Is it possible to Veg Indoors and Flower Outdoors?

veg indoor marijuana plants grow outdoors

Finding the best ways to maximize yield when growing cannabis is an objective every marijuana grower strives for. On Cannabis.net – we’ve talked about several different ways you can increase your yield by introducing more CO2, using different light spectrums and so forth. Seed choices are important as well, Herbies is a good place to shop and get to know cannabis seed options.

However – in most of these cases, you’re still dealing with a singular grow space. By this we mean that you’re only focusing on maximizing your yield within your particular set up. But what if it was possible to grow in one area and then flower in another?

Dual chamber systems have shown us that this is very possible and can shave off a month from the process of growing cannabis. You can veg until the plants are a particular height – and then move them to the flowering room where you may use different lights and obviously different light cycles.

This isn’t anything new and indoor growers have been doing this for years. However – what if you were able to veg indoors, force flower – and then move it outdoors. Would you be able to complete the harvest using the sun alone? Are there any things you’d need to consider to make this happen? Does this mean you have a new grow space to consider?

In this article we’ll be addressing all those questions and more.

Will you be able to veg indoors and flower outdoors?

The short answer is YES! If you grow your plants for a month or a month and a half indoors – you can give those plants 24-hour light cycles. As long as you continually check the nutrient levels of the plant – you should be able to accelerate the natural growing cycle of the cannabis plant.

Once your plants have reached optimal height – you then force flower by switching the light cycles to 12:12. After a week or two, when you can physically see the plant express its sex – you can move it outside to a protected area.

Depending on what time of the year it is – you may have to play around with light dynamics to ensure that everything goes smoothly.

Summer Sun Modifications

The sun in the summertime stays out for about 17-18 hours a day, depending on where you are. This means that you’ll be overshooting the 12:12 by at least 5-6 hours. How does one solve this?

The easy answer is to create a system where you can cover your plant or move it indoors to the darkness every time it needs to sleep. The best however is to simply build a frame around the plant and when it’s time to cover them up – just cover them up.

However – it’s important that you ensure that enough air is circulated, meaning having an oscillating fan outside would not be a bad idea.

The frame can be built out of anything – I’d recommend PVC since it’s a very easy material to use and can build larger structures if you have more than one plant outside. If it’s just one plant – whatever you can muster would work. The idea is to simply ensure that the minimal amount of light seeps through.

While some folks believe that the plants need to be 100% in the dark during the sleep cycles – it’s not entirely true. Some light may enter into the night cycles – think full moon – but obviously, it’s always best to have the plants in as much darkness as possible.

Using Outdoors as a Secondary Flowering Room

While this technique won’t be a viable option for many people – for those who can safely grow a few plants outdoor – you could double your yield in the flowering stage.

To do this – you’ll veg indoor for about a month and then make a clone or two from each of the plants you’re vegging. Grow these for another month along with the other plants you are vegging.

You’ll then move the original plants to the flowering chamber and start the process. Roughly a month later – you’ll bring in the cloned plants and start their flowering process – except, these you’ll move to a designated area outside to complete their flowering in the sun.

When you’re ready to harvest the original plants – the second batch should be a few weeks behind. By the time you’re done drying the first set of plants – you should be able to start harvesting the second batch.

Of course – this is only really possible if you have a space where you can grow without having “outside forces [police, neighbors, etc]” interrupt. This technique can give you a significant boost in yield without costing you a lot more – after all, sunshine is free and will outperform most artificial light systems.

Try it for yourself!

Now that you know about the technique – let me know how it went.