Hey folks just wanted to share my 5x5 I just got setup. Tent is 60x60x80" Ohuhu tent, it was about $110 on Amazon. The tent has 3x 240w LED fixtures. Each fixture has 504 Samsung LM301B diodes, and 72 Epistar 660nm red diodes. The drivers are remote mounted to this concrete beam that runs across my basement. I used stainless steel heat resistant zip ties to mount them. Wanted to thank @HardDrive and @Tbone Shuffle for all their advice....wouldn't be anywhere without your help. Now I just need to get my exhaust fan running and hopefully I can bring the temps down from the 86 degrees it's at right now (these lights are hot especially because I have 3). These lights are super super bright it's crazy, it makes my 4x4 veg tent with one QB260 look dim by comparison. P
I've only grown in soil but I've been wanting to try an auto in DWC....do you grow in hydro? Does hydro like different temps than soil? I've got 3 fans in there right now and have been considering a portable A/C unit for the basement....the summer has been brutal so far and my house doesn't have A/C....I'm hoping once I plug the exhaust fan in it will create negative pressure hopefully sucking most of that hot air out.... P
Hydro is much easier than dirt. You have complete control of the nutes. Yeah been hydro for years now, you only have to veg for 2 or 3 weeks, then the flip to flowering. So with my photoperiod clones, I'm running less time than auto's and getting over 2 lbs out of 4 plants in a 5x5 tent. Now if I grew a more sativa plant, the flowering time would increase. I grow indica's that finish in 50 -- 65 days and heavy yields with 22% plus THC, mostly around 25%. If you want to try hydro, read my journals, they are documented pretty good of my setup and how everything works. Then I'll be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
You can hand feed hydro. It doesn't have to be a DWC type setup. I used to grow bucket DWC and promix/perlite in fabric pots on the side and feed them the same nutrients. I put my buckets away about 3 crops ago and I've just been using promix/perlite to simplify stuff a little. I've been enjoying it. I do get larger stems in DWC but the yield is similar.
Man I'm having a really hard time getting these temps down. Almost got to 90° today even with the exhaust on high and 3 fans moving around the tent. Good thing there aren't any plants in there right now. For comparison, my 4x4 veg tent with 1 QB260W in the same basement is at 81° but there's an oscillating fan blowing on the canopy so the plants are fine. Any suggestions on a portable AC unit? Preferably something that I can just duct into the tent so I don't take up floor space? Also around how much power do portable ACs normally use? Are those cheap evaporative coolers any good? Without lights the tent is about 76°. Then lights on goes up to like 89°. I don't have central A/C in my house ,it's in the mid 80s on the upper floor, and I've been ok with sweating my ass off all day but I want my plants to be cool and happy lol. P
How large is your exhaust fan for the tent? Evap coolers work great if your ambient humidity is under about 20% for the incoming air. If it goes above that they almost completely lose their cooling effect. That's why they're mostly only used in desert climates with low humidity. They rely on a property of physics called flash gas. When extremely dry air is passed over the wet matts a portion of the water immediately flashes to gas reducing the air temp by about 15-20 degrees instantly. Lights off 76 temp is going to be hard to deal with. You need remote located drivers not on the light fixtures. You want small fans blowing on the light heatsinks. You'll probably want to dim at least 25% or so during hot months. It's not worth having high light levels in a grow area if it comes at the cost of going outside of optimal temp range. You'll do better limiting light to keep the plants happy. Increasing exhaust fan can make a huge difference but not so much when your incoming air is so hot. Many people underestimate how much exhaust fan flow they need for a grow area. I use a 440cfm 6" exhaust fan on my bloom area. It's running at full speed and it can barely keep the temps below about 82-84 right now in the peak of summer. That's my limit. If it goes above 84 then I do something about it. A one ton window AC unit which is about 12,000 btu's of cooling power uses roughly an average of about 1100 watts when running. You can find half ton units that are a little more then half that but they obviously won't cool as well.
I have a 6" 440 cfm fan exhaust as well for this 5x5...running at full blast..drivers are remote mounted and 3 fans blowing at the lights. Anyways I kept dimming the lights bit by bit until I FINALLY got it down to 84 so I guess I'll just rock with this until the heat lets up.....my RH is at like 40% so I guess the evaporative cooler is out....and probably wouldn't be able to float the monthly cost of running a 1000w AC......this is pretty much the hottest month of the year over here, hopefully things start cooling off when I move plants into this tent. I'm shooting for the 30th, if its down to at least 82 by then I'll be a happy camper and not losing sleep at night worried about cooking the ladies.... Tbone I don't know what I'd do without you.. P
They actually grow faster and feed heavier at higher temps. My highest yield is always that hot crop of the year. You just have to keep it low enough to not stress them and make them foxtail early or something like that. I like 84 for a top temp with no CO2 but you could possibly push it. It always depends on the strain.
Oh really? That's really interesting, does that hold true for veg and flower? right now I got some Chem OG short fat Indica plants so maybe they'll do well with the heat? Or do I have that backwards and it's lanky sativa's that do well in the heat? P
Mountain indicas can tolerate intense light but it's mostly the sativa leaning plant with more temp and light tolerance.
Yes more rapid growth at high temps across the board if the plant can tolerate it. It basically increases the plant's metabolism. Plant growth is a complex set of chemical reactions that take place faster at high temps.
Hydro res growers can be limited by how high they want to elevate the res but growers that use a medium for the roots can go as high as the plants can take. 84 is my recommended peak temp safe limit for usually no heat stress on the buds.