Humidity Problems

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
My humidity is right on either 40 or 41%. I bought a humidifier and it puts a little under a gallon of water into the air a day and that's where it keeps it. I had to trans plant all of them because 11 of the 12 (which is the total for now) quit growing all togather. I had them in MG Potting Mix. Which brings me to my first question...

Is there a difference between topsoil and potting mix?

In any event I WAS using the Miracle Grow potting mis from Walmart (yes, I know-LOL) but when I took them out of the grow plugs they quit growing. So I bought some FF and transmitted all 12 plants. That was 3 days ago, The trooper that never stopped growing seems to be doing well but its hare to tell a lot, this is just day 4 after the transplant.

It does seem that the other 11 do not seem to be growing or and this is entirely possible that I am just worried because I am not sure how long it may take them to turn around. The guy at the grow shop told me I ahould see a difference in about 5 days and in fact today is in fact day4.

I have 8 T5 bulbs, Foxfarm soil, a floor fan and I'm using a portable A/C to keep the temp just at 72. The thing is this (and I dont know if this makes too much of a difference) I have to leave the door open because when I shut the door, the temp shoots up past 90 Degrees F.

This is what I'm thinking: Go ahead and get one of those 72/72/72 Mylar tents they sell on ebay and hook it up with a inline fan, put another set of lights and put it in my spare bed room where the room is always cool and it even has a ceiling fan. What do you guys think?

P.S. WHAT THE HELL CAN I DO TO GET MY HUMIDITY UP, IT CONSTANTLY STAYS AT 40, I'M PULLING MY HAIR OUT AND THATS WITH A HUMIDIFIER. Any help would be great. Thanks all...
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
i wouldnt worry about your humidity. as for the grow tent, that might work, do you mean a real inline fan or a duct/booster fan? they might be a bit stunned from the transplant. were you rough with them?
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
i wouldnt worry about your humidity. as for the grow tent, that might work, do you mean a real inline fan or a duct/booster fan? they might be a bit stunned from the transplant. were you rough with them?
Hey dark, I wasn't rough with them at all. I had to move them out of the Miracle Grow because they weren't growing there at all so I put them in FF light seed starter (because they were only 3 weeks out of germination) - I think the soil as packed too tight for one thing. I transd them 4 days ago tonight. The real reason I am getting a tent is because I have to leave the closet door open or the temp in the closet could hit 90. In the mean time I have a portable A/C, I am on a 24/0 time.

What is the difference between an inline and a duct/booster fan?
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
I just saw a great post explaining the fans, its from SableZen and he put some time into it so be sure to thank him.
The answer depends on your situation... do you have a carbon filter/scrubber, an air-cooled light hood, or plan to run ducting at any point? Is noise/stealth of primary importance or is optimal temperature control your primary concern?

There are three types of fans: Inline (or in-line), squirrel cage, and axial.

Inline fans are designed to perform against back-pressure (like when pushing or pulling air through a carbon filter) and are usually considered the best choice if you use any ducting. Their form factor with ducting can't be beat. They tend to be loud.

Axial fans (like the one you posted a picture of or that you find in computers) are not designed to operate with much (or any) back-pressure and will suffer a significant loss of cfm if they have to "work" to move any air. Or in other words, they work well for moving air from point A to point B only if there is little to no resistance in airflow. They tend to be quite. [Just a quick note: don't confuse axial "booster" fans like the one in your picture for an inline fan - they are completely different and they suffer the same loss of cfm under back-pressure that all axial fans do.]

Squirrel Cage fans fall somewhere in between inline and axial fans on ability to work under back-pressure and noise-level - but are definitely capable of getting the job done in almost all scenarios. Adapters are readily available for use with ducting but might be considered more awkward with their form factor in some situations.

As far as noise goes though - I have a 400cfm Hydrofarm inline fan in a 2'x4'x7' tent (overkill for such a small space) located in a closet right next to my bed that runs 24/7. Although it sounded about as loud as a vacuum cleaner when I first took it out of the box, after hooking up the carbon filter and ducting it wasn't so bad but still unacceptably loud and was enough to interfere with casual conversation when standing next to it... however, after adding a fan speed controller ($20-30 dollars new) and dialing down the speed just a bit it became rather unnoticeable - even at night or when watching TV near it.

Check this link for a quick look at the differences in how the three types of fans look:

http://www.urbansunshine.com/shop/in...cPath=6_61_142


I'm a bit concerned about the soil being too compacted, but then again light warrior is supposed to have excellent drainage so hopefully it wont matter, doing a bit more research ive discovered its recommended you use hydroponic nutrients with it, just in case you didnt know. how far are you keeping the lights from the plants? If you get a can fan im sure you will be able to get/keep your temps in check. http://cgi.ebay.com/New-4-Inch-CFM-Inline-Exhaust-Duct-Fan-Vent-Blower-/120625185762?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c15d243e2
thats what i use, one for my air cooled hood and one as an exhaust. the price is pretty good imo and it will work for your needs im 99.99999% sure. are you planning on flowering with your t5's? its cool if you want to, it is your grow after all, but i'd add an hps if possible, they are not as expensive as you'd think and even adding a smaller one should make a big difference. heres a 150w http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=53025 heres a 250w http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47994 (unless space or heat are too big of a problem for a 400w you'd be better off investing in the 400w, its like 2 more.) I also would get the high output bulb option for +$4 if you get a 400w and contemplate getting an air cooled hood. http://www.htgsupply.com/viewproduct.asp?productID=47929 trust me it is an investment that will pay for itself countless times over its life. not knocking your grow or you or t5's or anything, just throwing the idea out there.
 

Total Head

Well-Known Member
i def wouldn't worry about the humidity. the thing i would be concerned about is what about the tent is going to make your temps different? isn't the intake air coming from the same place? meaning if your a/c makes a room 65 degrees (for example), and you pull this 65 degree air into your grow space or light or whatever and it ends up 72 degrees, isn't going to be the same in a tent if not worse? a tent is usually sealed. sorry if i don't understand and sound like a dope. it's late and i've been taking toots of hash all night.
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
Man, thanks for all the info. I will start studying and try to figure out something today. Thanks again and especially to StableZen!
 

jawbrodt

Well-Known Member
40-41% is about perfect, if you ask me. If I could choose any number, and stick with it, for both veg and bloom, it would be 40%. Seperately? I'd go 45-50% for veg, and 30-35% for bloom. :)
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
i def wouldn't worry about the humidity. the thing i would be concerned about is what about the tent is going to make your temps different? isn't the intake air coming from the same place? meaning if your a/c makes a room 65 degrees (for example), and you pull this 65 degree air into your grow space or light or whatever and it ends up 72 degrees, isn't going to be the same in a tent if not worse? a tent is usually sealed. sorry if i don't understand and sound like a dope. it's late and i've been taking toots of hash all night.
The closet I have the setup in doesn't have any cooling vent in it like the rest of the house so unfortunately it gets hotter than every other room in the house. What I would do is put the tent up in a spare bedroom and not in the closet but I am sure there will be a slight increase in temp like you were saying but if it is not too bad maybe a fan like he was talking about would do the trick.
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
40-41% is about perfect, if you ask me. If I could choose any number, and stick with it, for both veg and bloom, it would be 40%. Seperately? I'd go 45-50% for veg, and 30-35% for bloom. :)
Cool, that does make me feel better and helps narrow down whatever is going on.
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
I just saw a great post explaining the fans, its from SableZen and he put some time into it so be sure to thank him.
The answer depends on your situation... do you have a carbon filter/scrubber, an air-cooled light hood, or plan to run ducting at any point? Is noise/stealth of primary importance or is optimal temperature control your primary concern?

There are three types of fans: Inline (or in-line), squirrel cage, and axial.

DD420 - Is this the type of fan you got? Do you think this will work on a 72x72x72 size tent? Thanks for all your help.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hydrofarm-Active-air-4-inch-In-Line-Fan-165-CFM-/330476933702?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cf1f5d246
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
its the same type but you can get em cheaper than that. Ya know though the more i think about it the more i start to think you should probally get a 6 inch fan for that tent just to be safe, its not that much more expensive and put out about double the cfm(most 6 inchers are in the 424 cfm area ive seen) and its better to have too much than not enough.
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
its the same type but you can get em cheaper than that. Ya know though the more i think about it the more i start to think you should probally get a 6 inch fan for that tent just to be safe, its not that much more expensive and put out about double the cfm(most 6 inchers are in the 424 cfm area ive seen) and its better to have too much than not enough.
Dude, I'm with you I already spent a grand and got everything you said. My wife is mad, but you know I was a car payment ahead so now instead of being ahead, I will just be right on time! LOL, fucked up, huh? ROTFLMAO! But hey I got everything I will need!
 

darkdestruction420

Well-Known Member
lol, yeah, you'll be in the red for a bit, but regardless of if you sell or grow for personal you'll end up coming out quite well over the lifetime of the equipment. that initial investment that could of got you maybe a lb of decent bud (if your lucky,shits went crazy round here) will yeild alot more than that of high quality bud. being patient sucks alot though. lol
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
i def wouldn't worry about the humidity. the thing i would be concerned about is what about the tent is going to make your temps different? isn't the intake air coming from the same place? meaning if your a/c makes a room 65 degrees (for example), and you pull this 65 degree air into your grow space or light or whatever and it ends up 72 degrees, isn't going to be the same in a tent if not worse? a tent is usually sealed. sorry if i don't understand and sound like a dope. it's late and i've been taking toots of hash all night.
The closet in the bedroom doesn't have any vents so it is the hottest place in the house. I will move the tent into the spare bedroom which has excellent A/C from the house which I have also purchased a CFM fan (400) so I think I will be okay with the temp, what do you think?
 

dr.feelgood69

Active Member
lol, yeah, you'll be in the red for a bit, but regardless of if you sell or grow for personal you'll end up coming out quite well over the lifetime of the equipment. that initial investment that could of got you maybe a lb of decent bud (if your lucky,shits went crazy round here) will yeild alot more than that of high quality bud. being patient sucks alot though. lol
I hear you, but if I learned anything in Iraq, it was patience so now it's just my turn, we all did it. I just have to wait it out, it's my time. But thanks for the encouragement, I do know what you mean, LOL.
 
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