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Help with humidty, temps, and air exchange please

Discussion in 'Grow Room Design/Setup' started by Shan1784, Dec 11, 2018.

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  1. #1 Shan1784, Dec 11, 2018
    Hoping someone can help me out here. Setting up for first grow. Trying to make sure I've got my environment set and ability to change temp and humidty on the fly.

    What I've got -
    4x4x6.5 tent
    QB light fixture
    Carbon air filter (exhaust)
    6 in 410 cfm in line fan (exhaust)
    6 in duct fan (intake)
    Cold ass humid basement room
    Vornado space heater
    Thermostat for space heater
    Intake and exhaust on timer

    Ok so my problem is low humidty. With space heater on lowest setting and no lights on I can get temps stable to 71-75. With lights on and heater turned up I can get temps higher and able to control this with the thermostat. The problem is my humidty drops to low 30's.

    Without running the heater or air exchange the humidty will raise up into the low 70's but temps drop to 50's. When I set the thermostat to 75 I get the temps up but the humidty drops to low 30's and then when the air exchange runs it drops temps down to about 70 and humidty drops lower.

    So I've got the space heater and air exchange working against my humidty. I have a fogger unit from house of hydro coming as well as a humidistat to try and stabilize the humidty but my fear is the air exchange will just suck it out. I have the air exchange on a timer running for 1 min every 5 mins. Is this too much? Not enough?

    It seems if I were to run the air exchange less frequently I may be able to get my humidty levels higher but also know I need the fresh air and co2 brought into the tent.

    This is my last piece to figure out before I feel comfortable starting my first run.

    First run will be 2 plants in DWC. So I'm sure that will help raise humidty but I'd hate to start then find myself then trying to troubleshoot while in the start or middle of a grow. I want to be able to set temps / humidty for veg and flower and not have to worry. Being new I'm going to have enough other challenges to worry about so trying to solve this now.

    Am I over thinking this? Any advise is appreciated...

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  2. #2 Soil2Coco, Dec 11, 2018
    Don’t get too hung up on humidity. Yes during veg 60-70% is desired but not needed. Low humidity is necessary for increased Trich production and no mold during flower. Do you have a fan speed controller? You can eliminate your intake fan and use open vents as passive intake and run your exhaust on slower speed to keep humidity up a little while still exchanging air
     
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  3. #3 Father Ted, Dec 11, 2018
    I see this view point a lot and not saying it's wrong but I feel it should come with the caveat of the downsides of low humidity - more chance of nute burn & need for more waterings. Also leaves are thinner and more susceptible to insect damage, which is a double whammy because spider mites love that low humidity.
     
  4. #4 Shan1784, Dec 11, 2018
    My exhaust is on the lowest setting. As far as opening the flaps goes, that is initially what I started out doing. Problem I saw was the room that the tent is in has a mold issue due to the high humidty. It's a roo. Under my porch, 8 inch think cement walls with a metal plate (what my porch above was poured on) ceiling. The ceiling literally drips in places due to condensation buildup thus causing the mold. I built a filter box, pic below, to pull air from room next to this room. I dont want to pull in nasty air was my concern.

    20181208_151219.jpg 20181205_161840.jpg

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  5. #5 Shan1784, Dec 11, 2018
    So just thinking about this, what if I used my fresh air filter box to supply humidty by putting a heat mat under it and filling the bottom with water and making a make shift humidty dome out of it??? Maybe run the intake 30 secs longer then the exhaust or something.

    Also how often do I need to run the air exchange and for how long. I've searched all over for this answer and can't find anything consistent.

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  6. #6 Soil2Coco, Dec 11, 2018
    I want to feed more often, that leads to faster growth and bigger buds. I know about vpd charts and all that, but I go from 60-70% RH in the summer to low 30’s in the winter with little to no difference. This run I’m doing indicas and maybe notice a little leaf wrinkling but they’re huge fans so that’s more than likely why.

    I have also never seen any kind of mite on any of my plants. Just fungus gnats in my coco or soil grows every know and then
     
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  7. #7 Schmebulock, Dec 11, 2018
    i would agree with this - my humidity is super fucking shit right now (under ~30) and my little seedlings are barely growing at all for my solo cup challenge.
     
  8. #8 Soil2Coco, Dec 11, 2018
    Feed them girls man!! I feed seedlings in Tupur twice a day too. 30ml around the perimeter. Guys grow in the desert with 10-15% Rh and do fine. Look at Papa Puffs plants. If you can get humidity up during veg it will help, but it won’t ruin a grow
     
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  9. #9 Schmebulock, Dec 11, 2018
    I have no idea if my strain has the genetics to weather it man, not every strain has that superpower hehe
     
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  10. #10 PopeyeSpinach, Dec 14, 2018
    I have the same issue every winter in my veg and clone room. It's about that same size.

    I hang up sopping wet washcloth in the corners. Like dripping drops on the floor of the grow room (but wring some of the water out first). It's all going to evaporate anyway and help keep the humidity up.

    I go in there with a spray bottle and spray down all the insides of the walls a few times a day too.

    I also have a stainless steel water bowl in front of my space heater in my flowering room, if need be.
     
  11. #11 Shan1784, Dec 14, 2018
    I just built a sonic fogger and seeing if that will get my humidty up.
     
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  12. #12 Iceman2494, Dec 14, 2018
    Move to the south . Even in dec no humidifier I’m in the 40,s


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  13. #13 Schmebulock, Dec 14, 2018
    that's what i'll be doing as well! Got the kit in and just need to fill my trash can with water and test.
     
  14. #14 Shan1784, Dec 14, 2018
    Mine did well last night. Humidty was in the 60's this morning with temp in the 70's. I had to change the air exchange to 1 min every 15 mins though. I'm getting another fogger kit so will build and put in the opposite corner and see if the humidty can build enough to work with more frequent air exchange.

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  15. #15 Schmebulock, Dec 14, 2018
    60's is really as high as you need to get - it trickles down hill from 60 at seedling to 30 around flower
     
  16. #16 Shan1784, Dec 14, 2018
    Right but a more frequent air exchange will cause my humidty to drop into 40's easily. Just want to get air exchange set on a good frequent schedule, set my humidty, set my temp, and know I'll stay in my vpd ranges unattended.

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  17. #17 Schmebulock, Dec 14, 2018
    Def sounds like you got this :)
     
  18. #18 Shan1784, Dec 17, 2018
    Sonic fogger I built works pretty good and effective at getting humidty up. Only issue is when the air exchange runs it sucks all the humidty out. So going to build a second one and put it on the same timer as the air exchange so when that runs I'll get double the amount of vapor being released in the air. Will see how that does otherwise I'll have it run off the hydrostat and hopefully be able to move that humidty back up quicker after the exhaust sucks it out. I'll hopefully post some pics of my finished fogger builds tonight.

    Other then this I was able to have my cousin out (master electrician) and we identified 3 circuits to pull into my grow tent room. Next sunday we will be pulling wires.

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  19. #19 Shan1784, Dec 17, 2018
    Here's pics of my foggers in action. One is hooked to the humidistat which is set to 62% and the other is hooked into the timer that runs the air exchange. Hoping to see less swing in humidty when the air exchange runs and if so I'm hoping I can run it more then every 15 minutes.

    20181217_174731.jpg 20181217_174739.jpg


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  20. #20 Schmebulock, Dec 18, 2018
    Do you have a link for the tube and adapter to the bucket lid?
     
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