Humidity control and bacteria

[Doctor Trevor]

I've placed a water-filled pan in my tent, and placed a towel in it as a wick (thanks Bill284 for the tip).

I'm concerned that bacteria and mold could grow on the wick and in the tent. Could I safely prevent this by dropping the pH of the water, making it too acidic for things to grow in? Or would this pH affect the plants in the tent?

 

[Phytoplankton]

I think as long as you keep adding fresh tap water (chlorinated) to the pan, it should keep the mold/bacteria in the pan/towel at bay. You're not going to get around mold, it's floating in the air all the time. In veg it's not normally a problem unless the plant had been weakend by something else. Once you get to flower stage you're going to want to drop the R/H down into the 30-50% range anyway, which makes it less attractive for mold/fungal growth (bud rot). I've used water pans with small pebbles, or clay balls loaded into them with a fan blowing over the top to add humidity, never had any issues, that's basically what you're doing, only using a towel instead of pebbles, to increase surface area for evaporation. I've grown quite successfully in veg at 30-40% humidity, while not optimal, marijuana is a highly resilient plant and can tolerate pretty wide range of environmental conditions. i.e., it' a weed! Hopefully, we'll get some other input.

 

[LKABudMan]

Dropping the pH should prevent growth and it will not change what evaporates.

 

[Rexer]

Swap the towel out daily

 

[KingJohnC]

A suitably sized cool mist humidifier is the safer choice to avoid undesirable contamination.