August Heat Wave Expected
August Heat Wave Expected
August Heat Wave Expected
So, I am sure that most people including growers and regular gardeners look forward to long sunny summer days. Of course its time to relax in the garden with your friends and family over a glass of beer or two. Possibly just doing some watering chores and making sure the greenhouse is well ventilated. However according to the weather forecast things are going to hot up in the August of 2021 here in the UK.
So, we have recently witnessed a good week of hot weather and we all know how uncomfortable it can be for us mere mortals. Spare a thought for the plants grown indoors. Good growing conditions require a temperature in the region of 28c! Hence to produce a good crop. However, things can become more unstable if the temperature reaches the 30C+ range outside. Our British homes are built to keep the cold out and the heat in with plenty of insulation. Unfortunately, during heat waves then the homes become stuffy and overheated. Thus making it difficult to sleep on sultry evenings.
Coincidently, plants feel the heat too and often stress out ending in a poor crop of fruit or flowers. The main problem in hot weather is of course the heat given off by the grow room lights. So, many people have their lights fitted with an adjustable ballast. Enabling the heat produced by the lights to be reduced. The ballast wattage can be turned down via its settings to reduce the amount of heat produced by the bulbs.
Importantly, the Lumatek 600w digital ballast provides a stable precise voltage to the lamp and is available online from your local Hydrostore.
LED to the rescue!
Of course the “rescue ship on the horizon! is going to be the LED lighting units. These units although expensive at the moment give off no heat. Therefore giving the grower more control over temperature. Smaller growers are already embracing this marvellous technology. Indeed I recently bought an LED lighting unit from a guy who claims to have had a double delivery. The unit was a bargain and was installed to give my citrus trees extended day light hours through Autumn to Spring. Thus enabling my citrus trees to carry on growing until they were put outside for the summer months.
The temperature was controlled by a greenhouse fan heater and all worked very well. As I have said these LED lighting units are more expensive to buy in the first place! However they pay for themselves because they actually use between 50 and 70% less electricity than the more traditional HPS bulb system.
Good Extraction System also helps
Of course most indoor growing set ups are fitted out with some sort of extraction system. These systems change the air in the growing room replacing warm air with cooler air. So, this combined with a control unit such as a GSE Controller will automate the process. So, as the temperature rises from outside conditions the system will start to work over time to keep the conditions more stable and the plants happier.
An extraction system reduces heat build up by drawing in cool air and then transferring warm air out of the growing area via ducting and a carbon filter. If you introduce a fan controller with temperature probe, your extraction system will automatically react to the temperature you set it too which also allows you to control you grow rooms temperature. Most plants hate to grow in a stuffy overheated environment and can cause growing restrictions leading to a poor quality crop of whatever you are growing.
So with the correct equipment in use then all should be well and the best results will be achieved.