Grow Tent OutGassing / Offgassing WARNING!!

[richyrich]

moved to infirmary

 

[Payaso]

Geez. Who would have thought that growing natures plants inside a sealed space lined with nasty plastic would be a great idea? It seems nature has a way of saying NO.
I am sad that so many growers are reduced to using these unnatural methods to produce something that was given to us by the creator, a simple plant.
If everyone here spent just a fraction of their time lobbying the powers that be for relief from these draconian laws we might be free to grow this plant outdoors, under the sun with fresh air and water.
Isn't that the best solution?
Regrets to drehan and others who make money off these products, it's not a personal attack, just a thought!
Why not make these tents with HEMP?
Plastic is nasty stuff.

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

Opinions please!

Your plants do not look like they have symptoms from typical tent off-gassing.

Moreover, silver lined tents have been problem free, aside from some early Sun Huts that shipped with a white plastic floor.

I'd start a thread in the Infirmary and let the experts on this.

Are you still adding 300ppm of cal-mag to your water before you add nutes? Do you do that every time you water? That strikes me as way too much.

 

[richyrich]

No, I add 200 ppms of cal mag to my RO water and then add flora nova bloom. I run a low ppm every feed with plenty of runoff. I'm talking 15 gallons in and 5-8 gallons drained. Plenty flushed through. I always check my runoff too and it is never high enough to burn my plants. My problem started not long after I put the tent in the same room. I would really like to know how my plants burned with such a low ppm this entire time. That is why I suspect the tent now. The timing is right. I know that people say that the tents or ok now but I'm not so sure. I have read a lot of people having differing opinions on these fixed silver lined tents. And then I have to ask what if these tents still off gas a little. That's not a problem for someone who ventilates their grow room but it's still a big problem for a sealed room. I want experience with people in sealed rooms with these tents specifically. Of course, all other thoughts and experience is welcome too but rooms being run these two differing ways are going to have some varying degrees of severity in problems simply due to the amount of gasses collecting in the room.

I moved this out into the infirmary.

 

[Kindman69]

No, I add 200 ppms of cal mag to my RO water and then add flora nova bloom. I run a low ppm every feed with plenty of runoff. I'm talking 15 gallons in and 5-8 gallons drained. Plenty flushed through. I always check my runoff too and it is never high enough to burn my plants. My problem started not long after I put the tent in the same room. I would really like to know how my plants burned with such a low ppm this entire time. That is why I suspect the tent now. The timing is right. I know that people say that the tents or ok now but I'm not so sure. I have read a lot of people having differing opinions on these fixed silver lined tents. And then I have to ask what if these tents still off gas a little. That's not a problem for someone who ventilates their grow room but it's still a big problem for a sealed room. I want experience with people in sealed rooms with these tents specifically. Of course, all other thoughts and experience is welcome too but rooms being run these two differing ways are going to have some varying degrees of severity in problems simply due to the amount of gasses collecting in the room.

I moved this out into the infirmary.

I'm with you mate, and I believe it goes beyond just these tents. I understand now that we have to be super cautious about what we put in our sealed grow spaces. There are countless products that can 'off-gas' and become a problem for our plants. Most times we will assume everything else before we ever even consider 'off-gassing' to be the culprit.
With me it was (I will know for sure in another week) spray glue and Mylar, was kind a ignorant on my part
Btw, the only reason the plants in the pic made it into adulthood is that I added the Mylar during flowering, they were completly healthy 1 week before the pic was taken. The second pic is of some clones that were twice the size when I put them in to the sealed space, what you see is whats left after 10 days.

I think you are onto something, keep researching!

 

[neuroherb]

I'm currently doing a test run on a Homebox with a cutting from a mother that originaly came from a plant that suffered living in a toxic tent. No problems have been seen the plants are healthy even in the tent sealed shut for a day at temps above 100 degree F.

Will be starting on the pics this week, but I also have some Casey's that were finished in the tent and pics of them are available in my albums.

I'm with Mr Bongjangles on richyrichs situation. You would be well advised to start a thread in the infirmary as suggested.

 

[Kindman69]

I'm currently doing a test run on a Homebox with a cutting from a mother that originaly came from a plant that suffered living in a toxic tent. No problems have been seen the plants are healthy even in the tent sealed shut for a day at temps above 100 degree F.

Will be starting on the pics this week, but I also have some Casey's that were finished in the tent and pics of them are available in my albums.

I'm with Mr Bongjangles on richyrichs situation. You would be well advised to start a thread in the infirmary as suggested.

Hi Neuro, do you know if affected plants come back or is it usually a one way trip?

 

[neuroherb]

Hi Kindman

It really depends on the state they have gotten into. Ive managed to drag a couple of grows through it but by a couple of weeks into flowering there isn't a fan leaf left.

If your getting them out of the area or are clearing the off gassing and have only seen initial damage I would reckon it should be possbile to bring them back. If there pretty badly gone like more than 50% of the foliage gone you might be able to but the time & nutes etc might be better used starting off new ones.

I'm still really a noob on growing at the end of the second year so for actually deficienciess etc... you'll get better advice from the infirmary regulars.

Hope this helps
Neuro

 

[Kindman69]

Hi Kindman

It really depends on the state they have gotten into. Ive managed to drag a couple of grows through it but by a couple of weeks into flowering there isn't a fan leaf left.

If your getting them out of the area or are clearing the off gassing and have only seen initial damage I would reckon it should be possbile to bring them back. If there pretty badly gone like more than 50% of the foliage gone you might be able to but the time & nutes etc might be better used starting off new ones.

I'm still really a noob on growing at the end of the second year so for actually deficienciess etc... you'll get better advice from the infirmary regulars.

Hope this helps
Neuro

Hi Neuro, I'm noticing mine perking up a bit after about a week without the spray glue and the Mylar. The Shellac that I used to vapor seal has a peculiar smell as well, so I will recoat it with a 0 VOC latex paint. I also replaced my pvc (glued together) drip manifold with food grade quick connects yesterday just to be on the save side. Next I will address any Duct tape (strong adhesive on the back). I am also not sure if my 2 gallon pots could be a problem in a sealed environment?! Fuck, this has been a nightmare!!! I'm not sealing up my room for another week at least, and once I do I will vent for 1min. every 2 hours. I know it will suck out my co2, but I happily will take the extra expense until I know for sure that the air is pure.

 

[neuroherb]

Good to read there picking up for you. Hope the plans you have sort it out and you can get back to just the regular issues caring for the plants.

 

[Kindman69]

Good to read there picking up for you. Hope the plans you have sort it out and you can get back to just the regular issues caring for the plants.

Cheers to that!
Hope everything goes well for you to!

Kindman

 

[HIGHGROOVE]

im a little concerned i bought a used sun hut xl its the big version its white inside put the poles are whtie metal...are all of these bad?

 

[Kindman69]

OK guys, I can say with certainty now that the affected plants will recover once removed from the environment. Downside, it will take between 2-4 weeks before all new growth is free of the symptoms.
I also want to say that there is a large degree of unawareness in the general Forums relating to 'out-gassing'. I see a lot of posts in the 'plant problem' forums that start like: 'mg possible nitrogen deficiency' and 'nothing I do makes a difference'. Most growers are still rather dismissive regarding 'out-gassing', mainly advising to flush bla bla bla etc.
Also, nobody (very view) people talk about using 'safe' building materials in their sealed environments, almost like nobody wants to get their hands around this very real problem.
I checked in four different forums and this is the only one that actually dedicates a sticky to it, wtf!?

Kindman

 

[Kindman69]

im a little concerned i bought a used sun hut xl its the big version its white inside put the poles are whtie metal...are all of these bad?

Easy to check mate, put a plant in there (only 1) reduce ventilation to a minimum for a view days (ideally if you have ac you turn ventilation of), if there is a problem you will notice a mg def progressing rather fast to a nitrogen def. along with bleached leafs.
The reason I would cut back the ventilation is 2 fold:
1. The symptoms will appear quicker.
2. With ventilation on, the problems may not show as severe, fooling you into believing that there is no problem. But make no mistake, at a minimum there will be a significant yield reduction.

Finally, I would not listen to people that have not experienced this problem, they are usually dismissive regarding the diagnosis, and rather have you waste 3 months on administering additives and various flushing procedures lol.
By far the easiest to do is to run the simple test in order to rule out the environment

Kindman

 

[shopvac]

I read in this thread Black and white poly (panda film) offgasses. Yet there is very little talk about it. Many many people including myself use this assuming its a safe product.

Do we know for sure this stuff offgasses? Should I stop using it/take it out my room? Is there a better alternative?

 

[neuroherb]

Shopvac

Im not aware of specifc mylar called panda. use the black and white mylar without having any problem. It is quite brittle so probably no plasticisers and that seems to be the core checimals causing the issue.

Kindman

Fell free to shout about it everywhere mate I admit I'm quit a noob grower and dealt with this issue in my second year took the time analysed it like I would anything else canging one element at a time. Then did a bit of a search found a bit of info which led to some more etc...

IMHO This thread has been good it has brought brands directly into the conversation and ok sometimes a bit heated after all in biz its necessary to defend a brand. I would like to see a product mark which signified these products had been tested in a live grow environment etc... for such things as chemical reaction. Haven't quite convinced them of that yet. But if you are going to spread the word so to speak IMHO that would be a good aim to achieve.

Highgroove

Sunhut and white = IMHO bin it go only for the new silver lined and base model if trying to get a return etc... or the Homebox which is still white and personally I prefer the reflectiveness of the white compared to the silver although the only silver one I have seen in use is a small Secret Jardin.

 

[shopvac]

I read in this thread Black and white poly (panda film) offgasses. Yet there is very little talk about it. Many many people including myself use this assuming its a safe product.

Do we know for sure this stuff offgasses? Should I stop using it/take it out my room? Is there a better alternative?

No sorry, im not talking about mylar, i should have been specific . its the black and white poly plastic (also known as panda film) used for lining floors, making walls, blocking light etc...

http://www.sunleaves.com/detail.asp?sku=SBWP110
Of course it doesn't help my worries finding out this stuffs usually made in china

This is what im referring to earlier in the post...

If it has a white plastic floor, either return it or chuck the floor part.

They have hopefully stopped using the white plastic floor by now but I don't know for sure.

If it has a silver material floor, you're good to grow man.

Panda does off-gas.

I can't believe that these huts are still an issue. I bought a Jardin last year and never looked back.

Pirate

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

No sorry, im not talking about mylar, i should have been specific . its the black and white poly plastic (also known as panda film) used for lining floors, making walls, blocking light etc...

http://www.sunleaves.com/detail.asp?sku=SBWP110
Of course it doesn't help my worries finding out this stuffs usually made in china

This is what im referring to earlier in the post...

Hey shopvac

In the quoted post, I'm talking about the SunHut grow tent, not panda poly or film. For some reason the Sun Hut people shipped their first batch of silver lined tents with a floor made of the old problematic white material.

My opinion on b/w poly is that the stuff is fine, its been used for many years by lots of professional growers and I've never seen a case of off-gas poisoning caused by it.

That said, the problem with the off-gassing tents wasn't technically about the material - it was about the material being made wrong.

Were some factory to make a batch of panda film wrong, then I suspect it could off-gas too, especially as they use softeners, which seem to be the culprit with the bad tents.

 

[shopvac]

thank you for the clarification Jangles. I hope I didn't cause any confusion or panic in my post. Merely trying to get some info straight. Much thanks to everyone for all the great info!

 

[Weedman Herb]

I went with Refletix mylar bubblewrap stuff this time around ... but not because I've had problems using Panda. I just needed a slightly more stable material. For the record Panda isn't Mylar ...