Light interuptions.

[Carthoris]

How many of you have suffered light failure? Yesterday the lights went off on me for the first time in years (a couple minutes tops). I'm curious if putting a system similar to the ones at stores where if the power goes off a light comes on would help keep from stressing them? Also, keeping a 26w cfl running in the room on the same timer as the hps. If the HPS bulb went out would the CFL keep them from getting confused? Or is the light not really bright enough after using the HPS? Has anyone grown a plant and purposely messed its night cycle up in the middle to see what happens? I haven't see anything like that.

Any thoughts?

Carthoris

 

[GoldenGanja13]

Many times I have had light issues. Had 6 1k hps and 16 ladies all in various stages, and never a hermie. That's what could happen if they get disturbed while they are sleeping.

 

[purplehazin]

I like that CFL idea... could relate it to a cloud covering your crop if outdoors...

 

[Carthoris]

I have seen lots of theories of why plants turn hermie, but its not like Nasa is doing tests to see what happens, ya know? Im definitely going to add a cfl to it just to have some light if the hps dies. I came up with the idea when considering buying a digital ballast and seeing how many people had issues with them.

 

[Spanishfly]

I don´t think the odd interruption will be a problem.

 

[Carthoris]

Has anyone read any actual studies where they tried to make a plant hermie using light disturbance? I'm wondering where this came from, Im not agreeing or disagreeing. Its obviously that changing the light to 12/12 induces flowering, however, is the instance of hermies that much higher if the light is interrupted? Anyone seen any real studies? I mostly see "I turned a light on in my room, and I had a hermie a month later" or anything like that. Ive read why light interruptions cause a hermie, but they sound more like theories than anything.

 

[a dog named chico]

I have lost power for hours during a grow cycle and have never had a hermie.

 

[Spanishfly]

Has anyone read any actual studies where they tried to make a plant hermie using light disturbance?

It would be nice to see - so much stuff is just read and then repeated as if it is gospel. My plants grow within 50´ of a bright sodium streetlight, with no problems.

 

[i8urbabi]

I actually use my own method for light timings. I figure since its a plant, and not a computer, it wont really notice the difference of an hour or so. I try to get my lights off around 9pm (12/12). Sometimes i dont get them off till 1030pm however. And turning them on, well i dont always feel like getting out of bed to do so lol, so sometimes i let her sleep in past 9am. Ive never had a hermie. Only grown SLH. 4 total. one at a time. And i use a combination of HPS and CFL and T5

 

[Magnificient]

It would be nice to see - so much stuff is just read and then repeated as if it is gospel. My plants grow within 50´ of a bright sodium streetlight, with no problems.

Messing up the light cycle is how they make feminized seeds, at least one of the ways anyway. They bag a limb off of a female plant and put it on 12/12 while the rest of the plant is on 20/4 veg. They dose it with gibberellins or some other hormone to try and get the one limb to go hermie..with pollen from that hermie limb they pollinate female plants and all, or very near all, of the seeds are female. I haven't done this, but I read about it.

 

[i8urbabi]

Messing up the light cycle is how they make feminized seeds, at least one of the ways anyway. They bag a limb off of a female plant and put it on 12/12 while the rest of the plant is on 20/4 veg. They dose it with gibberellins or some other hormone to try and get the one limb to go hermie..with pollen from that hermie limb they pollinate female plants and all, or very near all, of the seeds are female. I haven't done this, but I read about it.

ive heard its more of a certain time of when to harvest the seeds. but i could be provided wrong info, just lookin to see if we will find the answer maybe on this one. I think itd take alot of light issues to cause a hermie. Now if you put half a plant on 12/12 and the other half on 18/6 or w/e im sure you could confuse the hell out of it and cause a problem.

 

[GoldenGanja13]

It does not take much light interruption is 12/12 to cause a plant to hermie. When they are in `12/ dark and you flip a light on or have a light leak, it only takes few times before plant gets shocked and starts to hermie. be careful growers.

 

[Carthoris]

Golden, any studies that you can use to back up that position. Im not saying light interruptions dont cause hermies, I only want to know where this came from. Ive never seen anything but opinions and theories. Im willing to set up a cab just for testing this. What would convince everyone? Would 2 cabinets running with a cfl and then on one of the cabs a cfl that runs for 10 minutes in the middle of the dark period be sufficient? Every day 10 minutes, and if no additional hermies - then its false?

 

[elduece]

A CFL/powerstrip plugged into a UPS -Uninterpretable Power Supply battery backup should maintain photosynthesis if the power/HID go out. You must be committed to using HID/CFL combination lighting in the first place.

 

[elduece]

.....don't forget a separate timer for the cfls too

 

[Carthoris]

I would run a 26w cfl in each cab for 12/12 then at 6 hours on one cab I will run a cfl (whats the lowest watt cfl?) for 10 minutes(more or less). Honestly, it doesn't matter to me which is right, I just want to know the answer. I have never seen anything but conjecture as to why light interruptions cause hermies and definitely never seen 'proof'

 

[GoldenGanja13]

You could look it up any Growing Book. It is a fact that light interruption causes stress and stress cause's hermies.

Golden, any studies that you can use to back up that position. Im not saying light interruptions dont cause hermies, I only want to know where this came from. Ive never seen anything but opinions and theories. Im willing to set up a cab just for testing this. What would convince everyone? Would 2 cabinets running with a cfl and then on one of the cabs a cfl that runs for 10 minutes in the middle of the dark period be sufficient? Every day 10 minutes, and if no additional hermies - then its false?

 

[cerberus]

plants flower depending on their night schedule. (this is an abstract concept, i had to take it slow) they are not induced to flower because of 12 hr light cycles, its the extended night cycle. (12 hrs of light and 4 hours of night will not induce flowering 20 hours of light 20 hours of night will) check out jorge's book on growing.

so with this fact, a distruption during your day cycle won't cause any issues (consider it a stormy dark day) BUT a mess up during the night cycle WILL fuck with flower hormones.. don't waste your money and time on a daytime CYA machine, figure out the night time issue if you gotta tinker =)


peace

 

[Carthoris]

Golden, How can people grow where the light of street lamps shine on the plant or at night with the moon?

The plant has to have some sort of tolerance or it has to be a relative matter. Maybe since the sun is so bright the moon isn't visible. Kind of like when your inside at night and you walk outside it takes a minute for your eyes to compensate for the light. I'm sure there are lights from cars shining on every different kind of plant from the roads, and they don't all hermie. There has to be some sort of limit in the amount of light it takes to cause a hermie or other factors involved.

 

[Carthoris]

How does the plant tell the difference between a day interruption (2 hours of storms/eclipse) and a short night period?