Grow tent getting too hot

[Chris56]

Hi again, I have another newbie question.

Here is my setup, Spider Farmer 3x3x6 complete kit. I have it in an insulated garage. I run my lights right now from 5pm until 10 am. The temps during the day is high 80’s inside the tent. I do have a window unit in the garage I could run but, I’m worried it will make my bill go sky high. I am running the exhaust that came with the kit and I know some people open a port to outside while the lights are on and close when off. Is there a way to keep one open all the time to try and cool down some or will that tiny bit of light affect the grow?

Any suggestions? Thanks

 

[Grownsince95]

If you put a few bends in a long enough run of black flex the light doesn't get through. You may have to run the fan slightly higher to compensate for the additional length and turns though.

 

[Coconutz]

You could make a light baffle using a cardboard box, light doesn't travel well around corners.

It's maybe worth considering a small fan to draw cool air into/out of your tent from outside, venting to outside is the way to go imo

 

[Bobcat.Branch]

Hi again, I have another newbie question.

Here is my setup, Spider Farmer 3x3x6 complete kit. I have it in an insulated garage. I run my lights right now from 5pm until 10 am. The temps during the day is high 80’s inside the tent. I do have a window unit in the garage I could run but, I’m worried it will make my bill go sky high. I am running the exhaust that came with the kit and I know some people open a port to outside while the lights are on and close when off. Is there a way to keep one open all the time to try and cool down some or will that tiny bit of light affect the grow?

Any suggestions? Thanks

Easy $8 light proof vent (video down in the post):

1st time back to soil in several years Feb 2025

Now that the 4x2 veg tent is up and running, I finished up the 5x5 reconfigure. I got the lights up into the ceiling, but off-center. I'm not too worried about that since the coverage will be better, plus I will have a little tiny space available on the right to get to the back of the tent. I...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

The temps during the day is high 80’s inside the tent.

What is the temperature in the garage during the day?

 

[ATLien415]

Your garage is essentially a lung room in your setup, or your input for the tent. Inputs ALWAYS win in a system if time is allowed to extend to infinity.

But is your tent too hot for the plants? Depending on medium (living soil can tolerate over 100F in the soil with upper 80Fs on leaf temperature with little impact to the plant, hydrotek with or without a cooler can keep your rootzone cool enough to make it irrelevant mostly) you may be fine. Also, where is your temperature probe? Is it canopy level? Is it being hit with light? Does it have forced airflow around it? What is your real leaf temps? This is all going to be interconnected to humidity, light intensity, and pressure gradients in the air and medium.

A little planning and foresight can go a long way on moderating your environment. You may only need the wall unit for an hour a day, placed at the right time. You might only need an exhaust running intermittently through the day. You may only need a canopy fan targeting your heatsinks on fixtures. Tons of ways to approach this on your end.

 

[Grownsince95]

Your garage is essentially a lung room in your setup, or your input for the tent. Inputs ALWAYS win in a system if time is allowed to extend to infinity.

But is your tent too hot for the plants? Depending on medium (living soil can tolerate over 100F in the soil with upper 80Fs on leaf temperature with little impact to the plant, hydrotek with or without a cooler can keep your rootzone cool enough to make it irrelevant mostly) you may be fine. Also, where is your temperature probe? Is it canopy level? Is it being hit with light? Does it have forced airflow around it? What is your real leaf temps? This is all going to be interconnected to humidity, light intensity, and pressure gradients in the air and medium.

A little planning and foresight can go a long way on moderating your environment. You may only need the wall unit for an hour a day, placed at the right time. You might only need an exhaust running intermittently through the day. You may only need a canopy fan targeting your heatsinks on fixtures. Tons of ways to approach this on your end.

This is great advice! "Heat sink" also got me thinking... a 50 gal drum full of cold water filled from a hose as needed could be effective if the space was small enough. Water has the most amazing heat sinking properties! I'm about to build a shed grow and now I've got ideas, thanks!