*** Changed title versus starting a new thread. Trying to dial in my tent temps this weekend after I believe heat caused some seedling problems. Tent is 4'x2'x6' (48 CF). I have a 100 CFM exhaust fan running wide open and passive intake. 18 x 23w CFLs with each cluster of 6 under a reflector. I may need to pop some holes in each reflector to release some heat. Good or bad idea? Right now inside tent temp is holding at 77F. Outside room temp is 55F.
all lights put out heat . some just more then others. wait till you deal with 1K bulb and a Mag ballast. both of which are little 150F space heaters. even LED boards will heat up a room . your problem is that you've got 18 of em in there. strip out any reflectors you've got running and set up some kind of fan blowing air across the ballast parts ( the plastic are where you screw it in ) of the bulbs. hen look into getting 150+ watt equivalents ( they'll be around 50 watts actual each). they are bigger and will actually almost cut 2/3rds of the bulbs needed, and drop that heat issue in the process. good luck
Interesting. Assumed the higher wattage CFLs would run quite a bit hotter. I understand that may be offset by fewer bulbs. First grow, so was going for inexpensive if things didn't work out. Growing only for personal use so will never get into the big lights.
[quote name="WDIK" post="19448255" timestamp="1391285372"]Interesting. Assumed the higher wattage CFLs would run quite a bit hotter. I understand that may be offset by fewer bulbs.First grow, so was going for inexpensive if things didn't work out.Growing only for personal use so will never get into the big lights.[/quote]I'm growing for personal use too but if you have 20+ CFLs each at 23 watt (1600 lumens, the one I use), you're using more than 400 watts anyways so why not invest in a MH / HPS combo ballast kit, it's like 130 on Amazon but well worth it. You won't believe the difference in growth between the MH and the CFLs
Will for sure look into that for my next grow. That would for sure be doable. Want to make sure I can keep some plants alive first. The current CFLs I have won't go to waste.
[quote name="WDIK" post="19448855" timestamp="1391293228"]Will for sure look into that for my next grow. That would for sure be doable. Want to make sure I can keep some plants alive first. The current CFLs I have won't go to waste.[/quote]I actually have 16 CFLs supplementing my 400w HPS right now. .. can never have enough light especially in flowering. When I was using CFLs in veg, they were growing... but when I switched to MH, plants grew much bushier much faster.
you'll get up to a 400-600. its inevitable if you grow long indoors. the quality will improve too, with better lights
Fricken digital thermometers. 6 Degrees difference. I have 3 thermometers in there right now. Seriously not trying to over manage this, but trying do get the temps dialed in at least close. For what it's worth, the 3rd thermometer agrees with the higher temp. I think I will go with that. That's an image captured from my wireless camera also.
They are about 4 inches from each other and the lights are still high. The one reading lower actually hangs a little higher, which I would think would mean a higher temp.
Temp has been holding solid at ~75 for the last several hours. Will probably drop to ~56-60 when the lights turn off. Do people turn the exhaust fans off at lights-off to help with low temps?
That just seems so strange to me- digital thermometers are usually fine, even cheap ones. I mean you can get a baby one for under 10 bucks and if that was off by 6 degrees you would have some extremely pissed off customers
The higher temp one is actually sitting on the pot soil. I can move the other to the soil also to compare. 2 of the 3 have held steady at the same temp. There has been a consistent 6 degree difference all day. I have not opened the tent since the last pic. Now closer to an 8 degree difference.
ah fair enough. sorry to derail a bit, I was just confused by that. Anyway- remember even if you turn down your ventilation during lights out you still need some since the plants still transpire so if you have no ventilation you're asking for mold
how good/new is your fridge ? it should be around 36-37 degrees ( 35-40F is standard no matte where the "dial" is) ... hint hint hint .... EDIT: also... Man, you've been worrying for like 12 hours about this temp issue. little advice... relax Cannabis has been cultivated between under 50F to over 100F for longer then 4000 years, that we know for sure. ( that's the oldest cannabis has found in a tomb yet ....). and I can be fairly certain that cannabis was around long before humans invented agriculture, that your seedlings will be fine. and if not .. not to sound harsh but we all lose a large % of our starter beans. Its the primary reason why we suggest bag seed for the first grow or two.
Yep, I understand and I don't consider the thread being derailed. It is all related. Just trying to get them through the vulnerable seedling stage.
I can sure try that. Was looking for something to calibrate the temp to. Could easily be close at lower temps and farther off at higher temps though.
54F with lights off. Lights are off for 5 hours each night. Should I try to increase the temp at night?