Help - light leaks?

V

Viracocha711

New Member
I have my 8'x8' grow room partitioned down the middle to create a 18/6 veg/propagation area and 12/12 flower area...My question is, I used 6 mil black plastic for the partition so the flower side is dark when the lights are off, however, there are some very small light leaks (2 or 3) and I can not cover them due to how the room is ventilated...:straightface:

They are not big at all, you really have to let your eyes adjust to the darkness to really notice them...But I thought I had read somewhere that there can never be any light during the dark period of flower or you will get herms? Am I nuts? Can anyone tell me if these lights leaks will render my flower side useless? Which means my grow room is useless?

I know in a perfect world you want total darkness with lights off but is it still possible to produce a crop with small light leaks?

PLEASE Can anyone tell me their experience with light leaks in their flowering side or grow cab/room/closet?

Of course, it is obvious I have never grown a crop all the way to harvest so if I am being way to anal please tell me so! thanks!
 
You want to address light leaks. . . Is there direct light coming thru these "holes"? You can't use electrical tape? Is it even an issue, well, in nature MJ gets moonlight. . . and enough for a shadow, does this delay flowering? IMO, no. . . so you don't have to panic, but I would still muddle some ideas to get them taken care of. . might as well do it right. . . Can you post some pics? maybe we can throw some ideas at ya. . .

Bagz :peace:
 
Thanks guys...No pics...No, as i said in my post I am unable to cover these leaks due to the ventalation...However, these leaks are not direct light, and as I said before you have to sit there a minute after the light goes out for your eyes to adjust in order to notice the very dim glow of the indirect light coming from behind the fan and carbon filter.

As far as the moon goes I had def thought about that of course, but I believe the light from the moon is actually not visible to plants, wrong wavelength? I am not 100% sure about that but I think it has to due with being reflected light and the way it travels through the Earth's atmosphere...blah blah blah, I know the Sun...I did not research the moon thingy to verify that flowering Cannabis plants are or are not affected by the moon's, or should i say the sun's light reflected off the moon. I figured this would be the path of least resistence for answers concerning growroom light sources and real personal experience from those who have flowered indoors...

I know that this post is not coming out or going to sound like I am thankful for your help, I am...It is just I am nervous about my first grow and rather than explain my original post over and over again, I would love to hear personal examples of "YES, my plant hermied because of a very small light leaking into my growroom" or "NO, I have some very small light leaks and have never had a problem"

...Not only would either of these two types of personal experience replies be much quicker for everyone, it would be easier for a newbie like myself to understand! Plus, depending on the answers I get it will mean whether I have to tear down the partition and rebuild it(several hours of work) to correct a very small indirect light leak! And I know I will get told to use duct tape again, but as I said in my original post...If it were only as easy as duct tape or electrical tape and some nails I would not have wasted you all's time, I promise! I try to be sure I have exhausted all means of answering questions on my own before asking a questions here...But this is one of those questions where I need an answer, a correct answer because it could be a big waste of time and money if I pushed forward with my grow and lost my beautiful GH "THE CHURCH" girls, and the answer I am lookinmg for has to be from those who have flowered indoors.

Thanks guys/gals for helping me and putting up with my annoying request for specifics.

BTW-Could any of you that do grow indoors possibly take a look in your growroom and see if you are "actually" flowering your plants in a perfect light free room? Seriously, unless you have gone way out of your way to check and than take the nes steps to correct the leaks, you too may have leaks? ...And if you do have leaks and you have flowered in that room with a good harvest then I would love to hear about it! And even though I would not want to hear it I need to hear from tose who have had hermies directly related to very small light leaks...Only if you know for sure it was light poisoning!

If you are an outside grower then I am not sure if you could actually set my mind at ease unless you have actually done an inside grow and you actually did the nes steps to insure you were flowering in a perfectly light free enviro.
 
Sounds to me like most of your problem is trying to put the veg. chamber in the same room with the flowering chamber. Light from the veg. chamber, which stays on longer, is spilling into your flowering chamber.

I recommend, if possible, that you find a seperate room for either the veg. or flowering chamber. Either that or you veg. then flower all plants and do not run the two cycles at once. If you truly cannot seal the light leaks up with something then I see no other recourse.
 
yes i have checked for leaks and have none

yes i have forgotten to shut the grow closet door a couple of times allowing light to be in my flower room for several hours

yes a plant went hermie

no i can't prove it was due to the light

no, i saw no harmful impact on my plants even though they were exposed to alota light on those occasions. but i can't prove it.

the duct tape and hammer were sorta mean as a joke/smart ass remark... sorry
 
I have subtle light leak in my grow room, much as you describe in yours where you have to wait for your eyes to adjust to notice it. I am in my 4th week of flowering and did not notice the light leak, and there was no interruption to the flowering process.
I have also heard in the past that a night of heavy lightning CAN interrupt outdoor flowering. Just a point to ponder. I think the spectrum of light is not as important as the intensity of the light leak.
Good luck with your grow and sorry for the early levity. Growing is a serious business for new growers and sometimes we take our knowledge for granted.
Moose
 
Thanks Moose! Yeah, I put my girl in flower today! The leaks are very subtle and I really think things will be ok...!

Thanks everyone!
 
User...No, I got the duct tape joke! LOL! :) I guess I am trying to be perfect so if there is a problem down the road it will make trouble shooting easier, I hope!

I have some really nice plants, a Northern Light and a strain from GreenHouse called The CHURCH...I have one of each that are 8 weeks old and look so good! The are bushy and very healthy...I plan to keep these as HOST PLANTS...I have another girl of The CHURCH that I have been practicing LST...It is also 8 weeks and and is about 6-8 inhes high but covers an area about 25" X 20" with what appears to be 20-30 bud sites if not more? I guess i will see soon...So, I spend a lopt of time with my girls and I want to have everything right and once I have a full grow under my belt I will be more comfy with things, I hope?

I really love to learn and really appreciate everyone's help!
 
User said:
duct tape can fix anything...

well.... sometimes you need a hammer too
Click to expand...

Not just a hammer but a Ball Peen
and don't forget the balin' wire

But seriously, light leaks are not good.
Try hanging another layer between the light source and where it's leakin ..
understand what I mean?
You may not be able to plug the hole so cut off the light gettin' in the hole.
 
Yes a light leak will affect your grow. I had a leak on my first and second grow, much like yours, tiny holes you can only see after eye adjustment. I did not have any hermes, but the plants next to the leak did yield about 1/2 as much as the others across the room. Ventilation is key, but so is total darkness. Maybe you could try covering the holes with black cloth from a t-shirt and meet in the middle. Less light, but less ventilation. I recommend a completely dark room after your eyes adjust.
 
FYI the moon does not give off light it refracts light from the sun.

and no i don't think small light leaks will effect your crop GL!!!!!


:bong::peace::bong::peace:;):peace::cool::peace::peace::bigtoke:
 
If it's due to ventilation is there any way to put a 90 in there? A 90 degree elbow or something so the light doesn't have a straight shot in?

DD
 
I just built a grow room using Panda Film. One thing I noticed is that light leaks are not put out with average duct tape, e.g the grey, white, or other color type, the light leaks right through that even when the tape is 11 mil thick. What you need is to block that light with something that light cannot penetrate. BTW, the Panda Film is so good I put a HID light right on the surface and was unable to see light from the other side. That being said, staple holes and the framed seal to the floor allow light to pass where the floor is uneven to the frame. If I had known that was gonna be a problem I would have allowed the Panda Film an extra inch or two to cover the bottom from the frame. I used Foil Backed Duct Tape to stop the leaks from my veg area that is 15 feet across the basement.

I get indirect light through my squirrel fan exhaust. I used Panda Film to make a flap that is pushed when ON but falls back to block light when OFF. The exhaust will come on during the off light cycle period a few times throughout the night to vent moisture, if any. I may put up a curtain to close out light from the veg area but that might make it inconvenient to visit the plants...

:thanks:
 

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