Sun position dropping too fast to finish flower?

I'm doing my first outdoor grow in Colorado and I need some pointers for the situation I'm in.

I'm just growing one plant from an OG Skunk clone I picked up at a dispensary last Spring. I initially had it in a pot but transplanted into the ground in July. I got this sucker in my backyard right next to my vegetable garden.

The problem is that the sun is sinking in the sky way faster than anticipated. My roof is now casting a shadow over the plant for part of the day. I'm guessing I'm only getting ~6 hrs of direct sun at this point (Sept 27). Judging by the plants maturity I need at least another 2 weeks. Pistols are still white.. I've got 5-10% brown/orange pistils at best and it hasn't really changed much over the last week! Trichs are mostly cloudy with maybe 10-20% still clear and no amber trichs. Buds are swelling a bit but not as much as I'd hoped. I assume the lack of direct sun is why buds aren't really swelling.

My garage roof is casting a shadow on the plant for part of the day and it's only getting worse as the sun drops in the sky. I predict that in a week the lower branches of the plant will be in a shadow the entire day. The top will still be getting maybe 4-5 hrs direct light in a week. In 2 weeks it's possible that the plant will be completely shadowed with no part of the plant receiving direct light it will still, however, be getting a full days worth of indirect light (11-12hrs). I was hoping to take the plant at least another 2 weeks. I gave my last feeding today and will use plain water from here out since I might have to chop early.

Any suggestions on what I should do? I thought about transplanting to a new location but seems like not a good idea this late in the game. Weather looks like it's gonna take a turn for the worse around mid-October so don't want to set the plant back with undue stress. Should I just harvest this sucker as soon as it stops getting any direct light (1-2 weeks)? Should I harvest the bottom buds when they stop getting direct light and let the top continue for another week until they stop getting direct light? Anything I can do to speed up ripening? Any reason to let it go a bit longer once it stops getting direct light?

Any insight would be much appreciated!

It will be fine, let it go as is until you feel it’s ready to harvest.

Leave it be. It'll finish. Pictures help to say if leave or take soon.

Autumn sun, position, is critical as you are discovering..

One idea you could try is to harvest the main tops when they are done, then dig her up and risk a move, indoors, or to a sunnier spot.

Tear down ur house and garage..... No just kidding... It should finish fine but it may not chunk up as much as it would getting more direct sunlight

yeah i think you'll stress it more by trying to move it. ya try to learn something new with every grow. try to get a pic up

Sometimes I've used mirrors.

Just let it go another 2 weeks and see what happens. It should ripen up anyway as it gets colder and the plant matures. Worst that'll happen is you have less yield than you could have. Though watch out for mold.

let it finish

You could make a cheap frame out of 1x2, and put reflective material like Reflectix to reflect light onto the plant. Otherwise, let if finish anyway. Good luck. -granger

lesson learnt for next year! your always learning new things with outdoor grows. its 1 plant don't stress too much . other lesson you learnt apart from placement is ...... you need at least another 2 or 3 plants lol

july is a ll late...but it'll be fine...just less yield than if you had put it out earlier...DJXX

I had a guerilla spot that I grew at for years. It had a slot thru the trees that allowed it to get direct sun for most of the day. The last time I grew there I didn’t realize the above canopy had grown over a bit thus sheltering the plants for about a 3rd of the day (I was doing my gardening at night). Plants turned out OK, maybe lost a little yield.

Gardening is always a learning experience.

DJXX said:

july is a ll late...but it'll be fine...just less yield than if you had put it out earlier...DJXX

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It was outside in a pot, just decided to put it in the ground in July.

Thanks for all the input everyone. I'll leave it be. I'll try to get some pics up tonight. I'm most worried about mold without the sun to dry it out in the AM. It's been dry as a bone here for the last 6 weeks but looks like some rain and moisture over the next couple weeks.

Granger2 said:

You could make a cheap frame out of 1x2, and put reflective material like Reflectix to reflect light onto the plant. Otherwise, let if finish anyway. Good luck. -granger

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Exactly what I used, 1x2's and reflective material (thick aluminum foil, shiney side up).

I also was walking past the produce man at the supermarket, wrestling with this 4 1/2 feet long BIG pumpkin box, 1/2 inch thick cardboard, and thought, "That looks useful."

Took it home, cut a couple of panels out because I like using really smooth cardboard with big white dots, for targets when I'm at the shooting range.

Anyway, I had 2 big rectangles cut out, and I had been thinking about how to keep the plants happy with cloudy weather.

A few hours of sawing and gluing later, I had a Pumpkin-Box.

Similar to a solar oven - I'm actually using it to dry fruit right now, while it's sunny.




Those big 4x8 foot reflective panels - work real good for indoors.

I'm talking about the foam panels, they have reflective foil I think on both sides, with a foam filling.



As long as they're tied down good, storm-proof-wise, so they don't break the plant.


If I was dealing with a plants in the ground - losing sunlight situation, I might try those.

Nice ideas! I though about putting up a big Mylar/foil reflector but I don't wanna draw anymore attention to the plant. I've got neighbors with several high-school aged kids on two sides. Already built my chicken-wire enclosure with motion-sensor alarm!

I attached a few pics. Unfortunately it just rained. Plant looks a little soggy. Gonna be fighting moisture the last couple weeks just put a small fan outside on the plants. Hopefully that'll dry then out completely in a couple hours.

Pic2

Small bud I trimmed yesterday for sampling!

Last one, it's only letting me do one per post on my phone.

Sucks about the shade but looks like u will be fine.