grow room(closet) humidity issue

R

rjacobs

Got my 4 reaper plants indoors in a closet(roughly 4x6) with a 900w Mars hydro LED and a small fan on a 12 hour timer(going to step up to 14 and then 16 after plants get used to LED).
 
They are showing signs of over watering(yellow leaves dropping, flowers dropping, and now some edema).  I watered them ~2 weeks ago now when I repotted(7 gallon rubber maid trash cans, cut holes in bottom for drainage) so I am dealing with that by doing a whole lot of nothing(its a novel concept I know).
 
I think part of my issue is the humidity in the closet is pretty high(I dont know how high, dont have a hygrometer).  Its a pretty well sealed space and I keep the door closed when the light is on so that the glow from the LED doesnt attract any attention(bedroom window faces the street) even though I am NOT growing anything illegal, just dont need any knocks on my door.  I have been trying to open the door at night for a few hours and close it before I go to bed(light comes on at 5am, I dont get up till around 8 usually).  I have been keeping the door closed all day, which appears to be causing a ton of humidity to build up and cause issues.  Im thinking I will try leaving the door cracked open just an inch or so to allow some air to flow, but still allow the temp in the closet to build up.  Getting the plants out of the 60 degree outside temps and into 85-90 degree inside the closet was causing all kinds of pods to start popping(and the LED light too), but I think the high humidity caused the flowers to drop and is also causing the edema on the leaves.
 
Anybody got any suggestions to help with the high humidity outside of just leaving the door cracked open all the time?
 
I was thinking of throwing in one of those big 1 gallon or so Damp Rid buckets, but I think I might over whelm it quickly and they arent all that cheap.
 
 
G'day,

You need an exhaust fan connected to something like one of these:

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=131561376703&alt=web

I built my grow box (http://thehotpepper.com/topic/55827-new-grow-box-build/?hl=growbox) with an inbuilt temperature controller last grow, and it worked perfectly. But I did notice that high humidity, like your setup, was an issue.

I bought the above humidity controller but didn't get around to installing it, but I will be before I start my next seasons plants which should take care of the humidity issues.

Also, a cheap temp/humidity guage will help you monitor peak temps & humidity so you know if you're on the right track.


SR.
 
I would just leave the door open and save the $$$. you wont get a knock at the door because they see the light vs the utilities alerting them due to high energy consumption. and even then 900w aint gonna do that. they are looking for a lot more than what you are using.
 
I get a notice every month during the winter informing me I am using 200% more electricity than all my neighbors,
 
+1 you need air exchange via an exhaust fan. Once you start getting into bigger lights and large buckets of wet soil and larger plants that are perspiring in a small sealed area, you need exhaust. I suggest at least going to petco and getting a reptile tank hygrometer and thermometer to get an idea where you're at. They come in a pack with both for about twelve bucks. I've tested quite a few of them and they are pretty accurate from 45%-85%, which is the window you want to be in, anyway.
 
Happy growing  :P
 
Also, I would be much more worried about thieves (and they wont knock) thinking you're growing canna than the cops. Just my 2bits
 
Im not going to be modifying the closet and adding an exhaust fan, just not going to happen.  Its a walk in closet in my guest room.
 
I cracked the door open basically a finger width last night when I closed the door and this morning it appears the humidity is pretty low in the closet, although the temp hasnt really come up much at all either.
 
Ill keep experimenting and see if I can find a happy medium where I get some heat in the closet from the light being on, yet still keep the humidity low.
 
CAPCOM said:
I would just leave the door open and save the $$$. you wont get a knock at the door because they see the light vs the utilities alerting them due to high energy consumption. and even then 900w aint gonna do that. they are looking for a lot more than what you are using.
 
I get a notice every month during the winter informing me I am using 200% more electricity than all my neighbors,
Click to expand...
they send the the same letter to every one here in streator .  lol
 
hogleg said:
Also, I would be much more worried about thieves (and they wont knock) thinking you're growing canna than the cops. Just my 2bits
Click to expand...
 
Hyyyyup
 
 
Forcing plants to accomodate your conditions isn't going to end well. At the least buy a hygrometer and a chatchy little dehum. The combo temp/RH dealios at any grow store will set you back a whopping ten dollars.
 
After a few days of leaving the closet door cracked open everything seems to be going back to being normal.  Leaf yellowing and drop appears to be back to basically zero.  Flower drop has also stopped and the new flowers that are open look to be doing well.  The leaves with edema will just take time to heal themselves.
 
Hoping a few of these open flowers will push some peppers as all of the ones that WERE pushing peppers dropped from the humidity.  I still have 1 pod that was set while outside that is coming along nicely.
 
FWIW If you have little space in the corner of the room you could also think about a grow tent as an alternative to modding the closet.  May be better way to go as the humidity and just the wear and tear of indoor growing will probably end up damaging the closet over time.  You can get cheap grow tents these days that you can add exhaust fans to pretty easily.  They are also pretty much light tight if you are worried about thieves etc.  
 
My set up is not that much bigger than a closet, with exhaust in and out fans attached to the tent on timers, they blow fresh air onto the plants and then pull the old air out.  Nice light too, I have a 300w MARS and it does the job well, 900w will be pushing them to grow by the minute! 
 
Bumper said:
FWIW If you have little space in the corner of the room you could also think about a grow tent as an alternative to modding the closet.  May be better way to go as the humidity and just the wear and tear of indoor growing will probably end up damaging the closet over time.  You can get cheap grow tents these days that you can add exhaust fans to pretty easily.  They are also pretty much light tight if you are worried about thieves etc.  
 
My set up is not that much bigger than a closet, with exhaust in and out fans attached to the tent on timers, they blow fresh air onto the plants and then pull the old air out.  Nice light too, I have a 300w MARS and it does the job well, 900w will be pushing them to grow by the minute! 
Click to expand...
 
I thought about getting a tent and may still.  A buddy of mine is asking if he can stay with me for a few months and this closet is in the room that he would be using, so I may need to do something about it.  Havent decided yet what, but a grow tent is probably on the list.  Probably easier too.
 
Think im going to go pick up a tent tomorrow.  Growlab GL80L is the perfect size for what I am doing and a local shop has them for 170 which is just as cheap as anywhere online.
 
Ive got this as my drip pan already in my closet:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064CVIGI?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
 
And its 52x28 and the GL80L tent is 59x31 so everything should fit.  There is enough room in the "pan" for all of my seeds I just started once I transplant them so everything should fit nicely in the tent.
 
Probably grab a 6" fan of some kind, I think the shop has some for 50-60 bucks so not bad.  4" might be plenty.  Ill see what the shop says tomorrow.
 
Hey there @Rjacobs,
 
I can't say that I read every post, so sorry if I'm double mentioning... But if you will not add an exhaust fan, I would suggest to move the air. Even if you can't exchange the air, just moving it will help bring the humidity down a tad. 
 
I bought a few clip fans on amazon and have them running in my tent 24/7. I used to grow in a closet just like yours, and have had humidity issues also. The only thing that kept me under 70% was moving the air. 
 
There are a lot of crap (low cost) fans out there, and I have gone through a few of them myself. This is the one that I find to be the cheapest and moves the most air while not breaking down after a month. These fans run for me 10 out of 12 months non-stop.
 
616gMUch-TL._SL1023_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FXOFO7W?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage
 
 
 
 
 
...
 
Air circulation and exchange is one of the most important things when growing indoors.If you skimp on it you will fail.
Buy a tent and get a small circulating fan for the inside and exhaust fan for pulling air out.
 
mrgrowguy said:
Hey there @Rjacobs,
 
I can't say that I read every post, so sorry if I'm double mentioning... But if you will not add an exhaust fan, I would suggest to move the air. Even if you can't exchange the air, just moving it will help bring the humidity down a tad. 
 
Click to expand...
 
I already had a fan for circulation, it was mentioned in my OP.
 
Swampy_NZ said:
Air circulation and exchange is one of the most important things when growing indoors.If you skimp on it you will fail.
Buy a tent and get a small circulating fan for the inside and exhaust fan for pulling air out.
Click to expand...
 
Got a tent and 4" exhaust fan(hurricane 4" in line) ordered and am picking it up tomorrow.  Just going to use the fan for exhaust and let it pull air from the bottom inlets and exhaust out the top.  The 4" is rated at like 175 CFM so I figure I will be changing the air in the tent(3x5x7) every minute should be PLENTY.  The 6" fans pull like 400 CFM which is way more than I think I need.  If I was trying to cool a light, the extra FPS might be worth it, but just for an exhaust fan, 175 cfm should be plenty.
 
rjacobs said:
 
I already had a fan for circulation, it was mentioned in my OP.
 
 
Click to expand...
 
 
LOL. Well, I did mention ahead of time that I didn't read everything, so I'm sure you meant to say, "Thank you for your help, but..."
 
Now, I just took the time to go back and re-read your OP. By the way you said it, I know it seems obvious, but I want to verify if your fan is on the timer too.
 
The reason I ask is because that is possibly the main cause. Even in my tent the humidity built up a LOT with no circulation with lights off. I was getting up to 70-75% humidity after only an hour of lights off. Of course I noticed while testing the setup and corrected it... but it was as simple as running my circ fan 24 hours (at least one of them). Though I have learned it's best in my environment to run both circ fans and my exhaust 24 hours.
 
My humidity is always between 35-55%, never more or less. Usually it sits around 45%. I have had zero mold or PM issues in this environment, no matter how big or dense the flowers get... I mean peppers. Heck who knows... I grow lots of things!
 
 
 

Swampy_NZ said:
Air circulation and exchange is one of the most important things when growing indoors.If you skimp on it you will fail.
Buy a tent and get a small circulating fan for the inside and exhaust fan for pulling air out.

 
Click to expand...
 
Best thing I ever did was buy a tent and come out of the closet!
 
But i did have to make room for the tent. The coming out was just natural.
 
...
 
mrgrowguy said:
 
 
LOL. Well, I did mention ahead of time that I didn't read everything, so I'm sure you meant to say, "Thank you for your help, but..."
 
Now, I just took the time to go back and re-read your OP. By the way you said it, I know it seems obvious, but I want to verify if your fan is on the timer too.
 
The reason I ask is because that is possibly the main cause. Even in my tent the humidity built up a LOT with no circulation with lights off. I was getting up to 70-75% humidity after only an hour of lights off. Of course I noticed while testing the setup and corrected it... but it was as simple as running my circ fan 24 hours (at least one of them). Though I have learned it's best in my environment to run both circ fans and my exhaust 24 hours.
 
My humidity is always between 35-55%, never more or less. Usually it sits around 45%. I have had zero mold or PM issues in this environment, no matter how big or dense the flowers get... I mean peppers. Heck who knows... I grow lots of things!
 
 
 
 
 
Best thing I ever did was buy a tent and come out of the closet!
 
But i did have to make room for the tent. The coming out was just natural.
 
...
Click to expand...
 
yea fan is on the timer.
 
With the door of the closet cracked open things are doing much better.
 
With the grow tent I bought I will probably continue to run the circulation fan on the timer, but the exhaust fan on full time.
 
hogleg said:
+1 circulating fans should be run 24/7
Click to expand...
 
What about the exhaust fan?  24/7 as well or let it shut down, but keep the circulation fan running?

 
 
hogleg said:
Both 24/7 IMO Air is a big deal in indoor growing to make it work. I put amount of light secondary to air exchange.
Click to expand...
 
Agreed!! It seems like lights are easy, air exchange is not. The heat that builds up inside my grow tent was pretty brutal until I figured out the right way to keep the air moving at the proper rate for the size of the tent.
 
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