Hey all, I'm about to start my first grow. I have all equipment (more or less) ready to go and hope to begin germinating my fem seeds on Sunday. But while I was waiting for my seeds to arrive (dam Xmas mail! ) I decided to do some Ph and EC tests on my water (both fresh out of the tap and 24hrs later) and also some temperature tests with a thermometer in my tent. Anyway I already kinda knew I'd need some heating in my grow room as Im in a cold climate during winter. The last 24hr test showed a range of 11c to 13.5c. Although I'm not taking a whole lot from that as its been quite mild here over the last 3 or 4 days. But it was the humidity readings that caught my eye. Most of the reading I have done on this site has said that humidity levels should be 45-55%, and even lower than this during flowering (35%?). However, my readings in the tent are showing a range of 58-68%, depending on the time of day. (I should note Im using a thermoometer cum hydrometer to get this reading) So need I be worried, should I be planning on buying a humidifier of some sort? (yet another electrical device I could do without inside the tent at this stage=( Also Im buying a heater with thermostat & timer for the room the tent is in. My choices are an oil heater or a fan one. I'm presuming the oil one is more energy efficient for running 12-16 hours a day, but which one of the two will give me a lower humidity reading? I really dont want humidity to become a problem later on in the grow so I want to sort this little hassle now. Finally, are there any cheap ways of reducing humidity (I know warm wet towels will raise it, but is there a DIY way to lower it?) Do fans make any difference? For the record I growing in 11ltr Autopots, airstone at the roots, 600w bulb, 1.2m square tent.
hey dude if your going to be using HPS lighting that will help to lower the RH, IMO that RH isnt too bad some growers on here have delt with flowering in 70%+ RH
allo mate, im only on my 1st grow, and had similar RH to that, as soon as the 250watt HPS started doin its thing, my humidity went down to less than 30% you got no worries i dont think mate!
That RH doesn't sound like a problem. If you want a cheap way to lower RH look into Damp-Rid, its a chemical in pellet form that dries out the air. Should be in Home Depot etc, probably Wally World as well.
i'm on the opposite end of things. mine is way low. 16% @ 85 degrees. i put a pan of water in there, and i'm trying to get the temps down right now, but i think i need more humidity. its a tiny cabinet so i haven't found a humidifier that will fit. any other suggestions? the water doesn't seem to be doing anything.
@tidehigh I found the coolest little humidifer @ walgreens, it's a small desktop unit and uses one of those small drinking water bottles. It's definitely small enough for most rooms. One bottle lasts about 12 hours. Good Luck
From what I understand, the lower the humidity, the easier it is for the plant to evaporate moisture - therefore causing the plants to grow with narrower leaves which somehow increases the resin production (which I would like to hear an explanation about). A lot of the grow journals I've read used humidity as high as 65% during growing, and steadily dropping that to around 25-30% by the time flowering starts. The humidity factor and keeping it low is more important during flowering, I believe.