Humidity Problem

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DannyGreenEyes

Well-Known Member
I'm having problems with low humidity, has anyone dealt with their own low humidity problems before?

The humidity here is around 20% right now. I added a humidifier that I found at Wal-Mart a few days ago http://www.hunterfan.com/product_detail.aspx?id=7734 and the humidity went up and was ranging between 30% & 50%. So I just went and bought a second one today and added it. And it's still only 35% humidity after 5 hours of running both humidifiers.

I'm using a portable 12,000 btu A/C which is also the only exhaust. It exhausts into the bedroom right now and I have the bedroom sliding glass doors open so the intake air will be colder and the A/C wont turn on as much. (less venting)

Can anyone tell me why the humidity didn't go up when I added the second unit, or suggest a unit that might be able to do the job by itself? The closet is approx 7' x 4' 8" with 8' ceilings.
 
Widow Maker said:
I cant answer your question but I would be happy with 30-50% humidity. I have been attacked by mold before.
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Thanks, I had read a book that said 40% for flower & 80% for veg. But I was just told that at 20% to 30% another grower has been getting good results, so I guess it's not as important as the book makes it sound.
 
exactly..... don't trip.... you'll need that low humidity in flowering...

if you want to get techinical,lol, get a 1.5-3ft deep tuppoware. flip it upside down, place your pots on the upside-down lid, and place the tuppoware over your plants after spraying the inside.

i bought almost like a 5 shelf greenhouse deal from home depot. has plastic frames, metal rods, and zippered plastic going around it. bought 2 of them as their 2.5 ft long each about 5 ft high, pushed them together, sliced plastic and duct taped till i had a 2ftx5ft humidity dome with 5 shelves, and perfect for my 4 ft floro tubes. now i just spray the inside walls and floor and humidity HAS to be around 80%, but i don't have a hygrometer so i don't know.....
 
I guess I was stressing too much about the humidity, am I also stressing too much about the heat? How important is it to stay between 72 & 80 degrees?
 
darkdestruction420 said:
what are your current temps? whats it get down to after lights out?
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The A/C keeps it between 72 & 80 right now using a 400w MH. The temp ranges depending on how hot the intake is, but tonight I'll be running the exhaust outside so the intake should stay cooler.

In a few days I'm going to turn on one of my 400w HPSs along side the MH now that I know I can go slightly over 80.
 
darkdestruction420 said:
no misting is needed, it should only be done for foliar feeding and to treat bugs/mold/whatever imo
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Misting doesn't help? A lot of my general plant life knowledge comes from watching my grandma taking care of her ferns and stuff, and she misted everything several times a day. And that was in NY where it's not so dry.

Are you sure misting wont help the plant take in water faster and help it to grow faster?

Don't mean to doubt you, just want to make sure I'm doing right.
 
strain stalker said:
...yeap, I wouldn't foliar spray unless you need neem, or emergency foliar feeding. And, it isn't a good idea to foliar mist while the lights are on. The water drops act as a magnifying glass and makes burn spots on your leaves. Good luck. :bigjoint:
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Thanks man, that's means less work for me :D

I only started misting today, but I'll stop & save the mister for cloning.
 
First problem....A/C is drying the air...the water that drips off the coils is removed from the input air.....that's why the added humidifier didn't help.... I like to stay between 40-60%......lower helps bugs, higher helps molds..........where the 80% comes from is beyond me...my walls would be moldy in days at that..........as to grandma's ferns, they are more dependant on higher humidity, thus the misting..........It used to be common practice to mist plants, not so much now.........I think an occasional shower can clean the leaves and help the plant breath..........but with tight spacing and accelerated growth, it's not as good a plan......If you stick your hand in the middle of my canopy, you will come out with a wet hand unless I keep fans blowing underneath, so i won't invite the molds by spraying them other than a rare occasion...
You might want to try one of those portable swamp coolers and find another way to vent than the A/C unit.....or vent the lights only to keep the heat down, but then you have to consider a CO2 source..........you can also mist the area, without spraying the plants directly, raising the rh temporarily............before the swamp cooler I'd just mist the side of my reflectors.......instant humidity......another trick was to put a shallow pan of water on top of my light.......kinda like granny always having a tea kettle on the wood stove

If you can hold 35%, I wouldn't sweat it too much, just do your best to avoid bringing bugs into the room.......they'll thrive under 40% and above 80 degrees....... I have my exhaust set at 85 degrees for what that's worth......I avoid going over 90 or under 65 for best growth rates and think 70-85 is the sweet spot.....like early summer outdoors.........
 
Thanks guys, but I think I got the problem licked for the most part. I have a humidifier that keeps it between 30% and 40%. I guess that's decent.

I'll be flowering in about a week, and I know when the A/C goes off the humidity will get higher, but it may go too hi. So now I'm trying to decide wether to hook the humidifier up to the timer or to just remove it and let it drop to 20% in there.

Is 20% too low during flower?
 
yea turn ur ac off and crank ur humidity up and when it starts getting to hot turn the ac back on then when the temp goes down and humidity down do it all over again
 
riddleme said:
During flower 20 % is as low as I would go mine is at 33%
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Thanks for the help. +rep

Sounds like I should hook it up to the timer so it goes off for 12 hrs with the lights

BTW, I just checked the temp at the tops of the plants and it's in the hi 80s but it's barely 70 at the tops of the planters. With an almost 20 degree difference between the top & bottom of the plant, how do I know which temp to go by, especially when thinking about the temp drop when the lights go out since the temp will probably be more uniform with the lights out?
 
HomeGrown420baby said:
yea turn ur ac off and crank ur humidity up and when it starts getting to hot turn the ac back on then when the temp goes down and humidity down do it all over again
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I have cheap hoods. If I turn off the A/C within minutes it will be over 100 degrees in there.

I'm on a 24/0 schedule right now, but next week when I go into flower, it will be around 60 when the lights go off unless I turn off the A/C too, but that will be a hassle since I'll have to reset the A/C again when the it comes back on.
 
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