Grow Room Temperature Cycling

[skirincich]

Hello,

I have been growing orchids for a number of years. I live in the Boston suburbs and seasonly move plants from my basement to shaded grow benches in my backyard.

My basement grow area has good air circulation, temperature and humidity control, but I am considering the best way to provide a daily nighttime temperature drop.

My options:
1. I could run the heater off of a timer and based on the length of the off period, a temperature dip would be experienced, but settings would have to be adjusted as the basement gets cooler in the winter. I suspect that I would not be able to have an 8-10 hour period at a lower temperature without it getting too cold.

2. Run two space heaters on separate timers with each having a different temperature setting. One controls the "day" temperature, switches off and the second heater controls the "night" temperature.

3. Plug the current space heater into a programmable thermostat, turn the space heater to a high setting and then let the thermostat control the daily temperature transitions.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Steve

[estación seca]

First make sure your plants would really benefit. Many orchids don't need it.

[skirincich]

Good question and thanks for responding! Probably not worth the trouble and should focus more on watering schedule.

[My Green Pets]

In my grow tent, the lights heat it up to about 82F during the day. Lights kick off at 6:30 PM, and later at night, air conditioning brings the temperature down to 67. Seems to work pretty well for me.

[Steve83]

What are your basement temps, and what temps are you aiming for?

Is your grow area enclosed in a tent, etc?

[SADE2020]

For Phals and only in winter I keep a 10-15º difference in the growing room, heat during the day and less or not heat at night.

My tank is always, year round the same, keeping a 10-12% difference from day to night.

[skirincich]

My orchids grow in a small room under stairs leading to the basement. I was looking for a 10 degree drop (from 70 to 60). My basement temperature is probably in the low 50s in the winter.

[Shadeflower]

temp drops are important for good growth.

I would pick option 2. Maybe add a thermostat but that is optional.

I actually use 120watt tubular heaters. I know they are trickier to buy in the us but they are really cheap here and have a built in thermostat.

Amazon should sell them these days, they sell everything

edit: ok that is one thing amaz.com does not sell. Very strange, they are really safe too, doesn't make any sense

Nest best option is a heating cable then:

Amazon.com