Grow tent smells like FISH? Ewww..help!

[JanesRain]

Yeah So I admit I've been a bit lazy letting small amounts of water sit around on the bottom of the tent after feeding. Took out my plants today to water and could smell a fishy type smell from the bottom of the tent. Cleaned it with some hot water and meyers soap then dried it and put plants back

IS the smell just from bacteria from the old water? Will it stop since I cleaned it? I don't want issues since I am only a few weeks away from my 5 plants being finished and ready to harvest

Just hope it's not mold or something....

Air circulation is good w/ 4 inch carbon filter and exhaust + 2 extra fans

 

[JanesRain]

Yeah So I admit I've been a bit lazy letting small amounts of water sit around on the bottom of the tent after feeding. Took out my plants today to water and could smell a fishy type smell from the bottom of the tent. Cleaned it with some hot water and meyers soap then dried it and put plants back

IS the smell just from bacteria from the old water? Will it stop since I cleaned it? I don't want issues since I am only a few weeks away from my 5 plants being finished and ready to harvest

Just hope it's not mold or something....

Air circulation is good w/ 4 inch carbon filter and exhaust + 2 extra fans

Should also mention that I just started adding molasses to my fox farms trio at about 1 tsp per gallon. Maybe that's got something to do with it? Idk

 

[Hessam]

What is the relative humidity in your tent?

 

[JanesRain]

What is the relative humidity in your tent?

Usually around 46%

 

[Cx2H]

IS the smell just from bacteria from the old water? Will it stop since I cleaned it?

Yes/Yes
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So you got the swamp water smell going on.. Kinda like when someone leaves dirty mop bucket water and mop sitting around?

Use any kelp/seaweed or hydrolyzed fish?

If all else fails you could wipe it down with tea water or something citrus. Think I just ate 12 lbs of seafood and want this smell off me.

Keep the area clean! Standing water leads to all kindsa sheet going on in the tent and the house.

Myself I would sanitize and disinfect with a mixed down light bleach solution but thats me, I did pro cleaning for a few years..

 

[JanesRain]

So you got the swamp water smell going on.. Kinda like when someone leaves dirty mop bucket water and mop sitting around?

Use any kelp/seaweed or hydrolyzed fish?

If all else fails you could wipe it down with tea water or something citrus. Think I just ate 12 lbs of seafood and want this smell off me.

Keep the area clean! Standing water leads to all kindsa sheet going on in the tent and the house.

Myself I would sanitize and disinfect with a mixed down light bleach solution but thats me, I did pro cleaning for a few years..

Yeh. I think once my plants dry out a bit on the bottom by tomorrow I will take them out again and clean with some antibacterial soap and continue doing so every few days. The smell was reduced by like 90% after i cleaned earlier, but still kinda paranoid. Not sure if plants are effected by it


And yeah, there is seaweed extract in fox farms trio. Not sure if that's it.

 

[Chunky Stool]

stagnant water + molasses = lots of bad microbes (anaerobic)
You are flirting with disaster.

 

[coreywebster]

Yeh. I think once my plants dry out a bit on the bottom by tomorrow I will take them out again and clean with some antibacterial soap and continue doing so every few days. The smell was reduced by like 90% after i cleaned earlier, but still kinda paranoid. Not sure if plants are effected by it


And yeah, there is seaweed extract in fox farms trio. Not sure if that's it.

Do you have acoustic ducting in your grow space? It may not seem like it but it is a relevant question

 

[JanesRain]

stagnant water + molasses = lots of bad microbes (anaerobic)
You are flirting with disaster.

It wasn't that much. Just the small amount coming out of the bottom of the pots after a watering. Will keeping the bottom of the tent super clean help at all? Hate to fuck up months worth of hard work

Also the molasses wasn't much. 1 teaspoon per gallon is nothing spread among 5 plants

 

[JanesRain]

Do you have acoustic ducting in your grow space? It may not seem like it but it is a relevant question

I don't think so. This is what I am using

https://www.amazon.com/iPower-GLFANXINL4FILT4MD8C-Exhausting-Pre-Filter-Reversible/dp/B00D7M6692

 

[Cx2H]

Hate to fuck up months worth of hard work

You will be fine bro just keep the space lab clean if possible and use those plastic saucer rings to catch water from dollar tree, they have up to 10 incher.

Prolonged standing water is a Huge NO-NO.

 

[coreywebster]

I don't think so. This is what I am using

https://www.amazon.com/iPower-GLFANXINL4FILT4MD8C-Exhausting-Pre-Filter-Reversible/dp/B00D7M6692

No worries, acoustic ducting is two layers of that stuff with an insulation layer in between. So looks like you don't have.
The only reason I ask is because there is the good stuff which has a vapour barrier inside, then cheap crap stuff that doesn't. The cheap stuff gets damp and creates a really strong rotten fish smell after a while. Anyhow doesn't seem like that's your problem at all.

On a more relevant note, molasses shouldn't cause that sort of smell, neither should kelp but both would feed any bad bacteria well (which isn't good ey)

 

[Chunky Stool]

It wasn't that much. Just the small amount coming out of the bottom of the pots after a watering. Will keeping the bottom of the tent super clean help at all? Hate to fuck up months worth of hard work

Dry is more important than clean. Bad things grow in stagnant water, and if temps drop, mold could quickly wipe out your crop.
I pull my plants out of the tent so I can water them with plenty of runoff. I'm a huge believer in runoff. It cleanses the soil and keeps it healthy.

 

[JanesRain]

You will be fine bro just keep the space lab clean if possible and use those plastic saucer rings to catch water from dollar tree, they have up to 10 incher.

Prolonged standing water is a Huge NO-NO.

Wasn't much water. Just the tiny bit that leaked around the bottom after water. Maybe a few Tablespoons.


Yeah I'll have to let em leak it into a container to keep the bottom dryer. It is a non leaky reflective material so it's easy to clean

 

[JanesRain]

Dry is more important than clean. Bad things grow in stagnant water, and if temps drop, mold could quickly wipe out your crop.
I pull my plants out of the tent so I can water them with plenty of runoff. I'm a huge believer in runoff. It cleanses the soil and keeps it healthy.

I doubt it. My temps are usually in the mid 80s, and rarely go below 74 at night


yeah I will keep it very dry . Thx!

 

[JanesRain]

No worries, acoustic ducting is two layers of that stuff with an insulation layer in between. So looks like you don't have.
The only reason I ask is because there is the good stuff which has a vapour barrier inside, then cheap crap stuff that doesn't. The cheap stuff gets damp and creates a really strong rotten fish smell after a while. Anyhow doesn't seem like that's your problem at all.

On a more relevant note, molasses shouldn't cause that sort of smell, neither should kelp but both would feed any bad bacteria well (which isn't good ey)

Just cleaned tent again. Tore it apart and scrubbed everything down with meyers, then dried. Put exhaust on 100% and opened all the vents.

The smell is like 99.9% gone unless i stick my nose down into the bottom and really try to smell it. Hope that took care of it until next cleaning

 

[Six9]

Yep gotta keep it clean. I keep tent crazy clean but still get the occasional ant inside, they must smell the molasses. a tent in a 3rd level bedroom!

 

[JanesRain]

Yep gotta keep it clean. I keep tent crazy clean but still get the occasional ant inside, they must smell the molasses. a tent in a 3rd level bedroom!

Yeh, those ants are sneak AF. Found one in my grow tent a couple weeks back. Had to kill him