can having a fan on too long actually hurt a plant?

dub_sauces

dub_sauces

 so I put on fan on my plants a few weeks back (on low) and they are fine and healthy looking but theres this occasional thought I keep having where I'm wondering if leaving the fan on too long (10-12 hours) isn't actually letting them develop a strong stem because they are spending too much time moving in the wind. anyone have thoughts on this? I'm assuming its just anxious mother syndrome or whatever the gardening equivalent is...
 
and due to the bloated and over opinionated nature of the internet a google search gives me contradictory answers so that avenue is pretty much pointless any more...
 
I have never used a fan, but my plants are always so short and fat, they probably do not need it.
 
And, pics of your plants would be nice.
 
dub_sauces said:
so I put on fan on my plants a few weeks back (on low) and they are fine and healthy looking anyone have thoughts on this?
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My thoughts are.....You're doing just fine!
 
I'm assuming its just anxious mother syndrome or whatever the gardening equivalent is...
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Maybe Willard3 will jump in here with the correct nomenclature....
 

I'm wondering if leaving the fan on too long (10-12 hours) isn't is actually letting them develop a strong stem because they are spending too much time moving in the wind.
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and due to the bloated and over opinionated nature of the internet a google search gives me contradictory answers so that avenue is pretty much pointless any more...

And what makes you think it's different here?
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moruga welder said:
why 10 to 12 hrs. ?   put the fan on a timer , every couple of hrs. for 15min. 
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cause its easier to make it go on with the lights than periodically throughout the day... and its windy as hell here most of the time so I figured I should get the plants used to what the outdoors would be like.
 
alkhall said:
I have never used a fan, but my plants are always so short and fat, they probably do not need it.
 
And, pics of your plants would be nice.
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...ill get some pics up of the plants in question later. my plants last year did get rather tall, over 3 feet, and due to the number I have going i'll be using a different part of the yard as overflow so there are no hedges and walls to block the wind which is pretty constant, just trying to prepare them for life in the real world...
 
alkhall said:
Has the fan had any noticeable effect on the plants?
 
Any pics?
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i do feel like its helping them, and its clearly helping the soil stay at a better moisture content. haven't lost any to damping off since the fan came along... pics to follow later. 
 
dub_sauces said:
 
cause its easier to make it go on with the lights than periodically throughout the day... and its windy as hell here most of the time so I figured I should get the plants used to what the outdoors would be like.
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well if its that windy there , then 10 to 12 hrs. shouldn't bother them , surely the outside is much more treacherous like central illinois is . ,     :party:
 
alkhall said:
Thanks. I always enjoy seeing other growers setup and plants.
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i tried to push the lights out of the way but its still blowin out the image... cant get any more in the shot and hold the lights out of the way of the lens. I have more outside hardening off that I can snap a pic of tomorrow daytime
 
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Putting a fan on your plants while they are indoors serves a couple key purposes.
 
- First is that it helps dry the surface of the soil. Dry surface soil helps reduce the chances that the fungus that causes damping off can take hold. Damping off can kill your seedlings. So if you don't mind risking loosing all the hard work you put into starting those babies, don't bother with a fan!
 
- It helps strengthen the stems. When you start to take your babies outdoors, part of the hardening off process is not just being careful with the amount of sunlight they get, but also the amount of wind they experience. Even if you start bringing them outdoors in complete shade, if they aren't ready to handle the wind, they can also be goners. So keeping a fan on them helps reduce the hardening off process time - bonus for you as well as them.
 
As already said above, when outdoors they will potentially get wind 100% of the time. You can run the fan all day and night and not worry about it. Plants start outdoors in the wild all the time, so as long as you start them with a fan, they will be fine. Similar thing with sunlight - start your seeds in full sun and the plants don't care. It's only when they've been protected from sun and wind that they need a hardening off process.
 
I use the fan (on low) on my biggest plants during 12 hrs of light and back it off during dark hrs. If nothing else it keeps ventilation flowing and cuts down on mold, pisses off fungus gnats, strengthens stems,..

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One plant near my outside AC unit is hit with heavy air flow most of the summer. Oddly anything i plant near it grows like mad even compared to a plant 2 feet further away.
 
Huge long bean plants were there last year. They are nitrogen fixing if im not mistaken but even before that the peppers near the AC unit grew like mad too.
 
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