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Great Thread!
I'm a desert grower, but decided to experiment with an indoor-outdoor grow.
It's labor intensive, but I've found ways to compensate for the lack of humidity and intense sun and heat.
My girls are all in 3 gallon pots, 5 of which fit into a rolling garden cart. I fill the bottom of the cart with river rock, then add an inch of water to help with humidity.
Then I wrap each pot in layers of wet newspaper, and lay strips of wet newspaper on the top of each pot's soil. Only the leaves are now showing. I then cover the sides of the cart with shadecloth, so the cart itself won't get so hot.
The plants have been out every day, in temps reaching 104 degrees, and have done fine, showing no stress. The soil is always cool when I check it.
About 3 pm, it really gets super hot, so i move the plants into the shade until sundown, when I take them all inside, and put them in my grow room. In the grow room, I have a humidifier that keeps the room at about 60% humidity, and it's also air conditioned, and has a good sized overhead fan.
I'm now into 12/12 flowering, and still letting the plants stay outside during the day. They are very healthy and happy, in spite of the intense sun and desert heat.
But like others have already said, never let the soil get too hot or dry. Overwatering is not normally a problem here in the desert. My plants drink about a gallon a day each.
Here's a picture of some of my plants in the desert sun. You can see they are green and healthy, in spite of the direct sun on them most of the day.
Last edited by mojavemama; May-22-2009 at 17:53.
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