Hello, I have a lot of plants outside at the moment and they are in the early vegetative stage so need as much light as they can get. As its early in the growing season it has been difficult to get enough hours of sun and I was therefore wondering if it is safe for my plants to be brought in at night and be put under some Metal Halide lights to boost there vegetative growth. In the morning, around 7am I would bring them out again. Can changing the light source from the sun to artificial lighting on a daily basis cause any problems like messed up flowering times or hermaphrodites. I am really stuck on what to do here as I am not sure if its safe? Thanks and peace
The constantly shifting light intensity and spectrum, along with the humidity and temp shifts, can indeed induce stress in the plant which then can lead to hermaphrodites and stunted growth. If you're frost free at this point, you're probably better off just leaving them outside. Even with a shorter period of light, natural sunlight throws more lumens on the plants and that will likely make up for the shorter exposure time anyway. You'll save on your power bill too.
Yeah I had tried an experiment like that and my beautiful plant had became retarded and it stressed the hell out of her. Its best to stick to one or the another.