Cannabis plants thrive in a fresh and breezy environment. If you’re cultivating cannabis indoors, you have the luxury of controlling the air circulation and utilizing your exhaust system to establish an ideal indoor environment for your garden, miming the natural environment for Cannabis grow room ventilation.
Creating a favorable growing environment entails replicating the most favorable aspects of nature. This guide will demonstrate cultivating healthy cannabis plants by establishing the perfect environment. By following this air circulation and exhaust tutorial, you can recreate an environment that will help your cannabis plants flourish while preventing certain types of pests and mold. Proper ventilation will boost the growth rate and yield of your cannabis plants by venting out the heat generated by your grow lights and bringing in the fresh air. Investing in good ventilation is a smart choice, as it pays for itself over time.
Tips to Make The Perfect Growing Environment
To keep your grow tent cool, expelling hot air out is usually more effective than pushing cool air in. Similar to a computer fan, which always points outwards.
An exhaust fan is crucial for maintaining your grow area’s ideal temperature and humidity levels. While small fans can circulate the air, they can’t reduce overall temperature or humidity. A good exhaust fan, on the other hand, can facilitate air movement, remove hot air, and draw in the fresh air. Therefore, if you can only afford one fan, investing in a good exhaust fan can perform both functions is best.
For large plants or grow lights that emit a lot of heat, powerful fans are necessary to move the humid air. The constant water vapor release from the leaves raises the humidity levels, necessitating a strong breeze to circulate the air and prevent mold growth.
To eliminate odors from your cannabis plants, connect your exhaust fan to a carbon filter. This is the most common method to prevent the smell from permeating the surrounding area.
You can create a great ventilation system without investing much time, money, or effort. Various cheap and stealthy options are available to you, and many window exhaust options are virtually undetectable from the outside.
Why is Air Circulation Important?
Indoor cannabis plants are typically grown in sealed environments such as closets, tents, or dedicated grow rooms. However, this lack of wind indoors can cause problems not experienced when growing outside. In outdoor settings, plants benefit from natural breezes that provide fresh air, helping them grow faster and stronger by facilitating photosynthesis through a steady supply of CO2. Additionally, air movement helps protect plants from pests and molds.
Good air circulation and an exhaust system provide various benefits, including protection against mold, bud rot, and white powdery mildew. They also protect against pests such as fungus gnats and spider mites. Moreover, air movement strengthens plant stems by allowing them to bend and sway, similar to natural conditions. This results in better control of heat and humidity, leading to faster growth and bigger yields.
Air blowing over the leaves carries away moisture released during transpiration, allowing plants to absorb more water and nutrients from the roots. Consistent moisture removal from the leaves also significantly reduces the risk of mold, bud rot, or white powdery mildew.
Having good air circulation and an exhaust system in your indoor cannabis growing environment provides several benefits, including protection against mold, bud rot, and white powdery mildew. The air blowing over the leaves carries away moisture, which helps the plants drink more water and pull in more nutrients at the roots. This regular moisture removal on the leaves also greatly reduces the chance of running into a mold, bud rot, or white powdery mildew.
Moreover, air flowing over the plants and soil fights against nasty garden pests like spider mites and fungus gnats by making it hard for them to fly and drying out the top layer of soil. A breeze creates a lot of air circulation over the plant containers, keeping the soil’s top layer relatively dry, and making it difficult for pests like fungus gnats to breed. Thus, growers with good air circulation tend to get fewer pests, whether inside or outside.
In addition, great air circulation combined with an exhaust system helps disperse water vapor and heat evenly throughout the growing space. Small oscillating fans blowing above and below the plant canopy equalize the air, so no hot or humid spots exist. An exhaust system regularly replaces all the air in the grow space, keeping the plants cool and providing them with a fresh supply of CO2 in the right humidity. Plants must be exposed to fresh, moving air for the best growth rates.
Lastly, a nice breeze strengthens stems by allowing them to bend and sway, similar to how they would in nature. This strengthens over time, which comes in handy when plants get big and heavy from buds.
How Does the Exhaust System Work?
In a typical cannabis grow room, an exhaust system consists of one or more exhaust fans, ducting, and a carbon filter. The exhaust fan(s) draw hot and humid air from the grow room and exhaust it outside, while the carbon filter helps remove unwanted odors. Ducting connects the exhaust fan to the carbon filter and vents the air outside.
An exhaust system is important for several reasons. Firstly, it helps to regulate the temperature and humidity within the grow room. High temperatures and humidity can cause stress to the plants and create a favorable environment for mold and pests. By removing hot and humid air from the grow room, an exhaust system can help maintain optimal plant growth conditions.
Secondly, an exhaust system helps to control the odor produced by the plants. Cannabis plants emit a strong odor during the flowering stage, which neighbors or passersby can detect. Using a carbon filter in the exhaust system removes the odor before the air is vented outside. This helps to keep the growth operation discreet and prevent unwanted attention.
Thirdly, an exhaust system promotes air circulation within the grow room. Fresh air is important for plants to grow and thrive. A good exhaust system ensures that fresh air is constantly being brought into the grow room, which helps replenish the CO2 levels and remove stagnant air that can lead to molds and pests.
How to Set Up an Exhaust System for Indoor Cultivation
Materials needed:
Inline exhaust fan
Carbon filter
Ducting
Clamps
Screwdriver
Drill (if necessary)
Mounting hardware (if necessary)
Steps:
Determine the location for your exhaust system. Ideally, it should be placed at the top of your grow space to remove the hottest air first. If you have a tent, most tents have an opening at the top for an exhaust system.
Decide on the size of your inline exhaust fan. This will depend on the size of your grow space and the heat generated by your grow lights. Generally, you want to exchange the air in your grow space once every 3-5 minutes.
Choose a carbon filter compatible with your inline exhaust fan. Carbon filters are necessary to remove the smell of cannabis from the air before it exits the grow space.
Attach the ducting to your inline exhaust fan using clamps. The ducting should be long enough to reach your exhaust system to the carbon filter location.
Attach the carbon filter to the end of the ducting using another clamp.
Attach another length of ducting to the other end of the carbon filter. This ducting will carry the filtered air out of the grow space.
If necessary, drill holes or use mounting hardware to mount your inline exhaust fan in the chosen location.
Plug in your inline exhaust fan and test the system to make sure it is working properly.
Adjust the speed of the inline exhaust fan to maintain the desired temperature and humidity levels in your grow space.
Replace the carbon filter as needed to ensure that the smell of cannabis is adequately filtered out.
