[BACKCOUNTRY]

Mr. Growitall- I could see how you could see earlier blooming with clones planting after the solstice, but with seed grown plants it is a different matter.
Seeds started later than mid June often lag behind their earlier sisters, I once tried starting plants in early July and ended up harvesting 3 weeks later than their April started sisters.

Generally, the basic rule is that most photo sensitive strains(that being any strain that uses light cycles to trigger bloom) of Cannabis gain the ability to bloom(mature) at about 7-9 weeks of age.
Now take a strain that is triggered to bloom @ July 25th, if you started the seeds around June 25th(the solstice is June 21st) that would give the plants 4 weeks to start blooming. Chances are the plants wouldn't be triggered for at least 3 weeks more, when they are more mature, even if they did bloom on time they would be tiny!

But like I said, I can see how this might work with clones Vs. seed grown plants, considering that they are mature already at planting, just waiting to bloom!

I disagree with the idea that the moon has anything to do with starting bloom, photosenstive plants(not just Cannabis) can not register moonlight because it is too weak to trigger their photchromatic cells. It does not seem to play any role what so ever.

[Dignan]

The idea behind plants from seed can start blooming earlier when put out later (that sounds confusing, but hopefully you guys know what I mean...) is that the older plants build up more floral inhibitors, hormones that "hold" a plant in a vegetative state and "resist" flowering. Younger plants have less time to build up floral inhibitors and will begin flowering earlier. Per Robert Connell Clarke, at least. Clarke allowed that this was just his own hypothesis, not necessarily fact.

My own experience this year has supported that theory... but what I've been doing hardly classifies as a scientific experiment and includes far too many variables to draw conclusions from.

And just because a plant begins flowering earlier doesn't mean that it necessarily finishes sooner.

Yes of course planting seeds after solstice is different, for this the plant must be old.
Though, growing plants from seeds indoors for a couple months on 24h light to then plant outside once solstice is passed would , I beleive, finish earlyer than if vegged outside. (example planting mothers)

As for the moon having any effect I can't say I have experimented with that but it makes sense to me. In a grow room it is always important to block any light leaks so that the dark period is completely dark. Many use green lights to do maintenance durring the dark cycle. The moon gives off white light, enough to be able to see the plants fairly well. No one would want that in their flowering room. In the situation where the outdoors is treated as a flowering room I would think that moonlight is not negligable. I would love to hear from someone who has experimented with that. Backcountry, do you have any info to back your disagreement or are you just supposing like me?

Dignan, I've been told by a breeder that the earlier a plant is put outside before solstice, the longer it takes to finish flowering. Because the plant figures out at what latitude it's at by how long it takes before the longest day of the year (solstice). For example, a self-seeded plant in the far north would be a lot smaller than one half way to the equator come solstice, because there was less time to grow from the last days of frost. So logicaly, the plant will have less time to finish before the first frost. So according to him plants adjust their schedule this way.

But I think it is not really based on time spent before solstice because indoors it doesn't matter how long you veg, the flowering time is consistent. Rather it is based on the rate of increase of light. Example: At the summer solstice (21 June 2003), the next day is just 4 seconds shorter. At the autumnal equinox (23 September 2003), the next day is 2:08 minutes shorter. This is the same for increasing light, the nearer to solstice the lesser the rate of change. So a plant could know at a very young stage how long it has to veg by the rate of change in daylight. Thus it could calculate the aproximate time it has to flower.

Keeping a plant on 24/0 or 18/6 light until being put outside or in a flowering room would then be a way to blind the plant into thinking it has all the time in the world. But then when the light cycle is changed, the plant switches immediately in panic to flowering thus giving consistant flowering times for each strain.

Anyone have any clue as to what I'm talking about? Do I think too much? Maybe I've been out of grass for too long...

Here is a graph to illustrate my point:

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Well, the basic consensus on OG and so far here(as far as I can see) is that Moonlight is simply too weak to have affect, despite how bright it might seem with a full moon on a super clear night, out away from human made light.

Full moon light is 500,000 times fainter than sunlight for one, very dim!

Here is a webpage that speaks about photoperiodism and controling it in commercial greenhouses, its on the University of Massachusetts website- PHOTOPERIOD CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR GREENHOUSE CROPS, U-Mass

Here is a quote from that page-

Originally Posted by Thomas H. Boyle, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

....Another important question is, can moonlight affect photoperiodic responses? The answer is no. The maximum intensity of bright moonlight is 0.02 ft-c, and this is not enough to be perceived as daylight by photoperiodically responsive plants....

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Originally Posted by Mr. Growitall

Dignan, I've been told by a breeder that the earlier a plant is put outside before solstice, the longer it takes to finish flowering. Because the plant figures out at what latitude it's at by how long it takes before the longest day of the year (solstice). For example, a self-seeded plant in the far north would be a lot smaller than one half way to the equator come solstice, because there was less time to grow from the last days of frost. So logicaly, the plant will have less time to finish before the first frost. So according to him plants adjust their schedule this way...

-This almost seems like a plausable theory, but I have to say again that this is not my experience with seed grown plants grown under natural light. Perhaps this does work with some very early Indica varieties(such as those commonly grown outdoors in N. Europe and Canada), but I have never seen this in my October finish Indica dominated strains.

[BACKCOUNTRY]

Perhaps you should post this question in a new thread so you can get more input from more members?

[Dignan]

I've heard many times about the smallest light leaks causing plants to reveg or, more commonly, turn hermaphrodite. I've even heard people claim that the little red power light on a heater or the cherry on a cigarette can have the same effect.

I personally have never experienced such small amounts of light triggering a plants behavior, but if that does occur, I would say that the Full Moon is certainly far brighter than those sources of light... which would lead me to suspect that it's the spectrum of light emitted by the Full Moon that accounts for the fact that its light doesn't affect photosensitive plants, rather than the relative intensity of the Moon's light.

Just thinking outloud here.

Hello,

Originally Posted by BACKCOUNTRY

Generally, the basic rule is that most photo sensitive strains(that being any strain that uses light cycles to trigger bloom) of Cannabis gain the ability to bloom(mature) at about 7-9 weeks of age.

Not a bit sooner, like one month, if the seedling is raised under good conditions and 12-hours-long days?

Photoperiod is sensed by the phytochrome system which has its peak absorbation at 670 nm, say far-red. Green light has thirty times or so less effect than far-red light has. A red "power on" light in a box can surely confuse plants.

The path of the sun is probably also a factor. Furthermore months of rain delay flowering. The effects of moonlight may be entwined with other mysterious effects. Somehow noone who grows marijuana keeps her candle lit long enough to gain experience over the years and finally draw her conclusions and reveal these secrets to us.

Shiva Mack is a drug/fiber hybrid and flowers right now. Some Shiva Haze (Sensi x Nirvana) are starting to flower. The drug/fiber cross Ruderalis Indica does not flower yet; a hinted auto-flowering intermezzo ended in summer.

Uli