(manual) Light Deprivation experiences; pros, cons, etc.

SchmoeJoe said:

As far the extra lights the one thing I've noticed is that anything that gets direct exposure will take a lot longer to finish even if it doesn't have any other problems.

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SchmoeJoe said:

I'm also in Western Oregon so I know exactly what you're dealing with. I ran mine to produce two full crops with a big veg so I used lights to start the first sets vegging in March and April. The second sets I covered until early September when they'd normally be deep into flowering anyway before I stopped uncovering.

If you just want one good crop I'd shoot for harvesting by end of August at the latest. Sooner would be better. If you can plan ahead to have plants ready to flower by around mid May then you can flower during the time of peak light quality and before the time of peak heat.

Just make sure to have good light proof exhaust and intake during the time it's covered and be consistent within a few minutes of your cover and uncover times.

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petert said:

I plan on installing exhaust and intake fans.. I made about half of each endwall out of plywood before covering.
Right now I leave the cover on all night.. but as the plants mature ( I’m in week 1 of flower) and the night time temps wRm a bit, I’ll roll up at 7:00 PM and unroll at 9:30 or do. The roll back up at 5:00 AM and back down at 8:00 AM. The intake and exhaust should help with humidity too!

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Humanrob said:

Hmmmm... that makes total sense, utilizing the strongest sun of the day for your 12 hours of light. When a local guy first told me about light dep he said to just go out and cover them at 5 or 6 pm, and then uncover them around 10pm, only shortening the day from one end and eliminating the issue of trapping moisture overnight (eliminating the need for fans). I guess I'll have to let my desire to have the best quality cannabis fight it out with my native laziness and see what happens.

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petert said:

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I’m actually doing closer to 11/13. 11.5 hours of the best light I can give them. The first and third run I’ll supplement with the Gavitas for four hours a day, I don’t View attachment 4120568 anticipate needing to during the second run.

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Humanrob said:

Hmmmm... that makes total sense, utilizing the strongest sun of the day for your 12 hours of light. When a local guy first told me about light dep he said to just go out and cover them at 5 or 6 pm, and then uncover them around 10pm, only shortening the day from one end and eliminating the issue of trapping moisture overnight (eliminating the need for fans). I guess I'll have to let my desire to have the best quality cannabis fight it out with my native laziness and see what happens.

Click to expand...

petert said:

View attachment 4120564 View attachment 4120565 View attachment 4120564

I’m actually doing closer to 11/13. 11.5 hours of the best light I can give them. The first and third run I’ll supplement with the Gavitas for four hours a day, I don’t View attachment 4120568 anticipate needing to during the second run.

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SchmoeJoe said:

I used a 12" screened drier vent that I painted the interior of a flat black for my dark period intake. On the inside I use ducting with a black interior that's folded over past 180°. View attachment 4120580 View attachment 4120581

For the regular light period I have a 24" two speed 3750/5500 CFM whole house fan. I have to close the hinged cover on the main fans to black them out and switch over the fans by unplugging the one and plugging h the other in when I cover.

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