E-mail - Grow Tent with LED in Garage

Thanks Doc for all of the great information, my grow tent is located in the garage and so the humidity levels can get rather high. I also had opened the lower screened vent flap in hopes that I could pull in some fresh air but now thinking about it, all I am doing is letting more humidity in. I did run my fan all day and was able to get the humidity down to 71% (10pt drop) and the indoor temp was at 85 degrees. I'll keep monitoring the levels and see what happens. my readings this morning were 84/64 which is a whole lot better. I think the readings yesterday were about 88/72 +/-






Another question that I had was about the light intensities of the Led Lamp. I have a 120watt Tri-Band Led that has a dimmer on it. I had run the lamp at full intensity at first but was getting what I was considering "High" temps near 90 degrees so I dialed back the intensity of the lamp to finally where I was yesterday, 81 degrees and 81% humidity. I then turned up the intensity to the lamp and turned on the fan and was able to get much better readings.(85/71) So here's my plan, close the screened vent at floor, run high intensity, run fan and watch my watering. What are your thoughts?
Thanks
You should keep the LED 2-3 feet above your plants and I'd recommend keeping it at the maximum intensity if you can, this will maximize growth and yields.  I only use a dimmer for a carbon filter, if you are growing in a smaller room, you can use the dimmer to have the fan blow less and the filter last longer.
Are you using a thermometer with a min. max setting?  I ask because I was growing some plants up in an attic once.  I had the lights on during the night since I figured it got hot during the day.  Every evening I'd go up and check on the plants, and the temperature was in the 80's or low 90's, high but ok.  The plants were not growing well, they were stretching between nodes and had big odd shaped leaves.  I put a thermometer up there and realized on sunny days, the attic temperature in the afternoon with the lights off was over 130F.  That is too high, and I had to move the plants to a new location. I was only checking a regular thermometer in the evening after it cooled off.

Now, if you are concerned about humidity and temperatures you can get a thermometer/barometer with a sensor to get your fan to turn on when the temperature goes over 85, and the humidity goes over 60, I would highly recommend that.  If you do not have problems though, you do not really need to do anything.

Good Growing,
Dr. E.R. Myers