I was just curious about how serious the no lights at all during the night cycle is? Would indicator lights on my surge protector or my timer cause problems?
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Potentially. I cover the light on appliances (power strips, dehumidifiers, humidifiers, etc…) with a couple layers of duct tape.
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If you have a twitchy strain absolutely. Growing outdoors in the city is also a problem due to light pollution.
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what about light from furnace fire or pilot light
will that affect plants
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Welcome to the community. It certainly could. I think it’s definitely safest practice to ensure complete darkness for the whole dark period with photoperiod plants in flower.
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Autoflowers you can get away with quite a decent amount of light leak but photos ive heard even lights from the buttons of fans can cause hermying its half the reason I only do autos right now
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I would not want to take the chance as mentioned, the aluminum-sided duck board tape, heat and air people use is not going to let any light penetrate out.
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Soo too much light at night can cause them to change into a hermy?
Yea it stresses them out because they think that it’s still daytime at weird times and especially during flower they become very sensitive to that and pretty much any extreme stress can cause hermying
What about the green light that I see advertised here & there? Are they safe or are they bullshit?
Supposedly they help but I’ve never worried at a quick peek during lights out. The main thing is to cover any operating lights on equipment in the grow space.
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Thanks, you just saved me a few dollars
I know light discipline is important but it also depends on when in the lifecycle the plant is: in veg not a big deal. Early to mid flower yeah that seems to be a twitchy time for some strains. Growing outdoors in an urban setting is a problem simply due to streetlights.
What you might want to invest $10 is one of these:
You can check for white powdery mildew in your grow and it also illuminates drying plant material (useful at harvest/drying). @Not2SureYet turned me on to that last tidbit.
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I bought one of those cuz i needed a filler to get the free shipping on amazon. Now I have a use for it ( thought it was just a black light), thanks for the tip. By illuminating drying not sure what you mean? like does it help tell when its ready er something?
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When you harvest your plants. They are full of water. The light shined on the plants will show puple. As they dry. You will notice the branches and buds will start turning green again. Once I see almost all green. They are normally dry enough to call done. 
Funny thing is. It was @Myfriendis410 that got me to get the light when I had bud rot I believe it was. I borrowed his light before getting my own.
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And of course you knocked it out of the park with that little discovery.
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