Hey folks! First post here, first time grower working out the kinks in my process with a few bag seeds. My grow tent is in a basement, and I can't figure out how to keep my plants warm AND have adequate ventilation. Currently using a 600w LED; thinking I will have to get a HPS just for some extra heat. I do have an electrical radiator heater in there, but the duct fan basically sucks out all the heat from it and I'm essentially just trying to heat my entire basement. I'm very good at growing outdoor plants and thought this would be a piece of cake! Good thing I'm doing a practice run. Had my plants in that sealed tent for a couple weeks and couldn't figure out why they weren't growing. Oh, right... air... bought a duct fan this weekend. Now trying to figure out how to keep the heat in and have fresh air at the same time. I've done a few searches, but since the problem most people have is too much heat I'm not finding much!
get a timer for your fan. It shouldn't have to run constant I have my 8 inch run 3 minutes and off for 45 minutes in my 4X4 tent. hope this helps. Sweet Cheese and Durban Poison Grow
Is that really okay to do? I keep reading that you're supposed to refresh all the air in the tent every couple minutes, and after suffocating the poor things for so long now I'm paranoid they're not getting enough. I'll give it a try, thank you! I think I also need to put some insulation under the pots to protect from the cold concrete floor.
As long as the temps aren't down to the extreme cold numbers, the temp is not your problem. With the indoor grow, the key to getting them to grow vigorously is giving them the strongest lighting you can. Light makes the world grow 'round....most especially with the indoor grow. That's why we can grow outside and end up with pounds per plant and can't do it like that on the inside. The better lighting you provide for your plants during veg, the faster they will grow. This is super big time important during the flower cycle. For every plant you flower, you need the same strong wattage and excellent quality of light. Too many people try to flower too many plants under not enough light. The LED's are tough to use for multiple plants because they are such small-bodied lights and only shine straight down. This limits the coverage you get sq. ft. wise and limits the number of plants you can flower with most brands. But as far as the temp goes, these things are naturally wonderful growers in the normal environment and as long as the temp isn't down to freezing, they will live. As long as they don't freeze, you're not too cold. Actually, lots of strains really like colder temps and perform better the cooler the environment is...especially the indicas who don't like heat and humidity. So I seriously doubt cool temps are giving you a problem. Up your lighting and see if that helps any. Keep your light and your plants as close together as possible for best growth. If you're forced to raise the lamp just to cover more plants, you're trying to grow too many under that light....order another. Hope this helps you a little. TWW
Thank you Widow! It's around the mid 60s temperature wise. Everything I've been reading says they like it warmer and will grow faster in warmer temps. My plants are still very small for their age, probably mostly because of my mistakes. They aren't stretching out for light so I assume they are getting enough, at least for now. The light I have also has a bloom switch I will flip on when I get to the right time; right now it's on Veg and about 20 inches above the plants. Thank you guys for your responses! <3
I now have my fans on thermostats exhaust and intake except the main circulation fan it runs 24-7, i grow organic soil and started having some ph lockout issues from low night time temps and a big increase in condensation on plants when the lights kicked on, i have had zero growth isssues from the slower air exchange since it is only slow during lights off when an oil filled heater runs,the hps keeps it toasty during the rest of the time
Awesome! I'm still collecting equipment. Thermostat/timers for my fans is definitely climbing the list. Right after a carbon filter; things are already pungent
Temperature-controlled outlet. Plug your exhaust fan into it, set your temps, and let her ride. If you replenishing co2 levels once per hour you're good. If it never turns on that's bad, so you want to set your heater/air conditioner to trigger the temp-controlled outlet.
Trade your exhaust system for a CO2 tank. Remove the need to exhaust air and keep your heat. I have the opposite problem here though, gotta chill things down.. But exhaust/intake is just pulling in the hot air from outside, so I got everything sealed up with a strong ac unit and CO2.