I have a 250w setting, now equipped with a Metal Halide bulb. It's good for veg period but hardly useful for flowering, so I'll be getting an HPS bulb for that purpose. This had me thinking, how am I going to do the switch from MH to HPS without fucking up the plants in any way? Is it possible that, on the last days of 16/8 I'll take the plants out of the tent (during the 16 hours of light) into the normally lit living room, switch the bulb into HPS and go on with 16/8 for a day or two before flipping to 12/12? Will this wreck the light-cycle in any possible way?
When you want to do the switch, I usually just do it right after the last day of vegging. This means near the point where your light is about to shut off on its own. Then change the bulb, switch the timer to 12/12 and thats it.
So I'll switch the bulb during the last 8 hours of darkness before going 12/12? If so, will this not harm the light-period as some light may permeate into the tent during the bulb change?
No, it will not hurt. You are in the vegging state right now. It can have light 24 hours a day right now, so that little peak you are going to do won't hurt anything. In the future once they are really flowering you want to make sure they get total darkness for 12 hours every night.
Don't let any light leaks at all, even a crack of light in your room unless its green light will affect it. Possibly even hermie
Shouldn't harm it too bad, once or twice doesn't hurt. But not too many or it might confuse and go into flower. I was surprised mine wasn't when I lost power for 3 days, then my bulb got blown out 5 hours into my 12 hour flower cycle. Depends on strain, some are stronger than others. Try to avoid it as much as possible
Oh alright, I'll keep it in mind Thanks for the help! These ones I'm trying out as my first grow are actually bagseed, so I have no idea how they will eventually work out
You can veg your plants for 24 hours a day if you want and it will not hurt them. You can open the tent during vegging and it will not hurt them because they can have light 24/7 during that stage and they do not need a break. Once your 12/12 has been going for a couple of weeks, they will enter the flowering stage and then you do want your tent pitch black at night or only use a green light like the other users said.
Good questions but its not like your doing this long term. Plants are like all organisms and they adapt. Say todays the day to switch and regardless if its light or day if you do it it will have zero effect.
A plant in the wild is subject to moon light, star light, cars and other human caused light disturbance and they grow fine - so minor light leaks during flowering for 3-5min a few times during your grow shouldent have too much of a negative effect on your plants (from my experience)
I have also opened my tent before in the middle of the flowering season at night and I did not have a problem. I was usually in a room that did not have any windows which faced the sun and I had the lights off though. Pretty much as long as you are not shining light directly into the tent in the dark period then you should not have a problem. I think in my case the light probably had to bend in order to reach the tent which is probably not nearly as bad as being in direct line of sight with the light source.