Honey Oil Riot Squad
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I'm running a very small grow tent (2x4x5 ft) under 400W HPS and am having a really frustrating time controlling humidity levels. Ever since moving the tent to a new safer location the humidity levels have been out of control. Veg was fine (I could care less about humidity in veg), but after switching to flower I really began to take care on keeping humidity levels down. So, I put my dehumidifier in the closet that the tent is in (not directly in the tent, that makes it way too hot). This works, but of course that just gave rise to an even bigger problem... heat. With the dehumidifier in the same closet the tent is in, all the heat builds up, even with all of my fans and ventilation working to stop it. So it's like my tent is either too hot or too humid and there is no way to get BOTH temp and humidity down to where they need to be.
I've looked into getting an AC unit, but unfortunately they are just way too expensive, and WAY too overpowered for my tiny set up. I've looked all over the place and there are just no small closet space air conditioning units ANYWHERE. And even if I was to get say a 6,000 BTU unit, that's more than doubling my power use! The 400W HPS uses enough power as it is. I like to keep my set up small, as this is just a personal grow and I have no need or interest in upgrading. So getting an AC and using a hell of a lot more electricity than I already am is pretty much out of the question. Plus where the tent is, there is no way of me venting outside an AC unit outside, I could only vent outside of the closet which i'm sure would be successful in cooling the tent, but is more of a massive WASTE of a ton of electricity than anything, because I'd just be making the rest of my house hot as balls.
I'm wondering if anybody has ways to lower humidity besides a dehumidifer or AC. I am currently still running the dehumidifier, but it is on a low setting so as to not cook the plants too much. On high, the temp ends up at a nice 95+ degrees which is WAY too fucking hot, and unfortunately on this low setting it is not helping enough. Some days it is ok, but usually the humidity remains 60 to 75% on this low setting, which is too high.
I have seen some people talk about putting a layer of sand on the bottom of the tent and am thinking about trying that. Has anybody done this, and if so, how far did your humidity drop? I've also experimented with damp rid in the past with minimal results, although I only used one bucket. Maybe getting like 5 or 6 more buckets of damp rid would also do the trick... or both sand AND damp rid. This is far cheaper, but would require cleaning and replacing the sand every week, which is a pain, but I suppose would be worth it. I am just so stuck on what to do. Anybody have advice for me with this issue?
I'm running a very small grow tent (2x4x5 ft) under 400W HPS and am having a really frustrating time controlling humidity levels. Ever since moving the tent to a new safer location the humidity levels have been out of control. Veg was fine (I could care less about humidity in veg), but after switching to flower I really began to take care on keeping humidity levels down. So, I put my dehumidifier in the closet that the tent is in (not directly in the tent, that makes it way too hot). This works, but of course that just gave rise to an even bigger problem... heat. With the dehumidifier in the same closet the tent is in, all the heat builds up, even with all of my fans and ventilation working to stop it. So it's like my tent is either too hot or too humid and there is no way to get BOTH temp and humidity down to where they need to be.
I've looked into getting an AC unit, but unfortunately they are just way too expensive, and WAY too overpowered for my tiny set up. I've looked all over the place and there are just no small closet space air conditioning units ANYWHERE. And even if I was to get say a 6,000 BTU unit, that's more than doubling my power use! The 400W HPS uses enough power as it is. I like to keep my set up small, as this is just a personal grow and I have no need or interest in upgrading. So getting an AC and using a hell of a lot more electricity than I already am is pretty much out of the question. Plus where the tent is, there is no way of me venting outside an AC unit outside, I could only vent outside of the closet which i'm sure would be successful in cooling the tent, but is more of a massive WASTE of a ton of electricity than anything, because I'd just be making the rest of my house hot as balls.
I'm wondering if anybody has ways to lower humidity besides a dehumidifer or AC. I am currently still running the dehumidifier, but it is on a low setting so as to not cook the plants too much. On high, the temp ends up at a nice 95+ degrees which is WAY too fucking hot, and unfortunately on this low setting it is not helping enough. Some days it is ok, but usually the humidity remains 60 to 75% on this low setting, which is too high.
I have seen some people talk about putting a layer of sand on the bottom of the tent and am thinking about trying that. Has anybody done this, and if so, how far did your humidity drop? I've also experimented with damp rid in the past with minimal results, although I only used one bucket. Maybe getting like 5 or 6 more buckets of damp rid would also do the trick... or both sand AND damp rid. This is far cheaper, but would require cleaning and replacing the sand every week, which is a pain, but I suppose would be worth it. I am just so stuck on what to do. Anybody have advice for me with this issue?