I’ve had some problems with maintaining an acceptible temperature range for my plants. This being my first grow has been more of a learning experience than I expected.
I live in a log cabin in the mountains. That means insulation is negligable. So, as a result, I lost my first 8 seedlings due to a 30 degree drop in temps before I could get home and adjust. That being said, the indoor temps are stable at about 63-65 now. I have been running two CFLs which brings the temps to 78-80 degrees. Due to the expense, I have started only two seeds this time (8 White Widow left). So, they are doing ok. I started them in 1 gallon buckets and they are about 1” tall. So, I figured it’d be time to get the tent set up. Well, I have two lights, a Viparspectra LED 300 W and a 600 W with a metal halide and a separate hps bulb. Tested each in the tent. Viparspectra raised the ambient temp by10 degrees to 73. MH raised the ambient temp by 55 degrees to 118!
I can use the Viparspectra and add one or two of my CFLs to raise the temp in the tent. However, what about when the lights are off ?
The 600W is INCREDIBLY bright. However, where do I dissipate that amount of heat ? No windows. Into the room would be toasty and eventually heat the tent back up. Again, what about when lights out ?
Sorry about the length. Figuring this out is driving me nuts.
I can help with mh. Cool tube works fantastic! I can olace my hand on it. It pulls air from outside tent thru it, exiting out of tent. In veg you could go 24/24 but not in flower. Hopefully by then temps will go up.
If you have a thermostat and can adjust the heat use the 600w mh and hps turn your thermostat down and your fan on high in a 4x4x6 grow tent i use a 440cfm 6in fan and my temp stay around 83 to 85 in the tent
With no windows and only a sliding door in this bedroom, i’m thinking about having to move the tent 3x3x5 to another area with a window so I can adapt venting. I have the fan, thermo, and ducting but was hoping to find a way to keep the tent where it is. I don’t want this to be a “decor piece” in my living room like the Christmas tree.
Being I’m only growing 2 plants, will my 300w light do it? About 4 sf. The temp variation makes it 73 lights on and 63-65 lights off. If that works, I can deal with the mh light and venting 3 months from now.
The viparspectra 300w only pulls 128watts. So it’s good for about a 2.5 sq. Feet. It’ll probably be enough for veg in a tent, but you’ll need more light for flower.
You can veg with the Vipars and flower with the HPS as you stated. Normally ambient temps are higher in the daytime so run your lights at night and let the plants “sleep” during the day. A 300 watt aquarium heater ($10) set at 85F and droppd into a bucket of water in your tent will maintain temps too. Without a huge energy demand. Use a 5 gallon bucket.
Remember: big pots means big plants. You will definitely want to pot up when they outgrow their current space. Be careful of overwatering in an oversized pot. You little ones need very little water now: like teaspoons per day.
Critique time: These two were planted the same time, 3 days to germinate 1/2 day apart. They are one week old. Everybody else’s grow looks more prolific than mine. I have the lights at 24” and just watered today after 2 days without. My moisture meter works and I use toothpicks to double check 2”-4” down. I corrected the heat variation during the 6 hr dark period. It is stable at 61 dark to 81 highest.
I plan to ventilate with a fan this week, which should lower the upper temp. Is my light at the proper height. The instructions said higher, but I figured as long as my heat stayed in range, I could lower it. Once I ventilate better, I could even bring the lights lower. This is my current situation. I have a 600W MH light that I have to figure out logistics in the cabin so the hot air will exhaust properly. I will deal with that once I’m sure my plants will get to that stage where they will take advantage of the increased light (without heat).
So, 16 days later. I repotted the smaller one in a smaller pot with Fox Farm and then treated the two the same. Nutes with every feeding about every other day. Still about 20” below the 300W LED that’s only 128w. Just got a $70 more expensive electric bill for last month. That’s for LED? What happens when I connect my 600W MH ? I’m thinking these two plants, if they make it all the way to harvest will be VERY EXPENSIVE.
Need some help at this time. Running my 300w ViparSpectra LED and I have little brown tips on one plant and sad and droopy with the other. I just transplanted them today (see previous pics) and fed them with nutes as they were dry (planned on transplant yesterday, but that didn’t happen).
Does anything look obvious that I need to do differently? They are about 5 weeks since sprouting. They were showing a lot of roots in the base of the pots when I pulled them out. Could that be the reason for their small size?
I have been patiently waiting and watching. I stopped the nutes this week to see if that would make any difference in their appearance. They are still growing, but when it’s lights out Lilly (on the right droops a lot). Herman(e) on the left, the larger one, doesn’t. He is showing yellow tips on the leaves. I am completely at a loss what to do other than what I’ve been doing. Water when dry, enjoy the growth, and wait. PH 6-7, well water, nutes were 2/3 tsp per gallon. Giving about 1 quart every 2-3 days. Stopped the nutes and fed water yesterday. Some help please. @OldSkunk, @tanlover442, @myfriendis410, @ThcinKC
Normal . They are resting. Relaxing. Getting ready for tomorrow.
Once the lights come, they will perk up. At night, they relax and rest. Keep a regular watering schedule.
BTW…we can’t see much in a pic that is NOT white light.
The tips looking like that are usually indicative of too much nutrients actually. I see you’ve been cruising along here with very little help, sorry about that. For what it’s worth, you’re not doing bad at all.
Don’t worry about a single leaf here and there. You said it was from bottom right? For whatever reason I’m unsure, but if it was coming in contact with your medium that seems to happen. I’ve also noticed it looks like you transplanted a couple of times. That will usually stunt them for a short while. No biggie there either, it’s a necessary evil.
I’m gonna drop the support ticket below. If you’d like, fill it out to best of your ability and I’m sure plenty of us will take a look.
COPY/PASTE the below list into your forum post.
Answer these simple questions the best you can.
If you do not know, or do not use something; Just say so; Or post
NA (non applicable)
