Wood in the tent?

[JDU]

I've noticed that nothing made for a grow tent is ever made of wood. Is there a reason for this or would it be ok if I used clothespins for a couple dif applications?

[FunkyButtLovin]

Mold issues maybe?

[Toker1]

Wood and water don’t do well together. Wood is porous and can house bacteria like an incubator. Think of your garden like a food processing facility.

[JDU]

Ahh yeah. Dammit. To the dollar store for plastic clips lol. Maybe the wife can use the clothespins for her crafts lol

[FunkyButtLovin]

What were you going to use them for?

[JDU]

I was gonna use them to pin the yarn holding my manifolds to the pots & to extend & attach some light strips to my big light to supplement it for flowering.

[FunkyButtLovin]

I see, do you happen to have any binder clips? I stole a bunch from my wife's desk, they work fantastic.

[JDU]

I do- & they were my 1st choice but the ones I have are too small. I want to have the strips about 3inches from the Mars so that they both overlap & extend the Mars footprint.

[dropinbiking]

I've had an 80 year old wooden whiskey crate in my grow closet since day 1, no issues.

[dropinbiking]

Houses are framed with wood, mine is anyways. Yes it's drywalled and painted with mold resistant paint. I'm just saying, there's being realistic, than there's being beyond picky over the silliest things that won't happen.

[Toker1]

So that wood is not exposed. Not the same thing at all. We are talking bare wood here. Comparing mold resistant paint surfaces to bare wood surfaces is like comparing apples to oranges.

[dropinbiking]

Yes the shelf above it is all bare wood. It is a 5 foot tall closet with the coat hanging rack, than a shelf for the remaining three feet. All crappy pine and some maple.

[dropinbiking]

wooden close pins are fine for pinning stuff up. It's not like it's able to soak in water for a week, than slowly dry for a week, than soak for a week, etc. Takes serious moisture and water to make wood mold or rot.

[JDU]

Yeah.... & my tents ARE like a desert although humidity will be going up when I finish the swamp cooler that Tersky was kind enough to share a link to awhile back. But certainly not enough to warp wood... hmmm....

Idk.... safe is ways better'n sorry unless alcohol or engines are concerned so I think I'll go plastic or metal.

[Toker1]

Haha a drop per day can cause rot.

[Rwise]

I have wood in my growroom, it does not get wet (unless I spill something), never seen any issue.

[dropinbiking]

A grow room is literally the exact opposite conditions for mold to grow. You are actively setting up an environment to grow plants, with fresh air cycling, and a relatively stable climate. Mold and rot happens when left alone, in damp wet stale conditions, under dark corners and behind cold things. Takes a certain kind of special to develop a mold problem in a grow tent, unless bringing in obviously visually healthy mold, spreading it around, spilling water on the floor, killing the fans, and leave it for a few days or weeks.

[JDU]

Well if there's one good thing you can say about my grow room is that it's more than sufficiently ventilated lol.
& yes- kiln dried pine like in a clothespin attracts way more moisture than a hard wood or some old seasoned piece.

[Toker1]

It’s cause by spores blossoming and growing. These spores are everywhere. All it takes is a crowded grow room and all the ventilation in the world won’t stop it.
Grow rooms are not designed to be spore free. I’m not sure where that information came from, but it’s not true. Unless you are HEPA filtering your intake air and sealing the room off. Of corse you will need to add a separate clean room attached to it to wash yourself down and get into your dedicated clean garden clothes (maybe a radiation suit jk lol) prior to entering the grow room. Even then, it can still happen. Spore contaminants are not as easily controlled as it may seem.

[dropinbiking]

Maybe I'm just wreckless, maybe you're just paranoid, but I'll keep an eye out for any mold in my grow area. With air being cycles twice a minute, and an average humidity of 38%, I don't see any mold developing anytime soon.

[DW2]

Howdy JDU, I use wood (pine boards) for shelving (air circulation fans, air pumps, etc.) for years without any problems. My light support is a 2X4 attached to the walls (used to be a closet) with shelving brackets and wood screws. I do not think that the wood could be a problem, unless it is always wet.

[SoOrbudgal]

I have 2x4 & 4x4 blocks in my tent for risers and those plastic black one also. I don't like the yo yo system for some reason? I just an " senior weight lifter " I keep picking them up moving them around.

[JDU]

Cool. Thanks everyone!

[Toker1]

There is a reason food manufacturing plants do not allow wood near food contact surfaces. Just keep that in mind when updating your grow room. Wood is all good until it’s not anymore. There are more superior materials to use in place available in 2020. Red wood would be the only wood type I would allow near my garden. To each is their own.

[JDU]

Take a few clones. I need to git down to Cali & visit a life long friend, maybe I'll stop in & bring ya some of whatever I've got goin. Thai Skunk, Mango & Big Bud at the moment. Neviles Haze, Black Cherry Punch & Dutch Dope in the near future.

[Toker1]

Let me know when you are ready. I have 13 clones of her ready for you today. Some have grown to 18” tall already.

[JDU]

Sweet!! I will def PM ya when I know when!!

[Toker1]

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kornelia_Smalla/publication/228343502_Survival_of_bacteria_on_wood_and_plastic_particles_Dependence_on_wood_species_and_environmental_conditions/links/09e415076b2879fb36000000/Survival-of-bacteria-on-wood-and-plastic-particles-Dependence-on-wood-species-and-environmental-conditions.pdf?origin=publication_detail

[BaccaRacca]

Just to be clear, the primary ingredient in what appears to be the most popular planting mix used on this forum, Fox Farm, is saw dust. The saw dust is treated with nitrogen to feed bacteria that turns the saw dust into compost. I do believe that the increase in WPM that Nebulae Haze has written about is due to use of this mix, though. We should also remember farm soil, like that in Salinas, CA generated enough e. coli to poison over 40 people. A food service worker who fails to wash their hands poses a greater danger from the bacteria listed in the paper, than introducing wood into a growing environment. Many people grow in rooms built with drywall construction. Drywall comes with mold baked in -- just waiting for the right conditions to grow. It will mold before wood. The butcher block I cut up this evening's salad upon? Wood. It hasn't killed me. I have not seen any mold on my wood growing cabinets. My first prototype cabinet has been in service for almost a year and it shows no mold. Where I will see mold on wood in my basement reflects what I see from other posters -- where high humidity and poor air circulation are present.

[Toker1]

It’s garnet dust you are thinking about. Not saw dust.

https://www.planetnatural.com/product/ocean-forest-potting-soil/

Plus, you are not reusing the soil, right? So, not exactly what we all have been discussing here.
WPM needs to have spores in your grow room to expose your plants. No matter which type of medium you are using.
Outdoor soil is not really comparable to indoor soil because in the outdoors for every pest the plant may encounter, there is another out there able and willing to consume it. Definitely not the case with indoor soil.
Let’s be realistic, most soil comes packed with healthy bacteria, so any unhealthy bacteria would need to consume the healthy type first before it becomes an issue.
My grow room drywall is mold resistant, so no... that’s not the case when you plan properly. Even if yours is not, you can still coat with mold resistant coating.
Treated wood, pressurized wood, stained wood, and coated wood is ok. But we are not talking about hanging butcher blocks up in the grow room, unless I missed something there.
I never said all wood has bacteria or mold...I just said anything that has a chance to collect mold or bacteria has no place in a grow room.
It’s no wonder why mold testing on final product has become so prevalent in the commercial industry reading some of these responses.

[SoOrbudgal]

That's awesome fellas.

[Toker1]

Call me over cautious if you like, but I used to grow for a medical collective. One of my patients had a compromised immune system. Any mold spores in the room or on the final product could potentially cause death for this particular individual. So I take that type of issue very seriously. If you are just growing for yourself and you are not getting sick due to spore exposure, then it’s probably of no concern to you. I get that. I don't think it’s ok for medicinal or commercial purposes. There needs to be better quality controls established in the garden for consumer safety purposes. Anything you do with wood in the grow room could be done with a superior food grade quality material. Sure it costs a bit more, but getting someone sick or worse could potentially cause that business to be in a financial ruin. Not to mention that you would have to live with these types decisions made for the remainder of your life. Once again, no thanks! The cost to risk/benefits are just not supporting allowing wood in my garden.