The Myth About Light Leaks

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
"Photons during the dark period delay flowering in short-day plants (SDP). Red photons applied at night convert phytochromes to the active far-red absorbing form (Pfr), leading to inhibition of flowering. Far-red photons (greater than 700 nm) re-induce flowering when applied after a pulse of red photons during the dark period. However, far-red photons at sufficiently high intensity and duration delay flowering in sensitive species. Mechanistically, this response occurs because phytochrome-red (Pr) absorbance is not zero beyond 700 nm. We applied nighttime photons from near infrared (NIR) LEDs (peak 850 nm) over a 12 h dark period. Flowering was delayed in Glycine max and Cannabis sativa (two photosensitive species) by 3 and 12 days, respectively, as the flux of photons from NIR LEDs was increased up to 83 and 116 μmol m-2 s-1. This suggests that long wavelength photons from NIR LEDs can activate phytochromes (convert Pr to Pfr) and thus alter plant development."
It's interesting but how do I apply it to my grow space?
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
I seem to have a knack for finding herms. I have found 10 out of 66 lately, and have a few more marked to watch.

I restarted from scratch genetic wise because ended up getting the hops virus.

Anyways I started most regular seeds for this run, and like every seed run I do I’m finding a bunch of herms. I don’t have a light leak. I do have a bunch of green leds in there for dehueys and my gavita light controller.

I’d like to know what I do wrong to find so many herms, but I expected it and started plenty of extras.

It seems to happen to me a lot from seed, i just keep a really close eye on em.

Oh well at least I don’t have to worry about the mothers I select herming I seem to find em the first run lol.
 

Star Dog

Well-Known Member
I seem to have a knack for finding herms. I have found 10 out of 66 lately, and have a few more marked to watch.

I restarted from scratch genetic wise because ended up getting the hops virus.

Anyways I started most regular seeds for this run, and like every seed run I do I’m finding a bunch of herms. I don’t have a light leak. I do have a bunch of green leds in there for dehueys and my gavita light controller.

I’d like to know what I do wrong to find so many herms, but I expected it and started plenty of extras.

It seems to happen to me a lot from seed, i just keep a really close eye on em.

Oh well at least I don’t have to worry about the mothers I select herming I seem to find em the first run lol.
When you say hermies bud do mean a few nanners or balls on stalks type hermies?
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
When you say hermies bud do mean a few nanners or balls on stalks type hermies?
I call em both herms, but in the case I am talking about right now, it was balls on some spots and female parts on other parts.

I’m only 14 days into flower.

I’m sure I do something it’s been like this for years, I’ve just gotten used to it and it does make me feel more secure when I move to running clones from the moms I keep. I figured well if they were gonna herm they woulda done it first run, lol.

I also buy from a lot of hype breeders, so some herms are expected, but I seem to have better luck than most at finding them lol.

I got gear from Cap, Sin city, Oni, cannarado, in house genetics, and raw genetics in there right now.

Plants seem healthy, which is nice after months of dealing with the virus, only thing I can think of is my green lights do make it bright enough to be able to slightly see in the room. So I did cover them last night but I can’t see why gavita would make such a bright green led controller if was gonna cause issues.

This is after losing 10 plants yesterday. Glad I started plenty of extras. A2E6A05F-F3FE-4D35-BC64-8AE135BFBFD1.jpeg
 

hillbill

Well-Known Member
I would look somewhere on the dark cycle. That many hermies out of several well known breeders seems improbable. Maybe something is coming on when it shouldn't.
I had a timer go nuts once and it was turning a light on in the night. That took time and camping with my plants to find out. Something is telling the plants that nights are getting shorter.
 

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
I would look somewhere on the dark cycle. That many hermies out of several well known breeders seems improbable. Maybe something is coming on when it shouldn't.
I had a timer go nuts once and it was turning a light on in the night. That took time and camping with my plants to find out. Something is telling the plants that nights are getting shorter.
All lights are on same controller and I’d get a light notification on my trolmaster if they were coming on. If it’s from lights it’s all the green lights added up.

I’m not sure what it is honestly it’s been like that for me for a long time in several different locations.

I somehow keep plants healthy but stress them at same time?

I’m not sure.

It’s a pain in the ass for sure.

I swear I have better luck with fems. (Over the years not as many herms)


Also some of these were freebies or testers.

It’s something to do with my gardening style causing it I’m sure I remember trying to light proof tents with curtains and shit years ago thinking it was lights leaks. Well before I moved or built rooms.

Thing is once I find stable genetics and run clones, i straight kill it. So I don’t plan on changing gardening styles.
 

Guitar Man

Well-Known Member
"Photons during the dark period delay flowering in short-day plants (SDP). Red photons applied at night convert phytochromes to the active far-red absorbing form (Pfr), leading to inhibition of flowering. Far-red photons (greater than 700 nm) re-induce flowering when applied after a pulse of red photons during the dark period. However, far-red photons at sufficiently high intensity and duration delay flowering in sensitive species. Mechanistically, this response occurs because phytochrome-red (Pr) absorbance is not zero beyond 700 nm. We applied nighttime photons from near infrared (NIR) LEDs (peak 850 nm) over a 12 h dark period. Flowering was delayed in Glycine max and Cannabis sativa (two photosensitive species) by 3 and 12 days, respectively, as the flux of photons from NIR LEDs was increased up to 83 and 116 μmol m-2 s-1. This suggests that long wavelength photons from NIR LEDs can activate phytochromes (convert Pr to Pfr) and thus alter plant development."

the plant needs n number of hours of uninterrupted dark to convet the chemical that prevents flowering to the one that induces flowering, light converts this chemical back.
99% of the people reading this probably don't know what exactly this means when it comes to "Light Leaks", including me. Like I stated, light from my kitchen window tagged my outdoors plants every night while they were flowering, with no herm effect. And my indoor grow, which didn't have one sliver of light from anywhere, ended up herming on me. After doing this for over 10 years, I call foul on the light leak theory, unless, it's way over the top.
 

Guitar Man

Well-Known Member
No, but that wont hermie a plant. No need to complicate the switch. Its genetics.
Any female MJ plant can herm because it's a survival instinct. Some more likely, but how they got there is anybody's guess. But think about it, how do you get a guaranteed strain and female seed? By forcing the female plant to produce pollen sacks and spreading that pollen on your buds to produce seeds. All herm seeds are female and the exact strain of that particular plant.

Even using Colloidal Silver is tapping into the stress mechanism of the plant to produce a feminized seed. IMO, this could actually stress the genetics of the plant to do more of the same as the seed itself was pollinated by the female, not a male. My approach to this is not entirely scientific, but natural and from experience. The main reason my indoor plants hermed on me is because of the intense, unnatural light and heat, or stress, and this has been tried and trued by growing my plants in both environments for over 10 years, and by carefully writing everything down through every stage of growth.
 

Guitar Man

Well-Known Member
All lights are on same controller and I’d get a light notification on my trolmaster if they were coming on. If it’s from lights it’s all the green lights added up.

I’m not sure what it is honestly it’s been like that for me for a long time in several different locations.

I somehow keep plants healthy but stress them at same time?

I’m not sure.

It’s a pain in the ass for sure.

I swear I have better luck with fems. (Over the years not as many herms)


Also some of these were freebies or testers.

It’s something to do with my gardening style causing it I’m sure I remember trying to light proof tents with curtains and shit years ago thinking it was lights leaks. Well before I moved or built rooms.

Thing is once I find stable genetics and run clones, i straight kill it. So I don’t plan on changing gardening styles.
Just keep in mind, herming is a survival instinct, and stress induces this act of nature because the plant is not responding as it normally would if you planted your grow outside. And the main difference between the two is, lights. Like I said in my initial statement, I grew a seed in my closet and it threw out balls all over the place. Took the same seed, grew it outside, and bingo, no herm. And I even took the seeds that were produced on that indoor plant and grew them outside, with no herm. Took years for me to figure this out.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I've had those solar powered walkway lights right next to plants outside in pots. They're not all that bright but much more light than some pinhole in a tent or led on a piece of equipment. Plants flowered like normal.
 

Big_B

Active Member
99% of the people reading this probably don't know what exactly this means when it comes to "Light Leaks", including me. Like I stated, light from my kitchen window tagged my outdoors plants every night while they were flowering, with no herm effect. And my indoor grow, which didn't have one sliver of light from anywhere, ended up herming on me. After doing this for over 10 years, I call foul on the light leak theory, unless, it's way over the top.
Cannabis plants contains phytochrome molecules, these molecules inhibit flowering,

These molecules are converted into a.biologically inactive state when the plant is not receiving light, it takes usually somewhere over 10 hours for all these molecules to be converted and trigger flowering in the plant...

When the plant receives enough light these molecules are instantly converted into their active state.

Light leaks may not be the reason for your hermies,.. doesn't mean it's a myth.
Cannabis is a very light sensitive plant during flower. It's not alone in this aspect, there are lot's of plants that exhibit this behavior. Lot's of research has been done in this area by lot's of different people.
 

Grojak

Well-Known Member
stress 100%, light, small pot size, under/over watering, nute problems, so many possibilities.

Genetics and breeders who are ok with herms in their lines. Some breeders have convinced those who grow their genetics that a few herms amongst packs are so cool they’re subcool, play a large part in the herms we see today.

Elite clone bag seed I’m sure plays a part in creating those hermie genetics.

I’ve had 1bherm in perfectly dark room, 1 time and a few plants throw bananas over the years.

I’ve had light leaks and even a timer that went on for 15min in the middle of the cycle causing reveg to start (this is how I figured it out) nothing Hermèd.
 

VincenzioVonHook

Well-Known Member
All lights are on same controller and I’d get a light notification on my trolmaster if they were coming on. If it’s from lights it’s all the green lights added up.

I’m not sure what it is honestly it’s been like that for me for a long time in several different locations.

I somehow keep plants healthy but stress them at same time?

I’m not sure.

It’s a pain in the ass for sure.

I swear I have better luck with fems. (Over the years not as many herms)


Also some of these were freebies or testers.

It’s something to do with my gardening style causing it I’m sure I remember trying to light proof tents with curtains and shit years ago thinking it was lights leaks. Well before I moved or built rooms.

Thing is once I find stable genetics and run clones, i straight kill it. So I don’t plan on changing gardening styles.
I've noticed quite a few proper hermaphrodites from regular sativa based seeds tbh, but haven't had a fem or indica Dom reg Herm yet. A few have undergone mild rodelization after week 10, but no germs from fem/indica Dom regs.
 

Nutty sKunK

Well-Known Member
Timer mishaps and power interruptions are more of a concern to me than tiny light leaks.
Yea power cuts are so frequent here. Was a reason I went with autoflowers but would love to grow some photoperiods again just would be shit to spend 3 months time to watch em fuck up.
 
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