In this article we’re going to talk about what to do your indoor crop during the summer, especially in hot areas where the temperatures can reach startling heights. Generally, people tend to stop growing in the summer because it can cause issues such as bad buds, hermaphroditism and dietary issues such as deficiencies and stains on the leaves. Keep in mind that in colder places such as the UK summer isn’t nearly as horribly hot as places such as Spain.
You can, however, take various measures to ensure you can keep growing in the summer, you just need to understand a bit more about how plants work. Plants need CO2 during the day to correctly perform photosynthesis and for the cells to reproduce; at night time they absorb oxygen and they release CO2.
When you turn the lights off, the temperature indoors will reach the same as the temperature outdoors, wherever you’re getting the air from. When the lights are on, however, the temperature can get quite high so you’ll need to constantly renew the air in the grow room or grow tent so that the air doesn’t get too hot and it should sit, at most, at the same temperature that the air from the outside is at.
The perfect temperature for indoor plants is around 25º because at that temperature your plants will be able to deal with the CO2 in the surrounding air which is at about 400 PPM, and for it to stay this way you need to constantly renew the air in your grow so that it doesn’t get too hot and your plants have enough breathable air.
What happens when the temperature outside your grow reaches temperatures of 30-35º? Your plants can put up with much higher temperatures as long as you give them the right amount of CO2, from 1000 to 1800 ppm and this actually makes for better quality and better yields than when growing at 25º.
Your plants will breathe much better if you give them more CO2, growing more cells at a much faster space and easily absorbing important nutrients from the soil. Humidity will also rise quite a bit, as the plants will begin evaporating more water so you’ll need a dehumidifier.
You can also keep temperature under control by using an air conditioner, meaning that when the lights are on you won’t need to use the air extractor at all. All you’ll have to do is turn the extractor on at night, or whenever your plants have their lights out stage so that they can get oxygen and new air.
Another thing you can do is grow using low consumption lights or LED screens. By using CFL lighting systems you can get out of a tight spot during the summer although don’t expect an amazingly big yield as they have less power than other kinds of lights. You can grow in a SCRoG system to make the most out of the light, as it works well for the tips of the branches but its light doesn’t penetrate all the way to the bottom.
LEDs are more or less the same but you’ll get much more out of the wattage than with low consumption ones – if you open your plants up by training them with a SCRoG mesh then you’ll be able to get the most out of your LED lights.
Once it starts cooling down again, you don’t need to put away your summer lights as they can be used to back up your stronger winter lights along the sides of your grow, making for more of a yield.
So, if you’re an indoor grower and you hate having to pack it up during the summer because of the heat, you can use some of these tips and keep that grow going all year long. If you have any questions, suggestions or ideas don’t hesitate to leave a comment and out team of experts will get back to you as soon as possible. Happy growing!
Translation: Ciara Murphy
