Stay ahead of the heat: Preparing for Summer Growing
Temperatures are climbing, bugs are breeding… get your grow room ready with this checklist.
1. Prevent Pests
Pests are a big problem when the weather’s warm, and they can have a field day with your plants. Halt the bug invasion:
Fumigate your grow room with a smoke bomb between crops
Try an Insecto Smoke Bomb - they kill all common types of insects. Just make sure there are no plants in your growing area when you do this.
Place bug blockers on your intake fans
To keep temperatures down, you’ll need to draw in a lot of cool air. Don’t draw pests in as well – use a bug blocker! They cost as little as £9.99 each!
Suspend sticky traps from tent poles, plant branches & pot tops
They help you catch & identify flying insects - you’ll be amazed by how many little beasties get stuck to these things.
Check for pests every 5 days
Even if you follow every other step, pests can still sneak in. Use a magnifying glass to get a close look at plants and their leaves when you check for:
- Spider Mites: yellow spots on plant leaves
- Thrip Larvae: silvery grey trails along leaf tops and small black deposits
- Fungus Gnats: small, slow moving black flies
- Leaf Miner: colour loss and leaf imperfections
- Aphids: leaf and stem deformities and a sticky substance on leaves (Read more here)
Introduce Spider Mite Predator Sachets every 3 – 4 weeks
They slowly release predators over 2 weeks. Having them there prevents problems from occurring - just 1 - 2 sachets per plant should do the trick. Best of all, they're super cost effective per sachet!
2. Think About Your Climate
If you start a crop now, by the end of your grow it'll be summer. Maintaining your target temperature and humidity will get much tougher, so you need to pay a lot more attention to your environment:
Invest in a temperature and humidity meter, if you don’t have one already
Your temperature should be 24oC - 28oC (day/lights on) or 22oC - 23oC (night/lights off). Aim for a humidity of 70 – 85% (propagation), 65 – 75% (vegging) or 45 – 65% (flowering).
Upgrade your fans if you need to
You may need to buy a bigger, faster, more powerful extractor fan ready for summer. Don't wait until the start of summer to do this - you'll be in the middle of a growing cycle and plants will be in your way. It'll be much easier to change your fan and filter now, before starting a new crop.
Buy additional fans for air movement
We’re talking about clip on fans & pedestal fans – they don’t cost much but make a big difference. They boost air circulation in your tent and around plants. You can even point them directly at lamps and reflectors for spot cooling.
Try using a fan speed controller
You need to exchange more air when your grow room's hot, and less air when it's cool. With a fan speed controller, you can choose how fast your fans go to keep your temperature inside the ideal range. The best ones to use are temperature controlled - they automatically speed up if your room needs cooling.
3. Clean Your Grow Room
Fungi, bacteria, diseases and pests thrive in summer. Keep them at bay with a sterile grow room.
Sterilise your room, system & equipment between crops
You can use Silver Bullet Mist for this.
Consider replacing used propagators
Even if you’ve cleaned them, used propagators can be a breeding ground. It’s good practice to replace your propagators after using them 3 times or more.
Clean the space around your growing area too
Otherwise, anything lurking there will quickly sneak into your growing area.
