While it may not be the first thing that comes to mind, good ventilation is crucial to maintaining a healthy and productive growing space. In reality, poor airflow is the primary cause of pests and diseases in cannabis crops.
If you want healthy plants and abundant harvests from your cannabis grow-op, here’s how to ensure enough ventilation. Indoor cannabis growers would be wise to pay special attention to ventilation. Lack of air circulation can lead to poor plant development, pest problems, and even death. Here, you’ll find all the information you need to ventilate your cannabis grow room or tent effectively.
As a Cannabis Grower, I Wonder… Why Is Ventilation so Crucial?
There are two basic reasons why cannabis plants require fresh air:
To convert atmospheric light, water, and carbon dioxide into food, plants require oxygen-rich air through a process called photosynthesis.
plants use the oxygen and glucose they take in during photosynthesis to create energy through a process called respiration.
Your cannabis plants will starve to death if they don’t get enough oxygen. However, before this can occur, your grow room will become a haven for unwanted pests and diseases due to a lack of adequate ventilation. Many plant-eating pests and diseases thrive in the warm, humid conditions that result when stale air is not allowed to escape from the area around your plants.
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The Basics of Ventilation for Grow Tents.
When It Comes to Ventilation, a Lot of First-Time Cannabis Gardeners Feel Lost or Overwhelmed. a Grow Room or Tent’s Ventilation System Can Be as Complex as You Like, but The Fundamentals Are Straightforward: Remove Stale, Warm Air and Replace It with New, Dry Air from Outside.
Your Tent/air Room May Be Getting Warm and Humid While You Read This, and You May Be Wondering Why. Simplifying It, Then:
Transpiration.
The Process of Transpiration Is a Natural Part of The Cannabis Plant (or Sweat). as A Matter of Fact, Plants Rely on This Mechanism to Transport Water and Nutrients from The Ground to Their Stems, Leaves, and Blossoms. Water Is Drawn up From the Roots to The Rest of The Plant by Transpiration, Which Occurs via The Stomata and Cuticles in The Leaves and Lenticels (pores Present in Exterior Plant Tissue Such as Stems). the Relative Humidity in Your Grow Room Will Rises Gradually as The Water Your Plants Exude Evaporates Into the Air.
Lighting for Plant Growth Provides Comfortable Heat.
All Plant Growth Lights Generate Some Degree of Heat. Though Newer Le Ds Have a Lower Temperature Profile than Traditional Hi Ds, Many Farmers Still Prefer the Higher Yields of Traditional Hi Ds (Metal Halide, High-Pressure Sodium, or Both). the Temperature in Your Grow Tent or Room Will Rise without Adequate Ventilation if You Use Grow Lights.
The Easiest Way to Maintain Ventilation in Your Grow Area Is to Install an Exhaust System that Removes Stale, Heated Air from The Top of The Room/tent and Replaces It with Incoming, Cooler Air from The Base of The Grow Space and Up Through the Plant Canopy. Also, Basic Fans Can Be Used to Circulate Air, Albeit Their Effectiveness Will Depend on The Size of The Room. if You Want to Learn More About Extractors and Fans, Read On!
What You Need to Have a Properly Ventilated Grow Room.
Everything You Need to Equip Your Grow Room with Adequate Air Circulation Is Listed Below.
Expeller Fan.
The Used Air Is Removed from The Grow Room by The Extractor Fans. to Take Advantage of the Hot Air’s Tendency to rise, Place the Extractor at The Room’s or Tent’s Peak. There Is an Exhaust System Attachment Available for Several Grow Lights and Reflectors.
Keep in Mind that There Is a Wide Variety of Extractors Available and That You’ll Want to Choose One Whose Output Is Proportional to The Size of Your Grow Room. Powerful Indoor Extractors Are Often Rated in Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). Here Is a Guide to Determining how Many Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) of Airflow You’ll Need in Your Grow Room or Tent.
Being Familiar with CFM.
You May Find the Volume of Your Grow Room/tent by Multiplying Its Dimensions (length X Width X Height) (ideally in Feet). Consider the Following Example Calculation for A Standard 4′ X 2′ Hobby Grow Tent:
40 Ft3 = 4 Ft Long by 2 Ft Wide by 5 Ft High.
Choose an Exhaust Fan with At Least 40 Cfm of Airflow Capacity for A Grow Tent of This Size. Choose a Fan Whose Cfm Is Roughly Proportional to The Size of Your Tent or Room. This Will Guarantee that Every Minute the Air in Your Grow Room Is Entirely Replaced by Your Fan.
You May Use This Converter to Convert from Cubic Feet per Hour to Cubic Metres per Hour.
Refined Carbon.
The Purpose of A Carbon Filter Is to Remove Pollutants from The Air. Attached to Your Exhaust System, They Purify the Air You Pull out Of Your Grow Area While Also Soaking up The Terpenes Your Plants Exude. to Combat the Pungent Odours Emanating from A Cannabis Grow Room, Activated Carbon Filters Are Highly Recommended.
The Fans Were Changing Speed and Direction.
The Last Piece of A Well-Ventilated System Is Oscillating Fans. Fans, While They May Seem Simple and Inexpensive, Can Be Properly Placed to Promote Efficient Airflow Around Your Grow Space.
the Fresh Air Will Not only Aid Your Plants by Strengthening Their Stalks but It Will Also Keep Your Area from Becoming Stuffy and Minimising the Likelihood of Disease or Pests Destroying Your Harvest.
Picking Between Watching and Participating in Your Nutrition.
Bringing Fresh Air Into a Greenhouse Is What’s Meant by “air Intake.” for Passive Intake, You Simply Let Air Flow in From the Outside Through the Windows or Vents of Your Shelter. by Contrast, Active Intake Functions by Actively Bringing Air Into Your Grow Space via An Intake Fan.
This Is by Far the Most Effective Method of Ventilating Your Grow Area Since It Guarantees Significantly Increased Air Circulation. to Maintain a Negative Pressure Within Your Room/tent, the Cfm of Your Intake Fan Should Be Lower than That of Your Exhaust.
The Significance of Negative Pressure in The Atmosphere.
Creating an Artificial Version of Natural Conditions for Our Females Is Part of Our Work as Indoor Growers. Taking Readings of The Air Pressure Within Your Grow Tent Allows You to Fine-Tune the Conditions for Your Plants.
If the Air Pressure in Your Grow Room Is Negative, It Means that More Air Is Escaping from The Room than Is Entering It, Making It Easier to Regulate the Environment’s Temperature, Humidity, and Carbon Dioxide Levels While Also Reducing the Smell of Your Grow (because Stale Air Isn’t Being Recirculated).
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The Carbon Filter and Extractor Setups Vary.
Extractor and Carbon Filter Systems Can Be Set up In a Variety of Methods, All with The Same End Aim in Mind—to Maintain Plant Health and Reduce Odour. So, Let’s Weigh the Benefits and Drawbacks of Each Potential Choice.
Exhaust System > Carbon Filter > Extractor
Install an Exhaust System, Fan, and Filter Inside a Grow Tent in This Fashion Is Probably the Most Frequent Method. in Order to Purify the Air Before It Is Expelled Through the Vents and Into the Atmosphere, a Carbon Filter Should Be Installed in The Very First Stage of The Exhaust System.
Pros
Before Entering Your Fan, the Air Is Filtered to Remove Harmful Particles from The Air.
Cons
Large in Size; Not Ideal for Confined Quarters.
Filtering Carbon > Powering Lights > Drawing Air out > Venting
This Is for Those Cultivators Who Use Lights with Sealed Ventilation Systems. Install the Filter in Front of The Grow Lights, and The Extractor and Exhaust Fans Behind Them.
In Favour, It Facilitates a Quick, Space-Saving Exhaust Installation.
Contra… It Can Only Be Used with Closed-Loop Grow Lights.
