Can I Water While My Lights Are Off??

[KushMan707]

Hey farmers,
I would like to know if its a good idea or not to water my plants a bit while the lights are off. I missed one of my waterings and now my pots are extremely light. My lights wont come on for another 9 hours. Any help from the farmers here would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Bulldog11]

You can water in the dark for sure. I would let the go till morn then water very first thing. Good luck.

 

[KushMan707]

You can water in the dark for sure. I would let the go till morn then water very first thing. Good luck.

Thanks for the quick reply! I'm not exactly sure what you mean by letting them go till morn but I am currently in 12/12 and my lights went off about 3 hours ago. Would now be the right time to go and water them or should I water them right when the lights turn back on?

 

[D.I.Y]

I think he ment when the lights come on.Dont fuck about in the dark you"ll break something

 

[KushMan707]

I think he ment when the lights come on.Dont fuck about in the dark you"ll break something

Right, I see what bulldog11 is saying now but dont plants want some sort of moisture or water while the lights are off? could they put themselves into a wilted state while the lights are off? thats really what I dont want to happen.

 

[D.I.Y]

Do your shit when lights are on.Let them have an uninterupted lights out to avoid stress

 

[KushMan707]

Do your shit when lights are on.Let them have an uninterupted lights out to avoid stress

fasho thanks bro

 

[KushMan707]

Well watering in the dark would be better than not. Don't know how dry your pots are .I've had to a couple of times. Use a green head lamp. And go give them a little sip

Thanks for your reply. My pots are bone dry. I was thinking of just giving them a little sip but I dont want to stress them out. gotta love the green lamps!

 

[Bulldog11]

Sorry, when the lights come on. Not the morning.

During the dark cycle plants let the water and nutrients from inside the plant travel to the root system. When the lights turn on, they pull this back out of the soil into the plant.

With that said, I would think you could water first thing and it wouldn't effect the plant because it's not trying to pull water at night. The flip side of this like others have said, you could cause stress in the plants if they get any light at night they are not used to getting. Even green lights I don't trust. IF you water in the dark, and your plants are already low on water, breaking a branch would be very easy to do.

I would say in this situation it really is up to you, so do what feels right. Many ways to grow our favorite plant.

 

[KushMan707]

Sorry, when the lights come on. Not the morning.

During the dark cycle plants let the water and nutrients from inside the plant travel to the root system. When the lights turn on, they pull this back out of the soil into the plant.

With that said, I would think you could water first thing and it wouldn't effect the plant because it's not trying to pull water at night. The flip side of this like others have said, you could cause stress in the plants if they get any light at night they are not used to getting. Even green lights I don't trust. IF you water in the dark, and your plants are already low on water, breaking a branch would be very easy to do.

I would say in this situation it really is up to you, so do what feels right. Many ways to grow our favorite plant.

Thanks man. I think this was the info I was really seeking. Now I know the root function I feel I can make a much better decision. I've never watered them with the lights off before so I guess I wont start doing it now lol. I was just concerned as ive never dealt with this issue before. Another reason being im running a heavy duty duhumidifier in a small space but i believe that only pulls moisture from the air. I guess ill see how these ladies are doing a few hours from now. by the way, from what i've heard its not so bad for you plants to get a little bit of their droop on.

 

[Bulldog11]

@KushMan707

The dehumidifier will pull moisture from the air, which in turn will have the air pulling moisture from your soil. It does make a difference, but not a terrible difference.

Letting your plants get their droop on IMO isn't a bad thing either. I try to keep plants at the optimal moisture levels at all time, but once or twice a season I let the root zone dry out to the point where I just start getting a little droop from the fan leaves. This also helps me figure out how much water my plants are taking up. If it takes a long time for the plant to droop, then I have been over watering. This all depends on many other external factors, but it gives me a good idea on where I need to be.

 

[hyzerflip]

During the dark cycle plants let the water and nutrients from inside the plant travel to the root system. When the lights turn on, they pull this back out of the soil into the plant.

I know this is common folk knowledge, but I do not believe there is sufficient evidence to support such an idea.

 

[Bulldog11]

http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-04/956789389.Bt.r.html

Evidence? It's plant physiology.

I guess I could use stoner logic.... Why do we harvest first thing in the morning? Or why do some people leave their plant in dark for days before harvest? I am sure there are many reasons for this, but the main reason is the plant hasn't pulled nutrients from the soil at that point in the day, making the finished product smoother.

 

[Bulldog11]

Did I miss something with what Mojavegreen posted? Did anybody read that?

"Incomplete stomatal closure during the night is observed in a diverse range of C3and C4 species (Fig. 1 ; Supplemental Table S1) and can lead to substantial nighttime transpirational water loss. Although water loss is an inevitable consequence of stomatal opening for photosynthetic carbon gain, nighttime stomatal opening is unexpected because carbon gain is not occurring and the need to cool leaves is reduced or absent. Most species have the ability to close stomata more than is commonly observed at night, as demonstrated by reduced nighttime leaf conductance (gnight) in response to water stress, abscisic acid (ABA), and other treatments reviewed in this Update."

The first paragraph pretty much backs what I was saying. Just so everybody knows, a c4 plant will act a little different due to it being in acrid places on the planet. c4 plants transpire co2 during night because it helps the plant hold water in the extreme head not during the day. c4 = cactus type plants. c3 plants like the plant we grow doesn't fall into this category. Reread the last sentence in what Mojavegreen posted. Maybe I read the article wrong, but great article.

 

[Bulldog11]

How were your plants this morning? They get the water they needed?

 

[KushMan707]

How were your plants this morning? They get the water they needed?

Hey Bulldog11, everything was good as usual. The pots were bone dry (probably got some nice root expansion from that) but I was ready to go with my water right as the lights turn on. Only 2 of my girls began to wilt but thats bc they were right in front of the fan. Thanks for the help @Bulldog11 and everyone else that chimed in.

 

[KushMan707]

There's a lot of info there some hard to get it all. Let's just not let the pots dry out!!!!! Peace.....Go Hawhs

My pots did get bone dry but my plants werent wilting. are there negative effects that come with letting a pot dry out if the plant isnt wilting?

 

[ShroomKing]

My pots did get bone dry but my plants werent wilting. are there negative effects that come with letting a pot dry out if the plant isnt wilting?

No. Its a good thing from time to time. Best of luck.
Peace

 

[hyzerflip]

@Bulldog11 : Neither your link or mojavegreen's post support your claim that 'during the dark cycle plants let the water and nutrients from inside the plant travel to the root system. When the lights turn on, they pull this back out of the soil into the plant.' Both your link and the research mojavegreen linked to speak specifically to transpiration via leaf stomata - Neither says anything about water and nutrients moving back and forth between the plant and its roots from night to day.

 

[fishwhistle]

Water and nutrients definitely move through the plant night and day hyzer,not so sure about it leaving the plant back into the soil though,ive always been under the impression that it traveled up into the plant at night not down and out.
''At night, transpiration usually does not occur because most plants have their stomata closed. When there is a high soil moisture level, water will enter plant roots, because the water potential of the roots is lower than in the soil solution. The water will accumulate in the plant, creating a slight root pressure. The root pressure forces some water to exude through specialleaf tip or edge structures, hydathodes or water glands, forming drops. Root pressure provides the impetus for this flow, rather than transpirational pull. Guttation is most noticeable when transpiration is suppressed and the relative humidity is high, such as during the night.''
To the original poster i always learned not to put the girls to bed with wet feet so i water during first part of lights on.I wouldnt water at end of lights on or in dark cycle id wait til next lights on,dont even know where i heard that from but its been working for a LONG time,lol.