Low Humidity Problem

[SmokeyTheBear]

I have been having problems keeping my humidity at a proper level. i was able to keep it at 35% with bigger plants but those all got the ax. i now have 36 16oz cups in my grow box. the grow box is 2'x2'x4'. the humidity says low now. i bought a holmes smaller humidifier. will this help with the humidity? what are some of the problems that can happen with such a low humidity?

 

[geopolitical]

Ya, it should help.

Very low humidity can cause leaf curling, necrosis on leaf edges and tips, even complete tip die back in really extreme cases. That being said many plants can tolerate a very low humidity with zero complications, in fact it seems to increase resin production in some stock.

 

[jdkronyk101]

35% isnt in any way detrimental, i find it hard to believe you'd need a humidifier, if anything most folks are trying to de-humidify their gardens. i would check other factors such as adequate total ventilation, usually a good fan will suffice.
bless

 

[Admiral Canna]

I agree....the only thing extremely low humidity does to a plant is make it transpire faster....ie...drinks more. My RH is anywhere between 15%-30% in bloom right now and its kickin ass n takin names. JMO.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

some of my leaves are dry and feel like they're dying. i can only assume it's because of low humidity. i keep having to water every 2 days which i shouldn't have to. i have excellent ventilation. i have two 5 inch computer fans blowing air out and four 5 inch holes for a passive air intake. i have a 8 inch fan blowing air around inside and a 5 inch fan blowing across the 250 watt bulb to keep hot air off the plants.

 

[Akira_dk3]

My humidity is 16% and at night about 20%, and its fine imo

 

[Admiral Canna]

Humidity isn't yer problem IMO....its something else. Got pics?

 

[ThizZ]

my humidity is always low the only time my humidity ever raises is right when I water my plants and it never even touches 40% it is usually marking 16% and when i water it marks anywhere from 24% to 32% but then it only stays like that for a little while then drops back down to 16% and my plants are growing fine and really fast heck 3 of them are just about out of reveg and looking awesome all bushy the only time I really like high humidity is if I'm cloning but then again it's still good to let them get a little dry to promote root growth

 

[greenhead]

Low humidity has never been a problem for me or my plants, even when it's 10%-15%.

High humidity, on the other hand, is a real bitch.

 

[organizedcrime]

ive had as low as 11% in early veg for 2 weeks and growth was slow but healthy. spray them daily a couple times w/ water for quick fix . same grow later on in flower i had problems with high humidity.

 

[LymphNode]

My humidity during the winter is really low. Like 0 - 15%, currently I've not run into any issues with this yet, I just keep my plants on a foliar feeding schedule since pretty much day one. I've found that this helps the stem with sturdiness after the first two or three nights, the plants clearly make up for the extra weight on top quickly.

I'm glad that the RH is so low, I can easily spike it up when I want and mildew is of little to no concern to me. Also, my cab can double as a curing chamber very easily.

Like everyone else says, you have much more of an issue if the RH is too HIGH. This can lead to mildew and pests, which we all know are bad.

cheers.

 

[Surfr]

I had some humidity problems recently, the RH% was around 25.. many people from another site along with a few old timers around my area stressed the fact that I needed to get the RH up to around 50% ideally. They explained that low humidity in veg with slow growth down, and in flower yields can suffer from 20%-30%...

 

[geopolitical]

If your humidity is 0% and you are having zero problems you don't have a humidity problem, you have a broken hygrometer problem.

 

[rosskemp]

lol

lol

If your humidity is 0% and you are having zero problems you don't have a humidity problem, you have a broken hygrometer problem.

geopolitical good one !

 

[ResinKing]

If you want to raise a bit , you can put a bucket of water in the room and this will raise it ! but you will have to watch it doesnt raise it to much !

 

[TGT]

I have foumd through experience that if the humidity is extremly low it has a negative impact on smaller growing plants. They will still grow, but much slower and the leaves could curl or usually just look extra thick. Also the stems start to change to a more strong, stiff fiber like material. When in veg I like 40% humidity. That seems to be the sweet spot and the plant grows three times as fast and the fan leaves get much bigger and a little thinner due to the rapid growth. Stocks also grow bright green and fat as appose to having a slight red or pink colour too them.

Please remember this could be strain related, but if it happenend with mine it could be more of a common occurance?

If you want to try and have the money, those new cold mist humidiers work with a small viberating disk and use hardly any power compared to the old ones that had to boil the water to create the steam, and it was much larger water dropplets than todays humidifiers. Also as ResinKing stated above, if your growing in a small area, a thin pan of water in the room could help and not cost a cent. Those are the best fixs around. Good luck!

TGT

 

[MagicChef]

Your Ok

Your Ok

I think your fine as well. My rh goes anywhere from 23-65. If your really worried about getting it up to that ideal 40%, try laying a towel under your plants and let some of the water get soaked up after a watering. This will help. Make sure to change towels every now and then, nobody including your ladies like old, rotten , dank smelling water. Good luck.

 

[simon]

I had some humidity problems recently, the RH% was around 25.. many people from another site along with a few old timers around my area stressed the fact that I needed to get the RH up to around 50% ideally. They explained that low humidity in veg with slow growth down, and in flower yields can suffer from 20%-30%...

<grin> Out of sheer curiosity, what else did the old timers tell you?

Simon

 

[Tiredofschwag]

I've been at that other site where they promote humidifiers and when I questioned it I was called a dumbass. Then I saw a thread where this chick built the most beautiful cabinet and when she added a humidifier the whole thing was ruined by condensation. LMAO. Lots of people having trouble with mold on that site too. I grow in my furnace room which is in the cold basement and when the lights go on and the furnace goes on and the water heater goes on it get's hot and dry and in the winter the humidity in the rest of the house is very low and the furnace room is driest. I never had a problem and my plants are lush.

I can't increase the humidity in the house much or I get condensation on the windows so I don't bother. Now I've opened up a new vegging closet in the upstairs hallway. The heat rises and collects there and it's the warmest place in the house and therefore the driest. With the added heat of the lights it's 80f at plant level and above the ufo 90f. I haven't guaged the humidity there but I am guessing very low. I don't seem to be having any problem growing there and you can see my results on my thread about Automatic Hindu Kush. The plants are lush.

The theory is that a plant takes up nutrients from the soil along with the water through it's roots. The lower the humidity the faster the plant can transpire through it's leaves. By increasing the humidity you slow the transpiration rate and therefore the amount of nutrients a plant can absorb. By increasing the humidity you aren't doing yourself any favours.

If you must insist on increasing the humidity in your cabinet you should do what mushroom growers do. Get a large container, fill it with water and put a fish bubbler in it. Keep the air pump outside so you are continually bringing in fresh air. To control the humidity you can put it on a timer. I introduced this system to our orchid growers who grow minis from the rain forest in clear totes and they have wonderful success. Just had a brain jerk. Also you could put some nice organic nutrients into it and with the oxygenated water the bacteria would proliferate and break down the organics. I see some people using this method for teas but they don't let it completely ferment. In my opinion no matter how far the organics degrade you will never get rid of NPK because they are minerals.

 

[butler]

Plants are humidifiers! 99% of indoor growers experience problems with high humidity (when their plants are large and mature) rather than low humidity but it can and does happen.

This video explains it pretty nicely—the guy's had one too many espressos though.
https://youtu.be/4VZCGybOLEM