular
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THC: 18% - 22%
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Type of seed: Regular
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Phenotype: 10% Sativa / 90% Indica
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Flavor: Apple, Fruity, Sweet, Tropical
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Day to flower: 8 - 10 weeks
But this technique comes with one, single, non-negotiable rule. If you break it, you will ruin your entire crop.
The Most Important Rule: The Calendar is Your Bible
Listen to me. You CANNOT move your plants outside until the number of daylight hours outdoors is long enough to keep them in a vegetative state.
Think about it. Your plant has been living a cushy life indoors under 18 hours of light a day. If you move that plant outside in, say, April, when there might only be 13 or 14 hours of daylight, the plant’s internal clock will panic. It will think, “Oh my God, the days are getting shorter! Winter is coming!” This drastic drop in light hours will trick your plant into flowering immediately.
The Nightmare of the “Re-Veg”
But it gets worse. After it starts to flower prematurely in April, the days will naturally start getting longer as summer approaches. This will confuse the plant again, and it will try to stop flowering and go back into vegetative growth.
This disastrous process is called “re-vegging,” and it’s a nightmare. The plant will stop all productive growth for weeks, and the new growth that does appear will be ugly, twisted, and mutated, often with single-bladed, smooth-edged leaves. You’ve just lost months of progress.
So, the rule is simple. In the Northern Hemisphere, you generally cannot safely move your indoor-vegged plants outside until late May or early June. You need to wait until the days are long enough that the plant doesn’t get that “winter is coming” signal.
Move-Out Day: Your Strategy
Okay, you’ve checked the calendar, the days are long, and it’s time to move. How do you do it?
Don’t do it on a bright, blazing, sunny day. The shock from the intense, direct UV rays can be too much for a plant that has only ever known artificial light. The perfect time to move your plants is during a stretch of a few cloudy, overcast, or even drizzly days. This gentle, diffused light is the perfect way to let them acclimate to the power of the real sun without getting a brutal sunburn.
Why go through all this trouble? Because an outdoor plant’s roots can grow without the limitations of a pot. By giving it a massive head start indoors, you’re setting the stage for your plant to grow into a true tree. It’s the ultimate way to Cultivate a massive Homegrown harvest.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the main reason to start cannabis plants indoors and then move them outdoors?
The main reason is to give the plant a much longer vegetative growth period. By starting it indoors in late winter or early spring, you can grow a much larger, more established plant than if you waited to plant a seed outdoors in May. A bigger plant equals a bigger potential harvest.
What is the biggest and most common mistake growers make when moving plants from indoor to outdoor?
Moving them outside too early in the spring. If a plant that is used to 18 hours of light indoors is moved outside when there are only 13-14 hours of daylight, it will be tricked into flowering prematurely, which can ruin the plant for the rest of the season.
What is “re-vegging” and why is it so bad?
“Re-vegging” happens when a plant that has started to flower is put back under a vegetative light cycle (long days). The plant gets confused and tries to revert back to growing leaves and branches. This process is a huge stressor that halts all productive growth for weeks and results in ugly, mutated, and twisted new leaves.
What is the best weather for moving my plants outside for the first time?
The ideal time to move your plants outside permanently is during a stretch of two or three consecutive cloudy, overcast, or even lightly rainy days. This provides a gentle, diffused light that allows the plant to acclimate to the intensity of the sun without getting shocked or sunburned.
