New Grower, Need Help In A Challenged Environment-cold

[giannid]

Hello to all and I'm a new member. This will also be my first indoor grow. Michigan has just legalized recreational use so I'm going to give it a shot this winter. Unfortunately it's cold in the Northeast and the only place I have to grow is in my commercial building I use for my business. It's a large building and am only able to keep the temperature around 44 degrees in the winter. I have to do this as we have equipment and supplies that have to be protected from freezing.

I want to set up a small grow tent in the building. I'm thinking a 4 by 4 tent will be sufficient for 4 to 6 plants. A friend of mine has this Timber LED light he will give me which is a Models 4vs and puts out 400 watts with 3500k bulbs. It may be a little undersized and I'm worried that the LED'S might not produce enough heat. I'd really prefer to use an led as I feel it'll be better in the long run as far as maintenance and longevity. I could down size the tent to a 3 by 3 if I needed to. The floor is concrete so I'll probably set the tent on some 2 inch foam insulation. This is the tent I'd like to use as it seems like it has decent reviews Vivosun 4' by 4' by 80".


I'm not going to be using autoflowers so I'll probably have to ad some supplemental heat which I'm thinking of just putting in an oil filled heater in the tent with a thermostat. I know this isn't the most ideal situation but it's all I got. Heating the entire building isn't an option and I don't have the room to build a dedicated grow room.

Ventilation I'm still trying to figure out. Not sure how bad the plants will stink up the shop so I'm not sure I need a carbon filter. I may just add a carbon filter when the plants start to stink. Recommendations on a good ventilation system would be appreciated also. I'm not sure I need to vent outside but I can if I need to as I'll be next to a wall.

Looking for people who've grown in similar environments and have had the same challenges. I'm new to this and could use all the help I can get. Locally, I have an HTC supply and some other indoor grow shops I can buy supplies from. I'm going to get the plants started in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the help in advance :)

 

[1diesel1]

Hello to all and I'm a new member. This will also be my first indoor grow. Michigan has just legalized recreational use so I'm going to give it a shot this winter. Unfortunately it's cold in the Northeast and the only place I have to grow is in my commercial building I use for my business. It's a large building and am only able to keep the temperature around 44 degrees in the winter. I have to do this as we have equipment and supplies that have to be protected from freezing.

I want to set up a small grow tent in the building. I'm thinking a 4 by 4 tent will be sufficient for 4 to 6 plants. A friend of mine has this Timber LED light he will give me which is a Models 4vs and puts out 400 watts with 3500k bulbs. It may be a little undersized and I'm worried that the LED'S might not produce enough heat. I'd really prefer to use an led as I feel it'll be better in the long run as far as maintenance and longevity. I could down size the tent to a 3 by 3 if I needed to. The floor is concrete so I'll probably set the tent on some 2 inch foam insulation. This is the tent I'd like to use as it seems like it has decent reviews Vivosun 4' by 4' by 80".


I'm not going to be using autoflowers so I'll probably have to ad some supplemental heat which I'm thinking of just putting in an oil filled heater in the tent with a thermostat. I know this isn't the most ideal situation but it's all I got. Heating the entire building isn't an option and I don't have the room to build a dedicated grow room.

Ventilation I'm still trying to figure out. Not sure how bad the plants will stink up the shop so I'm not sure I need a carbon filter. I may just add a carbon filter when the plants start to stink. Recommendations on a good ventilation system would be appreciated also. I'm not sure I need to vent outside but I can if I need to as I'll be next to a wall.

Looking for people who've grown in similar environments and have had the same challenges. I'm new to this and could use all the help I can get. Locally, I have an HTC supply and some other indoor grow shops I can buy supplies from. I'm going to get the plants started in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for the help in advance :)

Welcome to, The Farm!
I would get a small space heater for that sized tent. It will be more then sufficient. As far as venting I would hang a can fan and scrub the tent. Trying to vent outside the tent would deafeat the purpose of heating the tent. Oil heaters will take up to much space you will need the room.

 

[giannid]

What do you mean you would hang a fan and scrub the tent? I have a small space heater that is filled with oil. That’s what I meant. I always thought the tents had to be vented to bring in fresh air for the plants?

 

[Dbear180]

Build a wooden cabinet & paint the inside white with drylok basement paint instead of a tent & insulate the shiz out of it with 2in foam. Much more efficient @ retaining heat.

 

[1diesel1]

What do you mean you would hang a fan and scrub the tent? I have a small space heater that is filled with oil. That’s what I meant. I always thought the tents had to be vented to bring in fresh air for the plants?

No, I grow in completely sealed rooms, most the time. Tents are not air tite. Hang a charcoal filter connected to a fan pushing the air through the filter. Is called scrubbing.

 

[giannid]

Something permanent isn’t an option in the building. I can insulate the tent on the outside. Only problem is air getting vented into the tent will be colder. This is definitely going to be a challenge.

 

[1diesel1]

Or find a small commercial freezer unit you can turn into a grow room. 8x8 I’ve got one just haven’t put it together

 

[Dbear180]

Just make it look like a chemical storage cabinet. Another guy on here had one he built himself in his shop & it was badass. Totally looked like it belonged & it was on casters so completely mobile & stealth af.

 

[giannid]

I didn’t realize you could grow in a closed tent without any outside ventilation. So I could use a small space heater with a thermostat for heat and get a blower with a carbon filter to scrub the air? That seems like it would work the best as I wouldn’t have to keep fighting with the colder air in the garage. I could also insulate the tent with some foam insulation.

 

[Dbear180]

I didn’t realize you could grow in a closed tent without any outside ventilation. So I could use a small space heater with a thermostat for heat and get a blower with a carbon filter to scrub the air? That seems like it would work the best as I wouldn’t have to keep fighting with the colder air in the garage. I could also insulate the tent with some foam insulation.

You still need ventilation unless you have a co2 supply.

 

[giannid]

So I just need some open areas in the tent where air can seep in or do I have to have a fan pulling it in?

 

[1diesel1]

I didn’t realize you could grow in a closed tent without any outside ventilation. So I could use a small space heater with a thermostat for heat and get a blower with a carbon filter to scrub the air? That seems like it would work the best as I wouldn’t have to keep fighting with the colder air in the garage. I could also insulate the tent with some foam insulation.

Warehouse or garage? There’s a big difference.

 

[Dbear180]

@sturgis Hes a cool dude.

https://www.thcfarmer.com/community/threads/simple-grow-cabinet.100294/

 

[1diesel1]

Leaving one of the tent holes partially open would suffice. Or you can through a co2 bag in there. I think they last 30 days if I remember correctly

 

[giannid]

The building is both a warehouse and garage. There’s some vehicle stored inside and it does have overhead garage doors. There’s not much movement though as our work is seasonal and don’t work much in the winter. That’s when we have time to grow and smoke weed. Lol

 

[1diesel1]

The building is both a warehouse and garage. There’s some vehicle stored inside and it does have overhead garage doors. There’s not much movement though as our work is seasonal and don’t work much in the winter. That’s when we have time to grow and smoke weed. Lol

Lol, start a grow diary. Plenty of Farmers here with lots of ideas. When you get in a pinch try out the search bar. Plethora of farming info here at The Farm!! Enjoy!!!!

 

[Phylex]

Here's what worked for me:

Ventilation - Black Ops Carbon Filter with a 6" hurricane fan. (Set screwed and taped) The ducting runs out the top of the tent. This fan/filter combo creates a great amount of negative pressure. My tent's air intake is ported with a piece of 6" sheet metal ducting at the base of the tent, and is capped with a 6" mushroom on the exterior to scrub the air coming in. The Black Ops filter scrubs the exhausted air out. The ducting exhausting the warm air out of the tent, is directed over the top of my tent, and hangs down the side toward the intake. This warms the air around the intake and helps slightly.

Heat: In addition to the placement of the exhaust ducting, I drape a couple of moving blankets over the top of the tent. I feel like this assists mildly by acting as an insulator. Lastly, I run a very basic space heater inside of the tent like 1diesel1 suggested. I have it connected to a digital reptile tank thermostat I found online. I mounted the thermostat on the exterior of the tent with the attached probe running through a lower port, (same port as the space heater plug), and hanging near the middle height of the tent. I set my thermostat to 77 degrees with a minus 5 differential. So it always turns the heater on when the temp drops to 72 degrees and shuts it off once it reaches 77. My 24hr temps range from 71-79 degrees with an average of 75.

One last thing: I've noticed a basic space heater with just a temp dial and fan speed works much better than a more expensive digital space heater with all of the bells and whistles.

 

[giannid]

Thanks 1diesel1. I’ve done a lot of searching on here already and just figured I’d ask as my particular situation is somewhat unique. You’ve gave me enough to get started and I appreciate it. Obviously I’d like to get as much feedback as I can that others who’ve tried to do the same thing or similar. Thanks!

 

[giannid]

Phylex, anyway you can post some pictures of your setup? Seems like you have it figured out. Was thinking about using one of those radiator looking oil filled space heater. I think the one I was looking at had a thermostat built into it. I imagine it would be fine as long as the temperature stays above 55 to 60 degrees when the lights are off. Do you guys think the led lights will produce enough heat on there own to keep the tent warm when running? If not I should probably just use a mh setup.

 

[goingtoguano]

I would go with HID in an environment that cold. You should easily be able to regulate the heat by how much air you let in and the plants would be warm enough during lights-on.