First time indoor grow in soil

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Hello,

I am a new member and to indoor growing. I got a 4x4 tent set up back in Nov.2020 and started with a grow of a few rounds of autoflowers for the winter. I am only growing in half of it because of the heater and humidifier takes up space, plus I need to be inside with the tent zipped up. Our basement isn't super clean, so I am trying to limit the contamination by being inside closed up.

It's been quite the journey dialing in the tent's environment the past 40 days, especially on a low budget. The first month it was in the 60's F with wicked low humidity. Finally got a heater, seedling mat, and humidifier and the plants really responded well. They are growing with much more vigor. Still have loads of questions without tons of support from friends. Most of my friends grow outdoors only and not autoflowers.

Here's our setup. We are pulling carbon filtered air into the tent for the intake with active exhaust. The intake comes in through the top side of the tent and the exhaust is on the side in the bottom of the tent.

4x4 Spider Farmer tent
Spider Farmer SF2000 LED (200 watts true wattage)
Optic Grow Light XL1 100 watt will be arriving in a few days
Vivosun 4" ventilation kit with 203cfm inline fan and 4" carbon filter (intake)
Vivosun 4" - 203cfm inline fan (exhaust)
Do it Best Oil Filled heater (1,500/900/600 watts with thermostat)
Vornado EVDC300 Evaporative humidifier
Vivosun Clip on Oscillating fan
Do it Best desk fan
Vivosun 4' seedling mat

growing in 5 gal. fabric pots with Vermont Compost Company's soil mixes. Top half of pots is Fort V potting soil with Dragonfly Earth Medicine's Lush Roots microbe mix. Bottom half is VT Compost's Jolly Roger mix. Blended for growing Cannabis. Added Dragonfly Earth Medicine's Fat Flowers microbe mix with a good amount of worm castings. I have only been watering and adding L.A.B. and frass every couple weeks. Just topped dressed with a handful of worm castings because they are flowering.

genetics we are using for the first round (the more mature plants) Humboldt Seed Co.'s Magic Melon and Fastbud's Cali Snow and Gelato. The second round is Ethos's pre-release of ChemP and Fastbud's Jack Herer.

Plants are finally rebounding from the first month of cool and dry temps. I am having a hard time keeping the heat and humidity up to snuff without turning the ventilation off. I have the intake going on and off every 15 mins. and the exhaust turns off every couple hours for a half hour. The intake is set on high and the exhaust is set on low. It's staying more stable now, but there are still spikes and dips throughout the day. Is that okay? If I keep the exhaust on full time it can only stay in the 70'sF and 40's in RH. Is cutting off the vent to increase temps/RH not getting enough air exchange in the tent?

Thanks for any advice you all might have

Peace

Comments

I wouldn't worry about the air exchange with so few plants and so early in flower.

The higher temps and humidity will help you more early on, so less exhaust is your best option with your current setup.

Optionally you could invest in a thermostat controller for your inline fan to keep a set temp. As I recall they're fairly cheap.

Also you could feed CO2 so you don't have to exhaust at all, but you need a tank, regulator, and controller or timer, which can get pricey. You could use the CO2 bags/buckets/home remedies with less cost, but they're all far less effective.

Don't be afraid to defoliate, train, and remove lower budding spot that aren't getting light. It'll only help your girls in the end. Best of luck!
 

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Radical Cannabis
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