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Temp soil too high??

Sampas92

Just newbin
Hi guys.
So im starting my first grow in a micro/mini space
70cm height 60 cm long 30cm deep, with 7 holes of 4cm each on the grow for intake and a 10cm hole with a pc fan to exctract, turned off now, powered by 6x 9w 720lm chinese sils but, just one 5w 400lm since its a 2 day seedling :D
Since we are entering winter in my country i put an heating cable of 4meters in my cabinet..on the side walls and ground and i managed to put it in a way that is equilibrated in terms of the amount of wire that is in each wall BUT the room themperature where the grow is of 18c the cable is always turned on to reach an ambient temperature in the grow of 25.5 26c and because its always on, the soil temperature varys from 25 to 26c..since the grow is small i kinda of antecipated this ocurring because of the fast changes that a micro grow cause, but since i dont have any experience :gaga:, i never trully know until it happened

I have two major questions for you experienced in this grow life:
First - The plant will suffer with a soil temperature like that? take the note is a seedling with 2 days at this stage..and in the rest of the different stages of its life?i know that warm roots help with cold air temperature and promotes growth but how much is considered warm? I already searched a lot on google and foruns, alot of opinions the most of all with the common 22/23c but i have this forum in must consideration so i need your opinions too.

Second - the most common and logical opinion to heating the grow and since its micro is to control the room where is at but since i live in a house where people know that i grow but are careless about it i need and want the grow to be most autonomous possible since the heater, the hygrostat and the mini humidifier..im having the idea, since my intake holes are 90° degrees pvc pipes that i could roll the heating cable on them for instead of heating the air grow after it enters it, heat it before it enter it just by heating the intakes holes or heating the area where they are located in, under the grow, what you guys think?

Thank you guys happy smokes happy grows
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Heat within the inlet ducting doesn't play well with simple on/off type thermostats. You can use such stats on the walls though as the wall probably has a reasonable thermal capacity. It won't go cold the moment the stat clicks off.

Perhaps this inlet air should be piped to your pots at a later date, when you want them to be the coolest area. I like to bring cool air at the bottom and have it rise up and out the top as that's what warming air does anyway.

At the moment is sounds fine. A warmer pot than air temperature is strange but the same temp certainly won't kill them. Cooler pots seems right but I have not seen it as a problem when they are not.
 

Sampas92

Just newbin
F-e, glad to see you helping me, been reading alot of post from you aswell.thanks for the heating inlet opinion
Your right when you say the pot being higher in temperature than the air but have in mind that my pot is a 12 litre cat litter with 10cm height and with a distance of 2/3 cm from the heating cable, being it always on with time it heats up..i have read that from 20 to 30c in root zone that im fine, being 23/26 "optimal" obviously dependent on the strain and where it cames from originally, so i should be fine right?maybe less wire under the pot and more on the walls?currently i have 4 rows of 30 cm of cable distance apart of 13/15cm if im remembering right, maybe just 2 and displace the rest on the walls..i just needed to be sure i wasnt cooking my roots and slowing the growth of the roots or the plant in general..
Thans
 

Sampas92

Just newbin
Thanks for the input troutman..i know about lower temps, my doubt was on the highest side of things..
Im running an auto skittles from advanced seeds, i know that autos supose to be faster in growing but between yesterday and this day i didnt see any difference in in the leafs growth on this second day, regarding the first leaves, just noticed about half centimeter of height..the colour is a good green she is not streching, not getting light burned it seems..the soil is lightmix from biobizz so not a hot soil..the temps and humity is always on check with a diference of 0.5°c and 5% humi..its my first grow, so maybe im just being paranoid or imagining something diferent right?the light schedule is 20/4 btw.
Thanks guys
 

Sampas92

Just newbin
Just one more thing, should i do the temp drop during the lights off even at this stage of her life?a 2 day seedling?
 

f-e

Well-known member
Mentor
Veteran
Temp drop is usually covered by turning the lights off, but at a few days old I tend to run 24/7 anyway. It been shown that 24/7 beats 18/6 but actually 20/4 is the best. I just like having access 24/7 though. I do my entire veg at 24/7 though more for convenience than results. That is mind, my plants sleep with the lights on and thus no temperature change. It's not critical.
 

Sampas92

Just newbin
f-e yes usually is coveree by the lights off but with only one light working at the moment and the climate control i can choose and do the temp drop or not and i dont need the light for the eating part of things..
Okay, the temp drop at night is not critical, lets ease my mind then..the thing is i want to do it in the future at flowering and do it right. If i get there obviously, but since at this such young stage is not a serious or crtical thing..
I think afterall what i've neen reading on foruns along the years, we do more harm than good with our anxiety to get a little spa for them lol
Thank you f-e
 

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