I used the white and black plastic to line the walls of my grow room. It is quite heavy and sturdy, and I would think it should make a good light blocking curtain.

10mm of chipboard is pretty impervious to light ;)

I'm sure chipboard would work well...if I had the space for hinged doors!

Thanks, watergal. Is there any chance you could use a flash light to shine through the plastic when your room is dark, just to see how well it blocks? I've found that in a dark room, even a little light making it through can make a big difference.

I appreciate your help!

Have you considered wearing a mask to block the light from your eyes? It seems that may be the cheapest thing to do. Yeh?

Where in the world did you get the idea it was okay to run light 24/7? Does that occur in evolution somewhere? Man didn't reinvent millions of years of evolution in the last 20 years. Give yourself, and your plants a break, and run a normal photoperiod. If you look at the light requirements of the plant you're growing, you can find the proper photoperiods.

I had not considered that, oppalm. A viable option, but I think I'd rather cover the stand :)

dantjed...like I said in my original post, it is a common practice among Hosta hybridizers to grow their seedlings under 24/7 lighting to achieve accelerated growth rates. When you are working with a genus that takes 6-8 years to reach maturity (and only then properly evaluated), any little trick to speed things up is valuable. Do a little research and you will find plenty of information about it. It may not work for all plants, but it does for Hostas.

A some what impractical idea, but theoretically possible and interesting:

If the growing area is shielded with polarized film in the x direction, and you shield your sleeping area with polarized film in the y direction, then you will not be able to see the light from the grow area, but the 50% of the light will spill into the room and you will be able to see the growing area when you are outside of your sleeping area.

They used to sell polarizing film in quantities.just saw this on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Polarizing-filter-film-by-the-foot_W0QQitemZ320190083083QQihZ011QQcategoryZ15217QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

dcarch

Try the emergency car blankets available at WalMart- dirt cheap.

Hosta people are famous for growing under lights 24-7. I grow hosta seeds too and ran an experiment and saw no difference in the growth rate between 24/7 and 16/8. If the leaves make food during the light hours, I still think they can utilize it better in the dark. I guess I am just too old to change my thoughts on the growth cycle of plants. 16/8 also helped my electric bill :>)

Brooke

That is an interesting idea, dcarch! Probably more expensive than the other options, though.

Brooke, I had thought about those blankets. I may pick one up to see how it works. The ones I just looked at on ebay were only 7' long and I'd like to go floor to ceiling (8'), but I may be able to piece them together.

Josh a lot of daylily people use these blankets when the grow seedlings in cold basements. It helps trap the heat.

Can't you put a "top" on your stand that is more or less permanent and then the blanket on front and sides. When I grew under lights, I used the 1" foam board attached to the top, two sides and back of the stand to help reflect any useable light back onto the plants.

Or do as I did, turn the lights off, save the $$$$, they grow just as well as the 24/7 myth. In fact, maybe better.

Brooke

Brooke, that's exactly what I'm planing to do...a solid top with side curtains. I picked up a blanket today and will see how well it blocks light tonight...

My rose cuttings have rooted well, I'm now running the lights
24/7, set at 2,000 foot candles, Ushio 850's. The blanket curtain you're using looks ideal, both blocks the light and throws it back into the garden to be transformed into growth.
My cuttings are doing great on 24/7. Paul Mozarowski.