I know about no light what so ever during FLOWER when its dark....what about during VEG. How harmful is light during dark hours while in VEG???
It wont cause the harm that it would if they were flowering, but it is not a good practice. Low stress to no stress is what you want to shoot for at every stage of your grow.
We all strive for perfection in our grows and zero light during the dark phase is the perfect standard...however, I have learned from years of experience that these plants are very hardy and recover well from even our most egregious mistakes...being exposed to a small amount of light during veg will do very little harm...and maybe none...though the standard says that we maintain total darkness...I would strive towards this but not overly worry should that standard not be met...in flower though, it really is important to maintain darkness even if not doing so just means slowing you down a bit and retarding harvest by several weeks....the light during flower can cause unneeded stress and all sorts of issues....just remember that we strive always for the perfect standards...
Darks dark, why risk it. A littles fine but why set yourself up for bad habits which could lead to failure. In an emergency use a green light, other then that there's no reason to be in there. Learning to leave your grow alone is a good habit imo, not always easy, but good
LOL, I'm at the stage where I have to motivate myself to do any work. On topic: I leave my grows wide open during veg, never even close them up. My spare veg area is a table in the middle of my basement. Never noticed any negative effects from it.
Lights out should mean no light at all IMO. I know some people use a green light but its best to just not disturb them during the dark period.
since I haven't hit that stage by now, I doubt I ever will after all this time. Don't stop learning and for me it says new and interesting. Leaving your grow open may not have a negative effect, but keeping it closed and not loosing the lumens you pay for will definitely have a positive effect. Just differences in views on growing I guess
If it's vegging and its getting 18+ hours of light it doesn't matter what happens during the 6 hours of darkness. plants aren't like animals, all they know is if they are supposed to be flowering or vegging. If they don't get 10+ hours of uninterrupted darkness per day they are vegging. Stress happens when the plant thinks it's going back and forth between them because of their dark period is being broken while in flower. But if it's vegging, any interruption in darkness just keeps them vegging. It's not stressful at all
OK...plants like routine. That said, it's well known that they can be vegged under 18/6, 20/4, 22/2, or 24/0 with equal ability and no demonstrable change in end result. people argue endlessly in support of the way THEY do it, but so far as I've been able to find out, there is NOBODY out there with proof that one is superior to another in effect. Which would mean they really won't give a rat's ass. Worst case scenario, you're fucking up the routine they're used to. Which DOES have consequences...I had to switch from 20/4 to 24/0 for about a week a bit back, due to temperatures...my plants slowed their growth, and picked right back up when I was able to go back. But I've also vegged under 24/0 from the outset, and end result was good. I've had the lights on an 18/6, but the tent open and the lights in the house turned off at irregular hours (insomniac kid, and I have some odd habits at times)...plants still grew great, and stayed healthy. But it won't kill them or harm them appreciably. The reason it's so important during flower is, for light triggered plants, you can very easily trigger them to go back to vegging stage...which stresses the plant, ruins your crop, and puts you back pretty much to square one.
Yea I hear ya man, reflectivity helps with your final yield when flowering but not so much during veg, at least not in my growroom. There are much more productive ways to increase growth rates than just closing a flap, this auto is only a month in and she yielded 4 oz at the end. Never closed my tent once during her lifespan. These photo's yielded 6oz each, flap open during veg. Total harvest weight for one grow - 38oz Mix your own soil. Use plenty of aeration. Add mycos when planting/transplanting. Use quality compost. Use silica regularly. Keep the plants well fed. Train them to take full advantage of available light. These things have a very pronounced effect, much more so than just closing a flap IME. That being said, most of us have self-sustaining grows. My electric bill is a fraction of what my harvest is worth, so I don't really think of it as something that I have to pay for. It's covered. Cheers bro!!
^ his post is spot on, though the silica bit in a soil grow is unnecessary, and the same effect can be achieved by shaking the plants gently daily, or simply brushing your arm across the tops for 10 or 15 minutes through veg. Reason that's a good thing is NASA did a study on zero-G growth...the plants they shook daily grew much stronger stems...so strong they survived the trip home and a transplant, finished growing, and produced unusually sized seed pods (vegetables, several sorts). Which is the same thing silica does. So that one's your choice...add silica to the soil, or spend an extra half hour or so a day on your plants mimicking a mild breeze for them.
LOL, my point that I totally forgot to mention is that lower temps outweigh any lost reflectivity, pretty easy to make up for the couple of grams or lost growth rates with better care.
That's pretty interesting, how did they compare to the other benefits of using silica ie; heat stress?
I've been growing organic for years, by myself, didn't need GC to learn that. I'm sorry that suggesting to close his tent doesn't agree with you. That's why this site is so pathetic. Nobody can even make a suggestion without somebody trying to prove them wrong. Since you know everything, please share with the world how you get free electricity. Lumens come from your light which is powered by the power company that you pay. How do you not pay for lumens? Solar panels, wind mill, ride a stationary bicycle, that powers a small generator? How do you get free electricity? With the door open the lumens you pay for go straight out the door, that's why growers who know what they're doing suggests to close the door and put reflective material everywhere, that and being able to better maintain the environment. Reflectiveness IS more important in flower, so what? Not that you have to do it, but I made a suggestion to keep the door closed. Why start bad habits? Are you suggesting to leave the door open or are you just looking to prove someone wrong? Please have a clue with what your talking about when your trying to make someone sound wrong. This is why I deleted this site last night, but apparently still get reply emails. Zero information to learn here that can't be learned by looking anywhere else. The site has been ruined by a bunch of fools trying to prove they're smarter then the rest. You don't worry about lumens, well I have a large grow, every penny counts, its called cost effectiveness and something seasoned growers think about every day, even on small grows.
Take it easy man, the info we post is for OP's benefit, not yours or mine. Nothing personal, post your opinion and why you feel that way, and let OP decide. No reason to get all over people's shit like you've been doing, if this place sucks it's because of the negativity. Keep it positive man.
your reply was to me, not the op. How does not saving the op $ and not suggesting ways to get the most from his light system, benifit anyone? I had a positive attitude when I came here. Couple days of this argumentative, childish site will knock that out of you. Don't want replies from me, then don't reply to me. Don't want to sound ignorant, then don't suggest people to throw $ out the window. I'm done with this site, there's absolutely nothing to learn here, please be done with me and go on about your day.
Eh, I half expected you to engage in productive discourse but after seeing the way you responded to detrius I wasn't surprised with your outburst. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
you wanted to engage in productive discourse with me, hmmm that's funny your other post said you were talking to the op. I'm an mmj patient too, I'm just not inflected with bi-polarism like you must be, I'm really sorry to hear that, its got to be tough. I like the part about detruis, especially since you were check marking ( liking or whatever) my comments I made to the fool......have a nice day....keep replying, I'll keep replying.....that is how this site works after all isn't it?....come on let's argue and fight like everyone wants too on this sad site, detruis did. You try n prove me wrong, I'll do the same it will be fun....come on man for the spirit of GC let's do it. Disclaimer...shut the fk up I shut the fk up