A grow room also known as a grow chamber in some circles is a space or room where plants are cultivated under conditions that are controlled. This control is to help provide the right atmosphere, condition, and nutrients for the ultimate growth of the plant. It can either be spelt grow room or grow room; both spellings refer to the same space.
There are many reasons why people use grow rooms, but the most popular reasons are (a) to grow plants that are not allowed by law (b) to have absolute control over the conditions of growth of the plant. For more information on setting up one for yourself, you can visit: https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/how-to-design-grow-rooms-for-your-plants/.
In this article, we are going to concentrate on basic facts about grow room ventilation,solet us get started.
Reasons Why You Need To Ventilate Your Grow Room
Plants that are cultivated outdoors enjoy a combination of sunshine, breeze, precipitation, and evaporation. So, when you plant anything indoors, you have to mimic these natural occurrences; you use fans to produce breeze and evaporation, watering or irrigation systems to mimic precipitation and artificial lights for sunshine. What people forget amid all these is that more air circulates naturally outdoors than in an enclosed space.
It is for this reason that you need to keep your cultivation chamber well ventilated. Thankfully, you can use an air extractor and fan to circulate the air in the room and keep it fresh. You may wonder why you need to go through that trouble; the following are the reasons why:
To Expel Excess Heat
The artificial lights that are used in grow rooms (rightly known as grow lights) discharge heat. This heat might seem like a small issue but just a little change in the required temperature can make the difference to your harvest. So, if you want your crop to do well, you have to remove unnecessary heat.
To Control Humidity
This is a major issue that can cause problems for your crops and all your well laid grow room plans. It has been proven that plants produce water vapor all day long and this increases humidity in the room. If the humidity level is not controlled, it would create a poor environment for growth. This in turn would lead to the development of diseases and pests.
With a good system of ventilation however, the water that is released in the process of transpiration is drawn away. This allows the plant to draw in more water and get more nutrients from the root system. This of course would enable the plant to grow optimally.
For the Prevention Of Diseases And Pests
Proper ventilation helps to stop the propagation of diseases and pests which is encouraged by powdery mildew, mold, fungus gnats, spider mites and humid conditions. Since damp topsoil is the perfect spots for pests to lay eggs, proper circulation of air would keep the topsoil in the space dry and prevent them from having a full reproductive cycle.
To Control CO2
Plants take in CO2 during the day and emit carbon dioxide at night; this is what makes up plant process of nutrition. So, you need proper ventilation to ensure that this cycle is unbroken for the plants to grow well and thrive.
Helps the Plants Develop Strong Stems
It is the stem of the plant that helps it bear the weight of its fruits. Since indoor plants do not have access to natural wind that would buffet them and strengthen their stems, they need proper circulation of air in the space for that purpose.
Ways to Ventilate A Grow Room
There are two types of fans needed in the setup of a ventilation system for the grow chamber: oscillating fans and air extractor fan. You can actually get a complete guide for the setup of this system, but we would drop a brief summary here.
Oscillating Fans
These types of fan are affordable and effective; they can be used to circulate air around the plants. Additionally, they are easy to set up and can also be moved around. Another great thing is that you can change the positions of the fans to know what works best for the plants. With these fans, the space is kept cool and properly ventilated.
One fan cannot get the work done because every nook and corner of the cultivation chamber must feel the effect of the fans. So, you have to get more than one fan and then ensure that they do not face any plant directly. This is because direct blowing on the plants can damage them. What you want to achieve here is a simulation of a gentle natural breeze.
Additionally, the fans will help to regulate the temperature of the room and the humidity level.
Air Extractor Fan System
The oscillating fan is just one element in the equation of maintaining optimal growth; you also need an air extractor system. This equipment would help to remove stale air from the room and bring in fresh air. With this combo, the plants would thrive as well as you desire.
The system can be set to extract the air at any interval that you deem right based on the size of oscillating fans that you have. The extraction can be per minute, 3-minute or 5-minuteintervals.
It is a good idea to design the ventilation system the same time that you are setting up the grow room. In fact, is recommended that you find out all that is required for ventilation before you even set up the room itself. This would help you save money as you would get all the components of the room and the ventilation system right from the get-go.
Conclusion
Using indoor space for cultivation of plant is something that is quite popular especially in urban areas where land for cultivation may not be readily available. In this article we have discussed why you need proper ventilation for indoor plants. We have also discussed how to ventilate a grow room. We hope this information helps you as you start out on your indoor gardening endeavors.
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