Timing of fan in small grow area - Orchid Board

ladyslipper · #1 11-23-2007, 01:31 AM

Hi guys, My grow stand has a light plastic covering on the front and sides and a much heavier plastic on the back so I can reach in a spray water on my phals without worry of spraying water all over my livingroom. I know there is a concern about having a humid environment without good air circulation so I am going to try a USB fan (looks like this Elite Mini USB Lite-N-Fan Set at Memory Express) as from what I understand the breeze is not very strong.

My question is do you keep fans going all the time; or for a few hours? I don't know how loud this fan will be so that will have an impact on how long I actually end up running the fan.

Thanks for any info guys!

mary

Lagoon · #2 11-23-2007, 07:14 AM

Hi Mary,

I keep the fans running .. Sun up, sun down.
Or as soon as lights go on, til the go off again.

Becca · #3 11-23-2007, 08:58 AM

I have a very large orchidarium and I keep the fans running 24/7 and the plants seem happy. I have been having a hard time keeping the humidity up, perhaps I should try putting them on a timer

Anyways.....I just got my second and very much smaller orchidarium up and going and I am installing a Coralife fan today in the top acrylic piece that I added....not sure if I will have it run all 24/7 or not.....I will be interested to see what others have to say!

Phalguy · #4 11-23-2007, 09:08 AM

Hello!

I have a small fan connected to a timer. It goes on for 30 minutes every 2 hours.
The fan will operate from light on until light off !

Ross · #5 11-23-2007, 10:11 AM

I have a Coral Life 3" DC fan running inside orchidarium 24/7. In addition I have a second fan (same model) set to come on for 3-4 hours at night. That one is through the wall.

CodiMN · #6 11-24-2007, 12:11 AM

I just keep the fan on when the lights are on.

My 'chids are happy, so I guess it's fine.

ladyslipper · #7 11-24-2007, 01:13 AM

Hi guys, I have the little USB fan in place and did a test run for a few minutes this evening. The fan is just strong enough to move the air around in a small space and will not displace either the light plastic material that is draped over the sides and much of the front or knock the plants around as was the case with most of the fans I tried before.

What I don't know is if having this fan on for hours at a time will wear it out but if it lasts a year or two, that will be "a good thing". Having a really small grow area has a definite set of challenges that the larger size grow areas don't face.

regards, mary

Becca · #8 11-24-2007, 10:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsfrid

I have a Coral Life 3" DC fan running inside orchidarium 24/7. In addition I have a second fan (same model) set to come on for 3-4 hours at night. That one is through the wall.

I bought the same Cora Life fan and finally got it installed last night....it doesn't seem to put much air movement out as I expected. I hope it will do the job....the Exo-Terra is only 18 x 18 x 24.

Ross · #9 11-24-2007, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPfeiffer

I bought the same Cora Life fan and finally got it installed last night....it doesn't seem to put much air movement out as I expected. I hope it will do the job....the Exo-Terra is only 18 x 18 x 24.

Mine moves the hanging mounts around as well as the leaves. Did you take that black filter off? I threw mine away.

Becca · #10 11-24-2007, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rsfrid

Mine moves the hanging mounts around as well as the leaves. Did you take that black filter off? I threw mine away.

Ross, I didn't take the back filter off....wasn't sure what I would really need it for either....and actually that side is hanging down facing the plants because that was the only side that didn't have holes for the screws to go into for mounting....does that make sense?