What Are The Cheap Ways To Lower Humidity In Grow Tent?

by Lee Safin

Have you ever experienced a situation like excessive humidity level in your grow tent suddenly? Or something like bud molds or a fungal disease on the plant leaves? What could be the reason?

So, what Are The Cheap Ways To Lower Humidity In Grow Tent?

Reducing overwatering, damprid moisture absorbers, creating air holes, using foam isolation, restricting plant density and etc are the cheapest ways to lower humidity in grow tent.

According to most garden experts, these issues occur when your grow tent has a high humidity level. Fortunately, many effective, simple, and low-cost solutions are available to address this issue. Growers got success by keeping a balanced moisture level inside the grow room.

You have already lashed out to set up a grow tent and plant several plants. Now, you are looking for the most inexpensive way to lower humidity. So, what are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?

In this article, we will shine some light on “What are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?” Keep scrolling!

What Are The Cheap Ways To Lower Humidity In Grow Tent?
What Are The Cheap Ways To Lower Humidity In Grow Tent?

What Are The Cheap Ways To Lower Humidity In Grow Tent?

Lowering humidity means reversing the situation from higher humidity. Humidity doesn’t arise randomly. A reason exists for that. So different people will utilize other solutions based on the problem.

So, you are here to know about “What are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?” Here we are mentioning some cheap ways to reduce humidity in grow tents.

1. Say No To Overwatering!

Everything has perfection, and so do watering plants. Growers often end watering their plants excessively. They believe more water means more growth. Instead, it could harm plants heavily.

Plants fail to intake oxygen and nutrition when water is accumulated on the root area. At worst, it may kill plants.

2. DampRid Moisture Absorber

DampRid Hanging Bag, Moisture Absorber, Pack Of 3 (16 Oz. Ea.), 3 Pack, Blue
DampRid Hanging Bag, Moisture Absorber, Pack Of 3 (16 Oz. Ea.), 3 Pack, Blue

Higher humidity implies higher moisture. So, reducing moisture levels helps you to reduce the humidity level.

One effective product you can use is DampRid Hanging Bag Moisture Absorber. It quickly absorbs moisture. Also, the product removes the odor.

If your grow tent is huge, use several packs. One won’t be enough. Make sure to follow the product label to apply the right quantity.

3. Create Air Holes

Making some holes around the grow tent allows free airflow. The moisture inside the grow room moves to outside.

So, the chance of condensation occurring reduces. It ultimately decreases humidity. A perfect humidity level is achieved.

4. Use Foam Isolation

The outside environment of a grow tent affects the inside environment if the wall is thin. You can use foam isolation to make the tent wall thick.

Hence, the outside environment won’t be able to do any harm to your plants. But make sure your plants have balanced insulation to achieve a reduced humidity level.

5. Defoliate Plants

Large plants have large leaves. These massive leaves create more water vapor in the atmosphere. Simply cutting few leaves will reduce the humidity to a certain level.

6. Grow Bulbs

While choosing anything for grow tents, be cautious. Grow lights or bulbs create sufficient lights inside the room.

These bulbs generate a particular heat that may raise the overall temperature of your grow tent. Increased temperature means higher humidity. So, limit using grow bulbs. Choose to grow lights that generate low heat.

7. Bi Carbonate Soda

Wondering how to lower humidity in a grow tent (without spending a ton?) Here is the solution.

Bi Carbonate Soda is another effective yet low-cost option for reducing humidity. The product attack and absorb water molecules from the atmosphere.

It will make the surrounding environment drier by decreasing moisture subsequently. Be sure to use the right level to prevent harming your plants.

8. Enough Ventilation

An effective and balanced ventilation system reduces humidity levels significantly. So, how do you achieve this?

Since grow tent is a closed area, there won’t be any ventilation naturally. You have to utilize an exhaust fan or similar fans to ensure sufficient airflow inside the grow tent.

9. Eliminate Stagnant Water

A perfect drainage system is essential to stop stagnant water. Otherwise, water may be accumulated in various areas of the grow tent.

This will promote excessive moisture. Also, it may invite various bacteria and pests inside the grow room.

So, getting rid of the still water soonest is your responsibility. Do it by ensuring a free flow of the drainage system. Extra water will go this way.

10. Use Water-Absorbent Soil

Several soils are available in the market that can absorb moisture. One of them is Loam Soil. It works effectively. Its water absorbing capacity is up to 2 inches per hour.

Another one is Clayey Soil. It is highly powerful in absorbing moisture from the soil. You can directly apply them to the plant area and reduce condensation. This will lower humidity too.

11. Restrict Plant Density

The area of a grow tent is limited. Excessive plants make the room crowded. Hence, more carbon dioxide is generated, and thus it increases the moisture level too.

Higher moisture increases humidity. Ultimately, the number of water vapors inside the grow tent boosts.

Therefore, don’t plant too many plants in a restricted area. Keep enough distance among them. Avoid densing plants.

So, these are effective ways you can follow if you are wondering about “What are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?”

Why Lower Humidity In Your Grow Tent?

First of all, you should have a clear idea of what humidity is. A high correlation exists between water vapors and humidity. The higher the humidity level, the greater amount of water vapor is surrounded the atmosphere.

Plants can only bear a particular level of humidity. When it exceeds the level, it will harm them in many ways. As per most experts, when the temperature is between 20 to 30C or the humidity level is lower than 70%, it is a favorable condition for plants.

Here are a few probable problems you will notice on your plants inside a grow tent for higher humidity.

Pests & Diseases

You may see microbes or pests on your plants for increased humidity. Therefore, it will ultimately cause fungi, powdery mildew, parasites, etc. Taking action against humidity may eliminate these problems.

Metabolism Impact

Plants live by taking Carbon-di-oxide from their surrounding environment. A higher level of humidity prevents them from taking CO2 peacefully.

Lack of CO2 consumption causes disruption in the photosynthesis process. Therefore, their capability to synthesize and transform substances into energy is heavily affected.

Flowers And Buds Rotting

A risk arises for plant existence due to excessive humidity. Sensitive parts of plants are affected heavily. Stem, flowers, buds, etc., are the most delicate components.

High humidity makes scope for the growth of bacteria and fungi. It will ultimately cause rotten flowers and buds.

Restriction Of Growth

Plants thrive best in their favorable environment. A balanced humidity promotes the maximum possible growth.

Excessively high or low moisture prevents plants from growing in their fullest manner. So, ensure proper moisture for plants.

Inadequate Water Consumption

The root is the main way a plant absorbs water. Excessive humidity already created higher water vapors. That’s why plants fail to evaporate the water.

Hence, the required level of water consumption drops. It will affect plant health in a long manner.

Poor Plant Yield

The metabolic activities of plants are compromised due to higher or lower humidity levels. It results in poor plant yield.

Whether you want to get flowers or fruits from plants, a balanced humidity level is essential. Control humidity to maximize crop production.

How To Raise The Humidity In A Grow Tent?

Aside from knowing “What are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?” Having sufficient knowledge on how to raise the humidity in a grow tent is necessary.

Yours grow tent plants thrive best when you ensure a perfect level of humidity. Research showed 60% relative humidity is essential for plant growth.

But it is not easy-going, especially for grow tents. Here are some effective ways you can follow to increase humidity in a grow tent.

Step 1 – Reduce the Surroundings Temperature

Warm air requires a high amount of moisture to become saturated, while cold air does not. As a result, the humidity level increases if the temperature reduces.

However, exceedingly lowering the temperature is not your goal. Relative humidity should be achieved. It boosts plants growth. Also, you keep plants healthy and disease-free.

Plants require different temperatures based on their life stage and type. Let’s see them through a table:

Plant Type Ideal Temperature
Seedlings 73° F (23° C)
Vegging 70° F (20°C)
Flowering 65° F (18° C)

Step 2 – Use Water

More water means more humidity. Place a bowl of water on your grow tent floor. The water will move to the air gradually and increase the humidity of the surrounding area.

Alternatively, hanging one or two wet towels in the grow room is another effective option. Since it is a manual approach, it requires monitoring and controlling. Refill the bowl or re-wet towels after a certain time.

Step 3 – Setup a Humidifier

Setting up a humidifier is the best approach if you want effective results. It diminishes your efforts too. All you do is place a humidifier inside the grow room and let it do the job. Adding water to the water tank when it runs out is the only thing you have to do.

A lot of humidifiers are available in the market for grow tents. In what ways can you determine which option is best for you? Considering a few essential factors is important while choosing a quality humidifier.

Choose an automatically operated humidifier that automatically turns off when the optimal humidity is achieved. Also, it will automatically turn on if the humidity level drops to the ideal level. It reduces hassles. Isn’t it?

Additionally, choosing a large capacity is better. It lessens the hassle of filling water quickly. Up to 6-gallon tanks are accessible in the marketplace. But you should consider your grow tent compatibility and size regarding this.

Step 4 – Limit Ventilation

Ventilation is essential for plants. But too much ventilation reduces the humidity excessively. The procedure works by absorbing more water from the surroundings. It reduces the moisture inside the grow tent and makes it dry.

If your grow tent is too much hot, using fans is necessary. But make sure it doesn’t make the atmosphere too cold. Reducing the fan speed is one way to lower the ventilation. It will extract air more slowly.

Step 5 – Perfect Fan Setting

Aside from reducing fan speed, setting up the fan in the perfect spot is essential. It ensures sufficient airflow. You achieve a balanced humidity.

Air is distributed equally in each corner of the grow tent through circulation. It prevents the growth of mites, fungus, and bacteria. Hence, you ensure healthy development.

Step 6 – Add Some Larger Plants

Larger plants have massive leaves that release more water vapors than small leaves. This is achieved through the respiration procedure. As a result, moisture level increases, and so does the humidity level.

Add some larger plants inside the grow tents to increase the humidity. Keep enough gaps between plants. Avoid adding too much larger plants as they may raise the humidity overly. Maintain a balance.

Why Extreme Humidity Is Not Good For Plants Health?

Like human beings, a plant has many parts, such as roots, branches, stems, leaves, etc.

On the lower side of the leaves, there are stomata. The stomata have many tiny pores or holes from where plants release their water molecules in the form of vapor into the air.

Two vapor pressures are associated with plants. One vapor pressure is with the atmosphere, and the other one is with the plant itself. The whole process is called VPD.

Plants need to adjust themselves between two pressures. They do it through their tiny pores under the leaves.

So, why is extreme humidity not good for plants’ health?

When humidity level increases, plants fail to intake the appropriate amount of water through the roots and other parts. This slows down the photosynthesis process and also plant growth.

No nutrients are being pulled up from the roots to the plant. It causes your plant not only to be hot but get a fungal disease and lack of growth. The reason is that it is not consuming nutrients via the roots. You will have undernourished plants because the natural process isn’t working.

So, what happens when the grow tent has a high temperature and high humidity? Your plant will face difficulty breathing and transpire. Also, other issues will pop up.

What is the transpiration process?

Transpiration is the process by which the plant sucks up nutrients and water through the roots and veins and releases water vapors through its stomata.

When the humidity level is extremely high, the transpiration process becomes slow. In such a case, you want to limit water to the plant and give less fertilizer.

How Do You Measure The Humidity In A Grow Tent?

Each indoor grow tent comes with a hygrometer. It allows you to take the correct measurement of your tent humidity level. People also call it a humidity meter.

A hygrometer features a digital display that tells you the correct humidity level of your grow tent. Some advanced humidity meters tell the probable humidity for a particular time.

The display shows both the current humidity level in percentage and temperature. They have a built-in adjusting system to read the surrounding air humidity level.

How to Use a Hygrometer to Monitor Indoor Humidity?

It is essential to have adequate knowledge on how to use a hygrometer to monitor indoor humidity. Since most of us use digital hygrometers for measuring humidity, we don’t need to calculate anything.

All you need to do is hanging the hygrometer one meter away from the floor of the grow tent. A digital hygrometer takes only 3 minutes to measure temperature and humidity levels in a particular area.

For example, you can use ThermoPro TP63, which is a digital hygrometer. Using it for outdoor and indoor purposes doesn’t pose any risk. So, using it for grow tent seems convenient.

The best thing is that it can measure humidity in four various locations. You can even set it up to 60 meters from the ground.

Apart from providing the current humidity level, it stores the last 12 hours’ humidity level. So, you know how your grow tent is doing.

How To Reduce Indoor Humidity Without A Dehumidifier?

A dehumidifier is one of the best options to reduce indoor humidity. However, if you want just slightly to lower humidity, you can do it without a dehumidifier. Here are the ways:

  • Install several fans to ensure sufficient ventilation inside the room.
  • Use air conditioning to decrease the humidity level.
  • Hang several wet cloths in your indoor.
  • Keep the window open so that adequate airflow is ensured.
  • Don’t keep too many plants with large leaves as they release water vapors heavily.
  • Make sure no excessive moisture is entered through holes or cracks of walls.

Summing Up

So, are you still wondering about this question:  what are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?

Keeping the right humidity level is pretty basic to ensure proper plant growth and save it from illness. Instead of higher or lower humidity, keep it balanced.

We have already shared several effective ways of lowering humidity. Just stick to them. You will get satisfactory results. Hopefully, we got you covered on “What are the cheap ways to lower humidity in grow tent?”

Last update on 2023-01-28 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

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About Lee Safin

Lee Safin was born near Sacramento, California on a prune growing farm. His parents were immigrants from Russia who had fled the Bolshevik Revolution. They were determined to give their children a better life than they had known. Education was the key for Lee and his siblings, so they could make their own way in the world. Lee attended five universities, where he studied plant sciences and soil technologies. He also has many years of experience in the U.S. Department of Agriculture as a commercial fertilizer formulator.

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