I have a 2x2x5 grow tent and a 2x2x3 drying box. The dehumidifier in the grow tent I’m not impressed with. Homemax5 is the brand. The drying box is a recent addition and I need to get a dehumidifier. Can anyone suggest one that they’ve been pleased with.
Mike - it really is not a dehumidifier, it uses temperature inversion (air over metallic fins to use the energy barrier (sweat) to remove moisture from the air
Lets do 1 at a time…tent - what is the size of the tent, what do you have growing and how far along is the grow?
next - dry box - we want Rh up near 60-65% for a SLOW DRY…is your Rh level higher than that? Your temp should be about the same -60-65°F. A good dry takes about 10/12 days before it goes into cure jars. The slower the dry, the better then end product.
We use gimmicks to control Rh…exhaust fans, silica gel packs, salt / rice bags / trays. These lower Rh by absorbing moisture rather than relying on a true “DEHUMIDIFIER” which is in reality, an air conditioner. Then you have to vent it for heat dispersion…
what are the tmeps and rh of the dry box? What size is it and what is the environment it is in?
The grow tent is 2x2x5 I have 3 Northern lights a little over 8 wks old. One is further along than the other 2. The NL in the dry box was Harvested Wednesday. It jumped way out ahead of the other 3 and one NL in the grow tent is further along than the other 2, probably wk-2wks from the dry box. ICurrently the temp in the tent is 70F 52 %RH In the dry box 71F 62 %RH. I don’t have my final exhaust fan in the dry box so I’m using a makeshift fan arrangement. Both units are in my garage workshop that has a Pioneer split unit for A/C -Heat. My past growing experience was throw a couple seeds in the dirt, water them and harvest before 1st frost. I realize now that to have good quality smoke requires effort. I realize that the 4 inch exhaust fan is not cutting it for the grow tent so I’m saving my pennies for the 6 in. cloud infinity inline. I’ve seen posts that state you should use the 6 in. For intake and the 4 in. For exhaust. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer and that seems odd. It seems to me that using the smaller fan for exhaust couldn’t move all the air coming in from the larger fan. I see your name a lot on the posts I read, and I see why people respect your opinion. Thanks again for all the help.
get your dry box about 10° lower…Rh is fine. NL is well know to be highly resistant to mold…just be vigilant…inspect often…NO MOLD ALLOWED HERE, it is the most susceptible time
Intake / exhaust - with 6 in and 4 out, you create a positive environment. If it keeps the temps and rh at the right levels, that is OK. I use a 6", outside my tent, top of tent exhaust with the lower intake sleeves open for incoming air / fresh co2. Positive or negative, both work. Exhaust always from the top (removes heat) and input from the bottom (fresh CO2). If you hook up the 6" at the top with the blower outside the unit, and use the 4" intake fan on the bottom, you will create a negative pressure environment.
Ok the 6 in. For the exhaust with bottom vents open may be enough to fix problems. If not then I will switch the 4in for exhaust and 6in. For intake. If the 6in alone works ok then would putting the 4in on the dry box be overkill? I’m waiting on Amazon to deliver a 120mm computer fan that I plan to use for exhaust on dry box. What about the dehumidifier that has silica beads and no power, any good?
In my dry box is
a usb 5v pc fan. A couple shallow pans of water (I place frozen gallon containers to stand in this water with the fan blowing on the container). I add / remove water to control the rh. The froze gallon plastic milk jugs give me 6 hrs of steady 60-65°f temp and 60% Rh. I swap out one at night )gets me from 10pm to 6am and then twice during the day. Now that it is REALLY HOT, I use my garage fridge to dry my harvest. Use that same usb fan…I used schedule 40 pvc to make a little stand, hot glued the fan to it and can run the wire right across the door to a usb plug outside the fridge / dry box
Silica / rice - any other desiccant - shallow pans. The grater the surface area, the more rh reduction there is
I built my box from PVC and reflecitex(sp) and I put a frozen jug in and it kept the temp and
rh in acceptable range for several hours. I also bought a big bag of rice in case rh gets too high. Thanks again.
do not laugh but I bought one of those ARTIC COOLER units…found it on Mercari for $25 delivered
click here
I use my fridge to give me crushed ice with water (can use cold water from fridge too). Keeps Rh perfect, lowers temps.
That cooler should cool that dry box pretty quickly.
I’m finding it’s a balancing act to get temp rh steady in the dry box. One frozen jug kept both in a good range overnight. Today I’m going from too high to too low. Hopefully it will just take some tweaking according to my area’s growing climate.