During the 12-off, I've read that you need total darkness. Outdoor growers would have to endure moonlight (and even starlight during new moons). My situation. Neither my closet, nor my DIY growbox, are lightproof. I am currently flowering in my closet and vegging in the growbox. During the off-cycle, I make sure to keep all lights in the room off (except the veg box of course). The door has a small hole (4"x6") cut in a corner for wires and ventilation. Basically, my girls are getting a tiny bit amount of light, but not even a full lumen (think flame from your lighter in a pitch black room). Should I be worried about my girls?
I agree with weed4dummies... Total darkness man if possible.. If not, problems will show later on down the road..
So outdoor growers just have to 'deal' with moon light? I don't believe that plants outdoors are more prone to become hermaphrodite just because they are outdoors. And I guess I'm already worried...otherwise I wouldn't be here . Just looked up that moonlight gives 0.2 lumens/sq ft (full moon). Sooo...is this the magic number to stay under? Maybe half, since its not a full moon every night?
Id say the magic number to aim for is 0.better safe then sorry, is there any way for you to cover the hole for wires?
Even if you can rig up something that is like a cloth, that just hangs over the hole, and the wires can easily get through, but the light can't that would work. Indirect light would probably be OK, but direct light, even a little, I would worry about.
The hole is there for ventilation, so I can't really cover it up. Any light I successfully block will also block air. The light is indirect CFL lights. The box is about 9 ft away from the closet. It's bright enough to see, but the human eye can adapt to see a candle 20 miles away at the threshold, so I don't want to use that as a basis.
Didn't read this all, but if you want to cut light but not air from vent, make a curved intake tube from ducting or whatever.
Moonlight dosen't give lumens people so it has no effect on plants.. However light leaks from any man made light will give off some lumens.. Thats why its so important to fix any light leaks. This is from Wikipedia Moonlight is the light that comes to Earth from the Moon. This light does not originate from the Moon, but actually originates from sunlight. The Moon does not, however, reflect sunlight like a mirror, but it in fact emits light from those portions of its surface which the Sun's light strikes.
Well moonlight is deceiving. Like you said, it's not actually moon light, but it is still light, therefor it's still is some lumens. Lumens are nothing but a measure of light. It's just like you said, since the light is reflected off the moon, from the sun, it's very dim, irregular light which makes it have a very low measurement.
Not true: 10−5 lux Light from Sirius, the brightest star in the night sky[2] 10−4 lux Total starlight, overcast sky[2] 0.002 lux Moonless clear night sky with airglow[2] 0.01 lux Quarter moon 0.27 lux Full moon on a clear night[2][3] 1 lux Full moon overhead at tropical latitudes[4] 3.4 lux Dark limit of civil twilight under a clear sky[5] 50 lux Family living room[6] 80 lux Hallway/toilet[7] 100 lux Very dark overcast day[2] 320–500 lux Office lighting[8][9][10] 400 lux Sunrise or sunset on a clear day. 1,000 lux Overcast day[2]; typical TV studio lighting 10,000–25,000 lux Full daylight (not direct sun)[2] 32,000–130,000 lux Direct sunlight
My tent is pretty well sealed. However a little light does enter through the zipper. I have never had a problem with this small amount of light getting into my dark periods. I believe like some others have pointed out that outdoor plants are never in total darkness so a little light making it in isnt a problem. Atleast I have never had a problem.
Obviously we all understand that, what we are trying to figure out is why. Why a tiny little light leak in our grow room will cause hermies, but moon light does nothing. It's strange that the grow area indoors needs almost complete darkness, but outdoors under a full moon there is plenty of light.
If i plan on having a couple different lights in one room on different light cycles what would be the best way to keep the light from leaking to the other cycle area? I was thinking tarps or something like that....