By Max Sargent

When growing cannabis, we pay a lot of attention to ensuring plants get ample amounts of strong light. Light is one of a plant’s main fuel sources, and consistent illumination is essential to achieving large yields of potent bud. What gets less attention is making sure that plants also receive enough proper darkness, which is equally important to (photoperiod) plants' healthy development as light.

Cannabis plants are so sensitive to light that even light pollution from artificial lights can disrupt their dark period and throw them off. In this article, we look at how to protect plants from light pollution to ensure healthy growth.


What Exactly Is Light Pollution?

Light pollution is a broad term that generally refers to artificial light that reduces natural levels of darkness at night. Most commonly, it’s used in reference to urban areas, where the sheer density of artificial light at night blots out many, if not all, of the stars. If you’ve ever looked at a cityscape at night from outside the city, you’ll probably notice an orange glow humming over it—this is light pollution.

In relation to cannabis, there are two ways of looking at light pollution. The first is that large, commercial operations might themselves contribute to light pollution, even in rural areas. A greenhouse full of high-powered lights will also pollute the surrounding areas when darkness autumns—this is cannabis light pollution. However, given that most of our readers aren’t large-scale commercial growers, this is fairly irreverent in the context of this article.

Light Pollution

What’s more relevant is the effect that ambient light pollution can have on small-scale cannabis grows, by disrupting a plant’s dark period. This is most common when growing outdoors or in greenhouses, but light leaks in grow tents are also problematic.

The reason that light leaks can cause cannabis plant issues is that cannabis is extremely sensitive to light; it uses light levels and intensity to judge the season, and alters its behaviour accordingly.

How Sensitive Is Cannabis to Light?

The following section will exclusively discuss photoperiod cannabis plants, as autoflowering plants’ life cycles aren’t dictated by light exposure (so long as they have enough to grow).

Photoperiod cannabis plants don’t just use light for photosynthesis, but also to judge the season, thereby determining which growth stage they should be in. Long hours of light imply midsummer, and the plant will vegetate during this part of the year and do most of its growing. Once the days become shorter, it senses autumn is coming and begins to flower, ready to reproduce before it dies come winter. Because of these behaviours, it’s crucial to give cannabis plants the correct ratio of light and dark depending on their stage of growth.

It’s not just about giving plants enough light; they also need enough true darkness. Problems that can occur if darkness is interrupted include:

  • Reverting back to the vegetative stage
  • Becoming a hermaphrodite
  • Stunted growth or even death (in severely disrupted plants)
  • Stalling/extended grow time
  • Reduced yield

Darkness in cannabis plants

Managing Light Pollution: Indoor Cannabis Grow

Fortunately, there are steps we can take to ensure that cannabis plants get ample darkness. Growing indoors provides the easiest environment in which to control the light and dark cycle. Here’s what you can do.

Use a Timer

When growing indoors, you can make your life much easier by pairing a timer with your lights. This means that they will turn on and off at the right time every day. This way, there’s no danger of you forgetting to switch them off at night and disrupting your plants. In addition to ensuring that external light doesn't get in when growing indoors, you should also make sure that your lighting setup itself is consistent and working correctly!

Seal the Grow Space

Once you’ve sorted your lights, you need to seal the grow space, be it a tent or room, off from external light sources. There’s no point investing in lights and a timer if light creeps in through curtains or openings in the body of the grow tent.

If you’re growing in a room, make sure windows and doors are totally sealed. It’s possible that even a little artificial light coming in through the bottom of a door can throw off a plant’s photoperiod, so stand inside with all the lights turned off and check if light is leaking in from anywhere.

If you’re using a grow tent, then they should be fully sealable against light anyway. However, it may be that one of the doors or vents doesn’t seal properly, or maybe your tent is past its prime and has a little tear. When using grow tents, duct tape is almost always the answer for sealing them against light leaks.

Tent for Cannabis Grow
Tent for Cannabis Grow

Managing Light Pollution: Outdoor Cannabis Grow

Outdoor cannabis grows can be more problematic when it comes to light pollution. If you grow in a city, or maybe even just have a street light looming over your garden, then these can cause problems. Neighbours who leave lights on all night can even disrupt a cannabis plant's photoperiod. So what can you do?

Choose the Best Growing Space

First things first, try to choose the best space to start with. This means a space that gets at least eight hours of direct light during the day, and as much darkness as possible at night. It’s difficult to quantify exactly how much darkness plants need and how much light will stop flowering outdoors—it doesn’t need to be pitch black. One way to test if a space is suitable is to go outside with a magazine and see whether you can read the larger writing inside it. If you can, it might be better to find a darker spot. And if you can read the smaller text, you definitely need more darkness!

Grow in Pots

Of course, not all of us have outdoor spaces that are dark enough, but all is not lost. If you grow your plants in pots, then you can place them in direct sun during the day and then move them to more darkness during the night. Maybe this means moving them to a darker corner of your garden, or perhaps it means moving them indoors, into a sealed room.

This is much easier if you only have a couple of small to medium-sized plants. It will soon become unworkable if you’re growing many monsters.

Build a Blackout Tent/Shelter

You could also build or buy a blackout tent/shelter. These are mobile structures that can be placed around a plant during the night and removed each morning; they ensure that your plant is entrapped in complete darkness during the night. In fact, they aren’t just helpful for combating light pollution, but can also be used to induce flowering earlier in the summer.

Alternatively, you can invest in a greenhouse, which makes ensuring darkness much easier. See below.

Managing Light Pollution: Greenhouse Growing

Greenhouses are a perfect middle-ground when it comes to growing weed. They can utilise natural light in the day, can be supplemented with artificial light if necessary, and can be easily covered to create a totally dark environment.

If you’re growing outdoors, you should consider investing in a greenhouse, especially if you’re having problems with light pollution.

Use a Blackout Tarpaulin

If you’re growing in a greenhouse, whether big or small, there’s one very simple solution against light pollution: an opaque tarpaulin!

Once it becomes time for your plants to sleep, simply pull a blackout tarpaulin over the greenhouse. That’s it. So long as the tarpaulin properly blocks light and covers the whole structure, then it will do its job perfectly.

For those who want to grow outdoors, but anticipate problems with light during the night, a greenhouse and an opaque tarp can make for a cheap, easy, and highly effective solution!

What Are Your Options if Light Pollution Is Unavoidable?

If, for some reason, it’s inevitable that you’re going to have issues providing ample darkness during the night, then all is not lost; you can still cultivate cannabis. But what can you do?

HulkBerry Auto - Photo: Oyziphar
HulkBerry Auto - Photo: Oyziphar

Grow autoflowering plants!

While autos still need light to photosynthesise, they do not rely on light cycles to move through their life cycle. Rather, they bloom of their own accord after a genetically predetermined amount of time, and no amount of light will stop them entering the flowering stage and producing bud. In fact, you can successfully grow autoflowers beneath 24 hours of light a day from seedling through to harvest.

So if you can’t guarantee enough darkness at night, just go for autoflowering plants. These days, they’re almost as productive and potent as photoperiod plants anyway, and make for a much easier grow overall. Not only are they more lenient when it comes to light and dark cycles, but they're generally less effort to grow in general—and they’re much faster.

The Importance of Preventing Cannabis Light Pollution

If growing photoperiod cannabis plants, it’s essential that they get enough darkness at night. During the vegetative stage, this means around eight hours of uninterrupted darkness. In the flowering stage, 12 hours is necessary. Don’t underestimate how important this is, and how wrong the flowering stage can go if your plants are exposed to light pollution.

Among the solutions above, find a way to keep your plants in complete darkness. And if not, don’t stress, just opt for autoflowering plants.

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Privacy Policy - Royal Queen Seeds

To ensure a safe online environment and guarantee adequate data protection, we strictly comply with all legal requirements. In this privacy statement, we provide information about how and for what purpose data is collected, safety measures, storage periods and contact details.


COMPANY NAME: SNORKEL SPAIN, SL (hereinafter ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS)

C/ Vilar d'Abdelà, 5 (nave 1) CP: 08170 de Montornès del Vallès

+34 937 379 846

support@royalqueenseeds.com


The present Privacy Policy sets out the terms on which we will treat personal data at ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS; this includes any personal data collected through our website https://www.royalqueenseeds.com/ as well as any other data we process in the course of our business activities.

ROYAL QUEEN SEEDS collects the following personal data for the purposes listed below:

SECTION 1 – PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

1.1 Account purchases

Account purchases can only be made if you are in possession of a personal account. When you create an account or purchase something from our shop, as part of the buying and selling process we collect the following personal information that you provide to us:

This information is required for delivery. In addition, when you browse our shop, we automatically receive the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer. Based on this information, we can optimise your online experience and at the same time protect our online environment.

Purpose of data collection

We collect and store account-related data for the following purposes:

(a) to carry out obligations arising from any contracts between you and us, and to provide you with information, products and services that you may request from us;

(b) to set up, manage and communicate with you about your account and your orders;

(c) to conduct market research and analysis;

(d) to confirm your age and identity, and to detect and prevent fraud.

1.2 Newsletters

With your explicit permission, we may send you newsletters about our shop, new products and other updates. We send newsletters based on your explicit consent. In the event that you purchase a product, and in accordance with current regulations, we may send you commercial communications in accordance with the legitimate interest of our company, always about products or services similar to those you have purchased or contracted. In any case, you may exercise your right of opposition through the channels announced in this Privacy Policy. The following information is collected in relation to the newsletter:

We do not need to know the sex of the person in order to send the newsletter (data minimisation: by law we must ask for data that is strictly necessary to provide the service, and in this case knowing the sex is not necessary to send the newsletter).

Purpose of data collection

The data collected is used to:

(a) personalise our emails, including your name and gender;

(b) provide gender-specific content.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by using the link provided in the newsletter or the contact information provided in section 2.

1.3 Customer service and contact form

In order to provide appropriate support, our customer service employees have access to information related to the account. Consequently, their support will be highly effective and friendly. The data provided in our contact form is used by our CRM provider, SuperOffice. We will only use your details to respond to your message.

SECTION 2 – LEGITIMATE INTEREST

If you have purchased any of our products, please note that we may process your personal data for promotional purposes, based on Royal Queen Seeds' legitimate interest only to offer you products or services from our company and about products or services similar to those you have purchased. You may exercise your right to opt out of future messages by the means set out in this Privacy Policy or through any notification you receive.

2.1 How do you withdraw consent?

If you change your mind, you can withdraw your consent for us to contact you for the purpose of collecting, using, or disclosing your data at any time by reaching out to us at: support@royalqueenseeds.com.

SECTION 3 – DISCLOSURE

We may disclose your personal information if we are required to do so by law or if you breach our Terms of Service.

SECTION 4 – HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

At Royal Queen Seeds, we will not retain your data for longer than is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data; however, the longest period we will normally hold any personal data is 10 years.

4.1 Account information

Data relating to the account remains relevant for as long as the consumer is in possession of an account. Therefore, the data remains documented for as long as the account exists. When our customers delete an account, the associated data will be deleted within a reasonable period of time. Requests regarding the inspection or correction of stored personal data or the deletion of an account can be sent to support@royalqueenseeds.com.

4.2 Newsletters

In the event that you give us your consent to inform you about our products or services, we will keep your data until you express your wish not to receive any further communications from us. However, we regularly (every month) carry out a relevance check. Registered customers (and their personal information) will be deleted whenever customers do not reply to our request. In addition, our newsletter mailing has an opt-out feature. Consumers can withdraw their consent by using this opt-out feature.

SECTION 5 – COOKIES

Cookies are small information files that notify your computer of previous interactions with our website. These cookies are stored on your hard drive, not on our website. Essentially, when you use our website, your computer displays its cookies to us, informing our site that you have visited before. This allows our website to function more quickly and remember aspects related to your previous visits (such as your username), making your experience more convenient. At Royal Queen Seeds, we use two types of cookies: functional and analytical.

5.1 Functional Cookies

Functional cookies are used to enhance your online experience. Among other things, these cookies track what is added to your shopping cart. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

5.2 Analytical Cookies

Analytical cookies are used for research and market analysis. The data collected with these analytical cookies is anonymous, making it unusable for third parties. The use of these cookies does not require prior authorization.

SECTION 5 – THIRD-PARTY SERVICES

Third-party services are required to conduct transactions and provide our services. In general, the third-party providers we use will only collect, use and disclose your information to the extent necessary to enable them to perform the services they provide to us.

However, certain third-party service providers, such as payment gateways and other payment transaction processors, have their own privacy policies regarding the information we must provide to them for your transactions.

We encourage you to read the privacy policies of these providers so that you can understand how these providers will handle your personal information.

In particular, certain suppliers may be located or have facilities located in a different jurisdiction than yours or ours. Therefore, if you choose to proceed with a transaction involving the services of a third party, your information may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which that service provider or its facilities are located.

Once you leave our website or are redirected to a third-party website or application, you are no longer governed by this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Service of our website.

Web analytics service (anonymous data)

On this website we have integrated an element of a web analytics service (with anonymisation functionality). Web analytics can be defined as the gathering, processing and analysis of data about the behaviour of visitors to websites. An analytics service collects, among other things, data about which website a person came from (the so-called referrer), which sub-pages they visited or how often and for how long they visited a sub-page. Web analytics is mainly used for website optimisation and for a cost–benefit analysis of internet advertising.

Courier service

To complete deliveries we use a courier service. This courier service carries out the delivery between our company and the consumer's home. To complete these logistics, the company requires access to the consumer's name and address information.

Mailing service

Royal Queen Seeds uses a third-party mail service provider to send its newsletter. This provider has access to limited account information related to opt-in consent (e.g. email address).

Marketing services

Royal Queen Seeds has the support of a company that specialises in marketing and communication activities. Their access to personal information is very limited and mostly anonymous.

Payment services

At Royal Queen Seeds we use external payment services to handle our transactions (e.g. credit card payments).

SECTION 6 – SECURITY

To protect your personal information, we take reasonable precautions and follow industry standard best practices to ensure that it is not inappropriately lost, misused, accessed, disclosed, altered or destroyed.

If you provide us with your credit card information, the information is encrypted using secure socket layer technology (SSL) and stored using AES-256 encryption. Although no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure, we follow all PCI-DSS requirements and implement additional industry standards that are commonly accepted. Information related to the account is protected with a hashing method. This method transforms the information into a generated hash. As a result, confidential information is protected and invisible, even to us. In addition, our databases are exceptionally protected against unauthorised access. For example, access to the database is only possible and permitted via approved IP addresses (e.g. from Royal Queen Seeds headquarters). Other attempts and addresses are rejected at all times.

Furthermore, data is anonymised as much as possible, so it cannot be directly linked to a specific consumer. With this data, however, we may be able to carry out market research and analysis. In addition, the third parties concerned (e.g. mailing service) are examined prior to our collaboration, comply with the GDPR from the EU and receive a processing agreement. Within Royal Queen Seeds, employees are assigned different access permissions. Specific permission provides access only to information that is strictly required to perform a task. Digital security measures are subject to change and must meet high requirements to ensure the safety of online customers. That is why, at Royal Queen Seeds, we appoint a security officer. Regular verification and improvement of security measures (where necessary) are part of the role.

SECTION 7 – CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Policy at any time, so please check back regularly. Changes and clarifications will be effective immediately upon being published on the Website. If we make substantial changes to this policy, we will notify you here that it has been updated so you will know what information we collect, how we use it and under what circumstances, if any, we use and/or disclose it.

SECTION 8 – YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO: