Outdoor light leaks, am I in trouble?!

theganjamonger

New Member
Ok here's the deal, im growing high altitude in Colorado guerilla style. It was a challenge from the start but luckily my girls survived hail, dry soil(forgot to water one day), and cold nights. Idk when plants normally flower in this area but my girls were started indoors for 2 months(started flowering all are female) then I was forced to try growing outside. I can't wait until late September to harvest so I put large black trash bags over them at night starting around 8pm I take the bag off at 8:30am(in hopes i can harvest mid august) I started this 2 days ago. This morning i took the bags off and noticed small holes where light can leak in(i double bagged) the top of my largest female is pushing out what looks like a male preflower, idk though ive seen pistols start like balls and the a hair comes out. could i have caused her to hermie aleady? My question is is it necessary to force flower or will they flower even though days are 15-14hrs long? All still are pushing out hairs but Idk if they will reveg or flower. I need an experts opinion. Is the black bag method a waste of energy? I stuck sticks in the pot to keep the bag from smooshing them and they seen to be fine with the bags.
 

Bakatare666

Well-Known Member
I put my two girls out into 14+ hour light per day after two months veg, with no problems, and I don't cover them at all at night.
Both are flowering fine.
I don't think there's much to worry about with moon and such, (there's moon out in the wild, right?:wink:) just street lights, porch lights, etc.
 

theganjamonger

New Member
It's not the nights im worried about theres 2 hours of sunlight before I take the bag off in the morning, for all I know light got through the holes. If u really think they will continue flowering with 14hrs then ill trust u I just thought it had to be 12/12. Can fluctuations in the light schedule be bad? I've already started 12/12 if I go back to regular I might confuse them.
 

Bakatare666

Well-Known Member
It's not the nights im worried about theres 2 hours of sunlight before I take the bag off in the morning, for all I know light got through the holes. If u really think they will continue flowering with 14hrs then ill trust u I just thought it had to be 12/12. Can fluctuations in the light schedule be bad? I've already started 12/12 if I go back to regular I might confuse them.
Either way man, it's up to you, but like I say, I've got enough sunlight to see by from before 6 A.M. until after 8 P.M., and my 3 are flowering, and all I'm doing is watering when there's not enough rain.
What most people mean when they talk about fluctuation in light schedule is frequently forgetting to turn on or off the lights, or changing the on/off times every week.
If you're already covering them for the night, and 2 hours of morning sun, you may as well continue for another month or so until the light hours drop if it's not too much trouble.
Just be careful you don't get too much condensation in the bags and get mold.
Check out my link.
https://www.rollitup.org/outdoor-growing/632050-2-new-seeds-started-outdoors-32.html
 

EZmooover

Active Member
Black plastic with 2 hours of sunlight? I'd be more concerned with trapping dew humidity and heat. In the dark... it almost sounds like an incubator for mold.
 

theganjamonger

New Member
^^^
It's normally 45 at night and 60 early In the morning. The key word is high altitude. Inside the bag it's probably 80 Colorado is dry af I don't think humidity in the bag is that high. The soil is never wet just moist 2" down. I have sticks in the pots to kind of make a tent out of the trash bags which are quite big. my main concern is finishing in time before first frost in September. How do I know if they are flowering? They aren't making that many more pistols theyre just growing taller/bushier cuz I just transplanted to a 3gal pot.
 

Bakatare666

Well-Known Member
If you're seeing pistils, the preflowers are right around the corner, then 8-14 weeks of flowering depending what you're growing.
 

mr sunshine

Well-Known Member
It never really gets to be 12and12 outdoors. its more like 13 and a half or 14hours when it starts flowering if your worried about the frost build a hoop house.
 
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