light leaks?

[randgen]

So, Since I got a bunch of cables running into my closet I cant shut the door completely (dont wanna make any holes and shit cuz im renting). I keep hearing that light leaks will fuck up your plants, but is it really that big of a deal? I mean nature has moonlight right? So if I just keep the lights low outside the closet will I be alright?

[cannabeast]

i have a similar problem w/ my closet, it wont shut completely unless i put something heavy against it to keep it closed. As far as light leaks are concerned, i'd do what my friend suggested i do, make a garbage bag "blanket (using black bags of course), and tape this over the closet. That should help w/ the light leaks.

[randgen]

Thanks, yeah. I guess I could just unplug the lights and put the cables inside the closet if it really matters. Im just wondering if I really need to be that strict about it. Because I've been keeping my plants in my bathroom for the first three weeks and whenever I needed to use the bathroom during the dark hours I would just open the door slightly just to let enough light in so I could see what I was doing. Is this really a problem?

[Whywaitforit]

Light leaks can be a HUGE problem though. Mainly meaning Hermi's. Meaning all your beautiful females are no more.

[BKKG]

Do you really think that the people on these boards would warn so strongly against it and work so hard to prevent it if it really didn't matter much at all?

Light leaks are bad during dark periods, particularly during the flowering period. While your plant might be fine, it's also completely possible that the light leak (either by itself or combined with some other factor) will cause your plants to turn into hermaphrodites.

[amsterdamage]

yeah light leaks are a problem.

the plants monitor the length of the dark period, if it's short they'll grow vegetatively and if long they'll flower.

The mechanism they use is very sensitive and it takes a lot less light to trigger a response than is needed for photosynthesis. (Plants growing near street lights are observed to never flower because they never get short nights).


Maybe you can hang a blanket in front of the door, so it'll block the light but still make it easy for you to access the plants??

[randgen]

I was just trying to use some common sense. What about moon light in outdoor plants?

But yeah, I'll just unplug all the cables so I can close the door. It's an easy fix.

[amsterdamage]

moonlight isn't strong enough to affect most plants, although some plants in the tropics (where moonlight is strongest) have been observed to be affected by it.

mostly plants have set the cutoff intensity for their photoperiodic response to just above the strength of moonlight.