Humidity Without Bud Rot (fingers crossed)

[sweetsin]

Okay great horticulturists of the growing world, I need advice on humidity and bud rot before it becomes a problem. I know there is at least one other thread on the problem and how to overcome high humidity, by using an inlet fan and dehumidifier, blowing the dry warm air in through the inlet fan over the young ladies and expelling it through continuous extraction via the outlet fan.

My setup is a Secret Jardin 240w with 2*600w cool tubes. I'm pulling air from inside the tent through the cool tubes' daisy chained together via a 150L RVK, as my exhaust. My inlet is a 150A RVK. I think it runs normally at about 15% less. I am using an SMSCOM twin controller to keep everything balanced although the extractor fan is running at 100% all the time to keep the humidity down.
The Problem: I live on the coast where the Relative Humidity (RH) is pretty high, normally in the sixties on most days, RH can be running at 66% with the extractor fan on full during lights on. The outside RH, can be 63% or higher for most of the day, unless it warms up. At lights out the RH, can spike into the high eighties and therein lies the problem.
Noise too is also a factor. I don't want to push it with the neighbours.

I am already looking at a dehumidifier as a means to solve the problem but the noise at night concerns me. Is there any other way to prevent or eliminate bud rot supposing it becomes a problem in the very near future? Would an ozone generator be the answer? I know about Bud Rot Stop but how effective is it, perhaps a combination?


Your advice please?

 

[mouthmeetsoap]

Wow, that is high humidity. I can't get mine down past the humidity of the environment, but if I were going to try I'd probably have a fan with a pre-filter blowing in fresh and hopefully a little less wet air, and a separate fan pulling the air out. I'll bet that'd work. Never tried Bud Rot Stop or ozone generators. Sorry.

 

[sweetsin]

Wow, that is high humidity. I can't get mine down past the humidity of the environment, but if I were going to try I'd probably have a fan with a pre-filter blowing in fresh and hopefully a little less wet air, and a separate fan pulling the air out. I'll bet that'd work. Never tried Bud Rot Stop or ozone generators. Sorry.

I have two 150 's an L, and an A. The A, is air in and the L, is air, out with two small fans circulating the air inside the tent.




My set up is pretty well balanced. The problem seems to be RH, in the outside environment. I'm pushing air in that's over 60% R H, and because of the heat of the lights and with extractor fan going at full tilt, it's still only managing to drop the RH, by a few percent. The temperature goes way down 72F – 74F because of the level of extraction but the RH still remains high.


If I slow the extractor fan the temperature inside the tent goes up but so does the HR. I know I have to bring in the dry air and probably through the use of a dehumidifier but at this moment I'm looking at all my options, prevention rather than cure.


If a dehumidifier takes the RH, down another 10% - 15% it would still be on the high side but within acceptable levels. Bud Rot Stop and an Ozone generator might just give me the edge over anything getting out of hand, but I have no idea how effective they are.


I am now raising the temperature inside the tent by directing my intake fan at an oil filled radiator. The temperature is rising and the RH, is decreasing by a few percent.


I'm open to any suggestions?

 

[sgt d]

If it's not too late (ie, you're over 2-3 weeks into flowering), burn sulfur in your tent. If the smell is an issue (burning sulfur smells awful), spray them with sulfur spray. It's available at most grow stores, and DEFINITELY on the internet if not your local store.

Sulfur burning/spraying makes your plants (and nugs) more resistant to mold and mildew. It's especially important to use it during the first 2-3 weeks of flower, so plenty of it gets into/onto your bud sites. Those little bud sites will eventually be the centers of your nugs, right where mold usually starts, so they're the most important part to treat.

You CAN use the spray later in flower than week 3, but you need to make sure that your ventilation is in order so that they will dry out after spraying; otherwise, you defeat the purpose.

Alternatively, or additionally, get that dehumidifier going! If the noise concerns you, insulate it. I've never tried it, but I might build a box out of plywood to place it in, with a passive intake and outtake. I mean, cut two holes in the box, corresponding in size to whatever size ducting you have lying around: connect some ducting to the intake side that just dangles, just a foot or two, if that; and on the other side, or perhaps on the top of the box, another one, that allows the heat to escape. Place the box on top of some padding (blankets, pieces of carpet, carpet padding, speaker isolation foam, etc). That should isolate the vibration from the floor and walls. You could pad the inside of the box as well. I've known people in bands, who live in apartments, to do this with their amps so as to practice without bugging the neighbors. If it works for a 100 watt Marshall, it should work for a dehumidifier...look up "amp boxes" for design ideas.

That would lower the RH in the room you're pulling air from somewhat, and keep it quiet. Btw, if the dehumidifier you're talking about is louder than a 100 watt Marshall, you'd better start looking for a new one...

 

[sweetsin]

If it's not too late (ie, you're over 2-3 weeks into flowering), burn sulfur in your tent. If the smell is an issue (burning sulfur smells awful), spray them with sulfur spray. It's available at most grow stores, and DEFINITELY on the internet if not your local store.

Sulfur burning/spraying makes your plants (and nugs) more resistant to mold and mildew. It's especially important to use it during the first 2-3 weeks of flower, so plenty of it gets into/onto your bud sites. Those little bud sites will eventually be the centers of your nugs, right where mold usually starts, so they're the most important part to treat.

You CAN use the spray later in flower than week 3, but you need to make sure that your ventilation is in order so that they will dry out after spraying; otherwise, you defeat the purpose.

Alternatively, or additionally, get that dehumidifier going! If the noise concerns you, insulate it. I've never tried it, but I might build a box out of plywood to place it in, with a passive intake and outtake. I mean, cut two holes in the box, corresponding in size to whatever size ducting you have lying around: connect some ducting to the intake side that just dangles, just a foot or two, if that; and on the other side, or perhaps on the top of the box, another one, that allows the heat to escape. Place the box on top of some padding (blankets, pieces of carpet, carpet padding, speaker isolation foam, etc). That should isolate the vibration from the floor and walls. You could pad the inside of the box as well. I've known people in bands, who live in apartments, to do this with their amps so as to practice without bugging the neighbors. If it works for a 100 watt Marshall, it should work for a dehumidifier...look up "amp boxes" for design ideas.

That would lower the RH in the room you're pulling air from somewhat, and keep it quiet. Btw, if the dehumidifier you're talking about is louder than a 100 watt Marshall, you'd better start looking for a new one...

Sounds like a plan. I'm three weeks into the grow. When the weather went from mild and warm to cool and damp in the space of a few days, with the wind blowing moisture in off the sea. I've got the intake fan pulling air through the fins of an oil radiator, and it seems to be reducing the humidity. I'm down to about 55% - 58% at this point and that's the lowest it's been all week. The worry will be the spike in RH, when the lights go off. I don't think anyone can hear my fans, but I didn't want them on all night for fear of drawing attention from the neighbours. I've got a mate coming down with his dehumidifier to try it out first. He lives in more inland that me and only seems to get a problem with RH, in the heat of the summer.




Is there a particular brand of spray you would recommend?

 

[sgt d]

Nope, I haven't used the spray, so idunno, but I have seen with my own eyes its use by others, and it seems to work. Just be sure it's sulfur in that spray, and not some other crap, and you should be straight. The guy I knew who used it lived right by the sea, too.

Alright, 55-58% ain't bad! And yeah, that dehum should help.

Good luck!

 

[sweetsin]

Nope, I haven't used the spray, so idunno, but I have seen with my own eyes its use by others, and it seems to work. Just be sure it's sulfur in that spray, and not some other crap, and you should be straight. The guy I knew who used it lived right by the sea, too.

Alright, 55-58% ain't bad! And yeah, that dehum should help.

Good luck!

Thanks mate. To the point with no bull*hit, it doesn't get much better than that.

 

[DrFever]

you can also remove your glass on your tubes i think and let room heat up that also will remove humidity lights off keep extracting the air an bring fresh air i have never run into bud rot an my humidity lights off hits 60 + and in the 40's lights on they seem to love it )

also after every watering my humidity hits 80's

 

[sweetsin]

you can also remove your glass on your tubes i think and let room heat up that also will remove humidity lights off keep extracting the air an bring fresh air i have never run into bud rot an my humidity lights off hits 60 + and in the 40's lights on they seem to love it )

also after every watering my humidity hits 80's

Yeah sh*t, I take it from your photos that you're not planning to go out for a while? I understand. It's all about air flow and humidity between around 40% and 60%, there shouldn't be a problem, even if you do get a little spike once in a while. That said, living on the coast is a juggling act. I've never had these problems before and thought, what the f*ck! The difference can be dramatic, from high temperatures to high humidity in 24h, and sometimes both at the same time. It can be a nightmare, especially when you don't want fans running all night.


Thanks