This may be totally off the wall, but the sunflowers growing around my garden are bigger the nearer they are to the street light. I've seen documentaries with marijuana labs in California where they grow their plants all day and all night under the lights. But do street lights have any similar effect?
asked Jul 26, 2011 at 21:21
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Could be drainage? Here in Texas as the lawns turn yellow, there are some pretty obvious green stripes where the water would normally seep out - eg. against curbs.– winwaedCommented Jul 27, 2011 at 1:08
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@winwaed it really could be drainage, there is a strange half circle in my lawn where the grass grows extra thick. I think I'm just extra surprised by the height of some of my sunflowers.– Peter TurnerCommented Jul 28, 2011 at 13:44
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3 Answers
As far as I'm aware, most plants need a "dark" period for their overall health & well being.
Examples:
It has also been found that tomatoes under continuous light do not set fruit well. The key here is to avoid garden sites that are under lights that remain on all night, such as security lights or street lights.
Interior lights in the home, street lights or even car lights can disrupt the required dark period and cause disappointing flowering.
If you plant mums underneath street lights you may find that they do not bloom as expected as the light will interfere with the required ‘dark’ period.
New buds will set as the nights lengthen during fall. This is due to the photoperiodic nature of poinsettia and allows them to bloom naturally around November or December. However, any stray light, such as outside street lights or household lamps, will delay or halt the re-flowering process. The plants must be kept in complete darkness for 14 continuous hours each night starting October 1 or 2 months before you would like the plant to flower.
Autumn Changes in Deciduous Trees
The effect of day length can be observed in tree leaves that grow close to street lights. These leaves stay green longer and are shed later than other leaves on the same tree, providing the tree species is sensitive to day length
answered Jul 26, 2011 at 21:55
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So exactly the opposite effect is true, that's strange. I thought my garden was being helped by the streetlight! Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 13:45
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@Peter Turner, I really think it depends on the specific plant, but like I said above, "As far as I'm aware, most plants need a "dark" period for their overall health & well being." Commented Jul 28, 2011 at 15:44
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It does depend on the plant, most plants can adapt without a "dark period" (will undergo that part of photosynthesis anyways). Here is a similar question: http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/3402 Commented Feb 15, 2012 at 21:53
Regarding your mention of marijuana growth in California: yes, they do grow their plants under 24 hour light. However this is only in the "vegetative" or growth stage of the plant. Once the plant reaches ideal size, the light cycle is switched from 24 hrs to 12 hrs on/12 hrs off to begin the blooming stage of the plant's life (replicating the natural shortening of the days) . So yes, you are correct in that you can grow a plant as big as it will want to get under 24 hrs light, but it will never start to bloom.
My research has indicated "HIGH LIGHT STRESS" which damaged my Acer tree. It looks dead! Hydrogen peroxide(bleach) is produced`when over stimulated by light and cells go into "programmed cell death", This is high level Biology and some people cannot understand this. These were compact fluorescent lights but now council are putting in 40000K LEDs and I cannot find out if these type of lights affect plants.
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You must mean 4000°K. That's plenty blue. 40000°K would peak at 72 nanometers; nearly X-Ray, and well below visible. Commented Oct 4, 2016 at 14:08