How dark does dark need to be?

I bought a grow tent and set everything up. It leaks small amounts of light. I've tried to tape everything up, but there is still small amounts of light.

It is still so dark that I can't see my hands in front of my face. Its darker than moon light and star light and lights from back yard patios.

I read a lot on the web that says absolutely no light is acceptable. How realistic is this. On my tent there are air flaps. There is a small amount of light coming through those. I need the air, but I don't want the light.

I am frustrated. I think I've done a good job making it dark. There are little pin holes here and there where light can come in. I want to run the lights during the day and have it be dark at night, this way no ambient light can leak though.

Can anyone help me solve my light problem? Is it really a big deal that it has to be so dark not even a pin of light can leak though? I feel this is impossible.

What if this light that leaks through is less than mother nature would provide to plants growing outside in the dark?

You are probably fine. As long as its not as bright as one lumen from 1 foot away from your plant you should be ok. Light dissapates so quickly that even a little pin hole of light would not affect anything.

If it is a small amount of light coming in through lower vent flaps then you should be ok. Small amounts of light will not harm the plants too drastically.





J

I have a PC grow with a tomato in it. I can't even put the side of the case on it, I just rest it over the plant and it covers like 90% of it. I've had no problems at all (obviously they can't hermie) they are in flower in working out nicely. People take light leaks too serious

Aww! U can never take a light leak to serious! If u have light leaks, small or big, could cause ur plants to hermie, id try my BEST to fix them, if not, just make do with what u have

vapedup said:

Aww! U can never take a light leak to serious! If u have light leaks, small or big, could cause ur plants to hermie, id try my BEST to fix them, if not, just make do with what u have

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I don't believe it does cause it to hermie at all. I grew pot in a closet with a sectional door and knew for a fact that the door let a LOT of light in. I grew a few plants no problem at all. Hermie is down to genetics, not "stress"

u can get a few arguments in here over that question because as u mentioned when outside there are stars , moon , etc but to be honest as long as you aren't stressing your plants by goin in the tent too often with direct light your gonna be fine. wouldnt worry bout it mate.

You really need to turn the lights on for a second or two to interrupt the photoperiod. Very weak light leaks into a grow room aren't harmful. Where do you draw the line? IDK. Couldn't find anyone who actually measured how much light would interrupt the process.
I'm sure you'll be fine.

i draped black poly over my tent before i go to bed and i take it off when the lights come on, helps take care of any light leaks i have. but i also have my tents in a room that is about 99% dark.

This is awesome guys. I was really upset over this. Now I feel much better. I'm a "newbie" and I want everything as perfect as I can make it. I bet its like when you are raising your first child, you are a lot more strict and worried, but subsequent children aren't worried about so much and can pretty much do anything. My 10 rooted clones are arriving tomorrow...just doing some last minute things to get ready for them.

so long as it isn't direct light you will be fine.

What else you got to do, fix the light leaks, use aluminum tape from Homer Depot, it's in the heating section. Duct tape drys out and falls off. It's Duck tape not duct tape. Good for everything where there is no heat.

You never know.....if your strain of MJ is light sensitive why take a chance. I am not a no light freak, but I do believe in giving my plants the best enviorment I can to grow in, my reward is big yields and knock out smoke. What do you want for your plants?

If you don't sweat the small stuff, eventual everything becomes small stuff

skunkushybrid01 said:

so long as it isn't direct light you will be fine.

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That would mean you could leave a door open or window. Very bad advice.

I agree with woodsman here that everything can become small stuff.

For now i would say dont worry too much especially if you cannot see your hand infront of your face.



Once i changed my grow room completely around and upgraded all of my equipment i became anal about my environment and now have ZERO light leaks. But this is after investing heavily in my room.




J

planehopr said:

This is awesome guys. I was really upset over this. Now I feel much better. I'm a "newbie" and I want everything as perfect as I can make it. I bet its like when you are raising your first child, you are a lot more strict and worried, but subsequent children aren't worried about so much and can pretty much do anything. My 10 rooted clones are arriving tomorrow...just doing some last minute things to get ready for them.

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Just because you can feed a baby chips and pop does not mean it good for them, if you want to be an average grower than do nothing, if you want to be the guy everyone looks up to in growing don't pick up any bad habits by being slack, just look at some of the answers WTF.

No you do not need 100% dark, but your plants can tell the difference and you can't. If I have a choice than 100% is it. This is not so much about the light now it's more about developing world class gardening experience, knowledge and habits.

So the path is there

woodsmaneh! said:

That would mean you could leave a door open or window. Very bad advice.

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yeah course it is... which is why plants flower just fine under moonlight, lightning and street lights.

I'm also of the opinion that people worry way too much about maintaining "absolute" darkness.

Under normal outdoor growing conditions plants are exposed to moonlight and starlight at night and flower just fine. Absolute darkness simply isn't necessary.

Next, even if your grow chamber has a small light leak, only a small part of the plant is going to be exposed to light, again, probably not going to make any difference. The biggest reason you want your cab to be absolutely light tight is to prevent light from leaking OUT, because that makes the grow area highly conspicuous. A small amount of light leaking IN isn't going to hurt anything.

You don't want to run the main lights during dark periods if you can help it, but I can tell you anecdotally that a few seconds of normal "room" light will NOT prevent a vegetative plant from flowering. I can also say that once a plant has truly established flowering, its really not that easy to revert it to vegetative growth. Yes, this definitely can be done, but it takes re-exposure of the plant to long periods of high intensity light again, not just a minute or two of indoor type light.

i have my lights on at night and open my tent regularly in the day , i just shut in curtains , its obviously not dark but the plants have always been fine ....

skunkushybrid01 said:

yeah course it is... which is why plants flower just fine under moonlight, lightning and street lights.

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have to agree with this I have 6 plants budding on my top deck 30 ft away from a yellow sodium street lamp that comes on every night at 7 and I have never bought bigger juicier looking/smelling nugs than I am about to harvest!

i told you this would start an argument!!lol....tbh if possible have no light leaks but if u cant and theres nuthin you can do then just live with it, chances are nuthing will happen. ive popped hermie's during 'perfect' grows...shit happens although what i would advise is purchasing sum Dutch Masters Reverse, its an anti-hermieng treatment and ive had great success with it, not only on my own grows but on friends too............. On their plants.....not themselves.......i've never got that close to friends to find out if they're hermaphrodites