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Winter Gardening with Ed Rosenthal | Part II

The
three clones that were transplanted into 5-gallon soft-sided containers spent
the month of January sitting on a table in the greenhouse receiving ambient
light as well as the continuous light f

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Click here for part III of Ed’s Winter tutorial. 


The
three clones that were transplanted into 5-gallon soft-sided containers spent
the month of January sitting on a table in the greenhouse receiving ambient
light as well as the continuous light from a white LED fixture. They filled out
a bit but the light kept the plants very dense, without much intermodal length.
So they are only about 18 inches tall.

Shortly
after planting, a friend asked me to hold a couple of clones he had purchased at
a dispensary for a couple of days, until he left for home upstate. I placed the
3-inch containers on top of two of the 5-gallon containers. However, he left
town without retrieving the plants. I left also. When I returned 10 days later,
the roots had grown into the larger container.

The
cold days of January are past. The temperature is not likely to go below 45
degrees at night anymore, and daytime temperatures stay in the high
60s, occasionally climbing into the low 70s. It’s time to move the plants
outside to bask in the sun. With direct light on them, leaf temperature stays
warmer than the surrounding air, increasing the photosynthetic rate, which rises
with higher temperatures.

They
are joining an older plant, transplanted into a 5-gallon soft-sided container
around January 25. I placed a sealed electric heater set at 72 degrees at the
bottom of the container to keep the roots warm and protected from the January
chill. The plant was purchased at a dispensary as a 3-foot-tall branched
adolescent still in the vegetative stage.

As
soon as it was placed outside it began to switch to flowering growth, because
the dark period was more than 13 hours, which forced the plant to begin to
flower. The dark period is decreasing daily, but will remain longer than 12
hours until the Spring Equinox on March 22. The adolescent is now in its fourth
week of flowering. Its growth has been delayed a bit by cool weather, but with
the warmer days the flowers will have a growth spurt.

Before
they were filled with coir-based planting mix all the containers were outfitted
with wicks made from 3/8-inch braided nylon rope. They hang down from the holes
at the bottom of the pot. When the ends are placed in a reservoir they
transport water up to the planting mix using capillary action. The reservoir and
supports will soon be installed. One advantage is that only the reservoir has
to be kept filled so chores are reduced. Secondly, the containers water
themselves as needed.

The
plants have spent their first day under the sun. Tomorrow the sun will rise at 7:01p.m. and set at 5:45p.m., providing 10 hours and 44
minutes of light. The dark period is 13 hours 16 minutes. The long, dark period
will promote the fast switch from vegetative to flowering mode.

TIP
OF THE MONTH FROM ASK ED®

Are you planning to grow some BIG
plants this year? Now’s the time to get started. If you can obtain quality
clones they may be the best to start with because they are known females, have
a quality background, and give you about two weeks more growing time than
seeds, which take a couple of weeks to really start growing quickly.

Transplant the clones into soft-sided
containers as soon as you get them. Then provide them with 18 hours of intense
light daily. It can be all lights or a combination of sunlight and lights. You
can take the plants out for the sun during the day and use High Pressure Sodium
lights indoors. In a couple of months, when it’s planting season, you will have
plants that have a head start and have developed their infrastructure. They
will be months ahead, ready to grow really big.

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