Because I know a lot about growing pot, I am sometimes asked to "trouble-shoot" a friends pot garden.
A backyard pot garden is the bomb. So easy to tend, so easy to observe.
But there can be problems.
One time a friend called and asked me to come over and see if I could figure out why their outdoor plants weren't budding.
As I walked into their backyard, I saw the problem right away.
Though behind a 6' high wall, a nearby streetlight was in line-of-sight with the plants.
To flower, plants need 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every 24.
They weren't getting it.
The person assumed that since the street light didn't seem any brighter than moonlight, it wouldn't affect the plants.
She was wrong.
Most people think moonlight is brighter than it actually is. And the wavelength of light from the moon is different than light from a streetlight.
We rigged up a canopy out of a tarp and some sticks and that solved that problem.
Another time, it took me a bit longer to figure out.
I went over at night. There were no nearby streetlights. I asked if they were going out at night with a flashlight to look at their plants.
"No, we never go out the back door at night except to put stuff in the trash cans".
Aha! I looked and saw the back porch light. Bingo!
That problem was more easily resolved--just unscrew the bulb, and empty trash before dark.
It doesn't take much light to prevent budding. Another friend had a problem with his closet grow. I scoped it out and found the problem. The little red light on the power strip in the closet. That problem was resolved by a tiny piece of black tape.
If you're the type of person that absolutely MUST look at their pot plants during the dark cycle, you can use green light. The plants don't "see" green light.
Some people say a green lens over a regular flashlight is safe. I don't know about that.
But there are 2 sources of green light I KNOW are safe to use.
One is those "break and shake" lights--those sticks that kids use for trick-or-treating. Keep one handy.
Another way is to use a green l.e.d. keychain flashlight. You can get these at gas stations/auto parts stores etc. They're cheap, Campmor sells them for 5 bux.
P.S. Someone I read about tried to solve their streetlight problem with a BB gun. It put out the light alright.
But a few days later a city crew came out to replace the light and guess what they noticed? The crew notified the cops and the person was busted for cultivation.
A backyard pot garden is the bomb. So easy to tend, so easy to observe.
But there can be problems.
One time a friend called and asked me to come over and see if I could figure out why their outdoor plants weren't budding.
As I walked into their backyard, I saw the problem right away.
Though behind a 6' high wall, a nearby streetlight was in line-of-sight with the plants.
To flower, plants need 12 hours of uninterrupted darkness every 24.
They weren't getting it.
The person assumed that since the street light didn't seem any brighter than moonlight, it wouldn't affect the plants.
She was wrong.
Most people think moonlight is brighter than it actually is. And the wavelength of light from the moon is different than light from a streetlight.
We rigged up a canopy out of a tarp and some sticks and that solved that problem.
Another time, it took me a bit longer to figure out.
I went over at night. There were no nearby streetlights. I asked if they were going out at night with a flashlight to look at their plants.
"No, we never go out the back door at night except to put stuff in the trash cans".
Aha! I looked and saw the back porch light. Bingo!
That problem was more easily resolved--just unscrew the bulb, and empty trash before dark.
It doesn't take much light to prevent budding. Another friend had a problem with his closet grow. I scoped it out and found the problem. The little red light on the power strip in the closet. That problem was resolved by a tiny piece of black tape.
If you're the type of person that absolutely MUST look at their pot plants during the dark cycle, you can use green light. The plants don't "see" green light.
Some people say a green lens over a regular flashlight is safe. I don't know about that.
But there are 2 sources of green light I KNOW are safe to use.
One is those "break and shake" lights--those sticks that kids use for trick-or-treating. Keep one handy.
Another way is to use a green l.e.d. keychain flashlight. You can get these at gas stations/auto parts stores etc. They're cheap, Campmor sells them for 5 bux.
P.S. Someone I read about tried to solve their streetlight problem with a BB gun. It put out the light alright.
But a few days later a city crew came out to replace the light and guess what they noticed? The crew notified the cops and the person was busted for cultivation.
