I am not new to growing but am new to tents. I have a 5x5 tent with a Gavita 1700E LED. The light is not dimmable as I do not have the EL series controller. I have 2 AC Infinity fans, a 6-inch AC Infinity Inline fan, and the controller 69. I have the air exhausting out the top of the tent to the inline fan which is OUTSIDE the tent. I do not have anything growing yet as Im trying to dial in the environment first. My tent is reaching 100 degrees at 42% humidity with light on.
The 6-inch inline fan and carbon filter are OUTSIDE the tent, and a point to consider is I have the 6-inch fan connected by duct reducer to a 4-inch carbon filter. I have a 4-inch inline fan pushing fresh air inside the bottom port of the tent. Should I put the inline fan and carbon filter inside the tent and hang at the top? should I get rid of the 4-inch carbon filter and make it 6-inch inline to 6-inch carbon filter?
If I dim the lights I will be able to control temp but when I flip to flower, Im going to have the same heat issues at a critical stage of flowering. My temp in the house is 72 degrees. Ive been told to use frozen jugs of water in the tent which is not a practical remedy for me- is it my inline being outside the tent? Is it the 6inch inline fan blowing IN TO a 4 inch carbon filter? Is the 1700e just way too hot for a 5x5? Thank you!!
I run my canisters inside above the lights to drop the heat. It may help you.
I would try that first and set your ac controller temp range to a high of 80. Betting it will run for a good while to cool things off but it should bring the temp down a bit. If you can put the duct a bit further out from the tent, and try to position farther away from lower intake points. Don’t want it feeding hot air back in😊.
You’ll have to dim the light or maybe increase the size of your exhaust to 8".
Setting the light at the recommended height above canopy and adjusting with the dimmer to the correct intensity would help you alot.
The light on high sounds like it’s just producing heat for you.
Having your exhaust controller set at 3-6 on your AC Controller… With your venting out the top… You could try to extend the exhaust tube to ensure air is flowing from the fixture out the exhaust.
The 6" down to 4" will restrict your flow… I’d get a 6"filter…
But you’ll only need it close to flower time.
I also use an online fan blowing fresh air in… 6" ac infinity Raxial controlled by uis outlet going into a 69 pro controller…turning it on when necessary… Main exhaust on a constant level.
Hi- Thanks for the reply. Last evening I took the 4 inch carbon filter off and am just using the 6 inch inline. For most of the night the temp held around 83 degrees. For some reason it shot up to 90 this morning and held there. So now the setup is. ac infinity 6 inch inline pulling out the top. a 4 inch inline blowing into the bottom. 2 Ac infinity clip fans. and a generic clip fan for circulation. All fans are on 10. Im hearing horror stories about portable air conditioners and I feel like maybe I need to exhaust out a window or thru the attic. Id rather not do all that if I can get aorund it. The rest of my house is at 72 degrees and holds there. I think the Gavita 1700e is just a very hot light and maybe I made a mistake by buying it. I only paid $200 for it so it was a great deal!! The other problem is the humidity is at 42 degrees and if I add humidity, it will hold even more heat in the air. Do I scrap the light and go with another LED or do I get a portable AC? lol. In a few months temps will drop substantially here as its currently high 80’s outside. BUT temp inside is a steady 72. Any suggestions? Thanks!
You could open other inputs on the bottom to allow more inflow.
Exhausting to another space would definitely help. Or bringing air in from outside the grow space could help as well.
I get you on the AC.
The last two summers have been hard to control temps… Even in the basement… And I am in the north. Cannot imagine what people have to deal with further south like @ChittyChittyBangin
I’ve been renting all these years and needed to conseal as my number 1. So venting outside just isn’t possible.
Thanks! I thought humidity trapped heat in the air? If raising humidty will help to cool I will def go that rout as its a cheaper solution and I need higher humidity anyway to achieve my VPD. Excellent! Have a great day!
From my experience you might run into some trouble using fan on its own, and humidifier.
I use the AC infinity ap in VPD mode.
Humidifier at top of VPD target range, Fan on bottom of VPD target range (I have mine set to 1 minimum).
So humidifier would be on with the % increase thing if it goes above 1.5 (for me currently), and the fan kicks on if it goes below .9, also on the % increase. Both the lowest % possible.
Humidifier kicks on and increases as VPD dries out, fan kicks on if too much humidity in the air and increases until it stabilizes.
UPDATE. for anyone who at some point in the future finds themself in a situation like described in this post…this is what worked for me. My temp in the tent is now at 82.3 degrees. I have the in-line fan venting out the top of the tent and no carbon filter. I HAD a 4 inch in-line fan connected to ducting placed over the central air vent and piped right in to the bottom port of the tent. I removed the fan and ducting and just opened the port wide and for whatever reason, that was the ticket. Temps dropped from 95 to the 82.3 in 2 hours. I also lowered the temp on my homes central air by 5 degrees.
That was the fix for me.
Next is getting humidity dialed in as i was at 45% and just now put a humidifier in the lung room and seeing what i’m going to need to do to dial in humidity and see how it effects overall environment in my tent.
I plan to focus on VPD on this first run in the tent. thank you to the people that provided intelligent feedback and guided me to what I feel are very positive results!
I was going to recommend going with larger passive intake, glad that worked. Try to figure some out for a light trap around the passive intake without restricting the airflow anymore than necessary.
YEP! LED all the way!! Temp is now on point. Humidity is now on point. VPD (vapor pressure deficit) getting dialed in this evening. Ive been reading and researching a lot about VPD and how it affects the Stomato on the plant. (how plants breath) Fun fact, Did you know that the birds chirping in the early morning actually helps plants grow? Research has found that the pitch and frequency of birds chirping in the morning aid in openeing the Stamato which is crucial for transpiration. Im such a geek that I am going to play audio of birds chirping when the lights come on lol. Also, most people I know play music in their grow rooms and plants respond. For me, my plants will get a birds chirping wakeup call and then some Grateful Dead, Rolling Stones and a bedtime snack of maybe some Allman Brothers lol
Two weeks ago today I put my ungerminated seeds into peat pellets. They popped out on day 2. On day 8 I transplanted into the plastic pots you see here. Today is day 14. 14 days ago they were seeds in a package. The soil is perlite at the bottom 10% of pot. Happy Frog and coast of Main potting mix at a 50/50 ratio. I have watered twice with 200 mL of distilled water phd to 6.15. Lights are at 100% and 18/6. I feel they look pretty solid for only 14 days from seed. Looking good?