how do I raise the humitiy?

[Cronk]

I'm stuck at 40% in veg and have tried a container of water with some large sponges sticking out like wicks, I've tried a hot vapor machine and listing the walls of the tent. nothing. My inline fan sucks it all out and my lights will overheat the tent without the fan.

Any ideas? I just manifolded and really need some moisture in there

[Cindy Nightshade]

Hello
You need a Humidifier

[Cindy Nightshade]

Humidifier

[Cronk]

will a cold vapor one do? I thought the hot vapor one would work but I guess it;s too small

[Cindy Nightshade]

A cold one will work fine but please make sure that your water is at 20c

[Cindy Nightshade]

Saying that you’re lights will heat the water up the the right temperature 🤒

[Cronk]

nice, thanks. of course now I need to find that damn wick

[Sockfilter]

As someone who dabbles in Fungi cultivation, humidity is a must to get the mycellium to fruit into mushrooms, with that being said, I use a tote with 1/4 holes drilled in a grid pattern every 2 inches on all 6 sides and dump in about 4 inches of wet perlite. It keeps the whole fruiting chamber at 90% RH. Yes that is too much for cannabis, however if you took a 6 qt stearlite shoe-box, drilled holes as above, loaded down with wet perlite and stuck it inside your tent where fresh air comes in, I bet that would work. I would certainly give that a try if I had low RH issues. May need to re-wet perlite 1x a week.

Just an idea from outside the box..

[Cronk]

I love that idea, can't hurt to try it as well. Thanks

[JohnC]

Cronk - Be sue to post back how the perlite tub idea works for you. I have the same problem in my tent and can't get the humidity above 25%. Like you, my extraction fan just sucks everything out.

[Sockfilter]

The idea is to get the incoming air at the right RH before or AS it is entering the grow area, that away no matter how much the exhaust runs, your incoming RH is ALWAYS right where you want it.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Morning Cronk, 40percent ain't that bad anyway, you could also put your exaust fan on a timer.

[Sockfilter]

That's what I do in my flower tent.. Exhaust runs constant during 12 on and then runs for 10mins every 1.5hrs during the 12 off.

[D.A.A.S.69]

That's exactly what you got to do Socks, is get your timer right, it ain't that hard. That's sounds like a great idea with the wet perlite. But where we live humidity ain't never been a problem, sometimes a little high, but that's easy fix.

[Cronk]

Thanks, DAAS. my exhaust fan is on the timer with the lights so there is a 6 hour period where it's not all getting sucked out. It;s good to hear that 40% is not bad although probably not great for proper photosynthesis, but we can't have everything I guess. I also imagine the humidity levels will be higher once I'm putting more liquid in

[Dagmar]

I built a small swap cooler to raise humidity last year. Very easy. Here's a YouTube video on 'how to...": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITtlxjvLQis&t=13s

[Potted]

How bout a variable speed exhaust fan ? Could solve your problem

[Potted]

U have to buy one with that feature! Lol

[Cronk]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BLOSG7I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

this is the controller I got. It doesn't slow it down very much and there must be a better one out there, 20 percent, maybe.

[Potted]

Mine came with it, works well ! Lol

[PuravidaC]

I got a 1.5 gal humidifier on line that works like a charm. During veg I have to fill it twice a day but hoping that drops during flower when I can dial it down.

[PuravidaC]

Still want to hear about the perlite!!

[Cronk]

I went to buy perlite for this and my hydro guy wouldn't sell it to me, he didn't like y reason. He was kidding of course but I did decide to go home and try the old humidifier we had stashed away first. it didn't work

my local guy did have a point about having to humidify the whole room before any real change could be seen. that's impossible for me. I may revisit the idea next week. So strange to me that my hydro guy regularly refuses to sell me things, claiming I don't need them.

I still think it's a good idea

[PuravidaC]

That's crazy! I tried several things before I got a humidifier. How big is your grow area? Before I expanded mine I was able to use a really small humidifier that uses a soda bottle for water source was was really cheap on line. I used a 2 qt bottle to increase water holding capacity but my area was small (2X2X5).

[D.A.A.S.69]

Hey Cronk, I know you want to try to get everything perfect, everyone does, but that ain't gonna happen with humidity but maybe 1 time a year, 2 times if your growing autos.
Your need to learn what time of the year the humidity is ok in your state, is it winter or summer, or when.Some places are either to hot to cold and the humidity ain't right, but people still grow plants anyway, even if it ain't perfect.
As long as it's close to 40 ,it's gonna be fine ,before long they are gonna be flowering an that's what you want or a little lower. Main thing is to keep your plants growing with proper watering an feeding, an your plants will be fine, they are a tough plant, they grow pretty good all the time when the humidity ain't in the exact place all the books tell you they need to be. Just watch em grow ,they will show you ,they can do pretty good if it ain't all perfect.

[Sockfilter]

Cronk, I totally agree with DAAS, 40% is not bad at all, could do some lite foliage misting to help with fine tuning RH if that worried.

Gezzze I can not believe the hydro guy would not sell you perlite.. I live in a very rural/agriculture area and able to get 4 CU.FT. bags of course perlite for $14. That is a huge bag that could hold 2 oompah loompas..lol.

He is correct in a sense about having the whole room at the right RH to get the tent in the right range, however he has not thought it all the way through. What I recommended is essentially they same thing, that is why I said to put the little tote box with wet perlite right at the place the fresh air comes into the tent, forcing the fresh air to pick up moisture through the box. USAF HVAC Veteran here and if I can get a room inside my house that is at around 50% RH to fruit mushrooms in large totes and keep a consistent 90%RH within those totes. I do firmly believe that the RH in a smaller tent could be achieved..

However if you have 40% RH consistently I would not loose any sleep over it, just lite mist a bit..

[PuravidaC]

Agree totally with DAAS and Sock. I have sucessfully grown in 40% rh too but like Sock said, we all seem to get caught up in trying to make everything perfect. I guess it's just in our nature!

[Cronk]

thanks, all. yeah I try to get all the details perfect, it's just what I do. If 40 is good I'll leave it alone and mist when I can. Plants seem to be doing well anyway

[D.A.A.S.69]

They are gonna do fine, have a Happy Holiday season, and Happy Growing.
Gone huntin till the last day of January, just as soon as my Afghan dries.

[Cronk]

enjoy yourself, DAAS. thanks for your help