Do LED Grow Tents Need Ventilation?
LED grow lights are gaining popularity at a rapid rate. The cost to purchase LED grow lighting has become more reasonable over the past year, in my opinion. I remember looking at the price of LED lights a couple years ago and there was no way I was buying a large light back then!
Things have changed and now I am the proud owner of a 1000watt LED light that I purchased on Amazon and so far, so good. A great question came up the other day and I thought it was worthy of writing this article about whether LED grow tents need ventilation or not.
Most grow tents that seal properly will require ventilation. There are ways to get around having a full-blown inline ventilation system in your grow tent if you are using LED grow lights. If you are using HPS grow lights I recommend you get your ventilation hooked up.
For a really good growing experience, you want to know you are doing everything you can to ensure your yields are as large as possible, so, you will want to have some sort of ventilation hooked up. That is my usual answer however, there are some cases when you can get away without having any sort of ventilation system hooked up. I know this because I have done it. I will share with you when, why and how you can get away without using ventilation as well as when you should use it.
**This LED Grow Light is one of the ones I use for growing weed in a grow tent**
Do Grow Tents Need Ventilation, When Using LED or Other Grow Lights?
Today’s marijuana grow tents are manufactured knowing that your plants require a specific amount of time for light and for darkness. This means they have to seal well enough that no light leaks through when it should not be leaking through.
So, by default this means the air inside the tent will be stagnant if you have the tent zipped up all the time. To me, that means you should have some sort of ventilation system hooked up even if you are using LED grow lights.
If you have no ventilation, then mold can be a problem in your grow tent. It is obvious you do not want mold growing on your weed or even in the same room. It is not just a problem for your plants but if the mold becomes air-borne, that can be a problem for you and your family.
**This ventilation kit has everything you need to get started**
Now we know that some sort of ventilation system is a good idea for a grow tent. Personally, I have had a home made grow tent/box without any ventilation other than cracks between the pieces of drywall I screwed together to make small walls and when I opened the door or should I say piece of plywood.
A grow tent though is a whole other beast because as previously mentioned they are now manufactured to stop light from leaking in and out which also stops air from flowing in and out.
Keep reading though because I feel that sometimes you can get away without a ventilation system if you are using LED lights. If you are using any other light that throws off a lot of heat, then you must use ventilation, or you will be sacrificing the weed plants to the heat in the tent.
Let us now look at some other items you might be concerned with if you find yourself in this situation.
How often Should You Run an Exhaust Fan in a Grow Tent?
Firstly, I have a more extensive article on this subject which can be found HERE. Please check it out when you are done reading this one.
Exhaust fans are measured by how much air they move. You are probably familiar with the acronym CFM. This stands for cubic feet per minute. So, if a ventilation fan is rated as 455CFM, you can expect the fan to move 455 cubic feet of air every minute.
If you have a grow tent that is 4’ x 2’ by 5’ tall the tent when set up contains 4x2x5 = 40 cubic feet of air at any given moment. This means my example of a fan size above is way too big for this size of a tent. That also means you can purchase something smaller for a vent fan. There, I have just saved you some money.
To answer the question of how often you should run your exhaust fan, I would say replacing the air a few times an hour is sufficient. That is my preference, though. It will depend on how much moisture you have in the tent. More moisture would mean running your fan more often.
You will want to consider the temperature inside the tent as well as the humidity and running the fan too often or too little can affect those measurements. This means as you adjust your ventilation fans you will also have to adjust heaters and humidifiers. You probably thought this was going to be much easier.
I have an excellent article on grow tent temperatures and humidity HERE.
It is not that hard really, just go slow. I would err on the side of running the vent fans less often at first until you see what works best in your neck of the woods.
Do I Need a Fan in My Grow Tent? (A Stand-Alone Fan)
Aside from the fans built into your ventilation systems, do you need a fan sitting inside the grow tent? Yes, it is always recommended to have air movement coming from a fan inside the tent.
A separate fan continually blowing helps to strengthen your plants stalks as well moves the air around, improving your ventilation system. There can always be dead spots of air movement in your tent and this is an excellent way to fix that problem. Dead spots can harbor mold and pests and you do not want that either.
Even if it is a small fan, it is worth the effort and investment.
**Here is a small fan that can clip onto your grow tent poles**
Does a Carbon Filter Have to Vent Outside?
If you have decided that your LED grow tent setup needs ventilation the next couple of questions are how, do you, set up the vent system and do you have to vent the carbon filter outside.
Personally, I feel it is a matter of preference and whether you have snoopy friends and neighbors. The whole idea around using a carbon filter is to mask the smell of your weed plants.
I have an excellent article on how to not stink up the house with your weed plants that can be found HERE.
Conclusion
LED grow tents will not generate as much heat as other types of grow lights and they also, it won’t use up as much power. Those are a couple of the things that make LED grow lights an excellent piece of equipment to use on your next grow.
If you plan on having your grow tent closed almost all of the time, then you might consider hooking up some ventilation as the air will be stagnant and as mentioned earlier you could potentially end up with a mold issue.
The one thing I like about grow tents is they come with the holes for vent kits so instead of tying those up you could just leave them propped open for fresh air circulation.
Depending on how much time and effort you spend on your plants, if you are monitoring the heat and humidity, those are other things to consider when thinking of using a LED grow tent.
At the end of the day, however, having a ventilation system hooked up in your LED grow tent is not necessary, especially if you are just growing one or two plants at a time.
As you grow more and more, you can slowly invest in more equipment to improve your growing experience and the yields you produce.
Good luck!
Related Growing Marijuana World Articles