Humidity Levels Indoors!

[Captain Kronic]

Was wondering what some of you use "indoors" to keep the humidity at an acceptable level?
The room I am dealing w/is about 20x12'... at present, I am running 7 1000W lamps, intake/exhaust, 2 oscillating fans blah blah blah.
The problem is... humidity levels are hovering around 20 to 25% w/lights on, a lil higher when lights are off... not that great for vegging!

So, the question is, what are some of you using (product wise or otherwise) to get and keep RH and an acceptable level in a sizable grow?

PS... I am already using big cups of water, wet towels, and other sources of H2o evaporation to no avail :/

 

[Be Irie]

We have the same problem in Colorado..... I use humidifiers and tke what I can get.... Two of them only get me to the 30's sometimes 40's. I also have to add a humidifier to my drying closet!!!

 

[SteveHman]

I wonder if you put a few pond foggers in a tub of water? I tried growing using foggers and it raised my RH. Maybe a few around the room in 5 gallon buckets raised a few feet above the plants. Just a thought.

 

[Captain Kronic]

We have the same problem in Colorado..... I use humidifiers and tke what I can get.... Two of them only get me to the 30's sometimes 40's. I also have to add a humidifier to my drying closet!!!

Exactly... I am thinking I may need to spend a couple hun and get something decent if I can... I saw some on eBay that I think would fill the bill.
Also, I forgot to add that the room has 10' ceiling, so as you can see... it's a pretty big room to try to control the RH levels in w/o some real help!
Have you any humidifiers/companies you would give thumbs up to for this piece of equipment? I am also wondering about propane/natural gas for this job!

I wonder if you put a few pond foggers in a tub of water? I tried growing using foggers and it raised my RH. Maybe a few around the room in 5 gallon buckets raised a few feet above the plants. Just a thought.

Absolutely, I have entertained something like that as a possibility... thanks for the feedback both of you! +rep

 

[SteveHman]

The folks at SunflowerSupplies have the foggers for $25 for a single head and $88 for a 3-head. I don't think they're a sponsor so I didn't put the url here. For $100 you could put four single head units in buckets around the room in front of your fans to disperse the fog (it comes out pretty thick).

At the most you're out $100 and then have some cool-ass fog for the kids at Halloween. I use mine in my cloner and it does wonders on getting the roots going.

 

[jammie]

hey all- i too have found it impossible to raise the humidity in my grow room especially in the winter, when the gas heat dries out the air. because of air circulation throughout your house, ya have to raise the humidity level of the whole house, not just the grow area. i usually start about 3 weeks before my grow by setting up humidifiers around the house and using spray bottles to mist the air and the carpet.

 

[Captain Kronic]

The folks at SunflowerSupplies have the foggers for $25 for a single head and $88 for a 3-head. I don't think they're a sponsor so I didn't put the url here. For $100 you could put four single head units in buckets around the room in front of your fans to disperse the fog (it comes out pretty thick).

At the most you're out $100 and then have some cool-ass fog for the kids at Halloween. I use mine in my cloner and it does wonders on getting the roots going.

Now that I hear it like that... I may just have to give the foggers a shot... I can[t hardly loose @ $100 bucks!

hey all- i too have found it impossible to raise the humidity in my grow room especially in the winter, when the gas heat dries out the air. because of air circulation throughout your house, ya have to raise the humidity level of the whole house, not just the grow area. i usually start about 3 weeks before my grow by setting up humidifiers around the house and using spray bottles to mist the air and the carpet.

Yikes... aren't you worried about mold and mildew in that carpet? The room that I am trying to address is pretty well sealed off from the rest of the world (most of teh time)
Although, I do have a mommy room right next to it that isn't operational yet!

Thanks again for the feed peeps... 420 out!

 

[jammie]

hey cap'n- i don't soak the carpet just mist. so far my rh has gone from30% to 44% so i don't think there's any danger of mold. i usually shoot for an rh level near 60%. those foggers look nice for an aeroponic grow but they don't put out much water. a good vaporizer for $30 at walmart will put out a gallon a day

 

[Captain Kronic]

Yeah, I'm really needing to get on it, my RH is 19 right now @ 73f... way too dry! My pard says not to worry about it, he has been doing it for 9 years and has never even checked his room RH... his weed is always killer! Of course, that is in his room, not mine!

Freakin me out a bit... I need to figure this out long term!

 

[jammie]

hey- how the hell, do ya put attachment up. does it require a certain number of posts. i tend to be tech 'tard at times

 

[Captain Kronic]

hey- how the hell, do ya put attachment up. does it require a certain number of posts. i tend to be tech 'tard at times

Do you mean attachment like a photo?... go here and learn my friend!
Photo Gallery Guide: How to Resize, Upload & Post Photos

PS... I decided on a model that I think will fill the bill for this one room. I won't be here for a week or so but, I'll just have to do the best I can till it gets here!

 

[Be Irie]

Now that is a humidifier!!!!!!!!! If that can't raise it up then not much will.....

 

[Captain Kronic]

That's what I think too! I won't need it in this particular room for long, it's supposed to be the finishing room but, until I finish the mommy/baby room, it's gonna have to do!
I went w/that particular model after going to the local Ace Hardware and getting one that I knew wouldn't totally do it but might help! Turns out that I was right... that unit was too small to do much in a room the size of mine. But... at least I was able to see how much bigger I needed to go to get some tangible help in there w/the levels!
I also think that $150 is a good price for a unit w/that kind of output... 13.5 Gs a day... woohoo!

PS... I will post the results w/the new unit when it gets here and I've had a couple of days to work w/it and try it out!

Now that is a humidifier!!!!!!!!! If that can't raise it up then not much will.....

 

[Captain Kronic]

I have found some decent results by changing the amount and timing of the intake/exhaust fans.
I have been experimenting w/the amount of fresh air in and out of the room, by doing so, I have been able to raise the RH in the room from 19 or so to 40+ as of last night! I also turned 2 of 7 1000W lights off... my room is over built so, I think I'll be ok w/just 5 lights running for now... the important thing is... I have an almost perfect mixture of heat and humidity right now... 73F over 43RH... I'll take that any day!
I expect the humidifier I purchased to be here this week, I will post the results of my findings w/and w/o the humidifier in the coming weeks.
This is turning out to be quite the learning experience... especially since no one I know of can tell me much about this particular problem of mine... stay tuned!

 

[Captain Kronic]

Ok... I have had some good results and, I think the answers that I needed for this thread subject!
First off... The humidifier I bought, "DOES NOT MEET MY NEEDS!" It helps but, not nearly as much as I had hoped for... but, it's only $150usd so, fairly cheap in the grand scheme of things!
My RH is now avg somewhere in the neighborhood of about 35 to 40 or so %... that's about double what I was getting originally... that avg was about 21%, not good at all!

So, I went from an active to a passive air inlet, that means that even though I still have dual 750CFM intake fans... they are only acting as inlet vents at this time... no need to pump air in.
The 6" exhaust fan is doing all the work now, running 24/7... and seems to be doing an excellent job of supplying enough O2 to keep the babies happy!
I would seem that a big part of the lack of humidity is that the lights were nuking the fresh air burning most of the H20 out of it; leaving me w/super dry air most instantly.
So, by changing the pressure in the room, that is to say, using passive inlet instead of forced, I was able to slow down the air movement enough to keep the air damp w/o raising the temps significantly! The temps went from an upper avg of 78f or so to about 85 tops... very acceptable in my room!

Also, I was able to make a huge increase in RH by doubling the frequency of feeding, I noticed that the grodan blocks were getting bone dry on top as "I believe" was a result of mass evaporation. I took care of that, in part by MacGyvering up some "feed halos", they not only look good, they get nutes to the entire top of the block, very even distribution... no clogs, working awesome so far!
Before designing the "halos" I had to hand feed a few times to get the blocks nice and consistently wet... I saw that this evaporation alone accounted for a big rise in ambient humidity.... AHAAAAA! I doubled the frequency of feeding from 4mins every 4 hours to 6mins every 2 hours... this has worked out very well so far... no probs at all w/uptake or lockout... so far... this is really just a temporary solution!
Comments or thoughts?

 

[PrairiePoet]

Ok... I have had some good results and, I think the answers that I needed for this thread subject!
First off... The humidifier I bought, "DOES NOT MEET MY NEEDS!" It helps but, not nearly as much as I had hoped for... but, it's only $150usd so, fairly cheap in the grand scheme of things!
My RH is now avg somewhere in the neighborhood of about 35 to 40 or so %... that's about double what I was getting originally... that avg was about 21%, not good at all!

So, I went from an active to a passive air inlet, that means that even though I still have dual 750CFM intake fans... they are only acting as inlet vents at this time... no need to pump air in.
The 6" exhaust fan is doing all the work now, running 24/7... and seems to be doing an excellent job of supplying enough O2 to keep the babies happy!
I would seem that a big part of the lack of humidity is that the lights were nuking the fresh air burning most of the H20 out of it; leaving me w/super dry air most instantly.
So, by changing the pressure in the room, that is to say, using passive inlet instead of forced, I was able to slow down the air movement enough to keep the air damp w/o raising the temps significantly! The temps went from an upper avg of 78f or so to about 85 tops... very acceptable in my room!

Also, I was able to make a huge increase in RH by doubling the frequency of feeding, I noticed that the grodan blocks were getting bone dry on top as "I believe" was a result of mass evaporation. I took care of that, in part by MacGyvering up some "feed halos", they not only look good, they get nutes to the entire top of the block, very even distribution... no clogs, working awesome so far!
Before designing the "halos" I had to hand feed a few times to get the blocks nice and consistently wet... I saw that this evaporation alone accounted for a big rise in ambient humidity.... AHAAAAA! I doubled the frequency of feeding from 4mins every 4 hours to 6mins every 2 hours... this has worked out very well so far... no probs at all w/uptake or lockout... so far... this is really just a temporary solution!
Comments or thoughts?

Also put something over the blocks so they don't get direct light on them. If they do they can get algae on them.

Prairie

 

[Captain Kronic]

Working on that Prarie... thanks for the input!
I would have to say at this point I am at a loss for what to try next! I don't get it at all... most all other indoor peeps have a problem w/too much RH, me on the other hand, I struggle just to keep it above 30%.

I have read of others having this prob but, I haven't seen where anything more than a temporary solution was come up with... there has to be a reason, solution, fix... whatever you want to call it... there has to be a correct solution to the problem at hand!

Hard to believe also that in the whole of this forum, there isn't someone who has had, (had being the operative word) and overcome this lack of RH!

I continue my search... thanks for reading my frustration... back to work (in the Sahara)

 

[PrairiePoet]

Hey Capt,

Looking over this thread again, I had brain fart.

You have 5 1000 watts in the room? And low humidity... My thought is maybe you are pulling too much air out of the room. I didn't remember seeing what your temps are (would assume your also struggling with heat). So that pops the question of, are your light fixtures air cooled tubes?

You need to pull the heat out, but not the water in the air. (if this is the problem). So you pull less air out, keeping RH up (the plants should be putting out a fair amount). So cool tubes or something, exhausted out of the room, should help.

Like I said, just a thought that popped up. You may already have this setup.

Prairie

 

[Captain Kronic]

Great minds think alike Prarie!
Long story short and sort of an update to the current status of the room.
I canned the babies I was working with... they suffered too much. While I had the down time, I did a rebuild project, took everything out of the box and resembled it w/my newer knowledge/ideas.

Along w/a total cleaning of everything in the room (just for shitty giggles).
I put the mag ballasts for the 7 1000W HPS up in the attic so that should help w/the heat build up.

I am now running an 8" inline 24/7 for exhaust and a 6" that is acting only as a passive inlet... this is making for a nice lil bit of reverse pressure. This seems to give me my best/most stable numbers. I have thought about running the intake on a schedule but, the cold air forced in seems to only drop RH and not raise it... once I get my atmospheric controller up, I will use it more for heat control!
Now, I am currently running only 4 of the 7 lights while I nurse the new babies back from a bare root, soil to rockwool!

I have to believe that there is a formula for this room that will work, I know of several other indoors in my area and not one has a lack of RH... not one!

PS Prarie, to answer you more directly, no... but I am planning of getting cooled tubes/hoods.
I will know more in the next couple of days when I fire off the other 3 lights... I am keeping my fingers crossed that the removal the those ballasts will do the trick... gotta keep keepin on for sure

Hey Capt,

Looking over this thread again, I had brain fart.

You have 5 1000 watts in the room? And low humidity... My thought is maybe you are pulling too much air out of the room. I didn't remember seeing what your temps are (would assume your also struggling with heat). So that pops the question of, are your light fixtures air cooled tubes?

You need to pull the heat out, but not the water in the air. (if this is the problem). So you pull less air out, keeping RH up (the plants should be putting out a fair amount). So cool tubes or something, exhausted out of the room, should help.

Like I said, just a thought that popped up. You may already have this setup.

Prairie

 

[Captain Kronic]

Update, I was up very late last night making some toppers for the rock blocks, we will see what they do the RH, ambiance as a whole.
I know that at the least they will keep the root zone cooler, reflect light and also keep the green nasty off the top of the blocks!