Dealing with heat

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soundbwoy33

Member
I've a few n00b questions and hopefully somebody can help. I'm doing my first ever grow, not one bud will be smoked. It's all to make RSO in the hope it'll cure my mother-in-law to be.

I'm growing in my attic, and my plants are vegging at the minute, 3rd week, from clones. I've 2 x starbud and 2 x shoreline. I'm in the UK and we're having a rare hot summer. I've two small fans oscillating in the attic but it's far too hot, it's 26celcius/79 Fahrenheit today. I've a fan and filter but not sure how to set it up. I've a duct from an extractor fan that's in the upstairs bathroom that goes into the attic, then on outside. Should I cut a hole in that duct, then attact a duct to my fan/filter to that? I'm totally clueless, and don't want my plants dying, it's literally a matter of life and death (for the RSO). A few of the leaves tips have went brown, not all but a couple. I've noticed some tiny grey pests under the pots, I'm guessing they may be Aphids. I've just sprayed then with a neem oil/dish soap/water solution. I'm hoping that will help.

Can anyone advise about setting up my fan to get some circulation going? The fan is going at the minute, but attached to nothing, I guess it's helping the circulation a little, it's doesn't feel as hot as yesterday up there.

Sorry for dumb questions, just don't want to mess things up.

Thanks
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
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soundbwoy33

Member
Thanks guys. So would attracting to the extractor duct not do the job? The pests look like tiny woodlice, grey in colour, and a few transparent spiders.
 
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soundbwoy33

Member
Thanks guys. So would attaching to the extractor duct not do the job? The pests look like tiny woodlice, grey in colour, and a few transparent spiders.
 
Pinworm

Pinworm

Well-Known Member
soundbwoy33 said:
Thanks guys. So would attracting to the extractor duct not do the job? The pests look like tiny woodlice, grey in colour, and a few transparent spiders.
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If you can rig it, I say go for it. And, those totally sound like aphids.
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
Pinworm said:
Oh, he did. Good catch. Maybe vent out a boarded up window, or cut a hole somewhere. I'm not sure if stealth is necessary.
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I would draw intake from the interior of the house and just vent exhaust right into the attic. The attic should already be vented to the outside. The whole roof being slightly warmer is more stealthy than a single vent in one spot showing up on IR. The tents exhaust should actually cool the attic. Might want to extensively insulate the grow space, not for stealth, but to reduce heat gain from the surrounding attic.
 
Pinworm

Pinworm

Well-Known Member
Red1966 said:
I would draw intake from the interior of the house and just vent exhaust right into the attic. The attic should already be vented to the outside. The whole roof being slightly warmer is more stealthy than a single vent in one spot showing up on IR. The tents exhaust should actually cool the attic. Might want to extensively insulate the grow space, not for stealth, but to reduce heat gain from the surrounding attic.
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79F in UK is rare hot. That made me giggle. Is he in a tent? If he is, then that is def a better way to go. Maybe even a cheap A/C unit if money is no issue.
 
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soundbwoy33

Member
This is how I have it set up. I'm a little confused about where the intake is coming from? As I see it there's the fan on top of the filter, so the duct is attached to that. How exactly can I attach another duct on. Sorry, total noob, but it's confusing me.
 

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Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
The "intake" appears to be your entire attic. Any additional ducting would be inline with what you already have. Do you have anything containing your grow area or are you just trying to use a space in your attic without something to separate it from the entire attic?
 
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soundbwoy33

Member
Yeah, there's no separations at all, the middle of my attic is floored, light and reflector hanging from beams, fan and filter right beside it. So if I have it correct, the filter is drawing in air, then it's expelled from the fan, and where I have the duct taped?
 
Pinworm

Pinworm

Well-Known Member
That sounds right. I would recommend a bigger extraction fan for that big attic. At the very least it should be 440cfm. 720 would be better.
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
I would recommend inclosing the grow space and just dealing with the volume you're actually using. To adequately ventilate your entire attic would require a ridiculous amount of fans and filtration. A cheap tent or some foam panels would do. Remember, an attic can be as much as 70F hotter than ambient temps on a sunny day. My powered attic vent is set to come on at 110F and it starts running intermittently whenever it gets over 75F on sunny days.
 
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soundbwoy33

Member
Ah, was hoping not to spend more money, it's not something that's in abundance :( what's a good price for a tent? In the meantime, and to try and be stealthy, would the hot air being dumped outside be a giveaway to choppers and ir cameras? A friend suggested ruining the duct down to my bedroom. I really don't fancy a 6inch hole in my ceiling.
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
soundbwoy33 said:
Ah, was hoping not to spend more money, it's not something that's in abundance :( what's a good price for a tent? In the meantime, and to try and be stealthy, would the hot air being dumped outside be a giveaway to choppers and ir cameras? A friend suggested ruining the duct down to my bedroom. I really don't fancy a 6inch hole in my ceiling.
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The price of a tent varies hugely, depending on size, quality, and mark up. I would just dump the heat directly into the attic space. That way, it will affect the whole roof. It is normal for the whole roof to be warm. A jet of hot air emanating from one spot is what gives you away. Your exhaust may actually be cooler than the rest of the attic. If you put the tent or growbox over your attic access, you won't have to cut any holes at all. Sad to say, but growing indoors seems to always require more money than you expect it to. You mentioned running a second duct. Are you trying to cool your lamp? If so, your set up should be filter=>duct=>lamp=>duct=>fan=> duct=>exhaust.Place the filter at the highest spot in the grow area.
 
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soundbwoy33

Member
You all are lifesavers, thanks so much. I've read varied ideal temps for my growspace, what do you reckon would be ideal?

I'm not trying to cool the light, unless you think I need to. Just control the temp of the attic, I went home at lunch and the duct came loose from the fan, so it's just blowing into the roof at the moment, and it feels a lot cooler than yesterday (before I wired up the fan/filter). I bought a thermometer too, so I can post the temp when I get home, and see what you all think.

As for watering, the first few weeks I was watering daily, as the soil had become crusty dry. I was just pouring about a 1/4 pint per plant. My friend wasn't too specific about watering, and since reading more I've learnt it's criticical to get it right. I didn't test it by checking my run off. 20%, right? One plant has started to droop, I initially thought I was overwatering, but think it's under watering now, I'll attach a pic.......
 

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Red1966

Red1966

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Try to keep your temps under 80F. You should saturate the soil, then let it dry out. 20% run off is right, but only indicated when using nutes. With just plain water, quit when water starts coming out the bottom. Yeah, underwatering, but that isn't very bad at all, should perk right up when you water. Your attic must not be very hot. Your plant looks pretty healthy. What king of light are you using?
 
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soundbwoy33

Member
Phew! I was thinking it was looking quite ill, comparing to the other pics I've seen.

Using HID lighting, the bulb is an HPS red and MH blue. My friend said during this heatwave I should go to 18hours on, 6 hours off, would you agree?

Apart from the brown tips, I noticed this too..... Anything to worry about?
 
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