Humidity problems again or not?

Today I set up my Inkbird controller to the Vick’s Cool Mist humidifier. Everything seemed to be okay but couldn’t get the humidity above 50%. Not a big deal because no plants yet and humidity is up today n the 40’s % So I shut the lights off and kept the humidity controller on. Came back later and saw all this smoke I thought coming from the tent? But it was the humidity and it was close to 90% in the tent. Now outside it decided to rain so that’s why the humidity went sky high in my tent in the desert.
Wondering what everyone thought about a way to get the humidity down? I am running also a Inkbird controller to control the temp by turning the exhaust fan on so not sure that option would be available also.
@blackthumbbetty @Bubblehead @Countryboyjvd1971 @GreenCoat @MattyBear @MoneyPit @SlowOldGuy @ Myfriendis410 @Covertgrower @Laurap @poundcake @Countryboyjvd1971

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Once you get plants in there your humidity will go up. Being around 50% for the entire grow isn’t a bad thing either.

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totally agree @MattyBear but what about those times when like today we get rain and high RH? With high temps I take care of them via the Inkbird controller connected to my exhaust fan. Thinking there must be a way to exhaust all that humidity out too via a controller?

@Dutchem dehumidifier will work best. Higher air flow through the tent is a last ditch effort temporarily. I say temporarily because if in flower, high humidity can cause bud rot.

@Covertgrower Are you talking about putting a inline fan to blow air inside the tent? Thought about that but wasn’t sure. I do have a extra 400 CFM one. Will look into a used dehumidifier. Or one that isn’t too expensive. Would I be able to control RH still by using a Inkbird controller with it? Thanks

Are the Cool Mist humidifier clogging the carbon filters up?
I stopped using a humidifier just a 5gal bucket of water in my veg tent and nothing in the flower tent

Or get one to exhaust the air in the tent?
You don’t have one?

Dehumidifiers can be spendy, you may not find one used. But ya never know. Remember if it says 70pints that machine can remove up to 70pints in 24 hours.
If you purchase a newer humidity they have a digital read out and setting.
In my area I have to run a dehumidifier during flowering.

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@Covertgrower Yup I have a exhaust fan (440 C FM) hooked up to controler to exhaust the heat. You guys smoking cause I seem to be repeating myself a lot here. LOL If I am dealing with high humidity but not often like today and I am growing in my garage wouldn’t I just be putting the high humidity that is already in the garage back into the tent by trying to use exhaust fan to get all that humidity out?

Nope it’s a brand new out of the box today humidifier @boardsbird . Carbon filter? If you are referring to the carbon filter for odor I haven’t hooked it up yet. No smells yet so no need for it yet.

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Vaping sorry… lol. Blue dream. :wink:
I got you on the fan though, didn’t realize it was recycling air in a room.
Dehumidifier is still the best answer.

4 things that worked for me

  1. Have fresh air coming in using exhaust fan backwards (less powerful than exhaust fan blowing out) im using portable aircon with ducting here also

  2. Set humidifier on a 5-15 min timer and test for best results. (That may mean turning exahast fans off for very short periods) test test test with humidity gauge

  3. Have internal fans blowing at all times over plant, these never stop

  4. Set exhaust fan with carbon filter to keep air moving through (more powerful than reversed exhaust fan blowing in)

Note: you want more air sucking out then air pushing in. The humidity doesnt have to be consistent, it can fluctuate in vegetation between 50-75%… for very short periods i had it at 90% using a week worm tea in my humidifier.(cleaning it out was no fun though) In flowering its better to be consistent & strict with low humidity

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Found this one @Covertgrower on Craiglist. What u think? Funny how you mention Blue Dream. Was thinking about vaping some too. Was always one of my favorites. Had a buddy that grew it. Much better then any dispensary would grow.
This is a Keystone 30 Pt. Dehumidifier.

This is a $170.00 dehumidifier and I am only asking $80.00

*Model # KSTAD30B
*Room dehumidifier removes up to 30 pints of moisture from the air per day
*Designed to dehumidify a room up to 1500 square feet
*Electronic controls with LED Display and 24-hour timer
*Auto-restart saves your settings during a power outage
*Settings include Normal, Turbo and Auto-Defrost

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I think that one would be just fine. @Dutchem

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@greencoat Would setting my speed controller that I use in conjunction with my 440 CFM for exhaust set to a lower setting and then have that used 400 CFM placed outside at the very bottom inlet duct of the tent blowing air in work?
I have been constantly testing what works with temps so I don’t mind at all now with having to do the same with humidity. Hate to have to deal with this during flowering and lose a whole crop. So trying stay ahead of my grow Thanks

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First, you want to see your tent sucking in, not puffing out. Once you have that sorted i would then play with humidity. As for the fan settings… that just comes with trying different things. But you want exhaust fan(sucking from tent) at the top(hot air rises) with carbon filter to draw heat away from your plants. I had air pushing in at the bottom over my plant, near oscillating fans

Im in a closet so my settings needed ALLOT of tweaking.

I also tested, tested, tested getting my humidity down to 40% in my tent after watering as soon i flipped 12/12.

But for the first 2 weeks of 12/12 i let it fluctuate between 40-60%

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Note: you want more air sucking out then air pushing in. The humidity doesnt have to be consistent, it can fluctuate in vegetation between 50-75%… for very short periods i had it at 90% using a week worm tea in my humidifier.(cleaning it out was no fun though) In flowering its better to be consistent & strict with low humidity

And there lies my problem @GreenCoat I am already exhausting out heat with that Inkbird controller so I think I can’t do two things at once?
There is 2 ports on that IHC-200 but pretty sure they only function for one thing and that’s regulating humidity from my humidifier. So much easier if it would function like the temp controller does with the exhaust fan
Anyways maybe hooking up the speed controller to the inline fan set to low or whatever will be enough

Give it a shot… once you get it youll be thankful you spent the time because once your plants are in full swing you dont want to be going through all this.

But in saying that … there is always something else to contend with… #myreveg :grimacing:

@GreenCoat Yup I agree I want to eliminate at least some of the issues and get to know my system better. I did find it weird that the humidity got up 99% and it never shut down my humidifier. Does this sound right? I set the Inkbird up at 50% RH with a variant of 5%. I would have thought once it went higher to 55% RH the humidifier would have shut off instead of still running?

It’s suposed to auto shut off at the set points. What did you set the PT to? The PT (delay) is auto set for 1 min. The 2 plugs on that - work1 is for the humidifier and the work2 is for the dehumidifier.

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@Budbrother I didn’t set the PT. Read that it’s good to because of the fan motor chances of wearing out are greater if don’t set it. Will do that in the morning.
Just rechecked everything before shutting it down for the night. Temps were holding right at were I set them 70 degrees. RH was fluctuating between 50% & 55% and kicking on my humidifier and off at set times. Have to check to see if it’s in work1 station. Pretty sure it is but I have changed between the two several times to see what worked or didn’t.

But whatever it was doing it’s not now!