Humidity issues - can you help?

B

blackcat2323

Member
Grow Area

I have converted a cupboard (40x78x145) - lined with foil for reflection..

Lighting

Currently have 5 x cfls all 100w ( 6400 for veg) - all made into a lampshade so they get sides and top... ( Larger pots are growing spirals)..

Ventilation

I was going to buy a 6 inch from hydro shop but went to hardware store first before them and found a shower roof fan reduced from $250 to $20.. so since they are both 6 inches in size, and the hydro one was $115 - i got the hardware store one and it works very well...

Medium

Canna Terra with perlite...

Temps

My high low temps are between 24 - 29 degrees Celsius...

Growth

my plants are green, growing, looking normal except for one plant which leaves have a bend on the center area.. will attach pic for that leaf ( the one plant has 4 leaves like it but it is still growing) These plants suffered a huge set back ( pic attached ) so they have come back really well in a couple of weeks...

Nutes

whilst little they were given 1 dose of root accelerator then now on BIO Vega 3 times a week...

Ok now the problem - all was great til today.. My humidity has dropped badly - was running between 50 - 75% now its running 22 - 38% ... i have added an electric oil burner with just water in it to increase moisture without adding more temp but its only come up by 10%... they of course as you can see in veg stage... :wall: whats happened to drop it so badly and how else can i increase it?? ( have tried misting them and soil to no major increase)... In the lighting pic you can see the oil burner as well..

I am in australia...( not that i think makes a difference but incase you dont know names of products and if you can explain your names if you suggest any as we might not have it down here)

I appreciate any help you can give me...:leaf:​
Attached Thumbnails
 
ataxia

ataxia

Well-Known Member
i'm just taking a shot in the dark here .... I've battled humidity problems also. my current grow i couldn't get the humidity past 30 percent. now in flower i can't keep it down. In my grow i was using a shitty plastic tent ( like a ziploc bag) but even if i had my humidifier on high in the tent it wouldn't climb past the 30 percent mark. Mind you this was winter and i was running oil heat at the time. So the air was arid.
In your case you have the walls lined with foil. I'm not sure how you're outside temps are running right now but. As me being a cook. I notice that foil doesn't condensate easily, leading me to believe that 500 watts of cfl along with the foil is your problem. IM JUST GUESSING. also ... if you can do without some of the lights for the moment .. take one or two out. The heat from the ballast of the cfl could be helping evaporate moisture in the air.
As far as the problems with your plants ..... looks like nute burn to me, or acidic soil. JUST GUESSING ... but i think the problem you're having with your humidity has alot to do with foil. If someone can straighten my logic out for me i'd appreciate it.
 
ataxia

ataxia

Well-Known Member
blackcat2323 said:
are they just the room ones that you use with say sick kids.. as you can see i have space issues... or is there a special one for plants etc?
Click to expand...
any humidifier works ..... btw ... when you say 100 wt cfls .. do you mean actual watts or equivalent?
 
B

blackcat2323

Member
ataxia said:
any humidifier works ..... btw ... when you say 100 wt cfls .. do you mean actual watts or equivalent?
Click to expand...
its equivalent.. they are 20w cfls.. outside in the same room is 23 degrees Celsius

the orginial sick plant was nute burn - but as you can see by the other pic it is recovering.(except for the one leave on each side). they have been in this cupboard for 2 weeks now and never had this problem til today...i am now heading for winter but we havent used our heater in the house for any longer than 20 mins.. plus thats in another room.. the room that its in is the coldest in the house and the temps are spot on...

my gut is telling me this shower exhaust fan is so fast and powerful that it could be the problem.. so i have just now changed the fan to 30 mins on and 30 mins off as a test.. instead of just on all the time.. if it was the foil/cfls why wait til today to go low why not immediately? where the fan has been installed for only a few days ..
 
Smallsn

Smallsn

Well-Known Member
There is nothing wrong with your plant. It may recover soon anyways.
Plus what are those lamp holder called? I need to buy some of those and how uch are they each? So all you just need to do is buy a lamp holder/cfl ballast what ever is it called? Correct me for this so i can find them.
Are you using a normal power strip? Or do you have to buy a heavy duty one? I got one that allows 5 power points 10amp 2400W max. The cables i just cut from anything really and wire it up.
 
researchkitty

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
Your humidity will increase as plants increase in size, so I wouldnt truthfully worry about humidifier right now. If you want humidity to go up, just put a gallon bucket of water in the room. It'll evaporate over the course of a week to a week and a half and bump your humidity up.
 
S

slomoking13

Well-Known Member
researchkitty said:
Your humidity will increase as plants increase in size, so I wouldnt truthfully worry about humidifier right now. If you want humidity to go up, just put a gallon bucket of water in the room. It'll evaporate over the course of a week to a week and a half and bump your humidity up.
Click to expand...
I agree, this is one of the better solutions for smaller rooms. If you are home all the time you could also just use a spray bottle to lightly mist the room every few hours or so until the plants get bigger. A humidifier would be overkill for such a small room.
 
B

blackcat2323

Member
wow thankyou everyone for the replies.... tonight its currently sitting between 33 - 39%... i have changed the fan to 15mins on - 45 mins off.. cause i think its too powerful for the small cupboard.. I ended up culling the sickest looking plants to give more room ... As we are heading into winter i have put on a vaporizer in the room that the cupboard is in.. they are looking very happy today.. bright green, new leaves.. so maybe i need to read less and just watch my plants instead... thankyou all will update in about a week to see how they are going - the ones i kept are currently 3 1/2 inches tall today...
 
B

blackcat2323

Member
My plants have already recovered so well... its only been 5 days and they have grown an inch and really got fatter... Will post new pic in a few days to really show the difference of 1 week... just wanted to update all that took the time to reply and help me..
 
B

blackcat2323

Member
researchkitty said:
Glad to hear it worked out well for you! If you have any other questions, use us!
Click to expand...
well as i said they have improved so well.. here is the same plant when i first posted exactly 1 week ago...

Last Week.... (taken Thurs Night) Just near 3.5 inches....

Bend in Leaf.jpgPhoto0046.jpg

This Week.... ( taken Thurs night a week later) Now 4.5 inches..

Photo0115.jpg

It still has a bend in 1 leaf and the new leafs are alot fatter (wider) than the mother plant but otherwise im impressed the difference 7 days make! lol

Thank you everyone for the help....:clap:
 
researchkitty

researchkitty

Well-Known Member
Checking in on ya. How are things? By now you should already be feeding them nutrients and have a nice light for them.........!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top