Do you need complete darkness for 12/12?

I'm having issues with space atm so I don't really have a seperate flowering room.

Will plants still flower indoors with 12/12 but the 12 hours lights-off isn't completely dark?

They need 8 hours minimum darkness right?

or... if I just stick them outside now will they start to flower or will they keep vegging?

It becomes dark outside around 8-8:30.

I guess outside and inside will be the same (except for the fact that the sun is more powerful), since the hours of complete darkness will be the same. But outside will be better because I won't interrupt the cycle by turning on a light.

The 12 needs to be completely dark.

If the sun is up for more than 14 hours a day you can put a plant outside to veg.

Well it's bright starting at 5-6 am, but the sun is no where in sight. Do plants still absorb light like this?

The plants get direct rays from the sun from 10am - 7 pm.. so that's like 10 hours.. or no?

The plants don't need to be in direct sunlight to think it is daytime. Anything over the level of a moonlight night will mess with your flowering.

yea but when do plants ever get 12 hours complete darkness outdoors anyway?
What's the most hours of darkness that these plants get during normal outdoor flowering months? which is during July - Sept right?

You know as the sun rises, from 6-10 AM, when you can't see the sun but it's bright outside... How does the intensity of this light during these hours compare with HID lighting,, say a 500 watt MH... more powerful? less powerful?

The sun produces about 1,000 W/m2 Or, about 10,000-12,000 lumens/m2

no I mean how much light are the plants getting when it's not in direct sunlight... from 6-10 AM where I'm from you can't see the sun overhead it's way off on the horizon or covered by clouds.

no one bothers to read the entire question...

The spectrum of light changes, the days get shorter and nights are longer. That you in your avatar?

Its not all about hours of light its nature and the way it works usually veg em indoors then stickem outside. All plants that flower photo periodical should work like this.

sparkabowl said:

The plants don't need to be in direct sunlight to think it is daytime. Anything over the level of a moonlight night will mess with your flowering.

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That makes more sense

anomolies said:

no I mean how much light are the plants getting when it's not in direct sunlight... from 6-10 AM where I'm from you can't see the sun overhead it's way off on the horizon or covered by clouds.

no one bothers to read the entire question...

Click to expand...

It's something like a lumen per m^2 or something god awful like that, basically just slightly brighter than the night sky with zero light pollution. This is all quite different from photosynthesis, which requires a specific light intensity to begin, but then can maintain under much lower intensities. Plants don't need direct light either, in fact they have ways of knowing if sunlight they receive is direct or reflected/shaded. All that is rather independent of the way that light effects flowering which has to do with hormones converting between states in the presence of certain light spectrum, and that doesn't require high intensity, however does take time from all I understand about it (it's a rather complicated topic that only biologists I know seem to fully get the chemistry behind).