ok so its getting down to 55 in my grow box at night and theres no place to safely put a heater by it. the only thing i can think of is to seal it off as best i can and use blankets to keep the heat in from the lights during the day, but im worried about the plant not getting enough fresh air. its usually not so cold and im hoping this dosnt last long... any tips on what to do?
Not a whole lot of information to go on. If the area is small surely you can find small SAFE heater to-do the trick. You could also consider in future grows running your lights during the coldest hours of the day.
Do you have fresh air in and an exhaust? I had to turn my fresh air system off during lights out when it went subzero outside. I left the exhaust running as I know some people do their whole grow using just exhaust with no air in. Ive got a little green house plugin heater now for night time, temps are fine now and its still subzero outside.
there is no exaust or anything in this box. its a very small box thats in my room. for now im just going to seal it up at night and throw packing blankets on it untill i get something to heat it with. this topic somewhat got split into 2 threads on hear but this is what i had posted on the other. ----- last night i started to think about how i used to heat my reptile cages and remembered 2 great heating tools a ceramic heat bulb that emits no light. there about 20 bucks for the cheapest ones ( they are meant to get very hot. the 60 watt is meant for a 30 gallon tank and produces a basking spot of about 95 when only 2 feet above the surface) for this one i would put it at the bottom of the box to dissipate the directional heat as well as using a cheep thermostat from petco or something for 15 bucks. i could also use heat cable which can safely be put in watter as well as the surrounding areas of the box. this runs about 30 for a 12 foot cable i think and also gets really hot but can easily be used on a thermostat as well. my only worry is that i dont need to keep the box ever above 70 and these are meant to go above 80. with the thermostat it would work but im worried it would just be a little overkill. are there any other small heaters i could use?
I have the same problem. Well, almost. I haven't started a grow so it's only a theoretical problem. I've been considering heating pads like you use for an injury, but the basking bulb might be even better. As long as it's far enough from the plants, you could just plug it into a thermostat like this one: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/WIN100-Heating-Cooling-Programmable-Thermostat/dp/B000E7NYY8/ref=pd_sim_dbs_auto_2/182-2654047-3230029"]Amazon.com: WIN100 Heating & Cooling Programmable Outlet Thermostat: Home Improvement[/ame] and hopefully keep a stable temp. Let us know what you try; I'll be right behind you.
those basking bulbs suc with thermostats. i had a lot of problems with them in the past because they take some time to heat up and the temp pf the box will vary but only in the basking spot. thats why i was thinking of putting it at the bottom of the box pointed to a wall or the grown allowing it to warm the air temp slowly and eliminating the hot spot, and then put the probe of the thermostat resting next to the plant. the other option would be a home made rheostat. these are easy to make from basic electronics. if anyone is interested in a diagram on how to make one i can post one. ive made many of these things and they work extremely well.
i also found this. http://www.eheat.com/site/products.php?opt=products&show=0601# not the most cost effective method but probably the most efficient. i really dont know all the much about growing but im good at figuring things out so im just looking for some feedback on which of my ideas may work best.
LOL! We're driving down the same road together... I have two of those heating my workshop. They work pretty well, my problem is that they're 24"x24", which is too big to lay in the bottom of my cabinet. I'm afraid to put a heat source anywhere else because it won't heat evenly. I'm thinking something like this might work: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Indus-Tool-CL-Flat-Panel-150-Watt-Radiant/dp/B0009HMFPM/ref=pd_sbs_hg_1"]Amazon.com: Indus-Tool CL Cozy Legs Flat-Panel 150-Watt Radiant Heater: Kitchen & Dining[/ame]
yea the even heat distribution issue... ive run into this in the past with other applications. i wouldn't put one of these on the bottom of the box unless you had about a 6 inch gap between it and a false floor of some sort. if money isnt an issue i didnt find this really cool mini heater. its form heatal.com they have a few really interesting heaters but they definitely get expensive.. im going to set up one of those ceramics any day now and ill let you know how it works.
dude if it's in your room, heat the room up!! get a space heater and get your room to 75 and your grow cab should be plenty warm enough.
yea see ive tried that... i live in a shed sorta deal turned into an apartment and its been low 40s for a few weeks and its 55 at night WITH a space heater in hear... i know its not the best place to set up a grow box but its the only place i can grow. im going tomorrow to get that bulb and taking an old rheostat i made out of an old snake tank. ill put pics up when i finish putting it all together.
I have an outdoor grow box that is insulated, and my interior temps during lights out has been dropping into the low 50's for the past month or so. It hasn't had any noticeable effects on my plants. I wouldn't be too worried about it unless it goes into the 40's.
thats the only thing that could be hurting my plant. everything else has been triple checked and set just right. and the symptoms fit the problem. i also heard that sensi star likes warmer temps
maybe put the space heater in or near the box? I bought a thermostat made for heaters in my cab, hooked it up to a regular power outlet and plugged the heater in. I set it for 70*, it stays around 65-80, with the lights both on and off (flowering). I don't know how small your box is, but there's gotta be a way to keep it warm.
haha yea but the box is in a corner storage area behind a bed and a couch and a bunch of boxes. anything i use has to be small and in the grow box itself.
Well then you're just going to continue having issues. You can add more light to keep it warmer but when flowering you have to have the lights off 12hrs. During veg the lights maintained the temp, I just set up the thermostat and heater since I just switched to flowering. You need to pick a better spot to grow if you can't heat it up and can't even fit a heater in there. How small are you thinking of keeping the plant? Hell, the heater I use is smaller than one plant+pot...
well im just growing one plant with a scrog (waiting for it to get healthy again before i put the screen in) i have my medical card but i still need to keep it hidden but i just got ll the parts to build my little heater. ill post pics tonight.
that bulb worked perfectly. i didnt even use a thermostat or rheostat nad its keeping the grow box temps at 75 day and 65 at night at the absolute lowest. shes already grown about an inch since i added heat and switched out the water and nutes.