Light dep crop rotation

Chunky Stool

Plant Destroyer
I live in the Pacific northwest and grow both indoors & outdoors.
It is very important for plants to finish by Oct 1 because our weather becomes too wet & cold. (Can you say "bud rot"? ?)

A couple of years ago I tried light dep by creating a dark area under our deck w/hanging tarps. It kinda worked but there were many light leaks -- and moving plants every day is a royal pain in the ass, even when they're small.

Last year I brought plants indoors to finish, which also kinda worked but there were various issues with that strategy...

This year I invented my own version of 'crop rotation'.
I brought half my mature outdoor plants indoors around June 1 and flipped them to 12/12.
On July 1 I moved the indoor plants back outside and brought the remaining veg plants indoors to flip.

OK, it actually took more than a day because all of my outdoor plants needed major pruning so I still have a couple of large plants to get insid.
Not a big deal as long as they all start flowering before July 15. That way they'll get at least 10 weeks to finish if they need it.
Ideally they would finish mid-Sept.

What do you think?

Am I crazy? :chasing tail:

Is there a better way?
 

OldG

Elite Hobbyist
I am thinking of doing something along those lines but outside.

Maybe force the flower of the next round of plants in 1 week so they finish before Oct 1....rippers get active that weekend,

Ideally a frame construction box....with a tarp entrance would be ideal i think. I have a great spot under these giant blue spruce and I WILL have something more sophiscated for next yeaer so i can grow them in 10s and start march 1 indoors out on may 24 chopped by august 1 for round 1....and one more round tarting flower mid july finishing oct 1...and that one nature can take over around aug 15 when we start flowering the natural light way.
 

Manidoo

In Bloom
I have been working inside and outside as well for years and in the region I live in there's a microclimate similar to yours here though much cooler. I don't like to push anything here past September due to the way mold overrides everything that is not resistant.

Light dep here beginning next week and I will be using black tarps. With this said I have brought out several plants I flipped inside for 2-3 weeks in 10/14 photoperiod. Once there's enough hormones building inside the plant I then take it out to the greenhouses so I can watch it under the sunlight as it matures and finishes. I wouldn't do it with equatorial types or those from the Southern Hemisphere as I don't think that would be successful unless done later in the summer of course. But under the 15/9 the girls are just fine and maturing without any issues.

I even had some flowering outside back in April due to the early warm up and I didn't really care about these plants as they would have been culled inside anyways. They did great until the temperature dropped to 28 degrees at night and some survived it, most didn't lol and it's all good cuz I got to explore and play with unwanted seedlings and I have herb that finished in May and early June.

Another thing with light dep that I have found that helps immensely is to avoid full sunlight during the flip if possible. I have positioned my own greenhouse in a partial sunlit place where I am able to take advantage of the back end and partial shading.. The front has full light exposure and I just sense where each plant will be best once they've been flowering for a few weeks. Those with the thinner leaf I let get more light and the opposite with the broad leaf ones I let have more shade to finish faster as they photosynthesize a lot more than the narrow with less leaf surface and leaf also I employ a shade canopy over the greenhouse during the brightest days of the transition just to help build up the hormones and ensure that the girls get enough rest




Best of luck with your journey..
 
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