SEVEN WEEKS? NOT OUTSIDE! — THE INDOOR FLOWERING-TIME TRAP THAT HAS PEOPLE COUNTING THE WRONG DAYS

Let’s settle one of the dumbest arguments I’ve seen floating around outdoor cannabis growing:

“This strain finishes in seven weeks indoors, so my outdoor plant should be finished in seven weeks.”

Uhh…

NO.

That’s not how the sun works.

And apparently somebody needs to explain this before somebody tries to sue September for not being October.

SEVEN WEEKS OF WHAT?

When a breeder says a strain has a seven-week flowering time, that number generally comes from growing the plant under controlled conditions.

INDOORS.

The grower controls the lighting.

The grower can take a plant from a long vegetative light schedule and deliberately put it into a flowering photoperiod.

Outside?

You don’t control the sun.

You can’t walk outside and say:

“All right, everybody! Starting Monday we’re going 12/12!”

The sun will basically tell you to go pound sand.

Cornell explains that Cannabis sativa is photoperiod-sensitive: as daylight decreases, the plant transitions toward flowering. Cornell also notes that outdoor day length in New York varies with latitude and date, and that varieties differ in when they flower.

That’s the entire point.

OUTDOOR NEW YORK IS NOT AN INDOOR GROW ROOM

An indoor plant can receive a controlled flowering photoperiod.

An outdoor plant in New York gets Mother Nature’s schedule.

The days gradually become shorter.

The nights gradually become longer.

The plant is responding to those changing conditions while continuing to develop.

So when somebody grabs an indoor chart that says:

“7 weeks”

and then looks at an outdoor plant and says:

“Seven weeks! CUT IT!”

they’re using the right calculator for the wrong damn equation.

It’s like using the cooking time for a microwave pizza to cook one in a wood-fired oven and then getting angry at the pizza.

THE CONDITIONS MATTER!

And this is where September gets exposed.

Here’s my point for outdoor growers in Upstate New York:

Do not confuse an indoor flowering-time estimate with an outdoor harvest date.

A strain being advertised as a seven-week indoor finisher does NOT mean your outdoor plant suddenly becomes genetically obligated to be finished in September.

In fact, for the overwhelming majority of outdoor cannabis plants growing in Upstate New York, September is simply too early to assume the plant is at peak maturity just because the calendar says September.

Some varieties can flower earlier than others. Some plants can develop faster than others. Weather, location, genetics and growing conditions all matter.

But the big point remains:

Seven weeks indoors does not equal seven weeks outdoors.

And if you’re growing outdoors in New York, mid-October and beyond is a much more realistic part of the conversation than somebody yelling “HARVEST!” the moment September shows up on the calendar.

Cornell’s own New York production material explains that flowering is tied to decreasing day length and that high-cannabinoid Cannabis continues accumulating floral biomass during the flowering stage.

So if somebody tells you:

“My strain is seven weeks indoors, therefore my outdoor plant is done in September.”

Ask them one question:

“Seven weeks under WHAT conditions?”

Because that’s the part they conveniently left out.

SEPTEMBER IS NOT A MAGIC HARVEST DATE

This is the part I really want outdoor growers to understand.

There is nothing magical about September 1st.

September 15th doesn’t come around and suddenly every outdoor cannabis plant in New York rings a little bell and says:

“Welp! Seven weeks are up! Time to chop!”

😂

That’s not how plants work.

For outdoor growers in Upstate New York, most plants are going to benefit from having the time they need to continue developing rather than being chopped early simply because somebody found a seven-week flowering estimate online.

Most outdoor plants are going to be much closer to their finish in mid-October or later than they are in September.

That doesn’t mean every single plant in every single location should automatically be left outside forever.

It means you should stop treating September like a universal harvest deadline.

Watch the plant.

Watch the weather.

Watch the forecast.

And understand the difference between an indoor breeder estimate and an outdoor growing season.

NICK, THIS ONE’S FOR YOU 😂

Nick Ellingsen recently suggested that everybody else was an idiot because he harvests his outdoor plants in September because his strain only takes seven weeks to finish indoors.

Nick…

My brother in cannabis.

The seven-week number you found didn’t come with a tiny invisible clause saying:

“Congratulations! This applies to every outdoor plant growing underneath the New York sun too.”

You found an indoor flowering estimate.

You can’t take an indoor timetable, throw a plant outside, change the entire lighting environment, and then act surprised when Mother Nature doesn’t follow your Google search.

That’s not how horticulture works.

And telling people that most outdoor plants should be cut in September because your particular strain finishes in seven weeks indoors?

That doesn’t make everybody else stupid.

It just makes the argument look stupid.

Again, Nick.

😂

UPSTATE NEW YORK HAS A FALL PROBLEM

Here’s another thing people forget:

New York is not California.

Our outdoor season has an expiration date.

The farther north you go, the higher the elevation, and the more exposed your plants are to changing fall weather, the more important that late-season weather becomes.

And there is no single statewide “first frost date.”

Cornell climate data show that first frost varies substantially depending on location and year. Some northern parts of New York can see frost much earlier than other areas.

So you can’t simply say:

“September is harvest.”

You also can’t blindly say:

“October 20th is harvest.”

The weather doesn’t care what date you circled on your calendar.

That’s why outdoor growers need to pay attention to the actual conditions where they live.

LET THE PLANT FINISH

This is where I think a lot of people get impatient.

They see flowers.

They see some color.

They see some trichomes.

They hear somebody online say, “Mine is done.”

And suddenly they’re standing outside with scissors like they’re on a countdown clock.

Relax.

😂

If the plant is healthy and the weather is cooperating, there is a big difference between having flowers on the plant and having a plant that has reached the point where you actually want to harvest it.

And that’s especially important in Upstate New York.

For most outdoor growers, the goal shouldn’t be to get the plant down as early as possible.

The goal should be to give the plant the time it needs while keeping an eye on the weather.

If you get into the later part of October and the weather is still cooperating, there may be no reason to panic simply because somebody online harvested three weeks earlier.

Their calendar isn’t your calendar.

Their latitude isn’t your latitude.

Their weather isn’t your weather.

And their seven-week indoor flowering estimate certainly isn’t your outdoor harvest date.

AND THEN THERE’S FROST

This is where common sense has to take over.

You don’t want to blindly leave plants exposed to a serious damaging freeze just to prove a point.

If an early frost threatens, you have to pay attention to your local conditions and make decisions based on the actual weather.

If the season cooperates and you make it well into October, great.

If a serious freeze is coming earlier than expected, that’s a different situation.

The important thing is not to confuse an early frost warning with some imaginary September deadline.

Mother Nature doesn’t hand every New York grower the same schedule.

Sometimes the weather gives you more time.

Sometimes it doesn’t.

That’s why you watch the forecast instead of Facebook.

THE SIMPLEST WAY I CAN PUT IT

INDOOR:

Controlled light → controlled flowering schedule → breeder’s indoor flowering estimate.

OUTDOOR:

Natural sunlight → gradually changing day length → environmental conditions → actual plant determines when it’s ready.

That’s it.

You don’t need a PhD.

You don’t even need a GED.

You just need to look up at the sky.

😂

SO WHEN SHOULD AN OUTDOOR GROWER HARVEST?

Not because some website said “seven weeks.”

Not because somebody on Facebook said “September.”

And definitely not because some guy named Nick said everybody else is an idiot.

😂

You evaluate the actual plant and the actual conditions.

For outdoor growers in Upstate New York, September should not be treated as the automatic finish line.

For the vast majority of outdoor plants, mid-October and beyond is a much more realistic window for plants to be approaching peak maturity than September.

And if the weather is cooperating, giving the plant the time it needs can make a hell of a lot more sense than chopping early just because an indoor flowering chart says seven weeks.

Remember:

INDOOR FLOWERING TIME IS NOT AN OUTDOOR HARVEST DATE.

And there is another important point:

There is no single statewide “first frost date” for New York.

Cornell’s climate data show that frost timing varies substantially by location and year. Some northern and higher-elevation areas can get frost much earlier than other parts of the state.

So don’t blindly follow the calendar.

FOLLOW THE PLANT.

Watch the weather.

Know your local conditions.

And don’t let somebody else’s indoor grow schedule convince you that your outdoor plant is late.

The seed breeder doesn’t control the sun.

Facebook doesn’t control the sun.

Nick doesn’t control the sun.

And thankfully…

NEITHER DO I.

I’m OG Strain.

And sometimes the easiest way to settle a cannabis argument is to stop arguing with the Facebook comments…

and look up.

🌞🌱

— OG Strain
The Plug’s Pages Magazine