Today the Solar Storm arrived. I've installed it in the tent, and have been running an environmental test for the last 3 hours, to continue all night. So far, with the Solar Storm on, and the dehumidifier cranked all the way down, the heat rises to a high of 95*F, while maintaining a low humidity of 35%. With the dehumidifier not running, the temperature seems stable at 91*F. Both are within the optimal CO2 temperature range, so I am happy about that.

I will likely have to use a heater during the night cycle to keep temperatures within 5-10*F of the high temp when lights are off to decrease internodal distances. Since this is my first CO2 grow, would that indicate a night time optimal temp of 80-80*F?

Any opinions on that would be appreciated. Thanks!

Nice looking setup. Maybe SME can help with CO2. I've never used it.

Thanks RKY! I'm hoping that it will perform as as good as it looks.

Everything is ready to go now, except the drain which is still giving me troubles. It's backing up like something is stuck down there, however the house is 2 years old and the drain was capped in the basement until I started using it for hydro drain. I have someone coming over to take a look at it this morning, and I am crossing my fingers I don't have to pay an actual plumber.

All environmental systems have been installed including a carbon filtered air circulation system, oscillating fan #1 and a humidifier on the right hand side. The dehumidifier, CO2 monitor and 2nd oscillating fan are tucked on the left side of the grow module.

If I can get this plumbing problem worked out I will be fully in operation... except of course my seeds which I was planning on a week ago. With the early arrival of the solar storm, I am now officially quite behind schedule. This is not ideal, as I will have less than an entire grow cycle with which to evaluate the light. I'll have to decide mid-way through flowering if I should send the light back and retrofit the grow to house 1000k HPS, or keep the light.

Truthfully I'll probably keep the SS880 unless I am severely disappointed. The entire grow is built around it, to change to HPS would also require ducting, a 2nd inline fan, in addition to the hood-ballast-lamp combo. I would also not receive the benefits of UV lighting without adding supplemental fixtures.

In the end, I guess we'll see. That's the purpose of this built, to test and evaluate. Thanks again for stopping by!

rkymtnman wrote:Nice looking setup. Maybe SME can help with CO2. I've never used it.

As a matter of fact, I do have opinions on CO2 use. FCG-Frank used CO2 on his journal here as well...

MissingCow wrote:Today the Solar Storm arrived. I've installed it in the tent, and have been running an environmental test for the last 3 hours, to continue all night. So far, with the Solar Storm on, and the dehumidifier cranked all the way down, the heat rises to a high of 95*F, while maintaining a low humidity of 35%. With the dehumidifier not running, the temperature seems stable at 91*F. Both are within the optimal CO2 temperature range, so I am happy about that.

I will likely have to use a heater during the night cycle to keep temperatures within 5-10*F of the high temp when lights are off to decrease internodal distances. Since this is my first CO2 grow, would that indicate a night time optimal temp of 80-80*F?

Any opinions on that would be appreciated. Thanks!

Personally, I think 95F is a bit higher than I'd suggest. 90-91 seems more reasonable and there could be an added benefit when using LED lights according to one theory about why LED lights aren't keeping up with bigger HID lights. Some have speculated that higher temps (when flowering) might make up for less IR while using LED lights. Vegging plants can also take more humidity.

With increased daytime temps you could also increase the night time differential to 10-15F less.

Even with supplemented CO2, I would suggest keeping plants flowered under LED as short as possible due to penetration issues. I would start flowering at the 10-12" mark, personally. Flowering plants that are 2-3 feet tall at the end will be pushing it for the current gen LED lights to penetrate well.

If you have questions, ask away. I'm sure somebody will be able to help you out...