How Important Is A Fan For Growing Peppers?

Ronin · Jan 5, 2018

Hi,
I'm growing peppers for the first time and was wondering how important is a fan for growing indoors? Also if I get a fan, how long does it need to be on a day?
Thanks in advance.

Edmick · Jan 5, 2018

Extremely important. Stagnant air is asking for trouble. A fan helps make the plant strong and it also prevents things like fungal gnats and other pests. Its not a cure all for pests but it helps prevent some of them. When I have plants going indoors I leave the fan on 24/7

Malarky · Jan 5, 2018

Pretty important

cone9 · Jan 5, 2018

If using a fan, be mindful or your watering procedure with new seedlings in small/peat pots. It is easy to dry them out with too much air. You need to strike a good balance between air movement and water so you neither dry them or drown them.

beerbreath81 · Jan 5, 2018

I'd say very important as well, when first starting out I omitted a fan, at first I didn't have a problem but then noticed some edema forming on the plants once they got bigger, and the stems were pretty weak and needed support. I keep them on now 24/7

moruga welder · Jan 5, 2018

really big part of my grow , 4 " when their little as so they dont rot , and bigger for root stimuation and outside prep. :party:

Ronin · Jan 5, 2018

Ok, I now have a fan blowing on my plants, but do I need it on 24/7? I don't really want it on at night. I have a timer coming and was thinking of turning the fan on when my led does. I plan to have the timer set for 16 hours a day. Would that be long enough?

Illsstep · Jan 5, 2018

I believe that it is important to have your fan(s) on when your light(s) are on. My understanding is that with no air movement, the relative humidity immediately surrounding your leaves will approach 100% as a result of transpiration. At that point transpiration slows significantly, which will slow growth.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong..

I'm not sure if air movement is as important during lights out.

Hafners · Jan 5, 2018

If you don't want a noisy fan running at night, you can get a few 120mm computer fans and power them off a variable voltage power supply to adjust the fan speed and noise level. I picked up a four pack from amazon pretty cheap, might order another pack to get more air volume moving without them high velocity that'll nearly blow a plant over. You only have to make the plants wobble a bit to strengthen the stems and help with transpiration. The shaking also helps with self pollination.

Ronin · Jan 5, 2018

Hafners said:
If you don't want a noisy fan running at night, you can get a few 120mm computer fans and power them off a variable voltage power supply to adjust the fan speed and noise level. I picked up a four pack from amazon pretty cheap, might order another pack to get more air volume moving without them high velocity that'll nearly blow a plant over. You only have to make the plants wobble a bit to strengthen the stems and help with transpiration. The shaking also helps with self pollination.

Ah, that is a good idea. I have two spare 120mm fans from when I built my computer I put aftermarket fans in the case. I'll have to look into ways to power and mount them. Thanks.

SmokenFire · Jan 5, 2018

Ronin said:
Ok, I now have a fan blowing on my plants, but do I need it on 24/7? I don't really want it on at night. I have a timer coming and was thinking of turning the fan on when my led does. I plan to have the timer set for 16 hours a day. Would that be long enough?

I have my $10 box fan from walmart set on a timer. When the new seedlings are in their first cups I set the fan on low and blow them for an hour at a time 4 times a day. The fan is set back from the plants so it's just a gentle breeze at first. As they grow I bring the fan closer, like it starts out 10' from them and moves roughly a foot a week for 4 weeks. Plenty of great info already posted.