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New Guy Needs Advice

  • Thread starter Thread starter Disco Duck
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New Guy Needs Advice

Disco Duck 154 Replies 20,869 Views
Page 4 of 8 · Replies 61–80 of 155
#61
I am just going to use the 3-part GH and see how that works. I can also see how the portable meter is useful, once I have a veg area it can be used in both. I need to get some of this solution to store it in, I can get that with the nutes.

I thought 30c was 80, but it is actually 86. The tent runs at about 83.5 when it is 90 outside. My central AC keeps it there pretty consistantly. The range I have seen I am looking for is 60-86 degress... so am I fine at 83.5 or is that too hot?

Also, with new plants should I keep the light on all the time or run it 20/4? If 20/4 then the light will be off during the hottest part of the day which would make a difference too.
 
#62
good thread for a tent newb..you are hittin all the speed bumps arent ya,,that can33 is a monster but gets the job done..nice thing is ya can tear it down ,,try that with pieces of panda
 
#63
83 degrees should be fine, just make sure you have plenty of air movement in your tent.

I like to run 18/6, some plants dont like 24 on, its cheaper on the electric and like ya said you can have lights out during the hottest hours.
 
#64
Disco Duck said:
I am just going to use the 3-part GH and see how that works. I can also see how the portable meter is useful, once I have a veg area it can be used in both. I need to get some of this solution to store it in, I can get that with the nutes.

I thought 30c was 80, but it is actually 86. The tent runs at about 83.5 when it is 90 outside. My central AC keeps it there pretty consistantly. The range I have seen I am looking for is 60-86 degress... so am I fine at 83.5 or is that too hot?

Also, with new plants should I keep the light on all the time or run it 20/4? If 20/4 then the light will be off during the hottest part of the day which would make a difference too.
Click to expand...

that's hot but i've seen and done worse with no co2. if you start seeing the edges of the leafs curl then you know it's too hot. keep in mind you will probably go through more water then expected due to your temps because of evaporation and the plants drinking more.

you can run the lights...

24/0
20/4
18/6

i've ran 24/0 and 18/6 and i dont see much of a difference except maybe in my power bill lol. if you have heat issues then running 18/6 and keeping the lights off during the 6 hottest hours may be a saving grace. in flower you can do the same keep the lights off during the 12 hours that are hottest.
 
#65
I have spent 2 days testing the tent. It generally runs at 80-82 with the light off in the daytime, and 84-88 with the light on in the daytime. These were hot days outside, 86 borh days. I let it run all day both days during the hottest time of day to see how hot it can get in there. It seems to run at 82-86 with the light on at night when it is cooler. I am in a very dry climate, humidity is consistantly 26-32.

From everything I've read I could get by like this, but it would be much better if I were about 8 cooler and at least 10 higher humidity. This has given me an idea. I have room for a swamp cooler inside the tent. I bet it would bring temp and humidity to just about perfect levels. But I haven't seen anyone talking about using a swamp cooler in a grow room. It seems perfect for my tent, like it will about perfectly correct both problems... and a swamp cooler doesn't need any type of exhaust.

Is there any reason to not use a swamp cooler in my tent?
 
#66
Duck,
glad to see that you are testing out the tent. Definitely skip the hottest hours of the day. Run 18 hour veg, and it will help that out. I have run temps like that. It works, but the heat will make the plants less compact. I would strongly advise against the swamp cooler. The humidity would be bad. The plants themselves will make things more humid. If I had to choose, dry would be better than humid. If you really want to work on temps, you could always add a really small ac unit. They are around $99.
 
#67
or just turn down your central air a bit and the temperature inside the tent will go down as the temperature outside the tent does have some dictation over the temperature inside.
 
#68
The cheapest AC I have seen is around $280, I haven't seen any for $100. It sounds like temps in the mid-80's are what a lot of people have, so I think it is probably fine the way it is and will be good temps once summer is over. The evaporating water from the rainforest will also lower the temp, so I think I will actually be low-mid 80's in the end.

So now I am concerned with the temp of the water. I am going to have to put a jug of water in the tent and see what temp the water gets too. If it is 85 inside the tent I'm guessing the water will be too hot and I will need a chiller for the water. If that is the case this will all be on hold yet again until I get paid again:-(
 
#69
Home depot is where I have seen $99 ac's. I have never dabbled in aeroponics, but I can't imagine that the system would be pythium free with warm water. Better to make sure with being prepared, then to have a major oversight. You could fill up the rainforest and run it to see exactly how the temps affect it.
 
#70
duck they are talking about window ac not portable ac! portables are JUNK i got one it's going on CL before my new room layout. you can build a box for a window ac that makes it work like a portable and it's completely sealed, no smell no worries.

does your house have central air? how about just a 10k window unit in the room where your tent is it sounds like you are running damn near ambient with outside temps. i dont care how hot it is outside my central air keeps my house pretty consistent. if anything growing in a basement for me on hotter days my room would run cooler because my central air would be pumping out cold air 24/7 and it leaked a good amount of that cold air in my basement even though there was no basement duct.
 
#71
I found a good ventilation fan that I have been using for a few months. It is a TT100(4 inch) that I bought online from directfans.com. The reason I chose this particular fan was because it was cheap and quiet. When I got the fan, it was actually very good quality. They also have a larger model, the TT150(6 inch) that exhausts more air for larger areas.
 
#72
The temps seem fine for this time of year. From everything I've read a lot of people are hotter than the 84-86 it will reach with my normal AC settings. A main goal of mine has been to not have the tent rely on the central air because it seems like that would cost a fortune. It is also freezing in here at 77 and I don't really want it that low. I have done all the testing at 79 on central AC because that's what I've always had it at. It seems like I'll have really good temps and during all but the hottest months of the year (right now) so the AC doesn't seem worth it.

I am going to need a chiller for the res though. I'm certain the water will be to warm without it. So I have to wait until next week until I have money for a chiller for the water.

A Rainforest is kind of "fake aeroponics" as I see it. It doesn't spray a fine mist, it splashes water off of a plate. Probably not as effective as true aero, but a good compromise that eliminantes all the extra maintenance of true aero. It sounded like a good way to go, especially since 6 plants is exactly what I am allowed to grow.
 
#73
I'm sure that the chiller will be a solid investment. As long as the water is cool, the plants should be able to withstand the heat.
 
#74
I was just looking at them, actually, they are more expensive then I thought. Is there a cheap one that a lot of people use? The res holds 13 gallons.
 
#75
Ecoplus 1/10 HP. Goes for $350-400. You will need a pump as well. Maybe another $30.
 
#76
ya man i agree with gg i would look into getting a tent not to expensive but a really good purchase light leake during during light and dark times is a problem a tent will def. help maximize this grow and a exhaust goodluck man
 
#77
Yeah, that's what I've been seeing, 350-400. I ran another test, for 6 hours this time, the longest one. This time I also had a gallon jug of water in the tent with a thermometer in it. The tent got all the way up to 89.9 and the water in the jug was at about 85 or 86. Th rainforest would be circulating the water so it would be cooler, but not nearly enough.

I'm guessing a portable AC wouldn't lower the temp enough from 90 to keep the water at 70 or less, so I think I definately need a chiller. That's a lot more money I wasn't expecting to have to spend but I don't really have a choice.

How does a chiller work, in terms of installation? Do you need 2 tubes going into the res or 1? If 2 I might have to put a hole in the rainforest:-(

Also, the chillers have vents on them. Do the vents blow hot air as exhaust, or cold air? Cold air would make it pretty cool for the tent:-)
 
#78
You want water temps to be 68 or below. An AC would not be enough to cool that much typically by itself. The chiller has 2 hoses. In & out. You will need to make holes in the rainforest. Really not that bad. A drill with a unibit or hole saw will make short work of that. Typically you get ebb and flow fittings from the hydro store to connect the hoses to the rainforest. The chiller makes some hot exhaust when it runs from the back side. I would put it outside the tent, and run the hoses in.
 
#79
I am definately going to need a chiller. I think I also need a second fan. The temp gets up to about 90 and it slowly rises to that over about 4 hours if the light is on. If the light is off then it is exactly the same temp inside the tent as outside the tent.

The more I think about it, the tent is heating itself to 90 like this. The light gets hotter, the air gets hotter, and that hot air is cooling the light. The tent is designed to run a light exhaust straight through the top. You can then use a second fan with the filter to seperately exhaust out the top like a chimeny. Right now I am cooling the light with air that quickly reaches 90, with two fans 78-80 air would be cooling the light and the hot air would be seperately be taken out of the tent. I bet this would lower the temps to low 80's even in this summer heat.

I think I am going to get a second fan and the chiller. All I need is the fan and the roof can take the weight of a second fan with the extra support I've given it. I think to truly do this right I need both a second fan and the chiller.
 
#80
It's too hot in there...

I finally have the money I need to buy the chiller and a second can fan to lower both the air and water temp. Since I am doing this thread to get advice and help other newbs in wading through all the issues of settin up your first grow, I thought I'd make a post about chillers.

I've spent the last 2 weeks studying what to do about the temp issues and the chiller is the most expensive part of getting the temps right. After looking at like a dozen different 1/10 HP chillers I had decided to get an Eco Plus 1/10 or a JBL Arcitca if I couldn't find an Eco Plus. Some chillers use more power than others, and these two use less than most and are high quality.

Then I tried to find one. They aren't that easy to find. Many stores only get them by special order and take at least a week to arrive. Surprisingly, it became easy to find them when I decided to try the hydro stores. I was assuming they would be outragously expensive... the opposite is true in Denver. Aquarium stores wanted $450-$490 for an Eco Plus 1/10 and they are only $350 online. But when I started calling hydro stores they only wanted $400-$420, much cheaper than the aquarium stores.

I called a lot of stores, because the price varies so much. Eventually I found a hydro store that told me they could order me an Eco Plus and it would be $400, or they had an Active Aqua 1/10 in stock they would sell me for $305!!! I went on internet and looked it up, read it's whole operators manual even. It uses about the same amount of power as the Eco and Artica, seems to be essentially exactly the same thing, and is about $100 less.

So I wound up buying an Active Aqua 1/10 chiller. I am going out right now for the second fan. I'm hoping the enhance setup will bring the temps down into the low 80's. If it does, then I have everything perfect except air temp. But it occurs too me that the air temp is right at where you want it for C02, and if that is the case I will just use CO2 and then won't need an AC or the power an AC would use.

I'll put up new pictures on Sunday after the tent has been redesigned. If the testing goes like I think it will I should actually have plants in it sometime next week. Woo Hoo!!!
 
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