Indoor gardens involve the creation of a makeshift environment. This tends to replicate a conventional outdoor environment, and it’s the best way to use a grow tent!
When using a grow tent, you get the chance to control the light schedule, light intensity, humidity, and even temperature!
This way, you can manipulate them to your own advantage, allowing you to cultivate bigger and better plants! You’ll have complete control over your growing environment.
Affiliate Disclosure
Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, we earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.
Though grow tents may not be exactly natural, they are fantastically versatile!
Producers often wonder how to cool a grow tent, especially during hot summer periods. You aren’t alone! It can become so hot, some growers even opt to halt growing completely.
Have you suffered poor outcomes due to intense heat? Have you heard it simply isn’t possible to cool a grow tent easily? Have these sweltering summer days got you down?
How to Cool a Grow Tent
Beating the heat is a problem many indoor growers face! Thankfully, there are a few ways to solve this problem. We’ll discuss some of the best below!
Air Conditioning
Air conditioning is probably one of your most powerful tools in that bag of tricks! There really isn’t anything that cools an environment like it. Your air conditioner can help combat natural heat in addition to any heat from your grow lamps, pumps, or other electronics.
Be sure to consider the size of your grow room before purchasing an air conditioner. Seasonal outdoor temperatures may also affect your air conditioner’s efficacy.
Carbon Dioxide
Using carbon dioxide can be tricky! It’s also most helpful when the optimal temperature of your grow tent has been exceeded.
We’ve all taken basic biology as teenagers. We know carbon dioxide is vital for photosynthesis to occur! When you increase the level of carbon dioxide in your grow tent, CO2 spikes and helps plants to perform more efficiently.
Your grow tent will function well in even hotter environments!
Air Cooled Lighting
Air-cooled lighting uses an extraction fan to pass air over your lamps, removing warm air from your grow tent. Aluminum or acoustic/insulated ducting is required.
Insulated ducting is better than aluminum because it offers an enhanced level of cooling.
The air-cooled lights possess a glass bottom which creates an air fitted channel. Cool air is released through these channels and over your lamps, lowering environmental temperatures.
Water-cooled Lighting
Water-cooled lighting is much more efficient than the air-cooled method above! Water-cooled light even reduces the need for an air-conditioning system. This method requires a reservoir and water pump subject to the size of the reservoir used.
Water chillers might also be required for this method to be most effective.
Room Insulation
A well-insulated room will prevent temperatures from reaching outdoor extremes. This is generally a fantastic idea!
Poor insulation is often the cause of dangerous heat spikes. This is even more likely if you have a grow room located directly under a hot roof! Lighting might also add to those dangerous temperatures.
Below ground insulation is much cooler! Ground soil will provide a natural form of insulation.
If you want to cool a grow tent properly, consider insulating your grow room!
Good Air Circulation
Optimal air circulation is vital to avoid any irregular hot spots! It also promotes healthy plant growth and stem & leaf strength.
Either consider investing in oscillating fans or provide several fans that alternate directions. Forcing leaves to move in various directions helps replicate natural motion.
Providing a fan in every corner of your grow tent is crucial!
Importance of Great Lighting
It only takes a few minutes for an enclosed room to reach dangerous temperatures! Grow lights and other fixtures also add heat but are unavoidable.
So how would you generate less heat?
Ensure you choose the correct lights!
Select lights that emit lower quantities of heat, such as LEDs. You can also use water-cooled reflectors.
Install a Light Mover
This is one of the simplest ways you can spread out heat uniformly inside your grow tent! It not only helps you avoid any unsightly hot spots, but you’re also able to better manage light resources.
Reduce the need for additional lighting with a light mover! You’ll also further limit the heat those lights you currently use generate.
Installing a light mover will help you cool down your grow tent by circulating heat to all parts of your grow room, rather than localizing it in certain areas.
Run Lights at Night
Temperatures normally drop significantly during the evenings. They are certainly cooler compared to daytime temperatures!
Use your hotter grow lamps during the evenings when the temperature is lower.
Off-peak times are great because most electrical utility costs are lower. Running your grow lights at night as opposed to daytime will save you both energy and money.
Improve Your Ventilation System
Cool your grow tent by improving ventilation!
Enhanced air exchange is a fantastic way to control high humidity. Find an automated system that helps you both lower and increase fan speed automatically.
Reservoir Chillers
Reservoir chillers are an absolute must-have for anyone with an indoor garden! Control over temperatures is vital. Temperatures too extreme will invariably affect the growth and health of your plants.
A chiller will help cool your reservoir and reach your desired ambient temperature quickly.
Ice Bottle
Even something as simple as an ice bottle can help google your grow tent drastically!
Simply place a 2-litre bottle of frozen water in your nutrient tank. Your reservoir will swiftly cool!
This cooling method should be considered an alternative or last option as opposed to a chiller.
LED Lighting
Led lights are even more useful during hotter periods or climates because they don’t emit as much heat.
However, they can’t be used all year long. LEDs don’t provide adequate heating during the winter months.
Research LED lighting! These are great to have handy during the warmer months of the year. Just be prepared to replace your LEDs during the winter!
Evaporative coolers or Swamp coolers
Evaporative coolers reduce environmental temperatures by using the same principles as air conditioners.
Swamp coolers have fans that propel hot air through water moistened mediums. They then allow water to evaporate, leading to decreased temperatures!
Misters also work in a similar fashion. These produce small water droplets that rapidly evaporate.
Each of these methods will also increase the humidity levels of your grow tent.
Cooling a Grow Tent Summary
Countless growers face this problem during warmer months and hotter climates!
The effects overheating can have on your grow tent can be devastating, drastically increase moisture loss, hamper plant growth, and affect seed germination.
Maintaining optimal temperatures inside your grow tent can’t be more important! The excess heat can drastically harm your plants.
Photo by icon0.com