Morning Sun or Afternoon Sun?

[teh_piper]

Well before I ever started growing I read a few articles about which is better, morning sun or afternoon sun seeing as how some outdoor growers can't have both with certain locations.

From what I read people believe that morning sun is better. But why? Is there an explanation? If so I'd like to hear it. To me it seems the sun is much stronger at about 2-4 in the afternoon. So why would morning sun be better or does it even matter?

Right now my plants get about 8-9 hours of direct sunlight a day but afternoon sun, would it benefit my plants if they got 8-9 hours of direct morning sun?

 

[Marcellas]

I heard that the morning sun is stronger. I'm pretty sure somewhere between 9am and 12... It's because this is the time of day when the suns rays penetrate the strongest.
But it doesn't feel like the hottest time of day until later because it takes time for the land and water to heat up and reflect the heat..

I'm pretty sure this is all proven. When I put my SOUR BUBBLE BX3 outside, I'm making sure it gets the best light in the morning hours

 

[pez]

I prefer morning sun because it helps dry the dew and rain off the plant earlier, helping prevent mold.

 

[T.doT.Toker]

Morning is stronger.

 

[Guest]

maybe it's because air temps are cooler in the morning?

 

[teh_piper]

Would you take 8-9 hours of afternoon sun or 6-7 hours of morning sun?

 

[glock23]

the sun at noon is the strongest i'd take more hours of afternoon sun if i had to choose...although i prefer southern facing locations where they ALWAYS get the sun

 

[bentom187]

did u ever see condensation in the morning on your lawns ? well the morning sun is likley to make it evaporate,same thing with weed although you shouldnt worry about this type of thing till your girls start budding,to avaoid mold .lata

 

[teh_piper]

Right now they are still in pots so I have the freedom to move them. But in a few weeks when I put them in the ground I think I'll place them where they get morning sun to avoid bud mold. Thanks for the comments guys

 

[zamalito]

Since my grow spot used to be a certified organic field that had gone fallow and has since turned into a gamefter a few years of strictly growing in I'm doing my first outdoor container grow this year. I like it a lot since I can move them from heavily shaded to full sun gradually after being taken indoors. Like was said before cooler temperatures and higher intensity make morning sun better but if you're trying to conserve water evening sun is better. I try to gradually give them more sun starting with full morning and filtered midday sun then gradually extending the legnth of time full sun is received to a full day. Also with indica dominant strains that may stop growing in warmer temperatures it's better to have the sun filtered midday through evening. Greenhouse shade cloth (25%) is ideal but trees especially thinly spaced coniferous are quite good. My container plants this year are doing phenomenal compared to the in ground plants so far though in the long haul they probably won't be quite as large the will probably be more heavily budded for their size especially if they are moved according to light and temperature preferences..

 

[Stoner133]

the sun at noon is the strongest ...

The energy from the Sun is constant, what does change is the amount of atmosphere it has to penetrate. When the Sun is at it's highest position, local noon, it has the least amount of air to pass through and delivers the most energy.

That is why is warms up during the day.

Ideally, you would like to get the 3 hours before and after noon. That gives your plant the maximum amount of energy available.

If your forced to choose a site where only half the sky is available, I would choose afternoon because the plant is warmest and best able to use the Sunlight. Of course, that will be useless if it rots from morning moisture.

 

[glock23]

heh, that's what I meant Stoner...I just put it in layman's terms for the masses Nice to see you made it over from OG!

 

[WoodFired Pizza]

bump

 

[Baron Greenback]

Look into the Solar constant, it's 1.4kw per m2 and is constant. Morning or afternoon sun is surely immaterial, the same amount of light is arriving, the plant doesn't differentiate between the 2.
They will photosynthesise in daylight whether or not the sunlight is direct, but the process will be much more efficient in direct light. This is why gardeners prefer a south facing plot.

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

I prefer morning sun because it helps dry the dew and rain off the plant earlier, helping prevent mold.

This ^^^^

Outdoor grows are fuckers, you spend months growing monster trees, then just as it all gets interesting, wind, rain and cold arrive to try amd fuck up all your work.

Drying the dew off buds can make a critical difference to success, why increase the risks of failure at all, plant where she will get Autumn morning sun.

2/3 of my of growing space at my farm is compromised by the lie of the land shading September/October sun, so I don't ever grow there. Due to the weather, outdoor growing is always a risk, after 7 years here I would always recommend running some Autos and for serious yield and quality, shading / light dep.

 

[WoodFired Pizza]

This is why gardeners prefer a south facing plot.

1/2 way down a southern.

the mold and dew thing is what im trying to figure out. only ever had chemdog and bubba and purple truly mold and rot on me . have a empty hill that gets sun at like 7am but gets nothing in the late afternoon, i cant put all the moldy probably going to rot strains in that spot and i don't really want them to mess up the average on the other side. maybe i should just run them indoors and stick to the non rotty stuff outside but the stuff that rots is usually fun to run outside so its like idk. if they run better in the morning light then im not going to be able to use that info for another year anyways lol so if i just skip that part and make up a number like 25% less mold w/morning sun i feel better instantly instead of putting mold susceptible plants on both sides or all on one side and pretending nothing is different because of how pricing is setup.

 

[Baron Greenback]

Maybe have a squizz on Ace's website. They have strains that might be good for your climate, they seem to have tested quite a lot of theirs outdoors too. They state whether or not the strain is particularly mould resistant and you can take what they say as exactly what will happen

 

[rod58]

pretty well all plants grow better with morning sun and especially in areas like here where , like today it is 43dg celcius on my verandah ...
we have a carry over of coolness from the night and by midday plants are wilting a bit , eg ..closing their pores to reduce moisture loss so in fact they are really only utilising half the days sunlight ..some plants shut down at say 30dg and others may go on until 35 dg ..then those figures can change dramatically if they have copious amounts of water ..
utilising a bit of afternoon shade can improve that figure quite a bit but then they suffer from a lack of light early in the season ...bit of a balance really ..

 

[DJbigbud]

Where i live the sun is usually strongest around 2pm. i think morning is good for mold prevention cuz it dries plants off quicker but the most sun energy is provided between 10am and 4pm...

 

[Mick]

I prefer afternoon if I have access to a good water supply. A mate of mine chooses morning sun because the plant needs less water, and therefor less hassle for a guerrilla grow.