how important is pitchblack darkness

Hello fellow growers,

this is my first plant. I have done a lot of reading, so i have an idea of what i am doing, but this is largely an experiment.

My plant is looking pretty big, so i am switching it to 12/12. Right now, i have the darkness during the day, and the light during the night. This is so when random people walk in during the day, they wont see my plant set up in the corner of my "loft."

So, i basically have the plant surrounded by 3 walls, and then for the 4th wall, i made a wall out of an old cardboard box, and made a roof out of cardboard as well... Does the plant really need to be in absolute darkness? will it not bud if there is partial light while it is in the dark mode?

mucho gracias

If the darkness period during flowering is interrupted , it will slow , if not stop the flowering period. You need the 12/12 to simulate winter coming. Having light on your plant during the dark period during flowering will def screw it up.

im not talking about direct light, im talking about light coming in from windows. i still have i would say 75% light blocked out, but there is other light.

Small light leaks will cause your plants to stress, and during flowering this can cause your plant to turn into a hermaphrodite. This can ruin your crop. At the least, it will slow your flowering process tremendously. Absolute darkness is pretty damned necessary, so you had better figure something out. Otherwise, you are just rolling the dice.

mucho gracias. ill get some black tarp or something. isnt that what duct tape is for?

Duct tape is fine unless you are dealing with temps higher than 85 degrees or moderate to high humidity. In those cases, I use aluminum tape because it is more resistant to high temps. Look into getting some panda plastic. It's totally light proof, and you can pick up some tarp zippers for pretty cheap.

jrod212 said:

im not talking about direct light, im talking about light coming in from windows. i still have i would say 75% light blocked out, but there is other light.

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doesnt matter if its 95% light blocked out, u need basically PITCH black.

is it really that hard for all you idiots to grow marijuana. Its a plant. Look around the world, and take in its needs for survival.

total darkness is not perfect. Look outside and judge how much light the world gives to harvesting plant types for its dark perioid. Moon light.
Fucking get some brains together, go drink a redbull and learn how the fuck to pay attention. YOU SUCK AT SEX IF YOU CANT GROW GREEN. FUCKING RETARDS IMO

Busto420 said:

is it really that hard for all you idiots to grow marijuana. Its a plant. Look around the world, and take in its needs for survival.

total darkness is not perfect. Look outside and judge how much light the world gives to harvesting plant types for its dark perioid. Moon light.
Fucking get some brains together, go drink a redbull and learn how the fuck to pay attention. YOU SUCK AT SEX IF YOU CANT GROW GREEN. FUCKING RETARDS IMO

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lol moonlight. go walk in the bush and try to find ur way around in that outstanding amount of light the moon gives u.

Busto420 said:

is it really that hard for all you idiots to grow marijuana. Its a plant. Look around the world, and take in its needs for survival.

total darkness is not perfect. Look outside and judge how much light the world gives to harvesting plant types for its dark perioid. Moon light.
Fucking get some brains together, go drink a redbull and learn how the fuck to pay attention. YOU SUCK AT SEX IF YOU CANT GROW GREEN. FUCKING RETARDS IMO

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Moron, probly thinks they grow under street lights too??

i think he means dont over complicate it.
even though he was a little cranky or sumthin
they wont explode if a little light comes through but do your best to seal it up.

socom3riot said:

lol moonlight. go walk in the bush and try to find ur way around in that outstanding amount of light the moon gives u.

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The guy has a point, though. No plant gets absolute pitch blackness out in nature, and yet, somehow, they manage to get on with their lifecycle, otherwise, we wouldn't have outdoor growers. Moonlight may not be much light, but it is some light.

And those same plants also get unrivaled intensity from natures hid, the sun. Compare the difference between full sun and full moon to that between lights on and lights off. Don't expect plants in an unnatural environment to behave naturally.

Well I do not know a ton about growing, but if you go out to the country and compare a night without moonlight to a night with moonlight there is a huge difference. You can see across a field and navigate quite well on a moonlit night. Where as when the moon isn't shining you can't take a step in front of you.
This is not observable if you live in the city or suburbs as there is sooo much ambient light that reflects from everywhere...

moonlight is reflected light

Busto420 said:

is it really that hard for all you idiots to grow marijuana. Its a plant. Look around the world, and take in its needs for survival.

total darkness is not perfect. Look outside and judge how much light the world gives to harvesting plant types for its dark perioid. Moon light.
Fucking get some brains together, go drink a redbull and learn how the fuck to pay attention. YOU SUCK AT SEX IF YOU CANT GROW GREEN. FUCKING RETARDS IMO

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What the fuck is wrong with you man? You come on here talkin' like a tough guy and expect people to listen to you. You're a punk dude and I bet you were a punk in the joint too. If we're to believe you just got out for doing time for 120 plants. If we are such retards then why would you even bother to answer questions, you obviously don't need any advise so why would you even bother to join a forum? Self important punk.

Ghost420 said:

moonlight is reflected light

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I see.

So that light bouncing off your mylar/white paint and reflector are just reflected light too?

Yes you do need practically pitch black... you could probably get away with 5 lumens maybe, like moonlight...but if its getting light from a street light itll mess it up