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lighting Lights Out

W

wordwiz

I cut the light to my seedlings to 12/12 today. It wasn't an economic decision, though I will save a few bucks each week. But the soil was drying way too fast - was needing to water them every other day. Plus, I looked outside last spring and noticed that volunteer plants did quite fine with only 12 hours of light a day.

Still trying to understand this whole process of growing, which we never considered as kids - put seeds in the ground, make sure they have enough water to survive, give them some ferts if we wanted them to grow faster and let Mom take care of the rest.

But I remember that as a kid, if I had to work too many hours a day, I didn't go as well as I did when I got enough rest. I figure plants are the same.

So many things to learn, so little time to do it in!

Mike
 
At least according to omri, plants are photoperiod insensitive, so more/less light wont change much, unlike dope plants. I think its more important that they get enough light. Im just not sure exactly how much enough is, I use sunshine myself.
 
If they do need a good nights sleep/rest I'm screwed. Midnight sun here in the summer, no way I could make it dark for the plants during summer nights. Hard enough to make it dark enough for myself to sleep.

All other plants really enjoy the many hours of sun, kind of makes up for the lower temps and short growing season we have compared to the south of Sweden, and I haven't seen anything that would indicate that chiles are different. So I don't buy that explanation, you just want to save $$ and work less:whistle:
 
ring sting said:
So does that mean.... THERE'S NO SUNSHINE NOW???
Mr Arboc, I dont know how you do it, I need my photoperiod daily!
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Yes. It is like dawn in the middle of day, but it'll probably be another week before the sun actually rises over the horizon. You never really get used to it, it is so f-ing nice every year the first few time you can go out and actually turn your face to the sun and just stand there and smile. You can never imagine.

Edit: The dark IS a bigger problem for people than the cold.
 
MrArboc said:
If they do need a good nights sleep/rest I'm screwed. Midnight sun here in the summer, no way I could make it dark for the plants during summer nights. Hard enough to make it dark enough for myself to sleep.

All other plants really enjoy the many hours of sun, kind of makes up for the lower temps and short growing season we have compared to the south of Sweden, and I haven't seen anything that would indicate that chiles are different. So I don't buy that explanation, you just want to save $$ and work less:whistle:
Click to expand...

From living near the equator, I never thought much about length of day affecting plant growth. Then went to Canada, and saw farmers pulling 3, maybe 4 hay crops off one paddock in a summer, while guys at home would laugh if you said you could get two.
 
I have got to play the devils advocate here with some logic....may be flawed logic, but it is still logic.

Plants make their own food. The food is made by photosynthesis. Photosysthesis only occurs during "light" periods. Threfore the more light you give the plants, the more they will grow.....

Photosysthesis is like a gasoline engine. When the engine is running, it is using gas, therefore, the more light the more photosysthesis, the better growth...

:running off to google light usage by plant:
 
Thats exactly how I see things AJ but we've already noticed among members that there is point of deminishing returns when it comes to number of hours of artificial lighting, so more might be better, just not better enough to justify extra costs(or extra heat in wordwiz's case)
 
On a few sites Google turned up, the information was that photoperiod refers more to flowering than plant growth. Another idea was a 'light critical' period, that being the minimum amount of time plants need exposed to light.

Watering the plants is not that much of a task, I have two to-go containers per tray that I sit an a big tub. But I cannot help but think that watering every other day is asking for problems since the plants are in soil and not hydro.

I'm very curious how the roots are doing.

Mike
 
I think when it comes to natural sunlight, the more the better. But artificial there is only so much they can take in.
 
Mike/mwm, if you are comparing light to watering, I don't think you can. The plant can only take up water that its plumbing can handle. I think the problems with overwatering are more of a "what happens in the soil" issue with the growth of harmful organisms. I have to think of hydro here, aren't the roots always wet in hydro?

:idea: With that being said, call the maximum water uptake capability of the plant "saturated". Is there a "saturation" point to the amount of light a plant can use? If so, that is what you would have to reach in an artificial environment.

I know from last years experience that the 7 Pots, Scorpions, Nagas, mostly chinense did much better in full sun than they did in partial shade.
 
It probably depends on the plant and the recent history of its ancestors. If you have a superhot straight from Trinidad then more sun and hotter temps are better for it, but if you have a fifth generation that has grown in canada for five years then should it be acclimated to its current climate? Right? I am not really sure on any of it all I know is when my plants stay on my front porch the with sun only after 3pm in the summer but all the way to nine then they grow faster and the leaves get huge. But if they get full sun from 8am to 9pm then the leaves are small and the plant is small and compact but the fruit output is twice that of the porched ones.
 
AJ,

This is a most-interesting research article. It deals with sweet peppers and tomatoes but I'm guessing there is not much difference with hot peppers.

Now I'm completely confused!

Mike
 
you make my point exactly...huge leaves ususlly mean low light...the plants adjust the size of their leaves to have what it needs for growth...and grow faster (remember, I didn't say better)

about the Trinidad climate...it is not hot, nor is it cold...average yearly temperature is about 86F and low is about 73F if I remember correctly...and the humidity is somewhere around 65-70%. Don't quote me on that because I am trying to remember from last year when I was building my grow box....I am trying to replicate the Trinidad environment. Problem is, in the summertime, I can't keep the temperature down...when it is 95F in the garage, you can see what I mean.....
 
wordwiz said:
AJ,

This is a most-interesting research article. It deals with sweet peppers and tomatoes but I'm guessing there is not much difference with hot peppers.

Now I'm completely confused!

Mike
Click to expand...

Don't be confused. What it is saying answers my above question...is there a saturation point of light for the plants...the saturation point of light is reached when the "plumbing" of the plant can't keep up with moving the products it produces out of the leaves and into tissue for growth.

This research says that in the first 5-7 weeks, growth is stimulated for seedlings, but after that, it actually decreases development, so the turning point is at 16-20 hours.
 
AJ,

If I read the study correctly, huge leaves are due to longer photoperiods and my goal is huge leaves. The report cites 5-7 weeks as the max for 24hr/day lighting.

The study doesn't delve into the periods of plant growth covered but I am presuming from germination to the end of the growing period, since it talks about fruit production.

I'll have to determine the timing but if I can substantiate the findings presented, I need to consider running the lights for 24/7 for a month before moving them to a coldframe.

Mike
 
AlabamaJack said:
This research says that in the first 5-7 weeks, growth is stimulated for seedlings, but after that, it actually decreases development, so the turning point is at 16-20 hours.
Click to expand...

AJ,

Our posts are crossing in cyberspace.

I could not see where anything said "the first" 5-7 weeks, only a limitation of 5-7 weeks. After that, it appears the optimal time is 16 hours for toms, 20 hours for sweet peppers.

Mike
 
AlabamaJack said:
This research says that in the first 5-7 weeks, growth is stimulated for seedlings, but after that, it actually decreases development, so the turning point is at 16-20 hours.
Click to expand...
That's not exactly what they say
"Longer photoperiods did not further improve growth and yields and even decreased growth and yields in some cases"

I wish they went into more detail on the "in some cases" because I've never heard of too much light having any huge negative effects.
 
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