Growing "slow and cold"

[tstick]

That was a phrase I heard a lot when I worked in the orchid growing industry. The old veteran gower/mentors believed that the cooler temperatures would cause flowers to produce brighter colors and fragrances and heartier growth. All I know is…they grew beautiful orchids that way!

Well, I have been applying a bit of this same reasoning to my indoor grow this time. I have been keeping the daytime temps at around 60-65 degrees, Fahrenheit, during the day, and down to mid-50s or lower at night. The plants seem to love it! I'm not doing this to get purple colors, btw. In fact, the leaves are greener than ever!

Since I only do one run per year, now, I can only (practically-speaking) achieve these temps during the fall/winter months.

Oh, and the other thing….I have been using 4 fans in my humble, little tent and the air movement is massive! It's alllmmmmossst to the point of desiccating some of the leaves that are closest to the fans. I stress a LOT of air movement!

So, in short, I am adopting a cool/windy growing environment philosophy!

-anyone else prefer to grow slow and cold?

 

[Dumme]

I like the idea of stressed plants and slow growth. I'm Maine and I do things by the book. 12 in veg, 6 in flower. With 18 plants total, I try to slow down top growth as much as possible, and is makes for larger root systems; and as like all fruiting plants, stressing them, I find, yeilds bigger buds.

2-3 months in veg, the plants are huge.

 

[tstick]

what size containers do you use?

 

[THE KONASSURE]

I`ve slapped an aircon into a tent many times

Not just to try and keep during the day

I find that if you want the most out of a blue/purple strain then you want to get it down to as low as 16c at night some blue/purple strains will get very close to looking almost black when it gets that cold

and I think the lower temps can keep the bud fresh and the bugs at bay too

Also slows down root rot but being under 16c during the day can slow down growth a lot

Low humidity is always good for late in flower too as it stops rot starting, well as long as you`ve not got any bug issues that might get out of hand with the lower humidity

 

[Dumme]

what size containers do you use?

It's aero-aquaponics. I use Active Aqua 25gal aero chamber and drain.
On thing you mentioned, I don't have cold water.



It makes for a large plant. I also slow it down by topping every node for the 2 months.

 

[tstick]

Hey thanks for the response and pics of your setup!

I grow in soil and I actually do water with fairly cold water. And the way I water is that I use a lot of perlite in my mix and then water so that the water rushes THROUGH the pots and then I allow the soil to get quite dry before watering again. The plants don't seem to mind the cold water -obviously because it warms back up to room temp fairly quickly in soil. I've never noticed any kind of shock or stress symptoms from this cold growing technique, anyway. The plants don't appear stressed. In fact, I kinda get the feeling they actually LIKE it a little more on the cool side. I know these plants can tolerate a wide range of temps. I'm not sure if slow and cold will work for ALL strains that I plan on growing over the years to come, but I am going to make it my new general philosophy for now. "Slow and cold"

 

[THE KONASSURE]

Hey thanks for the response and pics of your setup!

I grow in soil and I actually do water with fairly cold water. And the way I water is that I use a lot of perlite in my mix and then water so that the water rushes THROUGH the pots and then I allow the soil to get quite dry before watering again. The plants don't seem to mind the cold water -obviously because it warms back up to room temp fairly quickly in soil. I've never noticed any kind of shock or stress symptoms from this cold growing technique, anyway. The plants don't appear stressed. In fact, I kinda get the feeling they actually LIKE it a little more on the cool side. I know these plants can tolerate a wide range of temps. I'm not sure if slow and cold will work for ALL strains that I plan on growing over the years to come, but I am going to make it my new general philosophy for now. "Slow and cold"

So does that mean you like a cool white over a warm white light for flowering ?

 

[tstick]

So does that mean you like a cool white over a warm white light for flowering ?

Actually…yes! I DO prefer a cooler temp range for flowering -and growing through all phases! I am awaiting my new LED that I opted to get in the 4000K temp range…which IS "cooler" than the more popular practice of using a "warmer" white color -or adding reds.

So…yes!

 

[legallyflying]

You don't want fans beating up your buds. Trust me.

 

[tstick]

I know! I've experienced that! I have my tent dialed in, now, though and there won't be any problem with too much air. Good air movement -almost semi-"violent" air movement can be great in veg., though! I should stress that I always use oscillating fans that are all "out of sync" with their oscillations -so that the air is constantly being stirred around in non-repetitive patterns

 

[Budley Doright]

I agree with the fact that keeping things on the cooler side gives you a safer environment for keeping the bad things at bay. I tend to have more success when I can keep temps low but I also think is does slow things down a bit. Not a problem if time is not a factor but if you can keep everything dialed in that's when things rock! Cool root zone, warm canopy, no bugs, and things really thrive. The hard part is keeping the room dialed in, I'm fighting root zone temps right now, to warm lol.

 

[legallyflying]

plants are essentially like reptiles or other cold blooded organisms. the warmer it is the faster the chemical responses will be. They are all endothermic reactions. But yes, fans blowing things in veg are good as it promotes strong stems. What is happening is that when the plants are getting blown you are tearing the outer layers of the stem, which then get repaired and thicker. I a little silica also helps strong stems and will help resist insect attacks. But as for keeping everything really cold... like below 70, is not really a great idea unless your trying to win some kind of slowest growing plant contest.
Cheers

 

[Lord Kanti]

My leaves looked all twisted and weird being out in the cold windy weather. I just hung a 4x2' T5H0 and dropped the fan to the lowest setting on the 600W MH in order to try and warm things up. I've been looking forward to winter climate to get those dense buds, but it does me no good if my plants get stunted and deformed. :/

 

[Euripedies_Urban farmer]

That was a phrase I heard a lot when I worked in the orchid growing industry. The old veteran gower/mentors believed that the cooler temperatures would cause flowers to produce brighter colors and fragrances and heartier growth. All I know is…they grew beautiful orchids that way!

Well, I have been applying a bit of this same reasoning to my indoor grow this time. I have been keeping the daytime temps at around 60-65 degrees, Fahrenheit, during the day, and down to mid-50s or lower at night. The plants seem to love it! I'm not doing this to get purple colors, btw. In fact, the leaves are greener than ever!

Since I only do one run per year, now, I can only (practically-speaking) achieve these temps during the fall/winter months.

Oh, and the other thing….I have been using 4 fans in my humble, little tent and the air movement is massive! It's alllmmmmossst to the point of desiccating some of the leaves that are closest to the fans. I stress a LOT of air movement!

So, in short, I am adopting a cool/windy growing environment philosophy!

-anyone else prefer to grow slow and cold?

During the daytime cycle my grow room stays at about 72`F. At night it gets down to the 50's they seem to like it. Lots of air movement with two fans. Try to avoid blowing directly onto leaves.

 

[Budley Doright]

I find a fan directly on the plants is not great but just circulating the air in the room is fine. Strong currents I would think are a bad thing.

 

[Euripedies_Urban farmer]

I find a fan directly on the plants is not great but just circulating the air in the room is fine. Strong currents I would think are a bad thing.

Yes That is what I try to achieve. This is my first grow with my new grow room. Has a successful outdoor summer grow this past year. Has to move with winter here

 

[budman111]

plants are essentially like reptiles or other cold blooded organisms.

Thanks for the new sig.

 

[Mowgli Ma-Fên]

in south america, coca farmers like to grow their coca at lower temps than the plants prefer-because otherwise the leaves taste too bitter.thats what i heard.

 

[DrGhard]

for plants like cannabis nothing increases the production of secondary metabolites like a damage signal . maybe spraying Jasmonic acid on it could work as well, but i never personally tested it

 

[Budley Doright]

I am running my room at between 67F and 74F with a root zone temp at 50F when I fill Res and 63F a day later, the plants seem very happy and content lol. My girls always seem happier in the winter when room temps drop into the low 70's but this is also the first run I have been able to limit Res temps to under 70 and typically a steady 65. I have actually never seen the plants drink as much and have been running my EC 3-4 points higher at 1.6ish. I have heard that matching humidity and temps (humadex in Canada) that you can really dial it in but that just seems like a whole lotta work lol.