Do light leaks always matter?
- Thread starter jfarrismu
- Start date
Tangerine_
Well-Known Member
Minor light leaks, like pinholes in tents or tiny led buttons on equipment dont have much of an impact, if any at all.
Interruptions in the light cycle are what causes adverse effects.
Interruptions in the light cycle are what causes adverse effects.
Severed Tongue
Well-Known Member
It's more about stress to the plant that causes herms,
like if your a helicopter grower messing with the plants everyday, changing the environment, changing the feed, changing the water, etc.
It's a simple thing to grow a plant. Nature does it just fine with NO human interaction.
like if your a helicopter grower messing with the plants everyday, changing the environment, changing the feed, changing the water, etc.
It's a simple thing to grow a plant. Nature does it just fine with NO human interaction.
Rufus T. Firefly
Well-Known Member
I think a better question is do they ever matter?
conor c
Well-Known Member
Id say it matters in my opinion cos even the silly wee red lights not covered on a oil heater or extension plug is enough to cause stress to a plant id say obviously its more important in flower but even in veg it aint good if ye canny fix all the light leaks etc grow autos is my advice as there more tolerant to photo period fuckery
Rurumo
Well-Known Member
Outdoor plants don't grow in pitch blackness, go out on a full moon and see how bright it is out there. It's always a good idea to ensure your tent has no light leaks, they are easy to fix and everyone should crawl inside at least once to make sure it's all good. That said, minor leaks won't have much of an effect, if any. Most hermie issues are caused by genetics and plenty of quality plants will throw out a banana or two near harvest time.
conor c
Well-Known Member
True but moonlight isnt very powerfull i think i read somewhere the general rule is anything over a foot candle will cause issues
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
My tents have Inkbirds, multiplug strips and a small heater. All with little lights. No problems. It’s strain and stress that cause hermies.
Lockedin
Well-Known Member
Working through a slight variation of this.
Wherever your tent / enclosure is
Set a timer for 5 min.
- while your grow lights are on and all zippers / flaps shut:
- turn off the lights in the room and shut the door. Get it as dark as you can.
- look at your tent. If it's anything like all 3 of mine - there will be light blasting through the zippers, seams and flap areas. Not a lot, but it will be obvious.
My 2x4 veg tent is in my flower room.
2x4 is on an 18/6 schedule
Room will be 12/12.
The plan is to wrap the tent with a thick blanket so that the light leaks don't affect my flower room.
I also used that to prevent leaks going into the same tent when it was a stand-alone grow.
hotrodharley
Well-Known Member
You’re going to have moisture problems I predict by doing this unnecessarily. Unless your tent is a net.
C. Nesbitt
Well-Known Member
I am not being careful with light on my outdoor garden this year and haven’t seen any hermie action.
The floodlight goes on most nights for 15-20 minutrswhen the dog goes out late, it’s bright enough to read by out at the plants. Probably 2x a month the floodlight gets left on all night accidentally.
Also have a couple of solar path lights that provide 4-5 extra hours of diffuse illumination each evening that hits the plants. One is basically right under a plant.
It’s not ideal obviously and it’s just a single observation, but the plants are all in full flower and I haven’t spotted any nanners yet.
For me risking stress on the plants was preferable to pissing off my spouse about the flood light and path lights. I’m happy she puts up with my growing of weed.
YMMV on light leaks.
Rufus T. Firefly
Well-Known Member
I guess folks will just have to figure it out for themselves.
Lockedin
Well-Known Member
Why would a blanket to block light affect my rh?
Did it with my 4x4 - LOTS of light leaks - but no rh spike.
edit - certainly not above being wrong!
Should probably point out that the tent pulls fresh air from a window.
Exhaust is currently to the room, but that will be re-routed to a window on the other side.
The room intake / exhaust will follow suit.
****************
Herm-wise, I do think strain makes a big difference.
A growmie of mine runs his outdoor in a light-polluted area --- low clouds reflecting the streetlights every night there's low clouds (often) --- no herms. He's running a mix of bag-seeds including Strawberry Kush from me with a warning:
Actually, the only herm I've personally seen was on my first grow - a genetic herm with a skirt of hairs and balls underneath (Strawberry Kush).
-I now run my lights at 11.5on/12.5off and that seemed to fix the issue with that strain. OR (my guess) ---
--- a true gen. herm. is just that rare and I got really "lucky"!
ComputerSaysNo
Well-Known Member
This.
Keep the tent shut, let the plants grow. There will never be perfect darkness in the tent, and the plants have not evolved in complete darkness at night (the moon has been mentioned already).
I have grown a plant on a window sill and I just didn't care. There were plenty of light interruptions at night when somebody turned on the floor way lights. Nothing bad happened at all.
Somebody here on RIU wrote that he put his outdoor plants under a patio light just to see what would happen. Nothing bad happened.
I guess if you have a strain that is not very stress resistant it will "hermie" for all sorts of reasons not related to light leaks anyway.