Have you noticed your plants crying for water? Did you notice that the leaves on your plants bent upwards? It could be that it’s dry in your grow tent. Discover how to increase the humidity in the grow tents or in your grow room.
Every indoor grower is aware that the humidity levels and temperature are essential to provide your plants with the best environment for them to thrive. Understanding how to control and increase the relative humidity inside the grow tent is something that indoor growers should learn.
This is why the humidity needs to be elevated in a tent for growing. It can be done by using a humidifier or other techniques that involve household items.
This article will explore the various cost-effective techniques I’ve used to improve the humidity of a grows tent or in the grow room.
Table of Contents
Three methods to increase the humidity in a grow tent.
Grow tents are fantastic tools that allow you to control your plant’s environment completely. They can be useful in cultivating plants within your home. However, the humidity levels aren’t always easy to control.
Many plants, including cuttings and seedlings, require extremely high humidity. That is why when a tent expands, the humidity must be raised. It can be achieved with a humidifier or other methods that use household products.
Method 1: More water was added, but it quickly evaporated.
Insert the wet sponges into the tent to raise the humidity level. Soak the sponges in water and place them close to any air vents or fans within the tent. The air and heat will result in the water vaporizing in time, which will increase the level of humidity.
Once the sponges are dry, they can be reused to help maintain humidity or left to let the humidity drop.
- Sponges are more prone to drying out than bowls of water, creating more moisture within the atmosphere. Sponges can be set nearer to the lights and plants to distribute the moisture faster.
- Another option is to place sponges inside containers filled with water or a tray. This causes it to evaporate faster rate.
- Sponges work great in smaller horizontally-oriented tents with shelves. The tents don’t have a lot of space; however, you’ll usually put the sponges on top of the plants on the shelves.
- Inside the tent, place water basins to give it a gentle boost.
Put bowls or trays into your sink and scatter them over the tent to grow. Most tents have an intake fan near a floor area on one end. Set an empty container there, and add more near any air vents.
Once the evaporated water is gone, the humidity levels will increase.
They are ideal for water bowls since you can fill them up or remove them whenever you need to. They’re better than towels for continuously increasing the humidity of your tent.
Use bowls in large tents with ample air vents and floor space. They work best intents with an internal ventilation fan located on the group.
- Use damp towels to increase humidity levels temporarily.
The towels should be soaked in water and then spread out over the tent for growing. Set them in the vicinity of any vents for the air along the sides of your tent.
As the air moves into the shelter, the air hits your towels. The water that is vaporizing off the towels will increase the humidity levels.
- Make sure to keep your towels away from the grow lamps and other heat sources so that they don’t ignite.
- Towels aren’t intended to be long-term solutions, but you can use them to increase the humidity.
Towels are a good fit in any tent so long as you have a spot for them to be hung. The best option is tall tents with an air-conditioning system located towards the ceiling. You can also set them near vents for air to be released near the surface.
Method 2:Modifying the Heat Flow.
- Use humidity regularly to keep the humidity level in check.
You can buy a humidifier at home and place it inside the tent for growth. Most grow tents come with ceiling supports where you can place a humidifier to make room for the floor space.
Make sure you choose a humidifier with automatic controls so that you do not have to keep track of the water supply or temperature within your home. The humidifier releases liquid water into the environment, keeping the humidity level stable.
In the case of a normal humidifier for your home, you’ll be required to fill it up daily with new water. You should check it at the exact time every day, for example, each morning, to keep it functioning.
Be sure to use a humidifier, not a dehumidifier. A dehumidifier pulls moisture from the air, which will lower the humidity.
- Reduce the extractor fan’s speed to prevent the air drying out as fast.
Look around the tent ceiling to find a vent fan that draws the stale air out. It also draws a lot of humidity from it, so you should set it at a lower speed.
Lower them to a minimum setting if you have other fans to keep air fresh moving between plants.
You can even turn out the air circulation system for a short period of one hour per day to increase the humidity faster.
Air circulation is an essential aspect of keeping the tent at a constant temperature. Don’t keep the fans on for prolonged durations in time.
This is a good option for larger tents with an air vent with adjustable speed settings. Certain larger tents come with wall-mounted fans that you can turn down.
3. The increase in humidity is as easy as dropping your temperature.
If your plants can handle lower temperatures, make use of it to raise the humidity.
Change the temperature control settings if your tent is equipped with one.
Alternately, you can put either an air conditioning system or a water chiller within the tent. You can also put in fans or switch off lights to maintain a lower temperature than usual.
If you reduce temperatures, the colder and cooler air will sink into the lower part of the tent. The warm, humid air rises to the high, raising the humidity levels.
Check that your tent is equipped with thermometers to check the temperature. Keep the tent closed and insulated so that the temperature remains constant.
The most expensive hydroponic tents typically come with adjustable temperatures.
If you’ve got smaller tents with many shelves, you may not have enough space to install an air conditioning unit or a water chiller.
- If you have older plants, remove half of the lighting to promote humidity.
Shut off the lights and then wait around 5 minutes to cool. There are many grow tents with tubes of lights that hang from the top.
Remove the bulbs from their sockets and set them away. With less light and less heat, temperatures inside your tent are lower, and the humidity levels will increase.
If your grow tent contains several light sources, taking out certain bulbs is a simple way to boost relative humidity. However, it isn’t possible to accomplish this with smaller tents.
This is most effective with young plants. The seedlings have less sensitivity to light than mature plants. They require humidity more than they do light.
The majority of tents come with removable bulb lights. A few budget tents do not have multiple sources of light, specifically the tall, slim models.
Method 3:Watering, Covering, and Watering Plants
- If there is extra space in the tent, add larger plants.
If your seedlings are growing, you could put in some mature plants. If you’re growing smaller herbaceous plants, you could include more vigorously growing vegetables or flowers.
Maintain the plants in space enough to ensure they don’t obstruct each other. Make sure that everyone can get sufficient sunlight and water.
Large plants must be watered more often than smaller ones. However, the larger plants also emit more water. The water released ends up within the atmosphere, which increases the humidity.
The mature plants can absorb more water via their roots and therefore do not have to pull it from the air as younger plants must.
This is only applicable to bigger tents that offer plenty of flooring space. If your camper is tall or is adjustable in height, it could allow larger plants to be placed inside it. The shelves in hydroponic tents don’t usually have enough space.
- Plants in clusters are near together.
Set them near each other without leaves touching. They’ll still require space to expand. Each plant releases water that the others could use, and the humidity will increase over time.
Remember that this doesn’t fix an issue with low humidity levels, and you’ll require something to mist the plants with water. They will keep more moisture following this to keep the humidity above normal.
Since the plants in the planter are potted, you don’t need to worry about roots becoming entangled. Make sure that the leaves have ample space to receive light and humidity.
- Spray your plants with a spray bottle if you think they could use a boost.
The leaf edges with water. The added water will cause the humidity to rise, so your plant will receive fresh water immediately.
It is best for cuttings or seedlings that aren’t going to be in a position to absorb water through their roots. To keep humidity high for a long time, you’ll be required to monitor the humidity every morning to mist all the plants once more in case the humidity has dropped.
Misting doesn’t boost humidity too much, and you must do it regularly to keep the humidity levels.
It is best to mist the plants early in the morning to ensure the leaves don’t dry out during the day. So they won’t become too damp.
The plants absorb water through holes that are present on leaves. The majority of these holes are at the lower part of the leaf, so ensure you spray each leaf with mist.
- Cover the plants with bell cloches if you can’t get the humidity high enough.
Cloches are domes designed to manage the humidity and temperature of plants. You’ll need to buy one cloche per plant.
Place the plants in the domes, then take the ventilation holes and open each. Even when they’re closed, cloches can help hold more water.
A simple thing like a plastic bag could be used to hold in more humidity. Put them on seedlings, for instance.
If the grow tent you have is set up correctly, you will not require any cloches. Cloches are great for situations of emergency or situations where you need to increase the humidity quickly.
Some plants do very well under cloches. These include peas, carrots and radishes, and parsley.
In a tent for growing, high humidity is crucial.
For novice growers, the high humidity may sound scary. Learn from the experience of indoor growers. We’ve observed that high humidity levels in a grow tent are beneficial, particularly during growth.
Exposing your plants to a high humidity level will help them get the necessary nutrients to live.
Plants absorb water through their roots. However, they also take in more from their stems and leaves.
As we mentioned previously, plants could absorb water via water vapor released into the air through the small gap on the leaf’s surface, known as the stomata.
The plants won’t have the opportunity to receive enough water for their full growth and development when there’s a lack of humidity.
The Effects Of Low Humidity In A Tent On Tent Growth
Okay, let’s go over basic research! Plants utilize water to cool. They take in a great deal of water. Around 95% of it goes to the roots, which are the structure of the vascular system, and is finally left by the stomata. About 5% of the water is used to create new cells.
The combination of dry and high-temperature air results in a high vapor pressure difference between plant and air. Plants must exchange gases via the stomata.
Your plants will then be exposed to the harsh conditions common to the outside world. The plants try to absorb more water to combat dry effects. However, this makes it more difficult for plants to thrive.
Plants that grow stress themselves due to the additional pressure they put on their roots to take the water they need and to counter the humidity deficit.
Plant dehydration can also lead to the stomata opening and causing the plant not to be able to absorb more water.
Lower humidity levels make the roots absorb excessive amounts of water. However, it also adds extra nutrients that could cause burns to the leaves’ tips.
In addition, humidity deficiency can lead to the risk of desiccation of plants. The plant is vulnerable to the ravages of insects like molds, mildew that is white and powdery, and spider mites.
How Can Grow Tents And Relative Humidity Aid Plant Growth?
Utilizing a grow tent and using a climate controller will give you greater control over the growth of your plant’s environment. In addition to that, it can assist you in controlling the cycle of light.
In addition, increasing or decreasing the relative humidity is much simpler in a tent for growing with the smallest air volume.
A grow tent lets you take care of various plants throughout the year regardless of season, weather, conditions, or the climate zone. It also creates an ideal habitat for plants to take in nutrients.
The tent you put in your garden will assist in keeping dangerous elements like mold, mildew and insects, and parasites from causing damage to your garden.
However, everything will be contingent on the humidity in the tent for growing. This is why you should learn about different methods of increasing the humidity of your grow room or tent.
12 Simple Ways to Increase The Humidity In The Grow Tent
- Plants that are both mature and young should be combined.
It’s a popular belief that larger plants will get the sunlight, nutrients, and air from younger ones.
Contrarily, the humidity inside the grow tent increases when you begin adding plants, especially large ones, since they breathe more and generate more humidity.
When the larger plants breathe, they release water vapor and carbon dioxide and feed those smaller plants.
Larger plants feature larger leaves and have more stomata, which release more water vapor upon evapotranspiration. The growing plants will then use the water in the form of vapor.
The trick is not to overcrowd your larger plants so that your growing plants get their fair share of sunlight, air, and nutrients.
- Install humidity in the Grow Room.
The purchase of a humidifier is one of the most beneficial investments I’ve made. A humidifier can help increase humidity levels in the grow tent by creating an icy mist that is essential for developing your plant’s growth.
Based on the dimensions of your grow tent, increase the moisture amount of your humidifier to a minimum of 50 to 65 percent.
If your tent includes a top and bottom shelf, put the humidifier in the bottom to ensure it doesn’t directly mist onto the grow lights.
However, I must warn the reader that you should manage your humidifier because leaving it on full power in a tight space can cause excessive moisture to enter the air.
If you can, purchase the humidifier with an integrated humidistat that allows the device to close or break off according to your preferred humidity setting.
I strongly suggest buying a humidifier that can take up to six-gallon of water at one time and can run for a long time.
If you locate the most effective humidifier for your tent, it will assist you in regulating the temperature, airflow, and amount of moisture released.
- Make use of propagators’
Seedlings will naturally germinate by themselves. However, you can get more success in growing plants by increasing the humidity inside your grow tent by using propagators.
Watch how indoor growers safeguard their cuttings and seeds in propagators.
Utilizing propagators like this one with a cover and a polyethylene cover sheet such as a glass covering sheet can keep seeds from drying out.
They can maintain the humidity levels to a high level within growing tents. This will ensure that your seedlings don’t strain their root systems during their development and expansion.
- Create a Propagation Set-Up of Your Own
Here’s an experiment that has worked for me. I’ve purchased an extractor that can be adjusted and equipped with a thermostat that regulates the temperature by drawing air out.
Then I put the bucket of water over the top of my tent to grow. The water is then pumped to a humidifier by the pipe.
This technique is great for seeds and cuttings. The humidifier can increase the humidity of the grow tent by extracting cool-mist from your grow tent.
5. Put a damp towel or a water tray near the passive air holes.
One option to consider is hanging a damp towel or putting a pot of water in front of the intakes for air, which will make your walls misty and increase humidity. This permits a significant amount of moisture to get absorbed in the air.
However, a towel can tend to dry out quickly, and you’ll need to get it to keep it moist from the time periodically. Also, an empty pan or pot of water will not necessarily provide the humidity you want.
6. Remove half of your fluorescent lights.
The most popular solutions aren’t the ones that are most often overlooked. Reduce temperatures by removing the majority or more of the fluorescent tubes.
Be assured that the light intensity is not a concern because your plants will not require a lot of light.
7. Set the Extraction Fan to the smallest setting possible.
Ventilating your grow tent is crucial because it will help you control or manage the relative humidity of your plants. Proper ventilation makes certain that there’s an exchange of air into and out of the tent.
Additionally, fans help the air circulate and spread to the plants you grow. This means that you’ll avoid harmful microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi, from multiplying or remaining in the tent when there’s good air circulation.
I set my fan at a moderate speed to keep moisture in check at various stages of development. One word of caution: your air can dry quicker than usual if you run the fans to high speeds.
Setting the fans at high speed can prevent water vapor from falling onto the surfaces of your plant’s leaves to absorb.
In the end, the moisture is kept out of these plants. This may result in dehydration and even desiccation.
It is also possible to reduce the number of fans to increase the humidity inside your grow tent. I suggest setting the number of fans at 60% to guarantee adequate humidity.
8. Use the Water Spray Bottle to your benefit.
Growers are usually equipped with spray bottles. This should not be a problem. Another easy method is to spray water on the wall of your garden tent in the morning and evening.
9. Reduce the temperature within the immediate area.
The art of cooling the grow tent to increase water vapor is an essential skill for gardeners who live indoors, but it is a bit difficult when temperature control is required.
Be aware it is true that cold air sinks towards the bottom due to its density, which is higher than hot air.
A lower temperature generally implies that air has been humid and contains a significant quantity of water in the form of vapor.
Similar to that, reducing the intensity of ultraviolet light may aid in increasing the amount of water vapor, however only if it is enough to aid in the process of evaporation of water.
10. Consider purchasing a Swamp Cooler.
I use an occasional swamp cooler to regulate the temperature of the grow tent I have. The device can reduce the temperature of the air and increase the levels of humidity simultaneously.
It is used when the humidity is very low and exceptionally high temperatures.
11. Make sure you have enough water in your Grow Tent.
Another method to increase the amount of humidity in a tent for growing is to increase the amount of water you have available and then appropriately disperse them. I generally put water trays on top of an intake tubing for air or air hole that is passive.
Additionally, placing damp sponges on top of growing trays can be beneficial. The heat of a grow lamp or air conditioning system will slowly evaporate the water inside the sponges, bringing more humidity to your grow tent.
A gentle reminder to make sure you use clean water to keep harmful fungi or bacteria from living within the grow tent.
It’s a given that you avoid placing damp sponges close to lighting fixtures or fans to protect yourself. Grow bulbs and fans consume electricity and may short circuits if they contact water.
12. Install an Air Conditioner to Your Tent to lower temperatures
To achieve high levels of humidity inside the garden tent, the gardeners must increase the air conditioner’s temperature or decrease the heater’s temperature.
This may be expensive, but it’s an alternative to test if you’re exhausted by your options.
Conclusion
The high humidity levels in your grow tents are vital to the health and growth that your crops enjoy.
Be aware that controlling humidity requires considering other aspects of indoor gardening, like temperature, ventilation, and lighting.
Each of the choices I’ve listed above is economical, and you need to decide which one is most suitable for the circumstances of your grow tent.
You can purchase an air conditioner or humidifier, but you could also use the equipment commonly used at home.
Higher temperatures create a humid climate as cooler temperatures result in less moisture being absorbed by the air.
You may need to test various methods to boost the humidity inside the tent for you
