New Grower Winter is coming .... advice needed

[Mr Bloom]

I have a dilemma. I'm only a few weeks into my first grow in a small cabinet in my loft (to hide it from my Mrs) and while I am thoroughly enjoying watching my new babies get bigger I have had a huge realisation .... wtf am I gonna do through the winter months as there is no way on earth I could have my cab anywhere my Mrs can see or hear it.

what I'm worried about is the cold during the winter months. I'm only using a 125w cfl and my growcab was 21 degrees c when I went up early this morning and that was pretty much towards the end of the 18 .hr light cycle ... yikes it's not even winter yet !

now I'm after some advice ... would it be ok for me to run the lights 24/7 along with a 45 w tube heater I have found in my local hydro shop (it's the only one I can find that will fit in my cab... just about ) just to try and keep it warm in there ?

or should I bite the bullet and pack it up till spring and either go without or buy dealer weed ?

ps. I'm not able to spend much money at the moment on things like extra loft insulation or I'm not able to cut holes in ceilings to get warm air from rooms below (due to stealth needed to hide my grow from the trouble n strife)

 

[Mr Bloom]

Would autos do well under 24/7 lighting ? or am I flogging a dead horse ?

 

[Muddy]

You will need some sort of thermostatically controlled heater to keep the temps up during the winter. I run an outdoor grow box that pulls air directly from outdoors so I use a small electric heater to maintain my temps. I also have a variable speed controller on my exhaust fan so I can slow it down and not suck all the hot air out too fast. I assume your cabinet is not insulated? If not, at the very least I would suggest wrapping it in insulation. No real need to insulate the whole loft.

 

[fullauto]

It can be done,i've seen grows under 24/0,20/4 and haven't noticed alot of difference other then savin a little on the power bill.

 

[fullauto]

You can get a roll of that bubble insulation-silver outside and bubble wrap in center for under $20-that stuff insulates really well and can be stapled to the outside of your growbox. small ceramic personal heaters avaiable at walmart for under $10-these work great at your air intake opening.

 

[gtron]

Light wise, leave the lights on 24/7. Auto's will do fine under it and it will help with your low night time temps. As far as a heater goes, I use a small aquarium heater immersed in a jar of water. It works great and is not very expensive at all, Keep the jar right next to your pot as the root zone is what is most critical in relation to the temps. If your rootball stays in the sweet spot, your plant can handle some variation in the ambient temps (within reason of course)
Good Luck

 

[Mr Bloom]

Thanks for speedy replys guys. looks like I have some planning to be doing before the winter arrives !

would a heater Mat like the ones used under tanks for tropical pets be sufficient in keeping the roots nice and warm ?

 

[gtron]

It could be, but you need to be sure what temp the mat runs at. The ones I have seen do not have a control, so it would be a guess as to what temp it is actually running at.
That being said, I would be leery of using one myself, unless I had one laying around to try. The thing I like about the aquarium heaters is they are made to run all the time, they have temp adjustment, and the pot is not sitting directly on it, so overheating the root zone is not likely.

 

[Mr Bloom]

ok just been up and measured my grow cab and it's only 70 x 55 x 47 ... does anybody know if a 45w tube heater would be good enough to heat this space ? they are sold as frost protection for greenhouses and garages and look cheap enough to run 24/7 without the wife noticing a increase in the electricity costs (hence why I'm using cfl lights )

to be fair she is gonna kill me if she finds out I am growing weed in the house

 

[fullauto]

Never used one of those so can't help you there. Have you thought of what your going to do when they start spreading their wonderful aroma thru your house as they mature? Your wife is surely gonna notice that. I'd be more concerned with the odor problem then the cold-you can insulate the box and grow a plant but all that is wasted without spending some $ on odor control and gettin found out by wifey and havin to stop production.Just thinkin ahead for ya-these problems all pigtail together and sometimes get forgot about.