Know your Enemy: Light Leaks

Well, the stain I'm running is known to be sensitive to light leaks-only 4 weeks into flower, btw. LIke I said, it's never happend to me before so I let my gaurd down, now I feel like an idiot.

I'm not really arguing with anyone, just sharing my experience and what happend to me because I didn't patch light leaks. Again, there are a handful of people running the same strain from the same breeder with no issues. Couple that with the fact everything on the same side of my tent did it(two dif strains), and all other environmental factors are near perfect, I'm chalking it up to the light leaks.

I haven't had an issue since fixing them.

This was about the fact that light leaks can be a disaster for a new grower. I am experienced enough that I caught the male parts almost immediately, but a new growers probably wouldn't find out until their entire crop was pollinated.

OK-so light leaks don't cause plants to hermie, but stress can and light leaks=stress.

New growers-take my advice or don't. The pickles around here forget they were cucumbers. Light leaks, even a pin hole indoors, will create stress and they are best avoided.

Or do what I did, think it's not a big deal, and get slapped in the face with a semi seeded crop.

Been doing this for a long time and never had an issue till now-I've also always grown in sealed rooms, not a tent in a another room, so I've never had ANY light leaks/problems.

A few weeks ago I would of said all the same things, but now I know better.

I don't think it's a big deal to make sure you don't have any light leaks and just not worry about it.

It would be nice to see people share their experience instead of making statements like light leaks are 'no big deal' or won't/don't/can't cause issues.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_hoc_ergo_propter_hoc


The form of the post hoc fallacy can be expressed as follows:

• A occurred, then B occurred.
• Therefore, A caused B.

When B is undesirable, this pattern is often extended in reverse: Avoiding A will prevent B.

Squidbilly said:

OK-so light leaks don't cause plants to hermie, but stress can and light leaks=stress.

New growers-take my advice or don't. The pickles around here forget they were cucumbers. Light leaks, even a pin hole indoors, will create stress and they are best avoided.

Or do what I did, think it's not a big deal, and get slapped in the face with a semi seeded crop.

Been doing this for a long time and never had an issue till now-I've also always grown in sealed rooms, not a tent in a another room, so I've never had ANY light leaks/problems.

A few weeks ago I would of said all the same things, but now I know better.

I don't think it's a big deal to make sure you don't have any light leaks and just not worry about it.

It would be nice to see people share their experience instead of making statements like light leaks are 'no big deal' or won't/don't/can't cause issues.

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It's not the leak that did it, it's the genetics. Lots of plants throw balls or nanners around week 4 and don't return after being plucked off. It has nothing to do with your light leak. If the leak was bad enough to "stress" your plant, it would go back into veg. You sound like a new grower blaming some minor hiccup in the environment for causing herms. ITS THE GENETICS. That shit would have done the same thing in anyone elses garden, leak or not.

I have major light leaks all the time as my garden is wide open, lights just went out and the sun is shinning thru a window at the top of my basement stairs, basement door is open and is enough light for me to see what I'm doing down there, does it shine on the plants ,,,,no but it lights up their area and I've had only 2 plants hermie in the 5 years I've been growing here, if it was light leaks that caused it I would think I'd see a lot more

Squidbilly said:

C'mon guys, this was for newer growers so they don't over look such a simple thing. It's hard enough for them to identify nanners or even realize what is going on before everything get's pollinated.

I'm sure you will see TONS of people who have had crops ruined by light leaks...I think everyone else just gets lucky/strain dependent.

Point is a light leak can be disasterous, so why risk it? It's never happend to me before, so I let my gaurd down.

I posted this is the newbie section, are we really going to tell them light during 12/12 is ok, or something that's not a big deal? I don't think that is helping anyone/is bad advice to be spreading.

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Hey I agree that you probably should avoid them (light leaks). And I have no scientific proof of what it does or doesnt do. Yes avoid them if you can would be my recommendation. I have to admit that I have gotten lazy and it hasn't effected things but better to be safe right?

i just thought i'd chime in here.
i grow in a small closet, in which i keep the door open a bit to keep temps in check, and i have a big thing of black plastic in front of the door in order to keep out some light, but as far as light proof, my grow is a complete joke, lol, and knock on wood, been growing in the same spot for about 5 years or so now, and never seen a hermie..
i'm not saying to go ahead and let as much light into your grow as you can, i'm just saying i don't think light leaks are nearly as bad as breeders with hermie prone genetics like you to think.. i've grown fem's, regs, clones, blah blah blah, and still, again, knock on wood, never a nanner...
i also have an extension chord with a light on the end in my closet that everything is plugged into, so idk.. just my experience and $.02, take it for what it's worth..

It's worth exactly three dollars and nine cents u crazy guy u

the light leaks are something we should avoid but as many say not the end of the world, however having an under rated extension cord feeding your room could be the end of the world, as you see it.

Racerboy....not saying you are risking life and limb, but just that people need to use a decent gauged extension cord that meets their power consumption.

Indoor Sun King said:

the light leaks are something we should avoid but as many say not the end of the world, however having an under rated extension cord feeding your room could be the end of the world, as you see it.

Racerboy....not saying you are risking life and limb, but just that people need to use a decent gauged extension cord that meets their power consumption.

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And that could lead to a huge light leak lol.

The true enemy is improper growing techniques

dannyboy602 said:

The rule of thumb is: nothing brighter than the light cast by a full moon. If plants in their natural environs have to flower under that bright light then gardeners can use that as a guide.

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The moon only produces .27 lumens. My farts are brighter. Just a little fun fact.

kotaburnz said:

The moon only produces .27 lumens. My farts are brighter. Just a little fun fact.

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too bad plants don't use lumens

kotaburnz said:

The moon only produces .27 lumens. My farts are brighter. Just a little fun fact.

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Yeah....

In my area it gets up to over 100 degrees and we have winds and storms and so on and so forth and outdoor plants grow just fine. Treat your indoor plants the same as outdoor and you will have hermies galore.

hogbud said:

too bad plants don't use lumens

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Sorry my lights arent measured in photosynthetically active radiation (PAR WATTS). Lumens are just easier to understand for most.

Squidbilly said:

Just wanted to make a quick post, hopefully it might help someone.

When starting to grow and looking at canna forums there is a lot of info to digest.

I've been growing for a while, and I just made a rookie mistake getting my new location up and running...

I didn't do a good job of checking for light leaks and I awoke to the unpleasant sight of MALE pollen sacs on my lovely ladies that were looking so good for 3 weeks into flowering!

So, just a heads up-THERE CAN BE NO LIGHT LEAKS WHAT SO EVER DURING THE DARK PERIOD OF 12/12. Even a pin hole size leak can ruin a crop.

If your growing in a tent or cab, it's crucial that you sit in your set up with lights off for at least 15 mins with bright lights put outside so your eyes can adjust to the dark and you can see ANY leaks. Any light leaks absolutely need to be fixed or you will run into problems with hermies or (if your lucky) slow bud development.

-Tents leak around zippers, velcro, and seams big time.

-Flexible ducting IS NOT light proof, so if any of it is exposed to light it will go right through it and into your tent/space.

-PASSIVE INTAKES are sketchy if your tent/room isn't in another completely dark room.

-If your cab or tent is in a room that is used while they are in their dark period, example your bedroom or basement rec-room, everything needs to be light proof including ducting and zippers. If need be make 'curtains' for your zippers using duct tape that is taped to itself, leaving a 1/2" of adhesive to cover your zippers when they are closed. I also recommend duct taping every seam in your tent wether you see a light leak or not.

-Don't forget under and around doors! Doors are not light proof.

-EXTENSION CORDS, SURGE PROTECTORS, HUMIDIFIERS, DEHUMIDIFIERS, AND EVEN FANS sometimes have little lights on them-if any of these things are in your space they need to be 'blacked out' with tape/black spray paint/etc.

Don't make the same mistake I just did! I know better and I still ended up have a light leak almost ruin my recent crop. I think it's something that is oftern over looked in the newbie forum but it's really important.

LIGHT LEAKS ES NO BUENO!

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100% bullshit quick flick of the light will do fck all u can get hermi with 100% darkness no light leaks if u was to get 100 grow rooms same amount of plants per room and half had light leak and half didnt they would get same amount of hermi to make a plant hermi u gota seriously mess with the plant otherwise its 100% genetics

Excerpt from "The cannabis breeder's bible":

100 %Female Seeds
Posted by The Silicon Magician on February 13, 1999 at 05:17:41 PST
As some of you may know I’ve been a regular in the chat room for a while and I spend a large
amount of time in there. I have had the extreme pleasure of speaking to Mr. XX over the last few
nights for many hours and have gotten to know him quite well via email and the chat. He has
confided in me and in a few others about his process for coming up with 100 % female seeds.

Mr. XX is a very nice guy, funny too and it’s always a pleasure to speak with him. He doesn’t
speak English too well, but his wit comes through the rough language and he’s a riot. He’s a pure
lover of cannabis and feels that everyone should share and share alike. He simply wants to share
his knowledge with the cannabis community, and because he’s spent 15 years researching this, I
spoke about it with him in depth.

He has stressed literally hundreds of plants with irregular photoperiods. What he does is put the
lights on 12/12 for 10 days. Then he turns the lights on 24 hours, then 12/12 again for a few days,
then back to 24 hours for a day, then 12/12 again for a few weeks. If he does this and no
hermaphrodites come up, he has found a 100 % XX female that can’t turn hermaphrodite
naturally. He claims that your chance of finding a 100 % XX female is vastly increased when using
Indica genetics. He also informed me that the more Afghani or Nepalese genetics the plant has, the
better the chances of finding a natural XX female. In his own words: “Where did nature give weed
a home originally?” I tried to get him to narrow it down to a ratio, but he never specified just how
many plants per are XX females. He claims there are plenty of XX females for everybody, and
that’s all he will say on the subject. It takes a lot of time and a lot of plants to find that one female.

He then uses gibberellic acid, mixing 30 centiliters of water with 0.02 grams of gibberellic acid
and 2 drops of natruim hydroxide to liquefy the gibberellic. Then applies as normal and creates
the male flowers. He has gotten down to the 4th generation without loss of vigor, and with no
genetic deficiencies and hermaphrodites. He claims that the plants are exact genetic clones of one
another, complete sisters. Basically it’s cloned from seed instead of from normal cloning methods.


~Me:
Not saying this is absolute fact but it seems to me that it's light changes, not leaks that would cause herming...

Squidbilly said:

There a many people running the exact same strain from the same breeder that aren't having issues, so I'm not going to think I'm the unlucky one to have 3 out of the 4 I popped(all on the same side of the tent) throw nanners. It was the light leaks disrupting their dark period and it stressed them into throwing nanners.

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Hi Squidbilly, I don't think it is your light leaks causing problems on those Greenthumb Headbands. I am quite sure it is the genetics, as I am dealing with two myself. I can guarantee mine have experienced no stress and not a bit of light leak/interruption. I am quite seasoned and have never had this problem. What are the chances I have two at one time? It is genetics.

Have you contacted Greenthumb?

FrdmGrwr said:

Hi Squidbilly, I don't think it is your light leaks causing problems on those Greenthumb Headbands. I am quite sure it is the genetics, as I am dealing with two myself. I can guarantee mine have experienced no stress and not a bit of light leak/interruption. I am quite seasoned and have never had this problem. What are the chances I have two at one time? It is genetics.

Have you contacted Greenthumb?

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I had one actual hermie, and my other two just threw a couple nanners-but that is real disel genetics for ya'. After I fixed the light leaks, NO NANNERS. Anything with disel in the genetics is prone to do it. Especially during week 6 on. Everything in my tent threw at least one nanner, so I'm confident it's the light leak. They are elite s1's, I was expecting it.

Indoor Sun King said:

the light leaks are something we should avoid but as many say not the end of the world, however having an under rated extension cord feeding your room could be the end of the world, as you see it.

Racerboy....not saying you are risking life and limb, but just that people need to use a decent gauged extension cord that meets their power consumption.

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yeah, i thought that went without saying... it was pretty easy to find out what gauge extension chord i should be using, so i went one bigger even still..