Misting plants

[BlueNose]

Does heavy misting cause any ill effects to plants?

I have a 1000hps with an air cooled hood in the closet. I don't have any piping or inline fans so I'm using box and tower fans to pull air through the bedroom into the closet and out the door to the hallway. I'm holding off buying anything else since I'll be moving relatively soon not too mention the weather is cooling so I think I can manage for the time being while I wait for the clones to get bigger but wasn't sure if heavy misting (every 15-20 minutes) would have a negative impact on root growth since the plants are taking moisture through the leaves.

 

[dirtyolsouth]

Hi,

In general, if the clones are rooted and growing well you should never mist your plants with HID lighting on and a 1K can do lots of damage to plants with wet leaves! What are you misting them with and why are you misting them so often? Are they wilting? If so get them further from the light. If you have the plants close to your 1K with wet leaves, especially if they have been sprayed with nutes or any type of pesticide, fungicide, etc... it can severely heat stress your plant and even kill it in worse case scenarios. I learned the hard way a very long time ago. When you mist your plants with water or when you foliar feed you should turn off your HID lights, spray your plants including the bottom of leaves and then let them thoroughly dry before turning on the HID lighting again... and of course... if you spray with the lights on and don't have a safety glass over your bulb and you get some errant spray on your 1k it can make the bulb explode and that will ruin your evening for sure...

Happy Growing!

 

[BlueNose]

the plants are about 4 ft. from the glass of the hood. The temp. stays under 85 degrees(generally around 80) when I am misting so it's not blazing hot. I've been using plain water. They aren't wilting, they actually look great but misting is the only way I've found to keep the temp. down to where I want it.

Thanks for the reply dirty

 

[robbiegy2k]

Im no expert 'Gonna eat that' but thats a lot of sitting there misting! I'd be worried about the times I couldn't be there, whats happening when the moisture runs out? im guessing they'll start to stress, i'd certainly look at another way to get the temps down - small AC unit or even an osc fan to at least help with the air movement. What temps does the grow box/top of plants reach when your not misting? i've not used fluro's before but maybe it's worth you using these for the very early stages? I guess the box temps is going to be a problem throughout the cycle so depending on what your temps are when your not cooling them down it's probably something your going to need to address sooner or later. G'luck, hope they make it through and then start enjoying all that wattage!

 

[dirtyolsouth]

HI,

Cool... I'm glad to help. I don't think you're doing too much by misting. Some bugs like damp conditions and some like it dry so it's probably a toss up as far as attracting or discouraging pests. Temps around 80º-85º are acceptable for growing, especially during veg growth. As long as it doesn't get any hotter they'll be fine without all the misting. Just make sure that you water thoroughly when they need it and let them dry out well between watering so the surface is dry to the touch. And later when you get into flowering I suggest that you don't foliar feed or mist your plants once pistils begin to form. Spraying products in your buds during flowering can adversely influence the flavor and who knows what you'd be smoking...? And the moisture from foliar feeding/misting during flowering can also encourage botrytis (bud rot) to develop.

Peace!

 

[BlueNose]

robbie, I have flouro's for when I can't sit around and mist them or it's bedtime. If I don't mist the box will get to well over 100 degrees I would imagine....I haven't let it go so I'm not sure but with the heat that comes off the light I'll bet money that my plants will turn to dust without misting.

dirty, they seem to be doing good with the watering cycle I'm on. Definitely won't mist when they go to flower. The last/first grow seems to not have been affecting by misting although it was less necessary than this grow.

The reason I'm in a big rush is that I need to have these harvested before my school semester ends because I'm moving out of state and don't want to transport any plants. I figure they have 2 weeks before it's flower time and they'll need all the light I can give them.

thanks for the replies

 

[frankcos]

if your box is at 80-85 every twenty minutes when you spray then it should stay at 80-85 all the time.There is no way that misting those plants is cooling them off.It is just making it more humid in the box is all.You said you never let it go , maybe you should and see how hot it actually get.Skip a misting session or 2 and go back to see what the temps are.I think you are just babying your plants too much.If the heat is really that big of an issue you are going to have to ventilate better or get a smaller light.IMO

 

[BlueNose]

frankcos, the closet gets up to 80-85 but after misting it goes down to 75-76. I know the temps will go over 90 even on a cool day within 30 min. so I mist them before they get to that point, I just don't know how high it would peak. I have a fan in the window drawing cool air but it's too small to move much cfm so I have fans in the room blowing in to one side of the closet which gets some pretty good airflow. I think the misting is chilling the air when it leaves the closet.

I agree, I am babying them too much. I'm just trying to get the best bang for the buck since this will be a very short veg.

This is not the intended area for this light and it is far larger than what is needed. This makes the ventilation inadequate causing overheating, if I use my cheapo floro's then I won't get much growth. It's a double-edged sword