Some Tips for Reducing the Heat in Cannabis Grow Tent

Managing the ideal temperature for your cannabis plants can be a difficult task, when beginning to work in a new environment. Controlling the temperature inside a grow tent can be even harder, due to restricted airflow. Managing the heat levels can prove challenging, which is why we have written a guide to help you with the process.

Are High Temperatures Bad for Cannabis Plants?

If you are growing marijuana in an environment with high temperatures, or in an area where heat is unable to dissipate, the ambient temperatures may be much higher than the ~70 degrees Fahrenheit that your plants find comfortable, and lead to heat stress. An increased temperature can lead to slow growth, reduced harvest, and even eventual death of your cannabis plants. Heat is especially a concern during the flowering phase of the cannabis plants or for those who are growing hydroponically, where the roots are exposed (as opposed to being protected by a pot and layer of dirt). Fortunately there are a number of techniques, and supplements which can be used to control temperatures, and reduce heat damage to your cannabis plants.

Top Tips To Cool Down Your Grow Room

Decreasing Temperature in your grow tent for cannabis or room

It seems like the majority of indoor gardeners struggle with high temperature, so let’s look at ways you can decrease your temperature.

Air Conditioner

If high temperatures are wrecking your indoor garden, there is no better way to quickly bring the temperature down than an air conditioner. You can easily place them either in the grow tent or some models allow you to have them outside the tent while ducting the cool air in. You can purchase a inline fan for weed.

Reservoir Chillers

Many hydroponic setups keep the reservoir outside of the tent as dangerous algae can grow in the water when the temperature rises above 70 degrees. However, if you’re using a Deep Water Culture (DWC) system then this means your plants' roots are directly sitting in the reservoir, so it will be in the tent. Reservoir chillers are crucial in DWC and other hydro setups.

Run Lights at Night

Evening and overnight temperatures are cooler than daytime temps, so it makes sense to use hot cannabis grow lights when the ambient temperature is naturally lower. There’s another advantage to this strategy, too. Many electrical utilities charge lower rates during off-peak times, usually from 7:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. When you run your lights at night instead of during the day, you save energy and money, and create a more favorable environment for your indoor garden.

Change light schedule 

• Many growers give their plants 24 hours of light a day in the vegetative stage, and although this results in the fastest growth, having the grow light off for several hours each day will dramatically help keep the temperature down.
• Get an electrical timer to set your grow lights on a scheduleAlthough plants may grow slightly slower under this light schedule, 18/6 is a common choice for growing cannabis in the vegetative stage and here’s why: Although you want to maximize how much light you’re giving your plant, giving as much as possible doesn’t necessarily give the best results.
• Many growers believe (myself included) that you get diminishing returns after 18 hours of light a day. Although plants do grow faster if they’re getting more than 18 hours of light a day, I don’t believe the increase in growth is big enough to justify the extra electricity and heat. In my experience, cannabis plants benefit from having a night stage that helps make up for the lack of extra light, so that the difference between 18/6 and 24/0 isn’t very noticeable. However, the reducing your lights-on hours can make a huge difference on your electricity bill and the temps in your grow space! 

Use Air Cooled Lights

One great way to prevent lights from generating heat is to use air cooled lights. They can be connected to the duct lines in order to pass the hot air from the bulbs away. A proper insulation will boost up the process even more.If you want to move one step further, you can go for water cooled lights. They contain a water reservoir and water pump to conserve water. In a perfectly sealed grow tent, a water cooled light may deduce the essence of an air conditioning unit also.

Plan your grows according to season

Most plants can tolerate at least 10-15 degrees more heat when they are in veg compared to when they are flowering, but flowering plants want more light causing a catch-22. If you’re fighting heat in flowering, try germinating in mid-late summer so the plant is flowering in the winter.

Improve Your Venting System

Install or increase your use of input and exhaust fans to vent hot air and replace it with cooler, fresher air. This process is called air exchange, and it’s a good way to help control high humidity, too. Maximize the effectiveness of your fans by placing your input ductwork in the coolest spot you can find, and consider investing in an automated system that raises and lowers fan speed automatically in response to temperature fluctuations. It takes some of the guesswork out of heat management.

Ice bottle

It would interest you to know that something as little as an ice bottle can help cool grow tent drastically. All you have to do, for example, is to place a 2-litre frozen bottle of water into your nutrient tank this works like magic, as it helps to swiftly cool down your reservoir. However, this mode of cooling should be an alternative or the last option because where it doesn’t regulate the temperature then you would require a chiller.

Conclusion

To sum up, everything that has been stated, the problem of how to cool indoor grow tents is one that is faced all over the year especially during the hot period and its effects can be quite devastating because it could drastically slow down growth, increase moisture loss, hamper plant growth and affect seed germination. The importance of keeping the temperature inside your grow tent within optimal temperature cannot be overemphasized.  Having excess heat in your grow tent does a lot of harm to your plants for example without a doubt, excess heat can kill cannabis, especially during the flowering phase.