droplets of water on my plants they were asleep

[DroidBoy]

hi guys only my 2nd day in flowering at 1 side my room i got 4 in hydro that are about 1 and half foot tall and other side of room i have 2 that are in soil was going to be mums but we got beans now so flipped em, nearly 2 and half feet friend left em too long in veg. Today just turned lights on at noon went down opened doors and wham i see all my 4 in hydro covered in droplets of water wtf i do not mist them and theese aint been misted its like solid drops of water all over them if u need pics i can get some i just dont understand why all theese drops of water are from any help in this would be very apreciated also should i run dehumidifier on night as my friend said not too cause it steals the water out the res but my humidity is at 76 when opened door this noon please help and thanks buds

the 2 in soil humidity is 75 and no droplets of water but im scared to put my dehumidifier down there now after he said that about it sucking up my res lol but i know 75 needs halfing for flowering i think 50 and under is good

 

[bass1014]

you deff don't want anything over 60% humidity when in flower.. they WILL mold on you before you even know it.. i always keep my extraction fan on 24/7 this way its always pulling out smell and left over co2 and new 02..

 

[DroidBoy]

so is it safe to put dehumidifier down there or will it nick my res m8 also whats best way to keep it under control with out the use of dehumidifier altho i did buy a good 1 im nervous now like now the lights are on i have both doors open i have 2 carbon filters with extractors 1 in each room with oscillating fans in middle of both rooms and 1 in each room when lights on i can keep humidity ion 50s but when door closes at night time its all messed up dont want too many fans n i leave the carbon filters and fans on and have the middle fan spinning but the fans in each room i dont but doors need shutting for night time i use velcro my room is set up similar to mr green video but with a 4 foot space between them where i have my other bits like fan /dehumidifier thanks for any help

 

[skunkd0c]

tiny drips of water are ok as long as there are not too many of them
its hard to avoid unless you are growing in very dry heat constantly
when the lights switch off the humidity rises very quickly , if you were to use a dehumidifier during lights off this will help

it is just because the leaves are a cold surface, it is no different from when water drops form on a cold pipe or something
due to moisture in the air
just give your plants a good shake around the drips will run off the leaves
even in 40/50% humidity this can still happen
blow lots of air through your plants without the leaves flapping around too much
this time of year coldish damp, PM is a worry

peace

 

[bass1014]

try leaving an extraction fan on 24/7 before you go buying anything.. i had the same issue's in my tent when i was running hydro. was re-arranging things n 4got to plug the fan in the timer and it stayed on and the humidity went down to a cool 45% at all times so sometimes less is more.. if the fan dont work then put the de humidifier on a timer so it comes on after lights out..

 

[Nizza]

yeah i think what happens is heat build up when the fan shuts off (from the light cooling off) will cause the plants to transpire.
overlapping leaves will have little puddles on them
easy way around this is fans on 24/7

i hate the noise of my loud exhaust fan cause its in my bedroom. I plan to eventually put it on a timer that will run lights on until 15 mins after lights off, and get a second small fan on an intake that runs 24/7
key here is 1) you need to cool the bulb after it shuts off and 2) plants still need fresh air at night

also make sure nothing is spraying up when the pumps go on

remember i said fresh air, that is most likely gonna solve your issue. there are lots of cool diy lightproof vents out there

 

[skunkd0c]

i run 400w of extraction 24/7 i still see drips here and there i do not worry about it
overlapping leaves is a good point this is where moisture gets trapped too
more drips with bushy plants with lots of overlapping leaves

 

[Nizza]

i mean, it still happens to me randomly late in flower.. do you think it may be too much fan, causing overtranspiration? combined with a high heat 70-80 at night (good is ~60-66 Imo) cause this usually happens in the summer to me. maybe where it gets too bushy the spots that arent flying around from fans get all wet because they are over transpiring somewhere else in the plants. I always noticed it in random spots..

indoors in the winter is nice cause the moisture from the plants helps with the humidity in your house and on top of that your in a nicer greener environment i love the cold season!

 

[Mr.J420]

It's been mentioned, you have condensation buildup from hot humid air when lights on to cool air when lights off, the air cant hold all that moisture when it starts cooling down so it drops it on the cool plant leaves and any other cool surface. A dehumidifier is your best bet. If you have your res covered/sealed it should be ok, keep an eye on it. If your res is open you will have to keep a very close eye on everything for sure because the dehumidifier will try drying it out as you suspect.

 

[DroidBoy]

so to keep humidity down fans are needed when light goes off i have 3 fans i can get more but my room is so small maybe i will extend it or get a res with a lid on instead of black and white. the dehumidifier i have is badass its old but it works great and keeps humidity right down gunna look for some res with lid now and then i be good i can run it all the time thanks guys u helped me again i be screwed without u kind people showing me the error of my ways

 

[Nizza]

no problem bro and if your worried about your dehumidifier "robbing" your reservoir, try adding appropriate sized/ridged (home depot has nice selection) weather stripping to where the lid presses down , and also where the net pot goes into the lid (i usually have a clean hole from a holesaw going in reverse), use black RTV silicone sealant to seal it down and let it dry for 24 hours(you can score the plastic with sandpaper to get a better adhesion). You can also do a top layer of something less pourous than the medium your using. they make coco caps that are coco fibers that fit in certain size containers, you can then add on top of that whatever you choose to hold moisture in, such as vermiculite or fine perlite. you can also just use something coarse and work your way to fine, but i'm sure you will have some fall in the res unless you're super careful

what i'm getting at is if you wanna prevent the dehumidifier taking the humidity out of the res, seal it up.
if you do just make sure you have air stones pumping in there, preferably with the air pump in a room 60-70f
also try not to restrict air from the main stem when "sealing", this will avoid stem rot

 

[DroidBoy]

Im beginning to regret been a cheap ass who makes his own nft i think i should have just bought 1 lol so i got some clear res tubs on way i will cover them in dark duct tape so as light wont penetrate em i will cut hole in for tube to pump and big run off hole i think it be cool

Oh why didnt i buy 6 inch fan for my tent i have no idea lol bought a 4 inch which is useless its why im back in me cellar battling theese problems but my ladies seem happy at the moment thanks buds

 

[Nizza]

i didnt know you were doing nft i think your moisture will be greatly robbed. Nft is most likely the source of the high humidity and that's the major problem with NFT systems
id say the best thing to do , to reduce humidity the two key things i think will help is having your foliage completely covering where you are running water. Also, make it drain as best you can, any leftover water is going to evaporate.
get some air flow underneath the canopy and oscillate it on a gentle speed so its not constantly blowing in one spot.
everything should be wiggling a little bit, air underneath should dry up the excess water and then the exhaust fan should carry it out of the grow
the other issue could be if your grow cabinet is exhausting into a closed room, this is fixed by adding make up air in somehow, which is pretty easy to do with a razor knife and stud finder, and maybe measuring tape.
you never want your exhaust air to circulate back to your intake air, unless the room is big and airy enough and the air is seperated enough to mix in with the room air.

nice idea with the duct tape, i tried painting clear reservoirs only to find the paint cracks because it's flexible.. lol
why not panda film it so you can clean it if needed?

oh yeah you can even go a step further and insulate the reservoir, if the temps on the reservoir aren't too low already
insulating it will mean less evaporation due to heat. they have bubble wrap that will work great for insulation

lol just thought maybe you could use a big cooler to take care of heat if you think that may be an issue

also maybe try running the dehumidifier to turn on like 1/2 hour after each flood, and to shut off for each flood, if somehow possible?

 

[DroidBoy]

I dont flood bud and scared to use timers i do everything manually and the pump is on all the time it constantly runs even in dark hours bud its a self made system not bought, when funds are better i will purchase full system thanks bud for helping with this i have for time being put the dehumidifier down there and got both rooms at 55% hope it holds out

 

[Dogenzengi]

I run a 400 watt in my 3x3x5 tent, 24/7 on my exhaust fan.
right now I'm growing Hempy but last plant I plumbed my resevoir outside the tent to keep it cooler and keep it from being evaporated by the ambient heat.

it was a Flood n Drain setup DIY.
hydroton and Rock wool as medium.

 

[Dogenzengi]

If you start with a Clean dehumidifier you can use the water to feed your plants.

It should be close to zero PPM and it has no chlorine or Flouride!

 

[DroidBoy]

Ha i never thought of that bud i did buy a tent but like a noob i bought the wrong size fan thanks to duff advice from the hydro shop but im learning so now back in the makeshift tent in cellar lol

 

[skunkd0c]

i also run NFT, very little moisture evaporates from the tanks, i can run them with lids and without i see no difference
the moisture comes from the transpiration of the plants they drink a fair bit depending on size
i run my room at 80f upto 85f humidity 30-50

if you run the plants at 70-75 they will drink less and grow slower

 

[DroidBoy]

Cool will see about getting heat up a bit more even if i have to put a spare 600 in there with only 4 plants, I have put my dehumidifier in 1 corner of room and have oscilating fan on low in other corner and got my carbon filter extracting air too so i will hopefully have good news to report in the am if not, I have been reading about rock salt and making some home made dehumidifier lol but hopefully the ideas you guys have given should save my bacon thanks

skunkd0c may i ask u bud do u have your pump on all the time even in the dark or do u have it on a timer m8

 

[ThorGanjason]

Haven't read everything, but fwiw I used to always find eater droplets and wonder where n the hell they came from. Turns out, plants breath like us and they also SWEAT like us. As the plant absorbs water through the roots, its also putting it out at its leaves. Not sure how much water youre seeing, but it can be quite a bit if you don't have a fan moving the leaves around.

What happens, is a leaf will sit on top of another leaf, and the moisture that would normally leave can't escape, so it builds up in drops.

Your humidity does seem a little high, might be (probably) adding to the problem.