Maintaining Optimal Temperature in Small Tent

I will be growing autos in soil from seed to bloom in a 2'x2'x3' tent using a 300w full spectrum LED in my conditioned attic, meaning its inside the house's thermal envelope. Assume the tent has all the bells and whistles (exhaust fan, filter, etc...). Currently its winter and the attic space temp fluctuates between 55F (not bad considering it was 5F last night) and 64F with a constant humidity of around 47%.


My questions are (assuming people will have varying opinions about "best"):

1. Will the 300w LED provide enough residual heat in the tent to keep it at preferred temps for germ=>veg=>bloom?

2. In general, is there a single temp I should be aiming for and then raise/lower accordingly based on plant state?

3. If the LED won't provide adequate heat, what is the simple solution? Heating pad?

Thanks!

It's the led actually 300w?

Full spectrum... Sounds like blurple to me

Where did you buy this steal of a deal led light?

If he says Amazon or Ebay I'll be the first to say he got ripped off!

1, depends on the actual real wattage and your ambient temp in your attic.

2, a lot of LED guys like to run warmer than HID lighting (high 70s low 80s) to help transpiration. I don't have issues at low 70s.

3, turn your extraction down using a good speed controller and maybe add a grow room heater ( small bars like a radiator) for when lights are off.

I don't like the idea of paying to heat a grow room but those grow room heaters are low wattage and just take the chill out of the air. You could also look at night/day fan speed controllers.
You don't want anything that emits light or could cause a fire hazard.

What are you going to do at night when the lights go off? 55F is too cold at night, the heat from the day will not stay in there.

projectinfo said:

It's the led actually 300w?

Full spectrum... Sounds like blurple to me

Where did you buy this steal of a deal led light?

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It is 124w as stated on the box. I was under the assumption that LED is commonly labeled differently than actual power. I will state it correctly next time.

blake9999 said:

If he says Amazon or Ebay I'll be the first to say he got ripped off!

Click to expand...

You are correct in your assumption. It was Amazon.

That light may grow one plant at best.

blake9999 said:

That light may grow one plant at best.

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To be fair, in a 2x2 he probably won't be growing more than one plant anyway.

iPerculate said:

What are you going to do at night when the lights go off? 55F is too cold at night, the heat from the day will not stay in there.

Click to expand...

I am trying to learn while doing it in the confines of what I have and can do. My hope was that the LED (124+/-w ) would provide enough heat for the 2x2x3 tent. Since it will be auto flower seeds I can adjust light cycles to coincide with H/L temp cycles conversley.

If it's an Auto just run it 24/0 for the extra warmth.

To the OP.. first thing that will help is tailor your light/dark schedule to minimize the negative aspects of your ambient temps. You said it ranges between 55 and 64. Assuming the 55 is at night so make sure that your lights on period is at night. The higher daytime ambient temps will be closer to optimal when your lights are off and will require less heating to correct.

Aaaaaaand I just saw that you're growing autos.... 24/0 or at least 20/4 will go a long way towards helping your low temps. Good call @blake9999

blake9999 said:

If it's an Auto just run it 24/0 for the extra warmth.

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That's what I was figuring. If I can get it from seed to flowering any amount I will consider this first run a success. From there I'll hope to have a plan to have a better informed plan of light and heat. Thanks.

Anytime I start something I always try to remember, "Learn like you are going to live forever, Live like you are going to die tomorrow."

@CharlieBravo what strain you intend of doing?

2x2x3 tent is very small...

You plan on running an auto all the way to flower in less than 3 foot high tent??

It's not proper to do so for an Auto, but he may get by if he mainlines it.

blake9999 said:

It's not proper to do so for an Auto, but he may get by if he mainlines it.

Click to expand...

Sounds like its time to go back to the drawing board lol

Just to be clear here with my intentions; My goal from the beginning was to see if I could create a truly viable micro grow that yielded an amount adequate to my personal needs, nothing more. I'm starting as small as I think would be possible for my needs. If 2x2x3 works, great; if not, I'll just go bigger next time. No harm no foul. I appreciate your input and opinion.

It will be either a Bluetooth or a Northern Storm/Lights. They are both labeled as being short growing and beginner friendly so decided to start there.

Be careful with Northern Lights.... the Autos can get quite large. I've seen them 4 feet tall.... for an Auto.