lighting Turning Lights Off ?

beerbreath81

beerbreath81

First year using lights, i have just set them in a bay window in the past. My questions is why must I shut my lights off? Or do I?
 
Heres the thing, I dont have a timer on my lights and probably three times a week i forget to turn them off before bed.  Then its off to work the next morning so i just leave them on in hopes i will remember the next night. This has carried on since I started my plants and have seen no notable changes. Plants seem to be very healthy, and it really just out of curiosity that i ask. So is it really imparative that i turn them off? What are the problems with leaving them on 24 hrs a day?
 
I have seen many lighting schedules throughout this forum, and alot of members say "move your plants as close to lights as possible" I have always had my plants at the same level, you can see in picture, with no notable diferences. (Tomatoes did get a little long but that happens every year) Maybe a little slow growing, but everyone will say they are slow.  I have never had any purpling of the leaves neither.
 
My lights are T12 6500 daylight bulbs
 
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The distance is to stop the leggy growth you talked about and get the full intensity of the bulbs to the leaves. Run your hand under the bulb and move it away. You will see a definite point that the brightness fades.
 
Some folks with peppers and some other more cash crops leave lights on 24/7. I don't think it will hurt anything. Some thoughts are the plants need a break, the lights need a break, or letting the area cool down. Id think consistency is more important. Timers are pretty cheap as long as you stay away from the garbage digital ones that are way over engineered. Your plants look good...
 
Yeah beerbreath they look awesome to me. I have read on light schedules a lot too, and I run mine 5am till 8pm and have them very close to the lights. I think mine look ok..

I'll be watching this thread to see what everyone says.
 
I'm pretty sure that it's been proven by people much smarter than me that plants need "dark" time to recharge and rest.  A plant can only soak up so much light and energy, therefor you reach a period of diminishing returns.  My plants respond better to 16-18 hours of light than 24 hours of light.  I have a set now that I'm testing the 12/1 schedule on and so far it's proving to be great.
 
Your power bill will thank you when you start running the lights less too.
 
I've never tried 24x7 - I've always kept my T5s on 17 hours a day. I do notice that a lof of growth happens during the "dark cycle." so I think some rest is important.
 
you can actually  watch the  plant perk up in the beginning of the day when the light come on after 15 hours of light you can see that the plant starts to droop. the other thing is it gives them a chance to rest and your lights can cool down and save a little on your electric bill. you can get a timer from home depot  for a few bucks.
 
Like everyone said, plants need a rest time.  We've been doing the lights at 16 on 8 off and it seems to work.  Save a few bucks with the lights off. 
 
Since tomatoes are faster growers, keep the lights 1"- 2" from the seedlings to help curb the 'legginess'. Also a light fan will help with sturdier stems. 
 
i tried 24h for a few days and they just looked kinda wilted and didn't seem to grow any more than with lights off. Figured was very little benefit and cost me more money so whats the point.
 
Now i do 19on 5off (ODD NUMBERS! OH NO!). I do my off time 12-5 pm (usually warmest time) to lose the least heat possible since my plants are in garage with space heater. 
 
Oh and i'm using a cheap Christmas light timer since the lights are down and it just sits in box otherwise.
 
My seedlings are under light 24x7 till about 3 to 4 weeks old. Small 2 foot 2 bulb t-5 HO light. Once they graduate, they goto my other section. 18 hours a day of light with 4 foot 6 bulb t-5 HO light. Seems to be the best I have found. I may back it down from 18 to 16 hours.
 
Pepper plants are not photo sensitive (look up some great posts by Willard3) you can leave them on 24x7 no problems at all. I bring the flouros down to about an inch from the tops of the plants the lights never get hot enough to burn them 
 
I too have noticed a good deal of growth over the "night period" after checking up on my plants the next day.
 
Also, check out this cool video Shane (stc3248) showed me on my glog of a timelapse he did on his own plants:
 
 

stc3248 said:
Peppers are not photo sensitive when it comes to fruiting...but they do need a break every now and then. I did a time lapse video over the course of a week or so a couple years ago and it shows how they refresh during breaks in the light cycle. Let me see if I can find it...
 
Here it is...when the LED flashlight on the right is on the grow lights are off. Actually looks brighter during the off cycle due to the camera adjusting for the bright lights when they are on...
Here it is without sound...
 
Click to expand...
You can definitely see the plants perk up during the night cycle
 
LUCKYDOG said:
Pepper plants are not photo sensitive (look up some great posts by Willard3) you can leave them on 24x7 no problems at all. I bring the flouros down to about an inch from the tops of the plants the lights never get hot enough to burn them 
Click to expand...
That is a correct statement when it comes to pod production. They are not light sensitive and will produce as long as they get as much light as they need to keep from going dormant, but we're not talking about production. I did the vids above to find the sweet spot as far as return on investment goes with regards to vegetative growth . I figured out that around 15 hours the plants start drooping and need a break and time to refresh. I ran other shelves with a 24 hour cycle and the 15hr shelf outperformed them...far from scientific, but proof enough for me that leaving the lights on 24hrs isn't giving you enough bang for the buck to warrant the added expense.
 
Thanks nick and stc thats what i was looking for...i was curious if it was actually counter-productive if lights were left on all the time. I knew there were plenty of reasons to turn the lights off but just wasnt ALWAYS remembering....i did pick up a timer yesterday and its workin great
 
beerbreath81 said:
Thanks nick and stc thats what i was looking for...i was curious if it was actually counter-productive if lights were left on all the time. I knew there were plenty of reasons to turn the lights off but just wasnt ALWAYS remembering....i did pick up a timer yesterday and its workin great
Click to expand...
Counter productive maybe with regards to growth and definitely with regards to the electric bill...
 
LUCKYDOG said:
Interesting ... Ill try for my self this year. I have always left the lights on with good results as well - doesnt hurt to try though
Click to expand...
Just be aware it may change your temps too...which is why I alternate between shelves and light cycles to keep the temps warm. If you grow on one shelf you can alternate one side then the other. Greg (Pic1) does similar. I do believe the indirect light from the other shelf helps and still allows them to recover as well.
 
I've ran my lights everything thing from 14 on 10 off, to always on 24/7. I have not seen any better growth past 16 on 8 off so that is what I run mine at and save some electric.
 
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