Setting up small grow in bathroom.Temp too high and Humidity too low! Need advice asap! Please help!

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SonOfSpace710

Member
I am running a GE 400w mh bulb. Not sure on the exact type. Its in some type of old ballast. Ill have pictures soon. My room is 5x5x8 with a shower that is 3x3x7. I have my light hanging from a homemade frame in the shower (the fixture is very heavy). The room is getting up to 95 at times and its hard to maintain humidity above 30 when the light is on. I have a fan blowing directly at the light but it only makes the fixture bearable to touch. I am running CO2 to compensate for the high temps and low humidity. I have a pot of water on a hotplate to add humidity but that is adding heat and the humidity only gets up to around 70 when the light and fan are off but the hotplate is still going. Once the light comes on it quickly drops back down to 30. I mist every few hours to try to keep the humidity up but it only lasts a very short time. The room has a ceiling exhaust fan i would run but im afraid it will pull the little humidity and all of my co2 out. I constructed a homemade swamp cooler out of a six gallon bucket to help cool the room and add humidity but im waiting for the correct pad as the one i bought was not the correct material and doesnt stay damp enough to work properly. My goal is to have one plant in the shower growing through a custom fit scrog net i built to fit the shower. Id potentially like to add a cloning tent/box in the room so as soon as the plant in the shower is harvested a clone will go right in. I am new to indoor growing and any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.
 
Red1966

Red1966

Well-Known Member
You could air condition it if you want to keep the co2. Do you live in a desert or something? I never had a problem with humidity being too low, it was always too high. RH is a function of both water and heat. If the temp goes up but the amount of water stays the same, the RH goes down. You may not actually have the problem you think you have. Those hygrometers they sell in lowes, home depot, and wal-mart are wildly inaccurate. Look up the term "salt test" to see how to check your meter. I recommend Caliber III hygrometers.
 
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SonOfSpace710

Member
No deffinately not in the desert. Im sure my hygrometer isnt the best it was one i had laying around the house. it looks like a basic terrarium hygrometer. Im trying to do this on a budget. Just checked it actually says PETCO on it. I have an indoor and outdoor digital thermometer/hygrometer Acu-rite brand i believe, thats all i know about it, im going to put in the room to see if im getting the same reading. Its been raining for 2 days and the acu-rite meter said outside was 62F and 92% humidity. Inside 71 and 52% humidity(the rest of my house not the grow room). I had read that ac will lower humidity witch i believe is my biggest problem right now. I currently have a 4 inch fan blowing directly at the bulb and a 12 inch fan blowing at the entire light fixture and on the plants a little. the hotplate with pot of water and the ceiling exhaust fan running and im getting 92f and 35% humidity on the petco meter. I just put the acu-rite meter in there and ill post back with the reading from that in a little while. I have read that swamp coolers can cool a room up to 20 degrees and add lots of humidity so my problems may be solved when i get the correct pad for mine in a few days. But im wondering if i should look into a better ballast mine is at least 12 years old and heavy as hell. and i know they run hot but i feel like mine is extremely hot but i have nothing to compare it to. I Know im going to have to look into another light for flowering when the time comes. Any recomendations on lights. I will try to get some pics up soon so you can see what kind of ballast im using.
 
2004play

2004play

Well-Known Member
Have you tried running the light without the fans blowing on the hot bulb or ballast? Seems like that would just spread the heat around more like a heater
 
S

SonOfSpace710

Member
2004play said:
Have you tried running the light without the fans blowing on the hot bulb or ballast? Seems like that would just spread the heat around more like a heater
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I hadnt really thought of that on the occasion that i turn the 12 inch off when i have to move it closer to my plants (they are still very small 3 inches at the most) to do something in the room the temp rises quickly. I could however try aiming them elsewhere so its not blowing the heat around, i thought it would be good to keep the fixture cool its old. id considered running a vent duct from the celing exhaust fan to right by the ballast to pull the heat right out and eventually the smell. but im afraid that will take all my c02 and humidity out.
 
2004play

2004play

Well-Known Member
Might be worth a try, I know if I aim my fan up more towards the bulbs instead of on the girls my room quickly rises from 78 to 80-82 and my humidity drops quickly to the mid 30's from 49%
 
S

SonOfSpace710

Member
2004play said:
Might be worth a try, I know if I aim my fan up more towards the bulbs instead of on the girls my room quickly rises from 78 to 80-82 and my humidity drops quickly to the mid 30's from 49%
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Wow im deffinately going to aim my fans away from the light itself and try that. I put a different hygrometer in the room a few feet from the light and plants and im getting a 10% difference from the petco hygrometer i have right next to the plants. When the light is on the onle closest to it drops to 35 or 40 the one a few feet away reads 50 or 55. when its off the one closest goes up to as much as 60 and the one a few feet away was reading like 44 i believe. Deffinately gunna try taking the fans off the bulb and ballast.
 
S

SonOfSpace710

Member
Bugeye said:
Why would you use a hot plate to create humidity if you have a heat problem?
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Well before the hotplate i was getting temps around 85 and i read thats ok with co2 but my humidity was still too low. I didnt think the hotplate on a low setting would add as much heat as it has. Ive also been messing around with different fan positionings and attempting to use a homemade swamp cooler(waiting on the correct pad), leaving the door cracked, leaving the door open, closing the door and stuffing the bottom trying to see what works the best but i cant seem to get it where i want it. Im basicly a complete noob to indoor growing ive had a few very succseful outdoor grows and i had an indoor setup to start and sex some plants but that was for a short time. The hotplate has helped some with the humidity but probably added to much heat.
 
Bugeye

Bugeye

Well-Known Member
I think you can go with a very inexpensive and small cool mist humidifier if the swamp cooler doesn't work out.
 
S

SonOfSpace710

Member
image.jpg
This is my setup. If anyone knows anything about this ballast please let me know. Any recommendations on lighting for veg or flower would be greatly appreciated
 
S

SonOfSpace710

Member
Bugeye said:
I think you can go with a very inexpensive and small cool mist humidifier if the swamp cooler doesn't work out.
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Ya i was looking into one of those when i found homemade swamp coolers and i like to build things so i went that route but they didnt have the type of pad i needed at home depot or lowes so i got something that looked similar because i was eager to build it but it was the wrong material. Ordered the correct pad and it should be here in the next day or 2. Im really hoping the swamp cooler will help if not ill probably look into a cool mist humidifier. Either way i know im going to have to get different lighting for flower and i dont believe ill be able to use the light i have now for a clone box/tent because its so big,heavy and hot.
 
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SonOfSpace710

Member
I got the correct pad for my swamp cooler yesterday and set it up. I also aimed the fans off the ballast and light and removed the hot plate. My humidity is up to 60 or so when the lights on and around 70 when off. My temps are staying around 87 or 88 i would still like them to be a little lower. Im looking into getting some new lighting. Does anyone have experience with apollo brand. Do you think a 400w switchable mh/hps would be good for 1 or 2 plants.
 
2004play

2004play

Well-Known Member
Good to here your humidity is better and temps a bit lower

Not familiar with the Apollo brand but a 400w would work good in your space, I veg under 2 400w in a 4x4 area and have flowered under one and two 400w HPS before and I can get .4grams to .7grams per watt depending on strain I try to run no more than 6 med size under each or you can do one or two bigger ones that's entirely up to you
And I've read guys getting more than that with the 400's
I have lots of 1000w balasts but always seem to run the 400's
There's a great thread here about 400w grows check it out
 
a senile fungus

a senile fungus

Well-Known Member
If you're ballast is really generating that much heat you may want to consider a new one.

And turn on the bathroom exhaust fan!
 
S

SonOfSpace710

Member
Thanks everyone for all the tips. I appreciate it more than you know. With my swamp cooler now working properly im getting 86 and 60% humidity. hadnt been using the ceiling exhaust fan for fear of losing my humidity and co2 and my only option for intake is to put a vent in the door or cut a hole in the wall and im not to sure i want to do all that. The vent in the door is totally doable tho. My ballast is outdated very heavy and very hott so today i ordered the apollo 600w ballast with reflector that runs mh and hps on ebay for like 150. Even with the extra wattage im expecting this to run cooler than my current light. I will probably run a duct from the ceiling fan to the reflector hood and add a vent in the door once i get that setup. My goal is to have 1 plant in a 3x3x7 shower under the 600w growing through a scrog net. and eventually set up some type of cloning box/tent in the room as well. Its a 5x5 bathroom with a 3x3 shower. Any tips on a good cloning box light and or setup or suggestions on how to improve the design i just described would be amazing. Sorry this is so long i was trying to respond to everyone. thanx again everyone. Ill post more pics once i get the new light set up.
 
ProHuman

ProHuman

Well-Known Member
A bathroom exhaust fan does not have too much power.
If there was a way to attach a centrifugal fan to the exhaust duct in the ceiling, that would make a huge difference.
 
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