Overhead light was on plants 20 minutes after lights off !?

[The Poet]

Hi Folks,


I looked at the clock yesterday and 'the light' had gone off 20 minutes before. I turned around and saw the 'the door' was still open and the overhead light in the room where I was was on with 3 weeks more till harvest. I was aghast!
A perfect crop with giant colas, no nanners and tops which are {or were going to be}} the best I have ever seen.
Am I going to have a million seeds?
Have I ruined an entire crop?
Now I have an alarm set to go off at half an hour before lights out but didn't yesterday. One lives and learns,
They might not be ruined is the best thing I can hope for. It was really stupid but I was distracted by reading the computer. I didn't hear the light go off and its too late now. What's going to happen?

Oh, and I took y'alls advice and got a few 'real seeds' from Europe. 'These are not them' but bag seed which is why I was so proud of my crop till I saw the door was open. I really am learning and growing gets easier all the time. I have the extra timer set up now. So here is another lesson learned.
But am I going to be smoking crap for another 6 months?


A government which fears guns in the hands of it's people
should also fear rope!


The Poet

 

[Rosebud]

If the light was just extended 20 minutes? it won't hurt a thing...

Cool you got some seeds.

 

[ShOrTbUs]

When light within a certain spectrum hits the surface of the plants chlorophyll receptors, it prompts a hormone called florigen to be produced.

Another hormone named antiflorigen is produced by flowering plants. The ratio between these two hormones is what causes a plant to flower or not.

In the plants leaves, another chemical named phytochrome that is necessary to react with florigen to produce flowers.

When the phytochrome within the leaves of a plant receive a duration of light that would be considered "short day light" by that exact plant, then the antiflorigen is repressed and the florigen is increased, thus causing the plant to start flowering.

If the duration of light of correct spectrum and intensity is interrupted from a "short day", anywhere within the "dark cycle", it causes the plant to again start producing antiflorigen. The ratio between the florigen and antiflorigen is altered and flowering will decrease or stop.

This switch between ratios of florigen and antiflorigen is stressful to the plant and can cause a sexual reversal from female to male or male to female.

The result in this light hormonal stress is usually seen as Hermaphrodites. The entire plant doesn't change sex, only part of it. It will be the part of the plant that has the largest response to the florigen/antiflorigen ratio alteration.

All flowering plants use this exact system of hormones and ratios in regard to flowering.

The amount of phytochrome within the leaves of a plant determine it's reaction to light. Some plants have more, some less. The health of the plant, nutrients and humidity all are factors that determine how much phytochrome exists.

If you take all of this information and relate it to each of your plants, you'll see that in regards to light interrupting a darkness cycle, many factors come into play.

Brief interruptions of low intensity may not be sufficient to cause the florigen/antiflorigen ratio to change enough to change the plants flowering in any visible way. It can however, cause a slowing of flower growth.

The best way to not affect this ratio of florigen/antiflorigen is to leave the flowering room completely dark for the entire darkness cycle. This makes it foolproof.

Any light of sufficient strength to be "seen" by the phytochrome receptors in the leaf will have an effect on the flowering.

Low light levels of the green spectrum may be low enough to NOT be received by the phytochrome receptors in any appreciable amount that would cause a negative alteration of the ratio between the florigen and antiflorigen.

If you have a plant that doesn't react to low level green light, then you've found a winner in the pot growing family. Of course, it may be slowing the flowering to a degree without you noticing without another test group to observe.

i tried to search for this thread on the forum, i know it was here before. this will help with your understanding of light and dark periods

 

[The Poet]

Thank y'all so much! I feel much better.


The Poet

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

You should be fine. Basically you extended the light by about 20 minutes--you didn't interrupt the dark period (which is worse). I have found that the plants tend to let us make one small mistake without punishing us with nanners. However if you used bagseed, it well could have come from hermie stock and if it did.....well it could hermie since selfed seeds are genetically predisposed to hermie. So, since it is bagseed, keep a good eye on your girls for nanners and pluck any you see. This will pretty much mean at least every other day you are looking for those nanners. The propensity for hermies is a big part of why I don't use bag seed at all.

Here are another couple of suggestions. Try to get in the habit of closing the closet door every time you leave the grow space--it is quite easy to forget to close the door when the light goes out or if you have to leave during lights on. Second, I would put a green light in the overhead light.

Keep a close eye out for nanners. You will probably be okay with only 3 weeks to go. I see a nice crop in your future.

 

[The Poet]

Hemp Goddess,


Yesterday I wanted to go lay down 3 hours before 'the light' went off. As I mentioned I have an alarm set to go off half hour before 'lights out' to remind me to shut the door, I didn't plan on going to sleep but on my way to bed I turned the oven timer on at 3 hours to remind me to monitor the lights off / door thing.
I actually fell asleep and heard the timer in the kitchen beep which was what woke me up. Wondering why I hadn't heard the timer, I came in to make sure the other timer was correct and realized I had set the timer but had failed to flip the little button which said on/off. It was about two minutes before the light went off and I just made it. The 400w hps went off two minutes after I went in there, with the door open. I lucked out again. Twice in one day!


poet

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

This is exactly why you need to get in the habit of keeping the door closed. We cannot always be on time, we cannot know that something will not happen that will keep us from closing the door at the appropriate times. Bagseed and irregular light schedules is a recipe for hermies. You have done this twice now and been lucky twice. I hope that you will just keep the door closed and quit tempting fate.....:angrywife:....?

 

[ShOrTbUs]

my guess is you have heat issues due to lack of proper ventilation. so you keep the door open when lights are on?

 

[The Poet]

Y'all,

Yes, 'hot and stuffy' but I have already taken the Goddess's advice and I'll keep the door closed from now on. Central air has an outlet in there and they have a fan.
Plants like fresh air but it is wintertime and 'light leaks' are more dangerous than 'stuffy-ness'. I'll keep the door closed.

Thanks

Poet

 

[The Hemp Goddess]

Fresh air is important. If you are concerned, just opening and closing the door several times when lights are on will help with fresh air. The light leak, yes, that is more dangerous. Getting an entirely seeded crop just sucks.

 

[Growdude]

When I grew in the closet I was opening and closing the doors... what a pain, did it for years before I got my tent...what an idiot I was.

I did what I had too I guess.

 

[ShOrTbUs]

do you have air exchange? sounds like your running a light without ventilation to be constantly pulling co2 into the room. those giant fans you see people using on their grows serve a much greater purpose then keeping temps in control. it allows new co2 to be constantly introduced to the room so that the plants can grow to their fullest.

 

[Hushpuppy]

I agree with Shortbus, you need a constant source of co2 if you want to have a solid harvest. You said the central air has a vent in that room. You can actually turn on the blower fan off the central air without turning on the AC itself and that will push fresh air into that space if there is enough passive opening to the space and that will cycle the air in the space.

If you intend to continue to grow within that space, you should look into setting up a nice ventilation system with a carbon filter to scrub the flowering odors as some of them girls can get rather "odorific" when flowering. It would be easy enough to cut a hole in the door and mount a small exhaust fan on the outside and a small carbon filter on the inside. And that is just one idea, there are many options.

 

[The Poet]

I appreciate the input y'all,

Again, I have an central air/heat outlet and a fan in there but there is no place for the 'old' air to go with the door shut. I do keep the blower on whether the air/heat is on or not.
I think what I need is a hole in the ceiling and a 'bathroom' type blower to remove the old air. Like in the bathroom a vent in the ceiling to suck air out of the closet and blow it in the attic. Then I could keep the door closed and it wouldn't be stuffy. Y'all are good friends to have, I don't know anybody else who knows anything on this subject.


Thanks again...


The Poet

 

[The Poet]

I wanted to mention that I don't water them in the closet but take all 8, 3 gallon pots out to the bathroom, set them in tote crates on wood, water them and let them sit an hour to drain, then move them back to their 'kiddy pool' in the closet. It still is stuffy but not as bad as if I watered them in the closet. That would be a real mess.
I need a bathroom vent in the ceiling.
Oh! and of ten THC Bomb seeds 8 have sprouted so far!
Y'all are good friends to have!


Thanks y'all

 

[Hushpuppy]

Yeah having the hole in the ceiling with the exhaust blower would make a lot of difference. Iff they are just seedlings right now then it is now when you need to get that exhaust set up. If you wait until the plants get bigger, you will have a real difficult time with stuffiness and needing fresh air.

Before venting into the attic, you need to make absolutely sure that you have good air flow through the attic or even an attic exhaust blower as the humidity will build up when the plants are at full size, and that can cause you serious mold issues in the house from the attic.

I wouldn't get a bathroom exhaust fan as they are too noisy and don't do the best job of exhausting. I would get a nice 6" vortex fan and a speed controller. You can use the controller to turn down the speed off the fan some and that would eliminate any noise while still pulling an efficient amount of air out for the plants. Here is a link to some good fans: hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/vortex-6-inch-449-cfm-high-power-inline-fan-p-353.html
Here is the speed controller: hxxp://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/active-air-duct-fan-speed-adjuster-acsc-p-2263.html
When you use the link, highlite it from the www not ffrom the hxxp and then copy it into your browser and it will take you right to it. Iff you want to compare prices then look at ebay or amazon. I like this company as they have good service and comparable prices