Temporary solutions for high heat areas

Hello Everyone. I'm currently on my first grow. Now, I live in a hot, dry state and temperatures have proven to be an issue over the past couple of days. Things are not looking up as the forecast shows the we're hitting the 100s in just another couple days.

I am growing in a 3x3 tent in my garage, which has a swamp cooler that I keep running during peak hours. Due to me coming home from a short holiday and noticing the temperatures, I have manually switched on the swamp cooler so that it runs later. However, it's just a few hours before midnight and temps are still about 82 degrees.

What can I do? If I can, I'd like to avoid purchasing a small AC unit because I don't have the money and the garage is a lot bigger than the tent itself. So, any of you remember the "build your own A/C" video that went viral a few months back? If not, link:
Does anyone think there's any reason I can't connect the DIY A/C unit directly to my inline duct and greatly reduce temperatures in the tent?

Or, does anyone have any better ideas? lol

Buy an AC, trust me on this one.

Swamp coolers add humidity. Not good.

Buy an air conditioner.

Ho funny I just logged in to post this. Seems like a good solution for very hot afternoons.

I'm going to give it a shot seeing as its such a cheap possible fix. Every other option is going to increase the electric bill by a large amount and its only a 3x3x6 tent. Couldn't a dehumidifer be used if necessary to reduce the humidity inside the tent if it becomes an issue?

I've never used a dehumidifier in my life. Seeing as it's going to be used to battle a DIY evaporative cooler, can someone please recommend one of these units to put in my tent?

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-Dry-Edv-1100-Eva-dry-Electric-Dehumidifier/dp/B000H0ZDD2/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1398121818&sr=8-7&keywords=dehumidifier

http://www.amazon.com/Eva-dry-Renewable-E-333-Wireless-Dehumidifer/dp/B000H0XFCS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1398121818&sr=8-4&keywords=dehumidifier

or http://www.amazon.com/Ivation-DehumMini-Small-Size-Thermo-Electric-Dehumidifier/dp/B00GZ6OI8S/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1398121818&sr=8-12&keywords=dehumidifier

?? Would one of these do the job??

I'd test it out and see what kind of humidity levels you are getting before buying a dehumidifier. Since you're in a dry state, you may not need it. Keep in mind, however, that as the plants get bigger, they will transpirate more and more and humidity will go up.

jcommerce said:

I'd test it out and see what kind of humidity levels you are getting before buying a dehumidifier. Since you're in a dry state, you may not need it. Keep in mind, however, that as the plants get bigger, they will aspirate more and more and humidity will go up.

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I'm sure you mean respiration! Or respire, as you used it there.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Rollitup mobile app

Touche...meant transpirate...

The dehumidifier in your tent won't do anything assuming your exchanging the air every few minutes.

You need an A/C, which won't cost anymore then the dehumidifier to run.

I would imagine your gonna need a HUMIDIFIER in your tent and an a/c to keep the garage cool.

Just my experience in a hot/dry environment like an attatic or garage.

@jc I am already experiencing humidity levels between 50-65% due to the swamp cooler in the garage. A/C is not currently an option as it would not be cost efficient in the garage and I can't move the tent in the house for the time being.

@Squid. I thought about that, However, Perhaps it will do just enough to keep molds from starting? And the humidifiers aren't going to cost hardly anything to run at all. If you think it's comparable to a portable A/C at 9000 btu, you're wrong... That's my main concern. I'm doing my best to cool without A/C and to manage humidity levels at the same time.

No matter how seemingly impossible it may seem,I'm not looking for resistance to the idea as a whole. I'm just looking for innovative ideas to help make it work.

Healthy plants can grow next to a steady ocean breeze which must be a high humidity area right? Maybe they just need to be dried out at least once a day or so to prevent the mold? I know humidity should be around 30% when flowering but I'm nowhere near that without the dehumidifier right now, and I haven't even built my little DIY cooler yet...

Dehumidifier is supposed to be here tomorrow. It can collect up to 8oz/day. We'll see how big of a difference it makes.

If you're hittin 50-65 already, a dehumidifier will be a good investment regardless.

Dont do that youtube diy project for your tent though, bad idea lol

Plants can grow in high humidity yes. In fact, plants like higer humidity. Growers like to lower the humidity in flower to try and avoid mold. If you research VPD you'll see plants actually like higher humidity. Also, higher humidity doesn't make it easier to get powdery mildew-otherwise every greenhouse in the country would have a problem. So no, higher humidity isn't an issue, but it's good to be able to control it. Some growers, including myself, like lower humidity just to avoid problems while growing in small spaces indoors.

It's not humidity that brings mold. If your humidity is high, make sure you have extra good air circulation and air is always moving-this prevents most problems like mold and powdery mildew.

Grey mold in colas is usually the result of really dense buds experiencing big swings in temperature and humidity-kinda like condensation on a glass. If a hot, warm, moist nugget all of a sudden experiences a big drop in temps and humidity rises(lights go off and maybe grower forgets to keep air moving through the tent at night, so temps drop and humidity raises) it get's wet inside and never really dries out.

It's not humidity-if your below 70% you should be fine as long as you have good air exchange and constant circulation.

I would like to add, keeping it below 40% prevents it period. If you have ever experienced a crop ruined by mold you would understand why many growers keep it below that threshold in flower. The plant would probably like it a tad higher, but it does fine at 40% and this prevents mold from ever appearing.

Squidbilly said:

I would like to add, keeping it below 40% prevents it period. If you have ever experienced a crop ruined by mold you would understand why many growers keep it below that threshold in flower. The plant would probably like it a tad higher, but it does fine at 40% and this prevents mold from ever appearing.

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My humidity fluctuates between the 40's to the 70's in a 24 hoour period. I have a oscillating fan running on medium or high 24/7, 440 cfm inline fan pulling through a carbon filter, and a window unit ac. I'm in the south and it get's HUMID down here. I worried when it gets flowering time. Do you think i'll be alright with what i've got now? Or should i get a dehumidifier when i can afford it?

It never hurts to have a dehumidifier on hand.

So when your a/c is running your humidity drops to around 40 and then when it turns off it raises? I'm trying to get an idea of what's going on.

I just bought a GE 70pnt. dehumidifier from the home shitpot for under $300 which works great in the damp part of my basement my grow is in.

I didn't realize how much my old one was doing until it broke! I had to go out easter sunday and get another one.