Goldy Locks - Now it is too cold at night. :( - Tech minded peoplez help

Live in Los Angelos: 45°F - 70°F HI/LO temps

1000W HPS bulb, in a 12x16 foot room with a window.

Intake
Box fan in the window. I have the fan on 24/7.

Exhaust
400CFM inline fan sucking through my cool tube and out of an attic vent at top of house.

Temp at Plant: 59° this morning so I am sure it was like 50° in the last night. I am thinking either turn the intake fan off at night or get a plug thermostat, space heater and humidifier. Then just set the temp to 70°

gosh oh mighty. The other thing you might think about is a speed controller for the fan. I doubt it would cause much harm to lower the fan speeds. Maybe you could figure out a way to install a thermostat linked to the fan which would kick the fan on different speeds as needed. I have problems with space heaters in my aero setup. I'm not saying they wont work but what I usually find is that all it does is raise the temps of my res which does me no good.

Even though that 1000 w hps should kinda act as a heater during the day, putting a space heater in there and experimenting with it a little bit until you get to the temp you want is probably the best way.

Your gotta be careful where you plug it in though, Space heaters use alot of electricity. I would use a totally different outlet from the 1000w hps. If i use my heater, two lights, and all of my fans all at the same time The power goes off and I have to go reset the breaker.

I was considering trying to balance the lights and the window fan to avoid a space heater, maybe use the plug thermostat on that. I think if I put the fan on a thermostat this might work at the compromise of intake air. But it would come on and off still so it would be a happy medium to running a space heater and humidifier. All day it could be on I am sure it would be, at night probably not much.

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Originally Posted by LAmike

Live in Los Angelos: 45°F - 70°F HI/LO temps

1000W HPS bulb, in a 12x16 foot room with a window.

Intake
Box fan in the window. I have the fan on 24/7.

Exhaust
400CFM inline fan sucking through my cool tube and out of an attic vent at top of house.

Temp at Plant: 59° this morning so I am sure it was like 50° in the last night. I am thinking either turn the intake fan off at night or get a plug thermostat, space heater and humidifier. Then just set the temp to 70°

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I don't know how you would change it for this crop, but for the future, maybe having the light on at night would fix the problem? I run my lights from 10pm to 10am, and so far so good. I did it to address heat issues during the summer, but I would think the reverse would be true in the winter. Our low temp last night was about 5 degrees F, and minimum temp overnight in my room was 65 degrees F, even with a 6 inch intake directly from outside and a 700 cfm fan blowing through my lights.

What's your intake CFM or are you just using a 6 inch fan? Are you varying the speed of those fans? 5°F compared to 45°F I should still be having a heat problem comparatively speaking.

Running the lights at night (or when its coolest) should be fine. You can lapse the time for about an hour a day to get your cycle right, and not effect the plants natural order. You can also use a light dimmer to slow your fan down.
Most afghan strains do very well in cooler weather, maybe you could switch up for the seasons.

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Originally Posted by LAmike

What's your intake CFM or are you just using a 6 inch fan? Are you varying the speed of those fans? 5°F compared to 45°F I should still be having a heat problem comparatively speaking.

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I actually have three 8 inch fans, one exhaust fan that's on a thermostat set to come on at about 78 degrees (meaning it never runs this time of year) and two that are ducted through 3 HIDs each. Right now I'm only using one row of 3 lights (1600 watts) so only one fan is running. My intake is passive, with a six inch hole ducted all the way outside, so some of the air used to cool the lights is from outside.

I run my lights at night too. I started to move the light period by 30 minute increments as the cold started to settle in. Now my lights shut off at 11am and kick back on at 5pm. The heat during the day is enough to keep the plants warm so the light isn't needed to keep them warm. During the night the temps drop into the 50's so it's nice to have my light warm them up to about 75. If anything I think the ideal time to grow in my room is during the winter. I imagine the summer will be much more difficult to control temps.

Yeah I am going to have to run A/C in the summer, typical day her is >100°F

or find a strain that will survive.

right now i am heating my house with a set of 600w lights all night the flower is on and the veg is on all day.. cooled w 2 6" inlines to rest of house.. i kinda live in the midle of nowhere so the house kinda reeks but its k...and its too cold outside for people to smell shit.

Alternating your lights for you 18/6 room and your 12/12 room is great thinking. Definitely an angle to consider before going overboard on heating, can just work out a little inline fan between the rooms with a light blocking procedure. If I will pay to make heat, my lights are at least also serving another purpose.

That is just good thinking.. Gotta give this thought now.

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Originally Posted by LAmike

Alternating your lights for you 18/6 room and your 12/12 room is great thinking. Definitely an angle to consider before going overboard on heating, can just work out a little inline fan between the rooms with a light blocking procedure. If I will pay to make heat, my lights are at least also serving another purpose.

That is just good thinking.. Gotta give this thought now.

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I think I'm gonna do the same. If I have to pay the power bill, I may as well use the light and the heat simultaneously.

I'm still gearing up, so I haven't decided on location just yet, but how cold (F*) can it get down to without hurting the babies? It'll get down to 56* at times....thanks everyone :thumbsup:

My flower room has gotten down to 60, with no apparent ill effects.

I finally got my MH bulb and I am vegging great. I have a box fan in the window with an a/c filter to block the light. I have the inline fan for the HPS bulb but it isn't needed for the MH bulb at night. I am like 12" on the ligh and the soil is perfectly 70F. Lights out during the day which is about perfect temps. It isn't as scientific as I want to be but for my first grow things are starting to turn around. I need one more timer for the light fan, for now it is by hand. After the grow I will rebuild with A/C, intake through the board and box the grow room up to a certain size. Might go one more light. I don't want extra but I want to ride the harvests for my meds.

I have 3 I *could* flower right now I am so stoked. Just going to let them veg. Now watch them 3 to be males, that is why I will bring the three more almost ready ones up too. The stragglers my gut tells me are the females and the three ones shooting up I bet are males. Not to curse myself. :)

It is true that males tend to grow taller faster and have somewhat less foliage than females.

really the males are taller with LESS foliage?? i have a couple monsters that i just started to flower.. and by monster i mean 8 inches vs. 4-6 that the rest are.. i also just had to turn on the heat in the house earlier this week as it is now VERY cold up here but i routed all of my hot air from growing to the bedrooms on the far end of the trailer thru the heat ducting.. i have found that it seems to work but the house has a distinct pot smell he he eh.. but also "free" heat. i already paid for it once and i get a byproduct for free-ish

Hey thanks, good to know the babies won't be shivering if it gets into the 50's. I'm new at the indoor concept.

After all, I did outdoor grows that endured the 40's, so hopefully my luck stays with me.

:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by mainegrown

really the males are taller with LESS foliage?? i have a couple monsters that i just started to flower.. and by monster i mean 8 inches vs. 4-6 that the rest are.. i also just had to turn on the heat in the house earlier this week as it is now VERY cold up here but i routed all of my hot air from growing to the bedrooms on the far end of the trailer thru the heat ducting.. i have found that it seems to work but the house has a distinct pot smell he he eh.. but also "free" heat. i already paid for it once and i get a byproduct for free-ish

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Yes, females tend to have more leaves during veg than males. Varies a lot by strain and conditions though. Don't investigate the cost of your heating-by-HID. Very depressing, although you're right, you already paid for it.