![9 Ways to Fight the Freeze [Winter Health Check]](https://assets.growell.co.uk/media/gene-bluefoot/cache/755x302-center-zoom/b/l/blog_winterhealthcheck.gif)
9 Ways to Fight the Freeze [Winter Health Check]
Winter’s coming…
You know what that means - bad weather and cold conditions for your plants.
Here’s a 9 step health check that’ll really help you fight the freeze.
1. Monitor day & night temperatures


You can do this with a Temperature and Humidity Meter.
Make sure you position the probe in a suitable location, such as:
- In the shade at the base level of your plants
- Inside ducting
Your target temperature should be between 24oC and 28oC (during the day/lights on) and 2-5oC lower (during the night/lights off), depending on what you’re growing.
2. Run lights when it's coldest


Grow lights produce heat.
To put this heat to good use, run your lights at night when temperatures drop outside.
3. Use a grow room heater


For a small area, a tubular heater is great. One customer claimed it costs them 1p a day to run.
To heat large areas quickly, you can’t go wrong with a KlimaHeat Electric Grow Room Heater.
It’s cheap to run because it’s hardly on. You'll only need to run it for a few minutes every hour and you’re sorted.
4. Use indoor air for intake


Outside air is cold.
If you draw it into your grow room, you’ll have a harder time keeping plants warm.
Instead, try moving your intake fan so that you draw in air from indoors.
Doing this will also mean you’ll be drawing in CO2 rich, ‘lived in’ air. Bonus.
5. Seal off your grow room


Make your grow room draught proof.
Fill in any holes. Seal up any gaps. Check no air is seeping in through door and window frame spaces.
6. Keep pots off the floor


A cold floor can really slow down plants growing in pots. Make sure there’s an insulating barrier between your plants and the floor.
The easy answer is a Garland Tray, or even better, a RhizoStand.
7. Keep an eye on your nutrient


If your nutrient grows too cold, it can shock plants. .Ideally, it should be between 18oC and 20oC.
To track your nutrient temperature, use an Accuread Digital Nutrient Thermometer. To keep it warm, try a Heavy Duty Nutrient Heater.
Careful not to warm your solution too much, though – the warmer the solution, the lower the dissolved oxygen content. If plants don’t have enough oxygen in the root zone, they’ll be far more susceptible to diseases.
8. Store nutrients & boosters properly


Poor storage can damage your nutrients.
If they get too cold, some of the dissolved salts that make up your nutrients will crystallise (they become solids).
In this form, they are no longer part of the nutrient solution and are unavailable to your plants.
To prevent this, store your nutrients in a cool, dark place, out of direct sunlight, where temperatures sit between 10oC and 19oC
9. Consider a closed-loop room


Get the best climate all year round, create a closed-loop set-up.
Your grow room's almost completely closed off. Hardly any air enters, hardly any air leaves.
Instead of exchanging air, you treat air (e.g. cool, heat, humidify, dehumidify, add CO2).
Doing this is by far the best way to grow.
To keep costs low, make sure you use a climate control system that’ll cool and heat your grow room. That way you can use it all year round. A Kahn Climate Control System is spot on.
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Heavy Duty Nutrient Heaters
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RhizoStands
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Bluelab Guardian pH, cF and Temperature Monitor
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