Is it still direct sunlight when it’s cloudy?

[Whitmaan]

Hi all, this is likely a really novice question but I couldn’t find anything in the search so thought I would ask (please point me out if there is already a thread)

I’m using the rare sunshine to start to grow and it’s been sunny everyday but today is the first day that it’s overcast since I started her off. Would putting her in the overcast light be fine? Would it work the same as actual sunlight without it being overcast? I do have a grow light but it’s in a different room and harder to keep the temp up.

Sorry if it’s been answered before, feel free to check my journal aswell as I’m always looking for tips and pointers to make sure I grow her in the best environment possible.

Happy growing

 

[VanIslandConnoisseur]

yes its fine, just bettee growth when sunny. Every plant/tree has been dealing with clouds for millions of years apparently.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Well, let's see... The first issue I'd have with doing that is that you've got the window closed. Glass attenuates light. If I remember correctly, you lose something like 9%, minimum (more if it's thicker glass, coated, not perfectly clean on both sides, multiple panes, etc.).

The second issue is that, unlike with an artificial light source parked directly overhead for (presumed, at that stage of development) 18 hours per day, it's pretty difficult to get the sun to shine on a plant that's indoors for more than a few hours, anyway. Unless "indoors" happens to be a glass-walled and glass-roofed greenhouse. When I go visit Mom, I often stick some of her houseplants in one of her south-facing windows (preferably with the window open). They start out receiving lots of direct sunlight - but aren't receiving it a few hours later when I leave.

On a cloudy day? Nah, it's not worth my effort.

IMHO, of course. As in all things in life, I suppose "YMMV" might apply.

 

[VanIslandConnoisseur]

cloudy day roughly 50,000 lux, sunny=100,000

 

[SmokingWings]

A location in a garden that gets direct sun is one that does not get shade from a tree, shrub, or wall or fence. On a sunny day keep track of how many hours a particular spot is not shaded and that tells how many hours of direct sun.

A spot that gets no shade from 8am to 5pm gets 9 hours of direct sun.

A spot that gets no shade from 8am to 1pm has 5 hours of direct sun. Later in the day if that same spot once again gets no shade from 3pm to 7pm then the total is 9 hours of direct sun.

Even on a cloudy day those areas are still getting a lot more sunlight than most of us think because there is no interference from the shadow of the tree or wall or whatever.

A lot of people have gotten sunburned skin on cloudy days.

 

[TorturedSoul]

Even on a cloudy day those areas are still getting a lot more sunlight than most of us think because there is no interference from the shadow of the tree or wall or whatever.

A lot of people have gotten sunburned skin on cloudy days.

I read something about UV on cloudy/overcast days, once. I don't recall for sure, maybe just that the ratio of that to visible light causes people to not think in terms of how many hours they're spending out of doors with no sunblock on. Like maybe the ratio of UV to visible light goes up or something? Might have been 35+ years ago; some memories fade. . . .