running lights at night to avoid daytime heat

So I run my lights at night to keep the temp down. I've been trying to bud now but the pistols aren't filling in. My qustion is do you think I'm f ing up by opening the tent during the day... the plant get a little ambient light and I think it's the issue, but I hope someone has experienced this and can weigh in. Thanks!

If your in veg who cares, flower it’s more serious.
I run my lights at night too,off 530pm-1130pm in veg, it helps with heat in the summer but also helped my electricity bill.
I do all my laundry and dishes when lights off to keep my draw down

do you think a little ambient light could kind of mess up the plant from going into full bud mode? I open the door during the day so I can shut down my ventilation fans. also to save elec. I read somewhere that under a certain amount of light the plant can't register it.. But now I think you need total darkness for good bud development. what do you think?

kmclean562 said:

do you think a little ambient light could kind of mess up the plant from going into full bud mode? I open the door during the day so I can shut down my ventilation fans. also to save elec. I read somewhere that under a certain amount of light the plant can't register it.. But now I think you need total darkness for good bud development. what do you think?

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It's the length of uninterrupted darkness that matters (as opposed to amount of light/day). Not a good idea to allow any light to interrupt the dark period while flowering.

Keep It completely dark and avoid working in the tent while its lights out. If it's absolutely necessary to open the tent up for whatever reason make sure the room the tent is in is completely dark and use a green bulb to light up your tent. I run my lights at night as well but I never go in lights out. I do all my work at night.

jcdws602 said:

Keep It completely dark and avoid working in the tent while its lights out. If it's absolutely necessary to open the tent up for whatever reason make sure the room the tent is in is completely dark and use a green bulb to light up your tent. I run my lights at night as well but I never go in lights out. I do all my work at night.

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I agree with everything you say.I even have green bulbs for night lighting.
I just don’t give a crap during veg. Over the years I’ve ran 18/6, 20/4,24/0 veg.doesn’t really matter.
Now I just do 18/6 because it saves me a pinch on electricity and I’m not in a huge rush as nothing I grow is for profit.so if I’m in veg I don’t care if I go in during ‘night’ time that much.

but I don’t disturb during flower at all

Yeah during veg it doesnt matter. I too now go 18/6 for the same reason as well.

thanks everyone for sharing.. I was about to throw out my garden and start over. I was wondering why they just weren't really budding after 3 weeks at 12 12.. I've wasted so much time and elec.. ill give it a while complete darkness and see what happens. Anyways I'm learning a lot.
Thanks

kmclean562 said:

thanks everyone for sharing.. I was about to throw out my garden and start over. I was wondering why they just weren't really budding after 3 weeks at 12 12.. I've wasted so much time and elec.. ill give it a while complete darkness and see what happens. Anyways I'm learning a lot.
Thanks

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You need complete darkness for 12 hours, and keep the ventilation running 24/7. If you shut the fans off when the lights are off, the humidity in your tent will spike too high and cause other issues.

kmclean562 said:

thanks everyone for sharing.. I was about to throw out my garden and start over. I was wondering why they just weren't really budding after 3 weeks at 12 12.. I've wasted so much time and elec.. ill give it a while complete darkness and see what happens. Anyways I'm learning a lot.
Thanks

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What do you consider not really budding? They take a lot of time to fill. They won't start really bulking up until near the end.

I always do night lights on as my elecy is a lot cheaper from 8pm to 8am

My lights are on from 12pm to 12am in the winter, and 5pm to 5am in the summer. Gardening in the evening makes my personal life more complicated. Wintertime, when the growing is easy.

twentyeight.threefive said:

What do you consider not really budding? They take a lot of time to fill. They won't start really bulking up until near the end.

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The pistols haven't been growing.

kmclean562 said:

The pistols haven't been growing.

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Is this your first grow? It sounds like you are just being impatient. 2 weeks from flip isn't the same as 2 weeks of flower. My current photos at 2 weeks from flip didn't have a ton of pistil growth.

Take a picture of these pistils, how well developed they are at 3 weeks is strain dependent.