First Grow....First Problem....PLEASE HELP!!

[pot_head_sam]

I just recently turned on my 400w MH (AgroSun). I hit high temps...like 90-94 and I am freaking out. I have a fan that should be bigger than what I need for the size of my room. Let me break it down first.

My entire grow room is 3x7x7. I have two seperate rooms. The veg/mother room is 2x3x7 and the flowering room is 3x3x7. I am using CFL's in the veg/mother and the MH in flowering. I haven't started flowering yet...just getting the plants use to MH before flowering around christmas. Right now the entire room is open, as I am putting up the wall of seperation sometime before flowering. I am very worried now, but I can't imagine what the temps will get up to in the flowering room once it's closed off...maybe better, maybe worse. Any suggestions, other than the obvious...buying a bigger fan. Not quite an option right now, as christmas has me low on funds?

I know I will be getting a bigger fan before summer, as it is like 7 degrees outside right now, and when it is 70 in summer I can only imagine what my new oven room will be like.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

P.S. - before turning on the 400w MH my temps were a constant 76-78.

pot_head_sam Reviewed by pot_head_sam on 12-11-2006. First Grow....First Problem....PLEASE HELP!! I just recently turned on my 400w MH (AgroSun). I hit high temps...like 90-94 and I am freaking out. I have a fan that should be bigger than what I need for the size of my room. Let me break it down first. My entire grow room is 3x7x7. I have two seperate rooms. The veg/mother room is 2x3x7 and the flowering room is 3x3x7. I am using CFL's in the veg/mother and the MH in flowering. I haven't started flowering yet...just getting the plants use to MH before flowering around christmas. Rating: 5

[pot_head_sam]

I forgot to mention that my 400w MH is a compact system, with the ballast contained inside. I wish I could just move the ballast outside of the room, but this is not an option.

My fan is 6". I also have a 4" fan. I am going to post some pics in a moment. Please let me know what you guys think.

[Weedhound]

When you say fan, what kind of fan are you talking about? A regular fan or a duct or inline fan that draws the hot air out?

[invision]

you need two 600CFM fans those will runs you about 125.00 EACH and your temps will be a thing of the past

[kindprincess]

you CAN take it apart if you want to, that's what i did with my mh's. look for a diy cool tube thread, or get a wall unit ac. if temps are that low outside, consider an intake from the great outdoors; it'd work better than an ac...

love, kp

[razzapiggy]

I am relatively new to this sort of thing, but I'm going to go ahead and say if you can pull cold air from outside (intake) and push it somewhere else (out-take) and also have a 600 cfm fan pushing the air out, you most likely could get away with one 600 cfm fan. They are pretty expensive, but you will need it. Right now I am running one 600 cfm with a 1000 watt lamp, soon to two 1000 watt lamps, and I was told I could get away with the one fan for a little while if I am pulling cold air at all times. Again, I am sort of new at this but I have experienced no problems thus far...

In short, go to your local hydro store and buy a 600 cfm fan that is quiet, and see what that does for you. If you need to add another, add another (all grow rooms and locations are diff.) but I would try the one for now... best of luck

[pot_head_sam]

It is an in-line duct fan.
Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it. I would buy a new fan if I could. I will eventually. I am also way too afraid of messing my light up to take it apart.
I am going to hook the 4" up to the duct work for the veg room and the 6" up to the duct work for the flowering room. Does anyone know if this will work, since the duct work for both rooms meets and goes into one line of duct? Maybe this will help. I am also going to get a computer fan to help pull in more cooler air. I just need a solution for a month or so until I can afford a bigger fan.

P.S. - what signs should I look for concerning damage to my plants from the heat? I haven't noticed any yet, but it has only been in the 90's for one day of 18 hours. They still look as healthy as ever.

[santacruz_organic]

just make sure you are sucking hot air out instead of pshing cold air in. This means you should keep your fan for exhaust as high as posible to suck out the heat that rises. if your room is air tight or very close to it you can use both fans for exhaust and just have ventilation tubes going from inside to outside. sucking the air out will make a vaccum in your room automatically sucking air in from outside. my exhaust system only uses one fan for exaust of my room and one for exhaust of my lights. hope this will help...