Can plants grow in total darkness?
All plants can survive for short periods without light. Obviously, they need to be able to last through the night, but they can also cope with a longer darkness in an emergency.
The plant will die within a few hours as it cannot produce food without sunlight.
Plants need to sleep. They perform important respiratory functions at night. Seedlings should have at least 6 hours of darkness per day, and more mature plants at least 8-10 hours a day.
The plants that were not exposed to light grew 15.7 millimeters more on average, and the difference of growth between no light and half light plants was 7.27 millimeters. In conclusion, the plants that were exposed to no light whatsoever, were the ones who grew significantly larger than the other plants.
Most plants need some light in order to grow, but shade-loving plants can easily get by with indirect light, or even artificial light from regular light bulbs.
Plants need light -- they can't survive without it. Light is a very important part of photosynthesis, the process plants use to convert carbon dioxide and water into food. Without light, photosynthesis can't work properly, and without photosynthesis, plants don't get all the food they need to grow healthy and strong.
The light slows stem elongation through hormones that are sent down the stem from the tip of the stem. In the darkness, the hormones do not slow stem elongation. The seeds in the dark-grown condition rely upon the stored chemical energy within their cells (lipids, proteins, carbohydrates) to power their growth.
Some plants can survive in very low-light conditions. If you think about dark, rainforest canopies, there are plants that grow in that environment. They have evolutionary adaptations to handle these low-light environments, which include making broad, thin leaves to capture as much sunlight as they can.
At night, or when the lights go out, plants focus more of their energy on respiration and stop performing photosynthesis. Because respiration is always taking place, that DOES make it possible to keep some plants on a 24-hour light cycle.
Unfortunately, there are no plants that can survive in complete darkness as they all require sunlight to create food through photosynthesis.
How long can plants be in darkness?
The length of time a plant can survive without light can be between 4 to 20 days depending on the amount of light the plant is normally subjected to. Low-light plants can go from 12 to 20 days, whereas light-loving plants can merely last between 4 to 10 days before they die.
Plants cannot survive in total darkness. All plants, with the exception of a few that live on other organisms, use a process called photosynthesis to obtain the energy they need. The vast majority of plants are autotrophs—they are self-feeding and require sunlight to survive.

Most plants grow faster in the evening and at night than they do during the day. The same holds for pumpkins. In recent years, research on circadian rhythms in plants has shown that the night-time growth spurts of plants is under control of the plants biological clock.
Plants, shrubs and trees use sunlight for photosynthesis during the daytime, but at night they need darkness to regenerate a key compound - phytochrome. Nighttime lighting can reduce vegetation's ability to properly create this compound.
At night, or in the absence of light, photosynthesis in plants stops, and respiration is the dominant process. The plant uses energy from the glucose it produced for growth and other metabolic processes.
All plants require light for photosynthesis, the process within a plant that converts light, oxygen and water into carbohydrates (energy). Plants require this energy in order to grow, bloom and produce seed. Without adequate light, carbohydrates cannot be manufactured, the energy reserves are depleted and plants die.
Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use energy from the sun to make food. They use carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to make sugar and oxygen. Most plants release oxygen only during the day, when the sun can power photosynthesis.
The length of time a plant can survive without light can be between 4 to 20 days depending on the amount of light the plant is normally subjected to. Low-light plants can go from 12 to 20 days, whereas light-loving plants can merely last between 4 to 10 days before they die.