Grow tent heating / strains for winter

[Goonie Goat]

Hi everyone
With winter just around the corner I'm interested in knowing how others keep their plants warm and happy (mainly for indoors) and which strains you run or plan on running through the cold months..

What I do is run a small 1000w oil heater, hooked upto the inkbird which will automatically switch on at 15°c then turn off at 20°c. Basically it's just to keep them happy through the nights as it often dips below 10°c here. As for strains well I'm pretty sure Blue Cheese is a solid strain for cold climates, as is Critical Mass which I've already grown out a few times no problemo..

I've heard autos do well in winter due to their ruderalis genetics, so that may be in the books when I've got the space

Then there's a strain I have read about called Friesland, which apparently grows in very harsh conditions/cold climates. So maybe it could be a good candidate for winter grows ...

Here's the heater which I use. Doesn't take up much space at all, perfect for the 5x5

Goldair Oil Column Heater

Great for medium to large rooms3 heat settings and adjustable thermostatOverheat protectionSafety tilt switchIntegrated carry handle

www.mitre10.com.au

Friesland Strain, would be interesting to see how low of a temperature they could deal with

Friesland

Friesland Indica x K-Dank

dutch-passion.com

 

[VinDeezle]

Being in seq Im lucky enough to grow out winter with no issues. In the dead of winter it's 11-21c on average here and that ends up 16-24 indoors, and maybe a little more in the tent which is in a closet.

I can imagine a few of the growers down in Tassie have a tough time though.

Have some autos I'll run over winter for shits and giggles (super silver haze from Synergy Automatic and purple haze from sensible seeds).

 

[Goonie Goat]

Being in seq Im lucky enough to grow out winter with no issues. In the dead of winter it's 11-21c on average here and that ends up 16-24 indoors, and maybe a little more in the tent which is in a closet.

I can imagine a few of the growers down in Tassie have a tough time though.

Have some autos I'll run over winter for shits and giggles (super lemon haze from Synergy Automatic and purple haze from sensible seeds).

Forgot about SAG, good to see they are still around, that gatorslade frost they had looked the goods back then

 

[Sun Ra]

Hi everyone
With winter just around the corner I'm interested in knowing how others keep their plants warm and happy (mainly for indoors) and which strains you run or plan on running through the cold months..

What I do is run a small 1000w oil heater, hooked upto the inkbird which will automatically switch on at 15°c then turn off at 20°c. Basically it's just to keep them happy through the nights as it often dips below 10°c here. As for strains well I'm pretty sure Blue Cheese is a solid strain for cold climates, as is Critical Mass which I've already grown out a few times no problemo..

I've heard autos do well in winter due to their ruderalis genetics, so that may be in the books when I've got the space

Then there's a strain I have read about called Friesland, which apparently grows in very harsh conditions/cold climates. So maybe it could be a good candidate for winter grows ...

Here's the heater which I use. Doesn't take up much space at all, perfect for the 5x5

Goldair Oil Column Heater

Great for medium to large rooms3 heat settings and adjustable thermostatOverheat protectionSafety tilt switchIntegrated carry handle

www.mitre10.com.au

Friesland Strain, would be interesting to see how low of a temperature they could deal with

Friesland

Friesland Indica x K-Dank

dutch-passion.com

I did a similar thing with an oil heater last two winters - lights on overnight helps with keeping the temps up too.

 

[VinDeezle]

Forgot about SAG, good to see they are still around, that gatorslade frost they had looked the goods back then

I made a mistake, they SSH autos not SLH and I got them from caveman ages ago. Ran the fat monkey (chimp glue), the gatorslade frost, purple Passion and some SSH from SAG and they were all pretty good tbh.

Was thinking about trying to get them in from US as the site is still up...the gatorslade frost was one of the nicest plants I've grown. Almost greasy to the touch and super terped out.

 

[Goonie Goat]

I made a mistake, they SSH autos not SLH and I got them from caveman ages ago. Ran the fat monkey (chimp glue), the gatorslade frost, purple Passion and some SSH from SAG and they were all pretty good tbh.

Was thinking about trying to get them in from US as the site is still up...the gatorslade frost was one of the nicest plants I've grown. Almost greasy to the touch and super terped out.

I was going to ask if they were from Caveman too. Got some BC mango seeds from him and all the fems hermed. Didn't really get any mango smelling plants either, all my leftover seeds all go into my 'hermie pile' which I probably won't grow out again

I did a similar thing with an oil heater last two winters - lights on overnight helps with keeping the temps up too.

I'd like to try lights on through the night but id be afraid of daytime light leaks

 

[Old fox]

1000w oil heater uses lots of electricity. Couple of heat mats on the floor covered with an old towel will retain some warmth at night. The mats only draw about 30w each. Place the pot/saucer on the towel(s). Larger greenhouse heaters are available, and I think(?) they draw about 100wto200w each.

 

[ED-209]

I was half thinking of grabbing one of these heat bars to boost temps a little if things get cooler before harvest date. Thought it might work well in a smaller tent where I can't use a domestic heater. I previously used a cheap $15 space heater in the 4x4 which sort of worked.

Hot Rods - A-Grade Hydroponics

Low wattage hot rods - These hot rods / heat bars are the safest and most cost effective option when needing to increase your greenhouse or grow room or grow tent temperature, especially during the colder months. They are easy to install and energy efficient, prevents root shutdown increases...

agradehydroponics.com

 

[Goonie Goat]

1000w oil heater uses lots of electricity. Couple of heat mats on the floor covered with an old towel will retain some warmth at night. The mats only draw about 30w each. Place the pot/saucer on the towel(s). Larger greenhouse heaters are available, and I think(?) they draw about 100wto200w each.

Oh I forgot to mention it's got 3 modes so the low mode draws about 300w, medium around 500w and 1000w full blast

But what I like about them is they stay warm for a while after they switch off. They work better with some airflow so I run it at the tent door with a gap so the negative pressure pulls the warm air through

 

[snapper]

I was half thinking of grabbing one of these heat bars to boost temps a little if things get cooler before harvest date. Thought it might work well in a smaller tent where I can't use a domestic heater. I previously used a cheap $15 space heater in the 4x4 which sort of worked.

Hot Rods - A-Grade Hydroponics

Low wattage hot rods - These hot rods / heat bars are the safest and most cost effective option when needing to increase your greenhouse or grow room or grow tent temperature, especially during the colder months. They are easy to install and energy efficient, prevents root shutdown increases...

agradehydroponics.com

I use these and they work well. Use 2 in a 5x5. Always have a fan blowing over the top of them to distribute heat better. Only uses 480w max.

 

[ED-209]

I picked up two Cultiv8 90cm 180w heater bar units recently. Look the same as the Hot Rods brand.

Was pretty happy to find this model from an interstate store. All the local shops only had the shorter 60cm or longer 120cm units. The 90cm is perfect for the 1.2x1.2 tent and 180w is decent.

So far so good, keeping temps up that extra few degrees which right now is essential - burr damn the single digit nights.

Looks like the best/safest setup for a tent. Better than using the dicky space heater which was more of firehazard and used a lot more juice

 

[med180]

I picked up two Cultiv8 90cm 180w heater bar units recently. Look the same as the Hot Rods brand.

Was pretty happy to find this model from an interstate store. All the local shops only had the shorter 60cm or longer 120cm units. The 90cm is perfect for the 1.2x1.2 tent and 180w is decent.

So far so good, keeping temps up that extra few degrees which right now is essential - burr damn the single digit nights.

Looks like the best/safest setup for a tent. Better than using the dicky space heater which was more of firehazard and used a lot more juice

I've been looking at these too. Currently I run 2 x 30x60cm heat mats, running 60w, this works but I worry about the thermostat going and cooking the roots.
Under all my tents are 10mm sheets of foam cell siso

 

[ED-209]

I've been looking at these too. Currently I run 2 x 30x60cm heat mats, running 60w, this works but I worry about the thermostat going and cooking the roots.
Under all my tents are 10mm sheets of foam cell siso

I had thought about insulating the tent a little. I've only got a thick tarp underneath. Good idea

 

[snapper]

Ive got Foilboard underneath the tent and surrounding area. Also, external panels against the tent walls. Works really well.
I also have a small fan running across my bar heater to distribute heat rather than the heat just rising.

 

[med180]

As far as easily accessible strains that don't mind the cold, I currently have a couple of @Old fox 's potgxpotg halfway through flower quite happy with no cold colouring in a tent with lights off temps dipping into single digits every night.
Also in the same tent I have original grape dragon clones powering along the same, though the s1 seed is untested as yet. while my ice cream king and bannana hammock x lilac diesel and others are going pretty autumn shades and are all a little slow...

 

[med180]

To put my climate in perspective... tomorrow's forecast is 1°- 9°.
Minus an extra 1° or so due to my altitude and I'm looking at less than 0 overnight with a max of 8 during the day

 

[Old fox]

To put my climate in perspective... tomorrow's forecast is 1°- 9°.
Minus an extra 1° or so due to my altitude and I'm looking at less than 0 overnight with a max of 8 during the day

Are you running HPS to create some warmth, during lights on? Or, migrate to QLD....lol

 

[med180]

Are you running HPS to create some warmth, during lights on? Or, migrate to QLD....lol

Just 300w led in a 90x90... but put in two 30w heat mats yesterday as they weren't going to cope after this next cold snap!

 

[Indy]

Maybe the two bar heaters that i purchased we're crap. Tried them both for couple of days, but there wasn't any noticeable difference in temp in a 1.5m tent. Went back to using a small oil heater.

 

[ED-209]

Maybe the two bar heaters that i purchased we're crap. Tried them both for couple of days, but there wasn't any noticeable difference in temp in a 1.5m tent. Went back to using a small oil heater.

Which size units did you go for?

Testing so far in my 1.2's - using the 180w/90cm heater I'm keeping night temps around 20c, whereas the other tent which I haven't powered up yet is crashing around 15c. I'm also running it during lights on and it's doing well to stay around 24c and boost humidity as well in veg.