how do you lower humidity cheap and cheerful

[davidelmo]

hello there and merry Xmas to all. am trying to find out how to lower humidity and to keep it steady. But want to do it cheap and cheerful. can it be done???? any experts out there with any advice. theres one 600 hps lamp the temp when lite on is 16*c and its gettin colder its about 12 wen lites off. theyre grown in cocco soil there watered no more than twice a week. there all different and dont no wot they are. the humdity can vary from 57% to 97% how can i reduce it and keep it stable be nice to here from you guys n girls

 

[TattooedJT]

what do you consider cheap? you can pick up a cheap dehumidifier for under $200, and it is well worth the purchase! Definitely don't want to humidity to go over 50-55% or you can get mold to grow and then all your efforts are wasted

 

[Stealthboat]

12-16C? That's way too cold. Anything under 18C will stress the plants, you want to keep temps between 19-27C and humidity between 40-60%. Humidity over 65% can invite bugs or mold. If you want our full support you can fill this out:
How many plants? What strains?
How old are they?
Indoor or outdoor?
How big is your area if its indoors and is it well ventilated?
What medium/soil are you using?
Whats the size of the containers?
What's your lighting set up?
What's the temperature and humidity like at any given time?
What's your ph like, both medium and nutes?
Any pests around?
What is your watering schedule like?

 

[Fuzzy Duck]

I run my lights during real life night time aka 6pm to 6 am 12/12 etc that is when the best part of temp drops & the heat from hps helps keeps things warmer...

16c & below can shock the plants & slow growth, temps even lower over a prolonged period could kill.

You could invest in an oil filled radiator with thermostat built in with base line temp set at 18c to 20c, 24/7...


RH spikes during the night/lights off, ya really want to keep extraction/exhaust fan running 24/7.

Dehumidifier are a good option !

I looked around at these for a little while before investing & eventually picked up a model which ran at 230w per hour with 4 settings RH 60, 50, 40 and full whack to which i do like for drying the washing when indoors... lol

It even came with a washable filter which helps destroy air born bacteria 95% efficiency which i thought was good idea as i have suffered with some bud rot on past grows (more likely strain related, huge dense cola's & poor tolerance to mold of said strains)


Botrytis is air born by the way (bud rot) exist in all air 24/7.


I just run mine during lights off which is real life day time as temps are normally higher during this period & turn off when lights come on set at RH 40%

The dehumidifier model pumps out 200 cubic meters of RH/cleaned air per hour... it is not even located in grow tent or same room but in the passage way out side of the spare bedroom where i choose to grow currently & have maintained a constant RH of 40% to 45% during lights off/on whilst in flowering.


The side effect of dehumidifiers is that they produce heat as waste by product which could be helpful in keeping temps suitable which could increase temp by a couple of c...



Currently my own base line temps, lights off is 20/21c which appears to be unfavorable temp for bud rot to take hold coupled with lower RH below 50% with some of this information gained, was not from this site but from other sources which i am testing currently to date !


Based on a passive intake of air flow and active extraction/exhaust on a indoor grow.






I do apologize for rambling on about some mild technical stuff

 

[HippieGuy]

well man u can just take a big bowl of water and put it in there and itll evaporate or a few bowls for that matter it works u can just try it man

 

[PlanetJ]

well man u can just take a big bowl of water and put it in there and itll evaporate or a few bowls for that matter it works u can just try it man

That wont lower humidity, but raise it.


@OP, how do you get 16C while running a HPS light Do you live in the Arctic's ??