Reducing Closet Temperature

[WeedyBoyWonder]

We have 2 plants going in a closet under a 400w HPS. They are currently 4 days into flower, and were grown outdoors in the vegetative stage.
There is mylar on each side of the walls, and a fan blowing from the floor up on to the plants.
The temperate on the thermometer is at 100d F, give or take a small amount.
I would like to reduce the temperate to about 85d F, but I cant put holes in any walls ruling out using an extractor or something like that.
I have the cupboard door open about half way when the light is on to give some air flow with the fan, and the window in the room where the cupboard is open to.

Will having the temperate this high effect the plants? Is there anything I can do to reduce the temperate to about 85d F?

[curious101]

damn...and i thought my veg cab was too hot when it hit 81.5...thats a really high temp your gonna need some type of exhaust fan to remove the hot air...i just have a 6in. circulatory fan on the floor and keep it cracked 6 in. but my temp has never went over 82...u really need to fix the temps cuz your plants will def. die when the temp is 100...at about 90 deg. a plant will die after days of continuous heat, with mass stretching and eventual death...this might sound crazy but try keeping the closet closed a lil more...if i open my closet over 6in. the temp begins to increase at a steady rate...kinda weird but i think the room is actually hotter than my closet

[WeedyBoyWonder]

Thanks for your advise with the door, I'll give it a try but I'm pretty certain my room is not hotter than the cupboard.
I tried putting a jug of water in there, but obviously that didn't help. I was crazy to think it might have!


Any more advise greatly appreciated, including information as to what the side effects maybe on the plants.

[WeedyBoyWonder]

Can someone atleast tell me how this will be effecting the plants??
Cheers

[TheGanjaKing420]

well, it will cause them to hermie on you, most likely. Thats way too much heat and it stresses them. You really need some way to exhuast this.

[MajMike]

I am having a similar problem although only to about 85 degrees, the best solution is to vent the closet outdoors if possible. I am installing an inexpensive through-the-wall exhaust fan, and another small fan pulling air in from my bottom vent.

Even if you can't modify the walls, more/cooler airflow is the answer. As someone said above, your plants will either die or simply stop developing because photosynthesis slows/stops over 90 while the plant just tries to transpire as much water as possible.

Good luck.

[atsar]

these plants were both grown in a wardrobe with ridiculous temps like yours,even hotter sometimes,like you i had a fan blowing with a window open next to it blowing clean fresh air in,i don't feel they suffered much for it

pic 1 gave 4 and a half ounces pic 2 was 4 ounces

[WeedyBoyWonder]

Hey guys thanks for the advise, and Atsar for some reassurance the plants will hopfully pull off some reasonably nice bud. Good to see a fellow Scots man on the boards.

More advise, help, suggestions MUCH appreciated.

[WeedyBoyWonder]

More advise on reducing the temperature would be great, please and thanks.

[norkali]

I was having the same problem. (http://boards.cannabis.com/closet-cabinet-growing/121325-came-closet.html)

Check out what I did, no permanent changes to the original structure at all. (once you put the door back on of course, simple enough though...) If I open the windows at night, letting the cool night air in, then close them up before the temp starts to raise in the morning, I never even have to touch the A/C. On an 85 degree day, the closet didn't raise above 80 with fans on, no A/C all day.

[masterjointsmith]

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/518KHF4SX7L._SS500_.jpg

ive got an idea but its untried. if your closet is of the sliding door type you might try mounting it in a piece of plywood that you could weatherstrip and seal around door that way you could circulate the heat into your room

[masterjointsmith]

something like this ... it wont be light tight so ya will have to cover and uncover it every time for the light timing

[BUZz UK]

something like this ... it wont be light tight so ya will have to cover and uncover it every time for the light timing

ah, thanks, but sadly that's not possible, it's not a sliding door...

We don't really have a way to get fan ducting out of the door, the gap at the bottom is perhaps about half an inch...

[Storm Crow]

Measure the door and buy a same sized one that you CAN modify. Just unscrew the door from the hinges and put your door up. Stick the original door under your bed, in the garage, use it as a coffee table, etc. Put it back on the closet when you move.

My tricked out closet door has what looks like a "wood shop project" coat rack on it. A thin (1/2 inch thick) 6 x 18 inches chunk of wood, with a contrasting dark wood border and 3 brass coat hooks. What it hides, is a circular hole in the door and a fan. The top piece of the border is really shaped like this ] leaving a space for the closet air to vent. The fan blows a steady stream of hot air out the vent. The top of the coat rack is too high for anyone under 7 feet tall to see.

I guess I should explain what I did to make this, so you guys can do your own. Sorry- no photos, no camera- Granny still lives in the "dark ages". LOL

1) Get a door and cut a circular hole through the door, about a foot down from the top. The hole should be just a tad smaller than your fan. Line the hole in the door with tag board, so the air will be forced out and not into the hollow door. Glue the tag board in with a non-water-soluble glue. So now you have a door with a lined hole through it. I lucked out- I got a door with a scratch on it (inside of the door, so it wouldn't normally show) for $15- I dabbed a bit of white paint on it and it hardly shows.

2) Make the coat rack. It is basically a very shallow box with the top border cut to make a ] shape (looking from above) allowing the hot closet air to escape. I used a Dremmel to make the top piece the right shape. I just epoxied the coat rack to the door- since it is just for camouflage, I didn't need to make it too strong.

3) I used some screws to mount a small quiet fan on the inside of the door. Be sure to use some foam rubber stripping to dampen the vibration between the door and the fan. I tried it without the foam rubber strips and it was too noisy. The cool air comes in from under the closet door.

I showed my grow to a dear friend and he thought my coat rack was a very stealthy way of getting the closet cooler. He said he never would have guessed that it was anything except what it appeared to be. :D

- Granny:hippy:

[BUZz UK]

thanks, that's a very helpful idea. I don't know if we can afford a door though to be honest, haha... Maybe i can find one that someone has thrown out...

[Opie Yutts]

Can you vent into the crawlspace or attic? You really need to get that hot air out of there, or consider flourescent lights.

Or try this: get a fan that is dedicated to blowing the space between your light and plants, and get a big ice block, set it in a big bowl and put it in front of the fan. Or just set a couple of ice blocks near your plants. They may last all day that way and decrease temps a few degrees. I've recently thought about trying something like this. I'll let you know how it works if I come up with something.

[AR15]

Can you vent into the crawlspace or attic? You really need to get that hot air out of there, or consider flourescent lights.

Or try this: get a fan that is dedicated to blowing the space between your light and plants, and get a big ice block, set it in a big bowl and put it in front of the fan. Or just set a couple of ice blocks near your plants. They may last all day that way and decrease temps a few degrees. I've recently thought about trying something like this. I'll let you know how it works if I come up with something.

Like similar to a swamp cooler? That probably would lower temps. If you try this I would like to see. I'm also curious as to what effect this would have on humidity. Without proper exhaust I don't think that water vapor will be going anywhere. Be careful for mold/mildew, I know that can be an issue with swamp coolers sometimes. If you try it, keep us updated please . :)

WeedyBoyWonder: Can you post any pics of your closet. Sometimes it's easier to figure out a solution if you can see what you're working with. Also, how stealthy does this need to be?

[BUZz UK]

It only needs to not mess with the door structure, as it's a rented house and we can't go messing with cutting doors and suchlike.

And we cannot vent into a crawlspace or attic sadly, we basically need to come up with some new VERY cover cooler.

Also, CFL's are not really an option, we have one, but it's being used for clones currently, and we need to have the HPS for the flowering.

The strain is Shaman btw...

Thanks all :thumbsup:

[PharmaCan]

Right now you're expecting some kind of magical solution and those just don't exist.

So take the door off the closet. Store the door under your bed.

OK - Now you've got the opposite problem from what you had before - except now you have all the room in the world to run any kind of vent sytem you want. Then you can cover what's left with black plastic.

Also - flat white paint is almost as reflective as mylar, but walls absorb heat whereas the mylar just reflects it back into your closet. You might want to get rid of the mylar and just go with flat white walls.

JMO

PC :thumbsup:

[thoughtwriter]

Can you vent into the crawlspace or attic? You really need to get that hot air out of there, or consider flourescent lights.

Or try this: get a fan that is dedicated to blowing the space between your light and plants, and get a big ice block, set it in a big bowl and put it in front of the fan. Or just set a couple of ice blocks near your plants. They may last all day that way and decrease temps a few degrees. I've recently thought about trying something like this. I'll let you know how it works if I come up with something.

they sell a fan at wallyworld that does this.....it is a fan that has a pull-out bin; you put your ice in.....turn on and WAAALAAAA cooooold air...
but its about 40 or 50 bucks where i live.....but maybe cheaper in your store

[the image reaper]

keep in mind: 'swamp-cooler' types, like you're discussing, will pump huge amounts of humidity into your grow area, greatly increasing the odds of mold, etc ... not a good thing :smokin:

[Dizzy1]

Only bad thing with that is your dumping a crap load of water vapor in the space and also on your leaves, which might cause spots from amplifying the light.
I didn't read if it was a sliding type door or not. If it is, you can use a (insert door height) x 6" to 12" piece of plywood between the door and frame. Cut out 4" to 6" holes top and bottom and use those are your intake and exhaust ports to hook-up to an Inline fan.

... ok, just read the thread again and see your not using a slider... So! You can either do as Pharma suggested and use a crap door (looks for deals on Craigslist) or go to a Homedepot / Lowes and get a matching size piece of plywood and doctor it up. You can paint up to kind of match, if needed, and if you get some other wood bits you'll be able to attach hinges.. or steal the ones off your existing door.

Lots of ways to do things, you just have to think outside the closet. ;)

Good luck

[Opie Yutts]

thoughtwrighter: luv it. where do i get it?

the image reaper: true, but you could also use a small dehumidifier.

I like to put a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and let them fight it out.

[Opie Yutts]

go to a Homedepot / Lowes and get a matching size piece of plywood and doctor it up.

Yes! I was going to suggest that too.