Greetings loved ones! I'm new here as a member but have been following this website religiously for months. I'm hoping to absorb some of the experienced growers wisdom and be the best I can be at growing my own medicine! To keep it short, I want to get rid of the ac unit in my tent (for more plants and much less electricity used) and I was hoping I could do that with my vented 1000 watt hps light, fresh 72-74 degree basement air coming in from the bottom and adding co2 to help cope with the heat. When I first got the tent running without the ac unit it was peaking at about 84 degrees. Recently however I have bought a motorized light mover, (tent is getting full) and this nifty bag of material that claims to naturally produce up to 800 ppm of co2 for up to 6 months. With the ac running, the canopy varies between 72 and 78 degrees throughout the day while the light is on and when it's off it gets down to about 66. How warm can my girls get with added co2 for them to still be able to thrive? If seen a lot of similar post but they don't seem to answer that specific question. Hopefully the light mover spreads the heat out a tad and maybe I can keep it below 84 degrees? Also, if I get a 2nd co2 bag and up it even more would that help? Any and all information is greatly appreciated and if I need to give more info for a more direct answer I'm happy to answer any questions. Thanks in advance and God bless!
Also, I forgot to mention that as of now, the 1 bag of co2is in the tent now and the light is stationary. I had 8 clones on a table that grew almost a foot in 2 weeks! The tops got about 6 inches from the light but showed absolutely no signs of heat stress anywhere. I brought them down to where they are about 12-18 inches from the light just to be safe. But is it possible that the co2 bag helped keep them from curling up from heat? Figured this was important info
In order for co2 to work you must be able to seal up the grow so the co2 can build up. Co2 is not a fix for high temps. Quite the opposite actually. You must be able to handle temps in a sealed room. Plus the ppms need to be in the 1200 to 1500 rpm range for the plants to benifit. Then theres also the need for large lights do to the increased photo synthesis. I did experiments with mushroom bags. They do not maintain an even amount of co2 production and at best it's not much. The bags taper off fairly quickly. You can not have an exhaust running and the grow must be sealed. 84° really isnt that high and shouldn't cause any trouble anyways. Especially since the temps dont stay there.
co2 is counter-productive for the vast majority of us. Those co2 bags do little good in a vented tent, according to a co2 meter.
So the research I have done suggest that for the best benefit of the plant, temps should be from 70-75 degrees. Does anyone have any experience with light movers? Will it help with temps at all?
You are over-thinking this. Forget the co2. Forget the light mover. Complexity causes problems. The two best things you can do to increase yield are to switch to a hydro or hydro-like setup (hempy or autopots), and use the Vapor Pressure Deficit chart.
So, the light mover isn't just for temp reduction... I have an 8ft wide tent and the one light i have isn't going to cover the whole tent. I was hoping a small reduction in temp would of been an added bonus but that's not why I bought the mover. Also, I don't plan on doing any form of hydro set up ever... it's just not nearly as forgiving as soil.. now does the vapor pressure deficit chart only have to do with hydro or can it benefit a soil grow as well?
It doesn't matter soil or hydro, it applies to them the same. What he is saying is with the added advantage of hydro, AND sticking with proper VPD values, you give yourself that much more of a shot at a great yield. I get good yields in organic dirt, following the same charts/basic guidelines.
Sweetness. Il look into it! So it was stated above that 84 degrees isn't too hot... like I said a lot of the research I have done was telling me between 70 and 75 (for flowering) is ideal. The whole idea is to remove the air conditioner from the tent but... if the temp get that high will it slow down growth at all? With the SOG I'm doing that ac u it is taking enough room that I'm losing about 4 plants.. so in short, is it worth it to let it get hotter so I can squeeze in 4 more plants? Thanks again guys I really appreciate the help from all of you!
If you cannot afford to adequately light the full tent then dont. Use the area you can light and use it well. You will yield more by adequately lighting a 1x1m space than you would with trying to stretch light over a 2x2m
See, it made sense in my head at least that with the light mover continuously moving the light from one side of the tent to the other, you can utilize the whole tent with one light. It's also supposed to simulate the movement of sunlight and eliminate hotspots. Even if the light is on the left side of the tent, the right side should still get lots of light just not as much as when its overhead. The whole point of all this is to maximize the use of the floor space and essentially get more grams per watt (removing the ac for more space and the light mover to cover the whole tent) I understand now that the co2 isn't going to help me much so maybe I should start another thread. But, il still take all the help I can get!