Strong Chlorine smell when I open my grow tent

New grower here!

Recently had a lot of run off after feeding my ladies with Tiger Bloom. The next day I opened my grow tent and was hit by a heavy smell of clorine/fish tank smell. Aired out the tent and the smell reduced but returned once I closed up my tent again.

All the run off has now evaporated and the smell is still strong whenever I open my grow tent and stick my nose in for a smell.

Any help here! worried it might be VOC from the garage floor or some chemical that will effect my plant health and bud smell/flavor in the future. Ladies are at 3-4 weeks flower.

Wait...what?

Does the garage smell like bleach? Why would it smell? Maybe I shouldn't ask that if it involves power tools and a 55 gal barrel.

The only place on the tent the smell could be pulled in is the intake vent. If you determine it is coming from the garage. Keep in mind, chlorine will off gas really quick. Leaving nothing but water and another ingredient in bleach(trace amounts).

If the smell continues. Screw the plants because you're breathing it. You can't grow if you're dead. You need to find the source and quick.

Could it possibly smell more like ammonia? If so it could be from anaerobic soil.

xtsho said:

Could it possibly smell more like ammonia? If so it could be from anaerobic soil.

Click to expand...

Could be! No cat piss smell like what i'd image ammonia smells like but it could be. What are some remedies for anaerobic soil? How bad is it for my plants?

Probably your grow medium
Was it overwatered or sitting on a cold floor?

Sokofofat said:

Could be! No cat piss smell like what i'd image ammonia smells like but it could be. What are some remedies for anaerobic soil? How bad is it for my plants?

Click to expand...

If your soil has gone anaerobic let it dry out thoroughly b4 watering again

Beehive said:

Wait...what?

Does the garage smell like bleach? Why would it smell? Maybe I shouldn't ask that if it involves power tools and a 55 gal barrel.

The only place on the tent the smell could be pulled in is the intake vent. If you determine it is coming from the garage. Keep in mind, chlorine will off gas really quick. Leaving nothing but water and another ingredient in bleach(trace amounts).

If the smell continues. Screw the plants because you're breathing it. You can't grow if you're dead. You need to find the source and quick.

Click to expand...

No bleach smell as I would have identified that as the problem right away. There are some closed paint cans and thinners in a closet in another part of the garage but its definitely not that.

The smell is really particular... kind of smells like ozone tbh.. it has a "clean" fish tank smell that kind of stings the nose when I take a big wiff. I dont have very good ventilation tbh just a couple 6' clip fans moving the air around inside the tent.

Herb & Suds said:

Probably your grow medium
Was it overwatered or sitting on a cold floor?

Click to expand...

I watered my 5 gal till 20% runoff, and yes its sitting inside the grow ten (65-75 F) on a cold garage floor.

Do you recommend raising the tent off the ground, having it sit on a pallet or something?

Sokofofat said:

I watered my 5 gal till 20% runoff, and yes its sitting inside the grow ten (65-75 F) on a cold garage floor.

Do you recommend raising the tent off the ground, having it sit on a pallet or something?

Click to expand...

Raising the pots would seem easiest

Sokofofat said:

I watered my 5 gal till 20% runoff, and yes its sitting inside the grow ten (65-75 F) on a cold garage floor.

Do you recommend raising the tent off the ground, having it sit on a pallet or something?

Click to expand...

Go to a gardening store and buy some plant raisers -- they are relatively expensive for pieces of plastic, but they can help add airflow underneath the plants, and lessen the "drowning (anaerobic) risk" on roots that would otherwise just be sitting in puddles for day(s)

jillxjilly said:

Go to a gardening store and buy some plant raisers -- they are relatively expensive for pieces of plastic, but they can help add airflow underneath the plants, and lessen the "drowning (anaerobic) risk" on roots that would otherwise just be sitting in puddles for day(s)

Click to expand...

Ive heard putting a towel underneath your plants while watering and letting the wet towel air-off the runoff works and helps keep up humidity in dry environments. Also much cheaper since I already have some. Would this also help prevent anaerobic risk?

Sokofofat said:

Ive heard putting a towel underneath your plants while watering and letting the wet towel air-off the runoff works and helps keep up humidity in dry environments. Also much cheaper since I already have some. Would this also help prevent anaerobic risk?

Click to expand...

Wet towels can raise humidity in dry conditions, and that's what I did recently, but a few days after being unsatisfied with that method I figured out that I can just put a humidifier OUTSIDE the tent, and raise the humidity of the room itself, which in turn raises the humidity of the tent in a more stable way.

Wet towels are not an ideal solution to anaerobic bacteria imo because all it takes is being lazy/forgetful once for "bad luck" to strike and rot your roots. It would be better than nothing, but yea