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Moon light...Does it lead to hermies?

JustSumTomatoes

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
Something I've been wondering for awhile.... Was out cutting down plants the other night under a waxing gibbous (almost full) moon. It was nice because everything was completely visible, unlike other nights when the use of a headlamp is helpful. Made me bring the light leak causing hermies belief into question.

If artificial lights indoors or outdoors (streetlights) can cause them, than why not moon light? It's reflected sunlight, so if a pinhole in a grow tent can lead to them than why not this? Obviously genetics factor in, but why do indoor growers make such a deal out of light leaks, when light by night is a norm for us outdoor guys?
 
L

Leaflet

Active member
The sun is 93.2 million miles away from the moon. Then, that light reflects and refracts off the moon and a small remainder travels almost 239,000 miles back to the earth, for a total distance of 93.4 million miles. To us humans it might seem like a lot of light, but the PPFD is miniscule. According to a quick search I did, the PPFD of a full moon is 1/200,000th of the PPFD of the sun.
 
indagroove

indagroove

Active member
Veteran
Full moon is only 0.25 lux, compared to full sun @ 130,000 lux. A light bulb will have an illumination of approximately 50 lux.
 
SurfdOut

SurfdOut

Well-known member
Veteran
Growing outdoors in Hawaii we have plants outside flowering everyday of the year so we learn a bit about how the moon affects our plants. The moon does not cause intersex issues but flowering does slow down in clear weather when the full moon is out all night and will even spit out some small leaves in the flowers if our days are long enough.
 
C

clearheaded

Active member
another part of it is plants become accustom to environment, so the spectrum and strength do not stresss the plant, which is what causes the bananas. it is noted some var often throw bananas inside and generally are considered outdoor plants.

That being said, interesting note on the slow flowering during bright moons.
 
JustSumTomatoes

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
Thanks for the responses everyone. Yeah, I kind of figured that moon light didn't lead to hermie issues, else everyone's outdoor plants would have them. I just wasn't totally sure why, thanks for the input and for answering that. That's an interesting observation on the clear skies and bright moons having an effect on flowering. Cannabis is an intriguing plant and it never seems to fail in teaching me new things all the time and constantly keeping my curiosity aroused.

The topic kind of has me wondering how many indoor growers just have hermaphrodite prone genetics and the pinhole light leak in the tent has little to do with it. Are they really all that sensitive to a little bit of extra light here and there?
 
L

Leaflet

Active member
JustSumTomatoes said:
The topic kind of has me wondering how many indoor growers just have hermaphrodite prone genetics and the pinhole light leak in the tent has little to do with it. Are they really all that sensitive to a little bit of extra light here and there?
Click to expand...

Quite often hermaphrodites can happen because of high levels of stress (e.g. excessive pH or nutrient swings) and not because of light/genetics.
 
White Beard

White Beard

Active member
Leaflet said:
The sun is 93.2 million miles away from the moon. Then, that light reflects and refracts off the moon and a small remainder travels almost 239,000 miles back to the earth, for a total distance of 93.4 million miles. To us humans it might seem like a lot of light, but the PPFD is miniscule. According to a quick search I did, the PPFD of a full moon is 1/200,000th of the PPFD of the sun.
Click to expand...
It’s further refracted by Earth’s atmosphere.

Compare to indoors, where virtually all light sources are direct. Can’t express the science behind it very well, but there are relevant differences between direct and reflected light in cases like these (IIRC)
 
S

SeaDogBC

New member
What about a full moon changing the start of the flower cycle by a week? That's a belief I heard somewhere along the way, that the crop would finish on different dates each year because of the moon cycle. I'm an indoor guy so I had no idea if he was pulling my leg or what.
 
JustSumTomatoes

JustSumTomatoes

Indicas make dreams happen
SeaDogBC said:
What about a full moon changing the start of the flower cycle by a week? That's a belief I heard somewhere along the way, that the crop would finish on different dates each year because of the moon cycle. I'm an indoor guy so I had no idea if he was pulling my leg or what.
Click to expand...
That's a really good question. If so, than if it can affect flowering times and duration it brings the hermie issue question back up. The moon obviously isn't as intense as the sun or artificial light but can possibly still affect the day/night cycles. Aren't these irregularities what causes stress that leads to hermies?
 
Lost in a SOG

Lost in a SOG

GrassSnakeGenetics
Also at night or dim conditions the purkinje effect causes your eye sensitivity to shift over to blue which we are very sensitive to and that also makes the moon seem relatively bright.

In pitch black its amazing how bright a candle seems but that is again because you have increased your sensitivity to such little light availability.

The moon does effect gravity/electromagnetic conditions which water especially and therefore things mostly made of water are effected by.. but you can still plant and harvest on the "wrong" moon dates and not notice anything because ive messed around with the concept for a long time time now and not noticed very much difference.

The sun is our only energy source and the thing that effects the seasonality that really effects plant reproductive viability so how much they could ot would evolve to benefit from this ebb an flow from the moons electromagnetic effect is kinda doubtful to me. Thats just scientific discourse. I also dont think the moon is that old relatively speaking, but thats a whole other conversation.
 
GMT

GMT

The Tri Guy
Veteran
A lot of the bro science about Hermie's was to excuse Hermie's in the seeds being sold. Ie. The breeder didn't want to take responsibility and so blamed the growers environment.
 
R

roybart

Member
The pinhole light causes hermie is Bro science. Granted if you had a severe light leak it could be problematic. I think it was more about light leaks getting you busted. Light leaks to the outside showing the world you have lights on all night / all day. A pinhole pointing at one tiny part of the plant would not do much. This about a tree near a street lights , they don't all grow out of control. I dont see how maybe 1% of plant being exposed to light will impact the total plant. If that were the case a cloudy day would impact the plant also. A big electrical storm would have a profound effect. In the tropicals you can get some fierce lightning.
 
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