indoor Please help dial in my grow tent - Brazilian Malagueta Peppers

Hi everyone. Happy to be here. I have a 5x9 grow tent with 2 sets of VIPARSPECTRA P2000 Grow Lights, 3 fans, and recently added a GE ADHL 25 LD dehumidifier because a rainstorm was brewing inside my tent. This is my first venture at it. I have ~22 soil pots ranging from 8 - 12" Ø and a hydroponic nursery where they started. Now those are growing Basil. I have yet to dial in avg RH and Temp. Graphs are all over the place. I don’t think I’m using the dehumidifier effectively. I had it all week set to 75% on Smart mode but it was oscillating 60 - 91%. I had it this morning when I noticed RH hitting 95% so just now I set it to 70% on medium. It's already come down to 87%. Temp around 67 - 79 F. Lights 16:8 My leaves were curling at first due to overwatering, new growth seems to be doing well. I've been trimming new little buds up top to keep this cycle going while also trimming lower growth by the base. I’m attaching pics of my basement setup and a couple of screengrabs from my hygrometer. 1. shows what this week has been like and 2. Two-week comparison. Please let me know what I’m doing wrong or if I’m on the right path. I could use some advice. Cheers - P
 

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This looks like transpiration issues to me. I'd suggest stopping the humidification and making sure the soil dries out between watering. My peppers do perfectly fine inside during the dry of winter without adjusted humidity - though I wouldn't rule it out using it to improve conditions for certain varieties when they're flowering and setting fruit inside. Intensity of lighting can be a factor, but your intensity and distance don't sound harsh. The make-up of your soil can also be a consideration. I see lots of perlite in your containers and perlite can create root problems when there's too much in smaller pots or the grade is poor and it contains a lot of powder.

Unfortunately, in my experience plants can be slow to recover from these conditions, especially if the roots have been adversely affected. I've had occurrence of this, but I've never seen it so pervasive. When it's happened to me, sometimes the plants recover only once they've been transplanted outside.
 
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Very good feedback. Thank you @CaneDog
I’m not sure if it was a typo or not but I do not have a humidifier in there. I do have a dehumidifier. Does that change your POV?
The soil I used is Happy Frog https://foxfarm.com/product/happy-frog-potting-soil/ I read raving reviews from this particular soil.
That being said, I’m curious as to your region for plants to be able to handle winter outside. Thanks for your input. I’ll be back for sure hopefully with positive results. Cheers
 
Yep, that makes a difference. I read your post and came back later and misremembered. I like your thinking in dehumidifying your tent so the soil doesn't stay too wet. I think it's better when it get watered then dries out reasonable quickly. The happy frog should be a good media for them. How well do those fans move the air around? With the humidity coming out of the soil, good air interchange means the plants don't stew in it so much. Leaving the tent unzipped partway can help dry things out, though maybe at the cost of losing a little heat. It can be hard to figure these things out, but I suspect you may have some lingering root issues from when you were overwatering earlier. Perhaps if the lighting then became more intense or the humidity lower, that may have triggered transpiration issues - assuming the timing of that lines up - and then leaves freaked out a bit. Also, certain varieties are more susceptible to certain environmental conditions, so if all those a the same pepper variety, malagueta, it may be that they're particularly sensitive to some condition and if you had other varieties they might not be reacting the same. Anyhow, good luck with them. I hope they come around quickly.

Seattle is very dry outside in the summer and, with heating, it's dry inside in the winter. Basically, I'm doing most of my growing in dry conditions. Even outside in the winter it can be very dry, but we get a lot of rain and the accompanying high humidity levels in the shoulder seasons.
 
I managed to find a sweet spot. temps and RH are under control. However, I have a new problem which should be easy to remedy. Fungus Gnats. I hope that a couple of bowls with soap, vinegar and sugar will solve. Most def need to lighten on water to keep that top soil drier. Would adding a layer of sand be a good addition? Any better suggestions? Thanks
 
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That's great! For fungus gnats I'd consider either Steinernema feltiae nematodes or Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (BTI). There's lots of talk of other treatments, but I wouldn't count on those to do much. Traps will kill many adults, but it won't affect the population much. Sand is a pain and they'll propagate through the air holes in the containers.
 
Yep, this is a BIT product (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis). I just got some of those recently (it's gnat season here) and am trying BTI in "bits" form for the first time. How are you applying them @Downriver? I started by just mixing the bits into the top layer of soil then watering, but I'm planning to soak them in water then water with it next - more like using a liquid BTI product.

I've heard marcv MarcV say he's had great results with the Steinernema feltiae nematodes, which are probably the only treatment I haven't tried yet.
 
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I’m also worried that I might’ve pruned too much. I had too many undergrowth branches and flower pods up top. I went Putin on my plants. Hope they make it.
 
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