Indoor How do I heat up my pot?

[Torched]

A new challenge, I'm starting my first LED run and my space will not be warm enough without the HID heating everything. I was going to do 4 x 5 gallon pots under a 3x3 space and want to keep the soil temps up. Of course I'm tapped for cash...as always.

I don't think I can manage a heater in my space and a dehum most likely will not be running all the time to keep everything warm.

I'm thinking heating mats under the pots but as far as I can tell the biggest is 2'ftx4 ft and getting two of them would be out of my price range. I also don't know if seedling mat can handle a big pot on it moving around.

What I'm imagining is a sand box ( i can get sand for free )and then burying a heating mat in the sand. Then put the pots a couple of inches deep in the sand to conduct the heat to the soil.

This seems like a pretty complicated solution. Anyone got a better idea about how to maintain soil temps?

 

[GoAuto6]

maybe something like this?
40' Electric Pipe HEAT TAPE Cable w/ Thermostat - New



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[Groff]

Why would you want to do that? Is it that cold? Plant roots like an environment far colder than above ground. High heat at the root zone is also an invitation for disease...

 

[Son of Hobbes]

What's the floor underneath your grow space? Cement floor? Carpet? Definitely would get the pots up off the floor. You've got the right idea with the sand and the heating mat, what you want to do is provide thermal mass for heating to be absorbed. I would look into getting some cheap 12 inch by 12" ceramic tiles and line your grow space (inside the tent or cab) floor with them. You could even put your heat mats on the tiles; the heat will transfer into them and they will help hold and maintain heat (this is a good reason why people put tile in front of their fireplaces in homes, or put brick or stone on the wall surrounding a fireplace.) You can usually find "spares" at your big hardware chains in a loose box for super cheap (like less than 50 cents per tile.) If your floor is concrete; you can still do this but put a piece of carpet or a rug underneath the space so that it creates a buffer between the concrete and your tent/tiles.)

Insulate the crap out of your grow space/tent. You can use batt insulation, blankets, styrofoam, basically anything that helps provide R-value to your space. R-value is the capacity of an insulating material to resist heat flow. The higher the R-value, the greater the insulating power.

Seal any drafts to the room where the space is closed. Seal windows with thick clear plastic (letting light in, keeping drafts out.) Consider any appliances or electronics that produce heat that might be getting piped away that could instead be directed towards your space. I have an electric dryer that I bought special attachment that vents the hot dryer air (filtered) into my basement instead of going outside (AWESOME in the winter time, but don't try this with a gas dryer or you will probably wake up at the pearly gates :Stones slap: )

Hopefully that helps a little? :smokebuds:

 

[Bromeo]

Hey bro have you tried a test run with the leds in there yet? Might not get as cold as you think.

 

[Torched]

@Goauto I've thought about that but I think they only come on at almost freezing. Maybe I can figure out how to adjust the temps on those. Any idea on adjusting the thermostats on those things?

@The Goff Yes average winter temps are 30-65 and anything below 50 is going to stop most soil activity. I was hoping to get them to about 60 degrees not hot enough for disease, I hope.

@Vaporhaizer They are off the floor on a pallet but my space is basically a tent in a dilapidated shed away from the house. The space is fairly large and I do not have the $$ to insulate it at this point which is kind of irrelevant because I vent directly into and out of outside, so the air I'm pulling in is cold. I'm also going to get a smaller fan so there is less air exchange to help this but at this point I don't think any substantial insulation can be done.

 

[GoAuto6]

I couldn't find anything that says....

 

[Torched]

@ Romeo no not yet I'm hoping to get set up this weekend though. I think my ventilation will keep it cold but maybe not the LED light is 5W diodes(400w/240w actual) so it should be warmer than a 3w light.

 

[Bromeo]

Torch I think you will be surprised.

 

[Torched]

You're giving me hope there Romeo guess I'll just see where the set up gets the temps. My first run I'm doing photos so hope fully the 12 hr cold won't be too bad.