Humidity at 20%. Too low for veg?

So I finally got my temps down to 77f by raising my light - I have my plants under a 400w hps, but humidity is at 20%. I also have an oscillating fan on the plants. I know ideal humidity is higher than that, but I've also read some trials that say the lower the humidity, the better because it encourages co2 exchange in the leaves.

Is 20% problematic?

20% is too low. Im vegging right now too, and mine is 32% and im freaking out. I try to never go lower than 40% in veg, but its winter right now and all the air is dry as a bone. Makes it difficult to raise the humidity.

Heres what I do to help bring it up. I lay wet paper towels on the floor whenever im in there watering, and I have my watering bucket in the room with an air pump blowing bubbles. The constant bubbling of the water made a noticable difference.

Are you MISTING them? Leave saucers of water and wet towels around too. 20% is much too low.

Roseman said:

Are you MISTING them? Leave saucers of water and wet towels around too. 20% is much too low.

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Yea, I water the soil and then mist the leaves too. Is that what I should be doing?

I'll get some wet paper towels and stuff in there and see if it makes a difference.

I have low hum. to for some reason i just cant get it up so i just decided to buy a tent hope it makes it easier

You can buy a $13 humdifier at Walmart, the kind you use for asthma and respiratory problems.

Roseman said:

You can buy a $13 humdifier at Walmart, the kind you use for asthma and respiratory problems.

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Good info! +rep

Looks like I'm goin to walmart today. Is it a big unit? Im a little limited with space.

The humidifier work well? that's pretty cheap and easy lol don't know why i haven't thought of that

Is running a humidifier in a room with a 400w hps and ballast and fan running a good idea?

Sounds a little dangerous.

Why would it be dangerous?

Electricity + Water

there is going to be water/electricity in close proximity in any grow room....just be cautious.

Electricity + Water = Dangerous, but its okay to water your plants?

Sorry, I'm confused.

user192021 said:

So I finally got my temps down to 77f by raising my light - I have my plants under a 400w hps, but humidity is at 20%. I also have an oscillating fan on the plants. I know ideal humidity is higher than that, but I've also read some trials that say the lower the humidity, the better because it encourages co2 exchange in the leaves.

Is 20% problematic?

Click to expand...

Yes, a RH of 20% is way too low and is not helping your plants. For the veg phase, you want to maintain a RH of 40%-60% for optimum results. How big is your grow-room? I see some people are suggesting a $13 humidifier from WalMart, which is fine for a small closet setup. But, if you are using anything more than 20sq.ft., you will be better off getting a normal small-room sized humidifier for about $50. And it too is available at WalMart. I got a real nice "Holmes Cool-Mist" unit for medium-sized rooms for $60 from WalMart and couldn't be happier. It easily maintains the humidity in my 50sq.ft. grow-room. That particular unit is much nicer than the cheap-o $13 table-top model. It includes a built-in, refillable Arm&Hammer Baking Soda filter and a digital humidistat that lets you automatically maintain your desired humidity level.