Fans during the last part of flowering

After a minor mold issue I installed 2 oscillating fans in my grow tent. It works fine but some of the top leaves dries during the last 3-4 weeks of flowering. The fans works on lowest speed 24/7. The RH inside the tent is 53-59%

It looks like this harvest will be the highest yielding so far, but I'm not sure if the fans also means less quality with not only dried leaves but also dried buds.

Would RH-controlled, or timer controlled fans increase the quality?

MikeGanja said:

After a minor mold issue I installed 2 oscillating fans in my grow tent. It works fine but some of the top leaves dries during the last 3-4 weeks of flowering. The fans works on lowest speed 24/7. The RH inside the tent is 53-59%

It looks like this harvest will be the highest yielding so far, but I'm not sure if the fans also means less quality with not only dried leaves but also dried buds.

Would RH-controlled, or timer controlled fans increase the quality?

Click to expand...

Fans are not your problem. Fans and air movement are good, if theyre not blasting the leaves off the plant. The major problem your having is the humidity. Mold only happens when rh is high. You need a dehumidifier running pronto. 70 pt units are available from home depot for 250. That 250 is nothing compared to a ruined harvest. Its around six amps so plan for that too

Oh and run all the fans you have in there if your having mold. Dry those buds out and off. Water at lights on too, not lights out.

Alienwidow said:

Fans are not your problem. Fans and air movement are good, if theyre not blasting the leaves off the plant. The major problem your having is the humidity. Mold only happens when rh is high. You need a dehumidifier running pronto. 70 pt units are available from home depot for 250. That 250 is nothing compared to a ruined harvest. Its around six amps so plan for that too

Click to expand...

Sorry, I forgot to mention that the mold issue was in my last grow. It was only in one single bud so i cut it off and installed the fans. That was during the summer when the RH was +60%

This time I have no problems with mold. But instead of mold I have problems with dry leaves. Dehumidifier sounds like a great idea, perhaps I can replace one of the fans with a dehumidifier.

You were able to determine that you had mold on only one bud? Man that's doubtful, there had to be others

How far in flower are u?

Craig1969SS said:

You were able to determine that you had mold on only one bud? Man that's doubtful, there had to be others

Click to expand...

That incident occurred during my last grow. I had only a small fan inside the tent and it was in the middle of the summer 27 degrees Celsius outdoor and very humid. Inside the tent the temperature was about 26 degrees Celsius (79 F). I discovered in one of the corners a large cluster of foliage. Some of the leaves had drops of water dripping from the underside. I was not sure if it was condensation or some kind of perspiration from the plant. Anyway, the water was dripping on one of the buds. On a closer inspection I found that specific bud felt wet, and was soft. a small area perhaps 1 cm wide had a slimy residue on the outside. I pulled it apart and found mold inside . I cut it off with the whole branch, installed two fans and did some defoliation.

The RH inside the tent was about 60 % that time. All the other buds felt compact and sticky. So I presumed that it was a local problem caused by the water. I examined several buds with a pocket microscope and did not found any more mold. Thats why I have all the fans in this grow.

intenseneal said:

How far in flower are u?

Click to expand...

All the trichomes are white, only a few are amber. I guess 1 week from harvest. The dry leaves is not a major problem for this harvest.But I would like to improve my technique. Last grow I had to much moisture, this grow fans running 24/7 but random dying top foliage. The buds looks fine. Next time I want it to be perfect, without dried foliage.

Perhaps dead foliage is normal in the last few weeks of flowering but It usually looks different.

How about some pic's , so we can see what the problem is....

Here is a pic. Lights off and autocorrected. It's a vertical grow. Hydro, drippers and cocco. I use GHE with the Lucas formula. Added extra cal mag from start nothing else. The only thing I changed from last grow is that I added the fans. The dying leaves has been occuring during the last weeks, not in veg or in the early flowering.

I think you've done fine. Cut those dead ones off and it's good looking bud man. The plants finishing up, it's stopped growing fans a while ago and has an adequate surface area of green to use till the end now. This isn't unusual with vertically grown weed. The fans are funky in a way overhead grown weed isn't. The buds are full and thick from what I see. These are my first vert plants in coco @ 7 weeks.

Craig1969SS said:

I think you've done fine. Cut those dead ones off and it's good looking bud man. The plants finishing up, it's stopped growing fans a while ago and has an adequate surface area of green to use till the end now. This isn't unusual with vertically grown weed. The fans are funky in a way overhead grown weed isn't. The buds are full and thick from what I see. These are my first vert plants in coco @ 7 weeks.

Click to expand...

Thanks Craig1969SS for solving the mystery. That sounds like a logical explanation.

Nice looking plant you've got there! Whats the name of the strain?

My first real grow last year produced about 20 seeds to my surprise. The female was Ambrosia from Jordan of the Isle and the male was Dutch passion blueberry. Planted 8 got 4 females and as I said they're identical phenotypes.

Craig1969SS said:

My first real grow last year produced about 20 seeds to my surprise. The female was Ambrosia from Jordan of the Isle and the male was Dutch passion blueberry. Planted 8 got 4 females and as I said they're identical phenotypes.

Click to expand...

That may create some Killer offspring man.