Extreme Tent Grow?

[LifeLess]

Im about to attempt a grow threw the middle of winter -0 temps at times in my tent in my unheated garage. Thoughts? haha. Cant wait to read the comments. Please share your thoughts i need some in put. I put some of my own thought into it but sometimes i dont help myself out. My tent is a 4x4 secret jardin I insulated the walls with 1inch sheets of styrofoam insulation. Theres a digital heater in there set at 75 and in the bottom of the tent i made a heat sink to keep the pots warm. The heat sink is a layer of insulation then patio bricks then a waterbed heater then another layer of patio bricks. Im working the setting out on that but its set low right now(i dont wanna cook the roots). I think im gonna get 1 more sheet of insulation to put ontop of the heat sink and cut holes where the pots are gonna sit so it will hold the heat in. Im gonna run 3 Chem D and 1 bro grimm c99. Pick that apart and let me know what you see. Thnx LL

 

[dj_greenthumb]

I have to deal with harsh winters as well (averaging about -25c)... not fun!

 

[Friend]

I say go for it, even if it doesn't work out you'll gain some valuable knowledge.

maybe use non-aircooled hoods to keep the emitted heat in the tent?

 

[Capt.Ahab]

Ive been dealing with cold temps. I stopped venting my hood as one step. That keeps the space at up to eighty degrees . I do have a vent fan that runs for half an hour every four hours. When that kicks in the room drops to about 75-77 degrees. I also used the foam insulation. Two inches on the floor and one inch on the walls. The ceiling is drywall with fiberglass insulation underneath. During the lights out period I am using an oil filled radiator style heater with a fan to keep the air moving. So far so good but temps have been mild for the season. Im not sure how well temps will be maintained when it starts hitting single digits outside.

 

[FunkBomb]

Have you thought of building a "storage closet" inside of your garage? Something basic with 2x4's, plywood, and insulation wouldn't be too expensive. Run the tent inside that room for a extra safety. That way you could use the heat from the lamp to warm everything up, and the insulation would help keep it in there.

What you have going so far sounds good. Have you thought of running the spaceheater on a timer? Have it run for a bit every hour, but only during lights off? That would help keep your electric bill down some. I think your water bed heater for the containers is great.

Best of luck,

-Funk

 

[LifeLess]

Thanks for the thoughts and stopping in.

Capt.Ahab Thats my next step to unvent the hood. Outside temps in the garage are a steady 25-30ºF all day. My set up is the same 2inch on the bottom and 1 inch around the walls. Im running a digital heater set at 70. Its seems to be keeping up nice. Runs for about 1 min every 20-30 min. So about 80 min a day which isnt to bad. I need to put the exhaust on a timer so it runs less then 24/7. I have a 600 in there right now but have a 1k ready to go in. The chemd and c99 are in 7 gallon pots. I figure ill veg till New Years Eve then ill switch. Thats about a 4 weeks veg and there already pretty big. Average low here at that time is around 20. GL to ya

FunkBomb i thought about the room inside the garage thing but theres no room really. Its would be nice to have that just for a place to go hide from the old lady. Good thought though thanks. Peace LL

 

[señorsloth]

well you would think it aught to work, i set up a friend recently in his garage, he had a small room already built into the back of the garage, which isn't attached to the house, unheated, and in the northern most state in the country...our solution was to use 2 tents and 2 lights, vs the 1 big tent with two lights that we originally planned, this way we alternate the light darks, so that there is always one light on and one light off, keeping the room just barely warm enough get decent growth. he still has to set up his veg and that should help warm the place a bit, and if it gets too hot we can always open the door to the smaller room a crack to let a little cold air into the room. frankly the coldest temps haven't even arrived by a long shot and we may end up implementing another device to warm the place.

i like your soil warming idea, should work pretty well, the only issue is you may want to set up some sort of redundancy...so that if your heater should fail for some reason during the dark period you wont come in to find your plants frozen solid...

 

[LifeLess]

that sounds sweet señorsloth youll have to keep me posted on how that works out for him. The Heater i have in there is keeping things warm during lights out. Im worried about a power outage. That happens im gonna have some potsicles. Been looking into a small solar backup for just the heater. I like the 2 tent idea . Ill take a few pics of the plants and the heater tonight. Thnx for the thoughts. Peace LL

 

[mtbazz]

Do you have central heat/AC ? If so do what I did and run a line from your ductwork to your tent.

 

[Avinash.miles]

LL : u crazy!!! that being said lets do this!! cant wait to see some pics. also do you have anything insulating your floor from the cold concrete?

 

[LifeLess]

mtbazz the garage is detached so theres no way.

Welcome Avinash.miles.Nice to see you joined up. Ive heard that before haha. Pics coming soon. I have the tent on a stand i built about 8 inchs off the floor. Theres 2 inchs of foam sheet insulation on the bottom. Let the fun begin. Tonights temps are gonna be in the teens. Peace LL

 

[WeedFarm]

all sounds good lifeless, lets see the pics...
its EXTREME!!!

 

[inzion]

Hi
my closet standing on windowed terrace.the temps last winter was about -20-25C.the temp on the terrace was 7-10C degrees. i use 5cm styrofoam,1 cm penofol and heating film with thermostat.dont remember exactly,it seems it was 220W per m2. on the floor under penofol there is also heating film with separate thermostat.the temp in pots very important.if roots get cold it can be a disaster.
works very good,i dont turn off the ventilation on flowering&the plants feels good.but u definitely have to pay more for electricity

 

[LifeLess]

Looks sweet inzion. What is heating film? I dont mind paying more for the power it should be worth it if it works out. You doing another grow this winter season?

WeedFarm im gonna get some pics asap its just been to damn cold out there. Peace LL

 

[meltybubble]

Heat matts,they provide a stable temp for the roots and would help great with this setup.
All the best with it.
peace.

 

[inzion]

this photo from my current winter grow.temp outside is about zero.on the terrace +15.in closet - any temp,but i try to keep about 27C

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=226236

i mean this film

http://be1store.com/construction-ma...ne-based-infra-red-radiant-floor-heating.html

if u dont mind on bills u can try to use it.it dont take a lot of place and gives a good result.
Peace

 

[LifeLess]

Update: Things are moving along great. The lowest temp outside is right now at 8º F. The tent is holding steady at 73 with the light on. Lights off it holds at 70 F. Ill stop in with weekly updates now that things are moving along. There at 21 days bloom today so about 50 more days to go. ChemD and c99. Peace LL

 

[Opus53]

looking on song in there buddy

 

[LifeLess]

Heres the up date day 28. Lowest outside temp so far is 12F. This weekend is gonna be the lowest so far at 4F.

Day 21


Today 28 days

 

[MacGyver420]

dude, they look awesome!