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PHOTOPERIOD CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR GREENHOUSE CROPS, U-Mass

Originally Posted by Thomas H. Boyle, Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

....Another important question is, can moonlight affect photoperiodic responses? The answer is no. The maximum intensity of bright moonlight is 0.02 ft-c, and this is not enough to be perceived as daylight by photoperiodically responsive plants....

^^This webpage and quote from the University of Massachusetts pretty much sealed the deal for me, a Professor who studies and teaches this for a living pretty much totally convinced me, you guys really should go check this out, I mean this guy is pretty serious, the reason the moon has no affect is that it is just too dim to begin with.

Take into account how dim the full Moon is, depending on the condition of the atmosphere full sunshine is between 32000 and 100,000 lux, at sunrise/sunset the light is about 400 lux, the full moon on the most clear night is about 0.25 lux max.

I think it is always a good thing to seal all the light you can out of a grow room, but I think plants will actually tolerate quite a bit more than they are often given credit for, lord knows my indoor grows through the years have delt with their share of minor light leaks, but I have only seen hermis online, never in person.

[Dignan]

Well said, BC. I'm inclined to agree, actually.

I do think the absolute intensity of the Sun vs. artificial lights indoors might play into it all. The relative brightness of a tiny light leak compared to the brightness of a 1000w HPS lamp is probably more significant than the brightness of the Moon compared to the Sun. Know what I mean?

Either way... outdoors, I don't think the Moon has any affect and it is likely due to its dimness and perhaps spectrum also plays some part in it.

And outdoors RULES, so those are the rules we play by here.

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Agreed on all points


Thankyou to whoever stickied this thread, I'm honored that you think this thread may be helpfull to the community at large.
These subjects are some of the most mis-understood by growers, especially for those new to the outdoors.
I am myself still trying to comprehend so many of the different factors involved in photoperiodism, and invite others to add their tidbits, so that we may all be a little more enlightened.

I like to read what the tropcal guys are doing. They are fun and different than North America. Chaman and Paz Verde Radical both show that when they planted indica-dom plants that they imediately go into flower. They show photos of one inch plants that are all bud. It is sort of funny looking, but educational as well.

I have read in one online grow guide that one can get an early harvest by going from 24/7 lighting indoor to outdoor spring lighting to get an early harvest, and then after that letting them reveg and get a second crop in the fall. Has anyone ever been successful at this?

One thing I would love to read is if there is anything in photo-period or other factors to increase thc or resin. I know that that is said to be genetic, but I still feel deep inside that something can be done to increase thc.

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Originally Posted by newRandude

I like to read what the tropcal guys are doing. They are fun and different than North America. Chaman and Paz Verde Radical both show that when they planted indica-dom plants that they imediately go into flower. They show photos of one inch plants that are all bud. It is sort of funny looking, but educational as well.

Yep, this is because their day length doesn't really change much from season to season, especially so as you get closer to the equator, almost always too short to veg non-tropical strains.
I've heard many stories from growers in Hawaii, and SE Asia concerning this, reading and trying to answer these questions were part of the inspiration to study photoperiod.
Were the plants they(Chaman and Paz Verde Radical ) used for these demonstrations vegged inside under long light cycles first, or were they started under totally natural sunshine?


I think the only way we as the growers can really increase the THC is by making sure that the sunshine recieved by our plants is always as strong as we can get throughout the bloom cycle, and even then I do believe it is mostly up to the genetics after all.

[Lambsbreath]

i'm 5° north to equator ( south amerika ) and i can testify that all pure indicas will start flowering after two weeks of veg outdoor, males sometime showing only after 10 days.
I had tested outdoor few nirvana strains like White widow - ak48- PPP- NLx Haze ( it looked like pure NL very broad leaves),papaya, and had only bonzaï type plants, too indica for the 12/hour day light regime.

The only one of their white strain who didn't autoflower too soon was the blue mystic , some pheno would veg for 15 days while other for 3 weeks or a month , and finishing with a plant from 30 cm to 1meter max , with one main cola "one bud" style.

I think it may be because blue mystic have some oaxacan genetic inside that it doesn't autoflower as soon. as others strains mentioned above.

The more sativa you add in it the longer it will veg; 50/50 sativa -indica hybrid like California Orange bud will veg minimum 2 months, Jack Horor minimum 2month and half , Haze 3 to 4 months, Pure local sativa landrace vegging sometime more than 6 months.

I'm now mostly playing with dominant sativas strains but still like to have some shorter strain in the garden like Blue Mystic which can be done from seed to harvest in 2 to 3 months depending on the weather , pheno, and size of the pot.

As i can plant weed anytime of the year, i try to have a perpetual harvest of 10 to 20 females every month. Indicas dominant hybrid can grow best during dry season from Augustus to December here.


One Love from the Amazonian Jungle

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Thanks for that personal testimony lambsbreath! Very nice!

All this talk of plants going straight to flower in the perpetual(or near perpetual) outdoor bloom room of the tropics adds more potentcy to my belief that all photosensitive(meaning non-autoflowering) Cannabis plants have a geneticly predetermined preference for the natural photoperiod they like to bloom under, rather than simply blooming when they sense the days are getting shorter.
Most Indicas and Indica dominated hybrids will bloom in less than 15 hours of light, and will bloom faster and faster as the day shortens more and more. Some strains seem to be able to bloom even under 16 hours or more, even without being autoflowering.

I have heard in the past that some Tropical Sativas are thought to be autoflowering more than photoperiod sensitive or possibly a mix of the two, perhaps timing their life cycles with the rainy and dry seasons rather than purely according to the cycles of the sun(the day never gets much longer than 12-13 hours on the equator, not much change in the sun cycles).

[Dignan]

I was told by Reeferman a few months ago that at the equator all plants will flower right away... sativas that are native to that kind of photoperiod/region flower right away but due to The Sativa Stretch, they'll always get much bigger than any indica would... but that they never get full-size like the monster sativas we get far from the equator.

Is that not correct?

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I assume it is, I was looking for this type of info from people that know, so maybe I have heard wrong concerning the autoflowering tropicals.

[Dignan]

No worries... we'll get to the bottom of this!! Inspector BC always gets his man!

Another great BC thread...