How to combine time into a variable
You want to use snprintf for this:

char timeString[9];

snprintf(timeString, 9, "%02d:%02d:%02d", now.hour(), now.minute(), now.second());
Serial.println(timeString);


By using a format string like this you are taking into account time portions &lt; 10 (like 7 minutes and 23 seconds past 3 am, which would otherwise be 3:7:23) by padding the time with leading zeroes where needed.