Outdoor When To Plant Outside?

[GnuBee]

I live in the Pacific Northwest & may soon have a small greenhouse available to me.

When should I put seeds into my soil?

I think that the nightime & morning temperatures are still too cold outside right now.

What type of conditions should I be looking for?

This is my first go around & I'm allowed to have 6 mature plants. Anything over 12" tall is considered a mature plant. I plan to grow organically with TGA soil in two levels & use 10 gallon felt type of pots for plenty of root growth.

Any tips & advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[namvet25]

It's best for you to check with your local garden stores or grow store for best times to do your planting.

 

[pop22]

I live in the Pacific Northwest & may soon have a small greenhouse available to me.

When should I put seeds into my soil?

I think that the nightime & morning temperatures are still too cold outside right now.

What type of conditions should I be looking for?

This is my first go around & I'm allowed to have 6 mature plants. Anything over 12" tall is considered a mature plant. I plan to grow organically with TGA soil in two levels & use 10 gallon felt type of pots for plenty of root growth.

Any tips & advise will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Start them indoors if you can, get them out when your night are above freezing. A little frost won't affect them if there in a greenhouse.

 

[maffro]

Get a max min thermometer in the ghouse and check when the night time temps are 10 or above that should do it!
Got power in there ? A fan would be usefull
Good luck

 

[GnuBee]

Thanks everyone. I think the night time temps are still in the +/-40 degrees Fahrenheit range. I have ordered an indoor/outdoor thermometer/hygrometer with a high & low memory & should be receiving it on Monday. The building does not have any power for a fan, so I have been looking into an inexpensive 12V DC solar fan system to circulate the air & exercise the plants. That’s about all so far.

 

[lost360]

I live in pnw too I'm my area its mother's day but not shure where you are

 

[Muddy]

MJ seeds need temperatures in the mid 80s for proper germination, so it would be advisable to start them indoors, then transplant outdoors once soil temperatures are over 60 degrees. They certainly shouldn't go outside until all danger of frost is past. Check your frost dates here: http://www.victoryseeds.com/frost/home.asp

 

[thetreeman]

dig up the soil and mix in organic amendments, then cover with CLEAR plastic for a week or two and the soil will warm faster. You can also cut a hole in the plastic once the soil is warmed some and plant with plastic left on to keep soil warm and help develop root system. Ive considered placing aluminum rods into the dirt, under the plastic to form a greenhouse of sorts and help move the heat generated by the sun, down into the soil faster. Would be interesting to experiment with this....

 

[Mr Piggy]

Hey there gnubee, I'm another PNW outdoor grower. Let's talk about this greenhouse and the seeds you plan on using. How large is the green house and is it ventilated? A greenhouse without active (a fan) ventilation is just a mold trap here in the PNW. By ventilation I mean air being sucking in or out of the greenhouse, not air being circulated inside. I like to build a little canopy for plants by building a roof structure with plastic on top and leaving the sides open. That way air flows freely but the rain is kept off.

Second, it's just too early to start seeds both temperature and light hours wise. If you start some photo period plants outside right now they will start to flower right away, then re-vege in a couple of months and you'll just have a mess on your hands. If you're using regular photo period seeds instead of autos start them inside under lights now that are on for 18 hours and off for six. If you can, set the timer so it matches the day cycle so they get less stressed when putting them out. A good date to go by for putting plants outside around here is June 1st. Then the temps and light hours match up. That's also a good time to drop seeds if you're doing autos.

Now lets talk pots. If you're doing autos then ten gallons will suit you just fine, but if you're doing photo-period plants 10 gallons will shortly turn into a nightmare. They will outgrow those pots before june is even over. I'd suggest starting with at least 25-30 gallon smart pots for some photos, but bigger is ALWAYS better.

Now on to genetics. This may be the most important step for growing in the PNW. You want something that finishes early (aug-sep) and that has good mold resistance. Pest resistance is always a plus too. If you want to grow photo period plants I suggest you get genetics from highrise seeds at RCMC. They have mold resistant genetics designed to finish early for northern growers. A favorite strain is BBxGG3 (bluebonic x guerrilla gold 3) Fast growing, mold resistant early pot.
http://www.rcmcollective.ca/breeders/highrise/index.html

If you do get those strains make sure to never keep them in vege light hours over 18/6. any more than that and they will flower and re-vege when set out.....trust me.

And now the soil. If you're using the TGA soil then you'll have to use dechlorinated water. All tap water now has either chloramine or chlorine in it. If you're not on a well then check with your city's water bureau to see what chemical they use. If it's chlorine you can just leave a bucket of it out for 24-48 hours and the chlorine will dissipate. If it's chloramine it will NOT dissapate, ever. You'll have to use so chlorine removal tabs from the aquarium/pet store. The chlorine kills the microbes in your organic soil and renders it useless.

That's about all I can think of for now, good luck!

 

[thetreeman]

Ok folks, here is the experiment.

Ingredients:
1 3ft long 3/8in thick aluminum rod, cut in half
1 2x2 pine board, cut to 12 inches
1 13 gallon clear plastic kitchen trash bag, cheap thin version

Cleared off an area in my garden, down to black dirt to maximize solar radiation to heat conversion. This area gets direct sun all day.


This area has not been tilled and until today was covered with a thin layer or grass clippings from last fall. Im near the canadian/us border so it is still fairly cool here, no trees have begun to bud yet and garlic/rhubarb is just starting to grow.

Drill 2 3/8 inch holes in 2x2 board, 2 inches from the end, about 1.5 inches deep. Insert rods into holes. Mark each aluminum rod, 12 inches from the end, so I know how deep to push the rods into the soil.


Push rods into ground to stop mark, leaving 12 inches below surface and 6 inches above. Cover with thin clear plastic (13 gallon clear kitchen bag ripped along seam to make a flat sheet). Hold down edges with dirt/weights. The tent area should heat up, allowing the rods to transfer the heat below the surface of the soil. Next to this tent, I also constructed an area of just plain plastic sheeting, held flat against the ground. Next to this I left an open area with just dirt exposed as a control.


Highs in this are right now are averaging mid 50 to mid 60's (day) and lows in 30s at night. I will leave this for several days to a week and then take temperature readings at different depths to get an idea how much, if any, the tent with aluminum rods made at warming the soil up at different levels.

Cheers!