Humidity....dehumidifier or ventilation?

billbilly

Member
Hi, this is my first post.

I have...
4w x 4d x8h tent
2x65wHO CFL
cocoponics

I am vegging at the moment. 1 jock horror at 5 weeks. Plant looks great believe it or not. Big leaves.. Short internodes lots of growth...

my problem is the room temps gets really low sometimes down to 6-7C.... And the tent is generally a few degrees warmer... So at first i noticed heavy condensation on the tent sides (inside). Now I'm finding the leaves are perspiring to the point that where they touch each other they are wet to touch...

pretty soon i would like to flick on my 600w hps and flower(should help with lower temps too)... But before i do i want to sort out the humidity...

with this in mind and a limited budget where it is either one or the other....should i get and extraction fan or dehumidifier?
 

Csufan97

Active Member
I will humidify or dehumidify depending on the time of year number of plants and how many plants. Try to hold humidity to 50-60% depending on who you ask. Purchase a Dehumidifier off Craig's if your on a budget.
 

Indoor Sun King

Well-Known Member
dehumidifiers are not cheap to buy and consume a fair bit of power....so I would go with the extraction fan, as one can never have too much air circulation...especially when you turn on your 600w HPS

Maybe a small space heater would keep the temp just high enough to prevent the condensation forming
 

billbilly

Member
I have put a small space heater outside the tent... This keeps the room warm enough that i dont get condensation... But still problems with the leaves perspiring i have a fan blowing nicely at the plant in the tent.... Should i put the space heater inside the tent!
 

PurpleBuz

Well-Known Member
what is the RH outside the tent ? if its higher than 60% then you should get a dehumidifier. Its not necessary to run it all the time unless your RH is really high. I run dehumidifiers during the dark cycle when the RH tends to go up and the heat from the lights is not available to drive the excess moisture off. Especially important during flower development to keep RH down.
 

billbilly

Member
To be honest i dont have a hygrometer... Ive spent a fair bit already on gear/nutes/strain etc... Only thing left is the humidity problem and a good digital hygrometer... Im happy with the rest... Its cold here... And the windows have a bit of condensation on them now and them.... Mostly in mornings.... My plant looks very healthy... But the bigger it gets the higher the humidity...
 

billbilly

Member
So far the cfls have been warming the plant ... But again, the bigger it gets means its harder to control... I think i need a dehumidifier.... Extraction fans would only cycle the humid air from tent-->room-->tent and so on...but i will get one eventually... But me thinks dehumidifier first...
 
I would pick an extractior fan with a fan controller before a dehumdfier.I know you're on a budget but an extractior fan is going to help you keep the temperature under control as well as the humidity, yeah its not ideal if you are taking air from the same room as you are extracting to but IMO you will end up with a healthier plant, better yield & better smoke if you go for an extractor fan over a dehumidfier. :peace:
 

billbilly

Member
I have low temps... And a trial run with the hps gave me really nice temps.....and there was no extraction fan... Remember - humidity...WAS the problem... I got a dehumidifier.... WORKS great! Going to flip on 12/12 soon ... Cant wait...
 
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