Growing Indoors in the Summer

Just a little curious what you guys that grow indoors do in the summer. It gets 100+ here and I don't want all the AC being exhausted outside. Only two things I can think to do are exhaust inside and turn a dehuey on or just shut the grow down entirely for awhile. Right now outdoors isn't an option.

Midnight Warrior said:

Just a little curious what you guys that grow indoors do in the summer. It gets 100+ here and I don't want all the AC being exhausted outside. Only two things I can think to do are exhaust inside and turn a dehuey on or just shut the grow down entirely for awhile. Right now outdoors isn't an option.

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Common problem. Exhausting heated and moist air is the biggest issue for most. If you own the house it’s easy enough to do. Do not exhaust into the attic or crawl space if there’s not an actual attic. Mold magnet. Shutting it down is probably the most practical without spending a bunch.

i shut down 90% of my grow in summer. i only keep a small plant in veg under low watts so i can clone off it once weather starts cooling down. just so i can keep them genetics.

if you really must flower maybe try a small 1x1 tent with 100 so watts of light. you could still get a OZ or two with not alot of heat

I don't really have to make many changes. Running a small 2x3x6 custom cabinet , so climate control is always easier in general, plus I'm using hlg quantum boards with externally mounted drivers so i have next to no extra heat to deal with. I pull air from an adjacent room and vent to the room the cabinet is in. Temps inside the grow space never fluctuate more than a couple of degrees and i don't have to run the central air much harder to compensate. So i guess the key is to run a small space, use lights that are as efficient as possible, and don't vent to outside.

NanoGadget said:

I don't really have to make many changes. Running a small 2x3x6 custom cabinet , so climate control is always easier in general, plus I'm using hlg quantum boards with externally mounted drivers so i have next to no extra heat to deal with. I pull air from an adjacent room and vent to the room the cabinet is in. Temps inside the grow space never fluctuate more than a couple of degrees and i don't have to run the central air much harder to compensate. So i guess the key is to run a small space, use lights that are as efficient as possible, and don't vent to outside.

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do you find the room the cabinet is in gets humid at times even when bringing fresh air in from a different room or window. do you push though your filter or pull. if you use one

I use the hot days of summer for vacation. I start my seedlings in late Aug. and try not to turn on the HPS (DE open hood hot fucker) until September. I can get three crops in by late April. Even then I have to run a/c until mid October depending on the weather. It was a hot one last year (30 days over 100F) and I hope we catch a break this year. I am going to go with CMH-DE far red bulb this year. Hopefully it will be a tad cooler than a AC-DE 1000W.

The heat for me can be a pita....
I have 2 plants I’m trying to flower out...I’m actually in the garage for now..I leave my laundry down open to passively pull the cool air in from the bottom of a screened vent...

I run my lights at night 7-7 or 8-8 or 7-1and the temps get around 83 45-50 rh ...
The flowering plants, I bring them I’m my rear bathroom turn the exhaust fan... place a small circulating fan to move the air...

I tried leaving them in the garage during the day but it getter even warmer without the 10 degree drop when light out...

I’ve thought the same just stop for now but the next crop on rotation should do better..

This CHM gets kinda warm...but runs cheap and plants love it..

Blurples grew them but cost more in electricity and damn blinding..

Good thing about it all is with my mainlining it takes plants a little longer in veg..I will let them struggle a bit more in veg...kinda teaches me about the hardiness of the plant...
Example.. I have a heavy sativa plant that seems to love it, at 3 weeks I see trichomes that are glittering with all the heat involved.. while this hybrid Indica dominant is moving slowly...

callies said:

do you find the room the cabinet is in gets humid at times even when bringing fresh air in from a different room or window. do you push though your filter or pull. if you use one

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Yeah, the room the cab is in probably averages 10% higher humidity than the rest of the house, but with central AC its a bit dry in the house during the summer anyway so i don't mind a little extra humidity. If i didnt have decent AC i wouldn't even bother trying to grow indoors during July and August. Even with my LEDs i wouldnt be able to cope with 95f at 85% humidity.

I always had to drop wattage in the summer or run an ac. There are too many variables to account for to say for sure what will work sometimes it takes some testing it out to see. It also depends on how handy you are and what kind of hvac system you have at your house. If it’s a small grow and your handy you could just add an extra run of ductwork off your existing hvac to be used during summer(remember to take it out before you turn the heat on in winter) If it’s a bigger grow then a mini split or window ac will work. Window ac can leak smell if they are directly in the grow. Mini splits are pricey but I’m so glad to finally have one it’s so nice to be Able to set the exact temp I want and stay there.

I started growing last month, summer time in southern CA/ indoor. didnt know the summer was an issue for so many, lets see how it goes for me.

It's only an issue if you can't keep your temps under control. Being that your in so cal I imagine you have high outside temps to deal with. So that would leave you with a few options the best one being air conditioner unit for the room. The next best option if your home HVAC can keep up with it is to pull air from your cooled home and exhaust to outside. It will over work your home ac unit some but depending on how much your trying to cool and how big your exhaust fan is as long as it's a small or medium size grow you should be okay

That's assuming that your home ac already keeps up well if not then you will need to look at other options.

in my garage Its at least 10 degrees cooler than outside. I have over 1kw of LED running in a 9x6x8 box and I dont need no ac just a dehuey in mid to end flower when they get big enough to overtake my exhaust and filter.

What are you running for lights? Could you dim them and cut back on the watts? Maybe lengthen the grow or reduce the size of the crop?

living in the tropical belt really sucks here. even using a 10 inch inline fan to vent out hot air from a 5 by 5 tent didn't work for me so finally had to get a portable air conditioner unit. finally with that i could handle the heat to get it down to the low 20s. or not it'd be 30 plus degrees (i'm referring to celcius btw.lol) all day, every day, 365 days a year. >.<

If you don't want to run a/c, find temp hardy sativa doms?

Shorts BD did VERY well for me with cab temps of 84-87f and that was under a 1kw HPS, i had to pull fresh air from outdoor though, i vented into my house during this time and it felt like a fucking sauna.

I stopped all that and got 100% commited with a window unit, even after moving to QB's.

SPLFreak808 said:

If you don't want to run a/c, find temp hardy sativa doms?

Shorts BD did VERY well for me with cab temps of 84-87f and that was under a 1kw HPS, i had to pull fresh air from outdoor though, i vented into my house during this time and it felt like a fucking sauna.

I stopped all that and got 100% commited with a window unit, even after moving to QB's.

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bro, how about bud density and smell? my previous sativas gave me pretty airy buds when growing them at high temps.

I live in oregon so I get 75 degrees to 85 tops in my room rrdwc and dtw , I always have the humidity to support it so I am never out of vpd . I use these growmau5 3000k pucks with red

RoDDin said:

bro, how about bud density and smell? my previous sativas gave me pretty airy buds when growing them at high temps.

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I do prefer my flowers grown in lower temps & humidity but during that time i was forced to work with what I had.

After my first run with an a/c unit i never stopped using it as i noticed the same results as you, tighter & still smelly.

A friend of mine grows outdoor in 300+ gallon pots, regardless of 85f+ ambient air & equatorial sun, his GG4/OG's make solid rocks and of course, smells like straight gas.

I really feel it comes down to air quality, day/night temps, genetics and how well they cope with the environment.

SPLFreak808 said:

I do prefer my flowers grown in lower temps & humidity but during that time i was forced to work with what I had.

After my first run with an a/c unit i never stopped using it as i noticed the same results as you, tighter & still smelly.

A friend of mine grows outdoor in 300+ gallon pots, regardless of 85f+ ambient air & equatorial sun, his GG4/OG's make solid rocks and of course, smells like straight gas.

I really feel it comes down to air quality, day/night temps, genetics and how well they cope with the environment.

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Oh man. I'm so jealous of u guys living in those legal states. Growing outdoors in 300 gallon pots. That's so awesome man.