Does moonlight have any effect on plant growth?

I'm buying a tent and one of the big points of criticisms in the reviews I have read is that some allow small amounts of light to leak in. And, as I understand it, even a small amount of light at "night" (dark cycle) can change plant processes.

But, why doesn't moonlight do the same thing to an outdoor grow? Or, does it? But, obviously, cannabis naturally grows outside with the moonlight…so...

So what's the deal with moonlight? If you are trying to replicate natural light, then wouldn't you have to simulate moonlight cycles , as well?

Sorry if it's a dumb question.

Not dumb, I've been wondering that as well
Unfortunately I have no idea

As far as im aware, moonlight , at a full moon, is the maximum amount of light a cannabis plant can take at night before it reverts back to veg.
Guess it evolved to take a small amount of light. So yes if you have a pin hole light leak, and its brighter than moonlight,then the plants will revert to veg, or hermie,
street lights are stronger than moonlight, hence why there is a grow you can see that half the plant flowered and the other half didnt, all because half the plant was lite by a street light.

but yeah, plants know when its night and day, and i doubt moonlight will affect flowering, as it is naturally in the environment.

So yeah, the reason we all try to make it as dark as possible is , i guess, is so that when there is a light leak we can find it very easy.Also you can assume, pretty well, the plant will start to flower in complete darkness.

Take it easy.

Thought this may be intresting reading, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lux, granted its wiki but you get the idea with the chart saying how moonlight at most is 1.0lux, so i guess thats as bright as you could haveit. Also,the moon isnt always out, and even on a full moon it could still be cloudy etc. so it would probably always be below 1.0 lux at night.

Take it easy.

I'd hit the "like" button, but it seems to have disappeared!

Anyway….Thanks for the replies!

I've always felt like full moons slowed down my flowering development, but that is just a gut feeling. Be interested to know if any studies have been done on it. Since I joined this site I've learned of a few myths that I had bought into! Curious if slower flowering during full moons is a myth or not.

The moon gives off a refracted glow caused by sunlight hitting the moon. It is not direct sunlight therefore not considered "light". If you look up how to grow plants by the moon's cycle you'll see that paying attention to the moon can be very beneficial to plant growth and development. I've used the moon's cycle for a number of years and by doing certain things (fertilizing, trimming, germinating, transplanting etc) during certain moon cycles your plants will flourish and reduce stresses on your plants. I've noticed most that transplanting and pruning are greatly benefited by the moon's cycles. It seems to reduce the shock and stress on plants and they bounce back very quickly if done at certain times

okanaganoutdoor said:

The moon gives off a refracted glow caused by sunlight hitting the moon. It is not direct sunlight therefore not considered "light". If you look up how to grow plants by the moon's cycle you'll see that paying attention to the moon can be very beneficial to plant growth and development. I've used the moon's cycle for a number of years and by doing certain things (fertilizing, trimming, germinating, transplanting etc) during certain moon cycles your plants will flourish and reduce stresses on your plants. I've noticed most that transplanting and pruning are greatly benefited by the moon's cycles. It seems to reduce the shock and stress on plants and they bounce back very quickly if done at certain times

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I would certainly agree with that. I have always had better growth from a seed started on say a new moon,compared to ones started a few days later.
I remember some one on here worked entirely by the moon. I.e. Start seeds on new moon, put into flower on a full moon, and two moons later harvest, Etc. Claimed great crops.

I know a few farmers that try to work by moon cycles, guess thats why we have a lunar month ay.

Anyhow take iteasy.

Good thread!

google/wiki "waxing and waning effect on plants" it details the effects that certain moon phases have on plants. in the same way he moon creates tides it can also draw moisture to the surface and certain phases makes plants concentrate there energy on either above (leaves) or below (roots) ground.

http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/lunarfacts.html

Thanks for the replies.

But, the main reason I was asking is in relation to all the concern about grow tents being light-tight…which they aren't 100%….And then I looked out my window and it was a full moon and I could see the entire garden area clearly illuminated.

So….if marijuana plants grown outdoors are exposed to that kind of light, then why isn't there the same kind of concern that there is in a grow tent that isn't 100% light-tight? Surely, there must be less light able to penetrate a tent than there would be on a bright, moonlit night….no?

Plants are sensitive to changes in light much more than just the ambient level of light. The reason light leaks that are less bright than moonlight can cause problems is because the plant getting the leak was previously in 100% darkness, so 100% darkness to whatever amount of light that leaks in is a big change. In outdoor plants, the ambient level of moonlight is what they are accustomed to during their dark period, so they are less sensitive to light leaks as light leaking onto them causes a smaller percentage change even if the leak has more light in terms of lux. Sorry if my phrasing sucks, my brain is sorta off today. But yeah, my point was, plants respond more to the percentage change of light than to the actual amount of light.

i'll just say this and leave it.
i grow in a small closet, and i tend to keep the door open to help control the temps.. my closet is about as far from light proof that you could get.. i also have a lil light thingy on the end of a plug in the closet on one of the chords.. been growing in the same spot for idk, 5 years or so now, and i've never, knock on wood, seen a single hermie plant..
i know i can't be that lucky because trust me, if it weren't for bad luck, i'd have none, but ime, i feel people freak out over the absolute darkness thing way too much and breeders who have hermie prone genetics like to look for any little thing they can to take the blame off of them and place it back on the growers.. idk how many times i have heard a breeder go to a grower with hermie plants from them say, oh, but i bet you have light leaks, that's why your gear hermied, when in reality, it's more the breeder used some wonky ass hermie prone genetics to breed with..
my $.02

Maybe not on plant growth.............some say that when marijuana is harvested after a full moon it is a better outcome at harvest than if it were not.

Ace,

So, let's say that if I have some small and consistent light leaks, then the plants will acclimate to those levels and respond normally….right?



racerboy,

Nothing like first-hand experience! Thanks, man.

Around here, for a while the city was using big ass HPS's to light up street lights. Fucking lights wouldn't let you sleep if you had one in front of an opened window. In my street they had a white light one, that lighted the backyard too. Didn't hermied, but rather vegetated longer. Got some tall ass rose bushes and weed bushes.

Ausweed said:

Maybe not on plant growth.............some say that when marijuana is harvested after a full moon it is a better outcome at harvest than if it were not.

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Funny you brought this up. Last season I harvested the morning after a full moon. It was not planned, I just noticed it after I harvested. There was no way I could tell if it helped or not, I just thought it was cool.

I think cannabis evolved over the eons to adapt to any effect of moonlight or, the gravitational pull of the moon. It has also evolved to hitch a ride with us humans as a means to distribute itself throughout a major portion of the planet. Just like us, the key to its wide distribution is it's the ability to adapt to almost any environment. I seriously doubt moonlight has any significant effect, especially any detrimental effect.

BWG707 said:

Funny you brought this up. Last season I harvested the morning after a full moon. It was not planned, I just noticed it after I harvested. There was no way I could tell if it helped or not, I just thought it was cool.

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If your growing this year see if you can pull it off again and compare notes.....

nice points on many of the above post...
I've always suspected blaming light leaks on the hermie thing might have been a lil over blown...
...but TBH thats all speculation on my part

I got a BRIGHT blue light on my fan 24/7 .... never had not even a hint of balls or seeds on any of my plants