Hydroponic Grow Tent with Too Much Exhaust?
by Catfish
(Glendora, Ca, USA)
Is there such a thing as too much exhaust in a tent setup? My tent looks like its getting sucked pretty hard! I just added an exhaust to my grow tent setup...it is pulling air from the hood up into the attic, the vents are open, and the walls of the tent are sucking in. Is there such a thing as too much exhaust? The temp dropped down about 6 degrees from where I want it, lol, so that's good right(first grow).
Answer: Catfish- in general, there is no such thing as too much ventilation (exhaust). Especially when good lights are packed into small spaces, temperature becomes a big concern. An ideal running temp would be about 75 degrees, but you should have no concerns about the temperature being too low unless it starts running consistently at or below 58 or 59 degrees.
Keep in mind different plants will all behave a little differently, and you may be able to run your garden just fine at 55 degrees, or at 85 degrees for that matter (other plants will be more picky). Sounds like you've done the ventilation just as you are supposed to- a good inlet (or several) for the fresh air to enter the grow tent as you exhaust the hot air off of the light. This makes the fan more efficient as well as making your equipment last longer.
The lower your inlets are to the floor of the tent, the cooler the air will be in general. Pulling fresh air from the floor and exhausting from the top forces air to rush past the under-sides of the leaves of your plants, which is exactly where they breathe from. This creates a nearly ideal air-flow/exhaust situation.
If the situation does become too warm, in the Summer months for example, you may want to run one fan pulling air from outside the tent, through your light, and exhausting outside the tent AS WELL AS an exhaust fan for the tent itself (see picture). You will need a fully enclosed light fixture for this, of course, and will likely need to add air conditioning to the room where you are pulling your air intake from if heat is still a problem.
One last suggestion- be sure to exhaust your room during the dark cycle as well as the light cycle. A lot of plant growth takes place at night, and the plants need regular fresh air (either constantly or in intervals throughout the dark period) to keep the humidity lowered and to keep them supplied with enough Carbon (from Carbon Dioxide), which the plants use as a building block at the center of every plant cell.
Happy Growing!
Comments for Hydroponic Grow Tent with Too Much Exhaust?
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AffordableGarden Design&Setup
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Epic Nutrient Change
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The Same System/ 10 Weeks Later!
