How important is clean air to a plant?

[bobj]

most growing sites I visit speak about providing a plant with airflow so as to remove stale air, but how stale can that air get? I know this is solved with a fan and a filter, but for a closet grow? would you need some sort of air purifier?

 

[Phytoplankton]

Not so much a purifier, as just bringing in fresh air and exhausting the stale air. I guess depending on the level of “purification” it could help if it filtered out mold spores.

 

[bluter]

most growing sites I visit speak about providing a plant with airflow so as to remove stale air, but how stale can that air get? I know this is solved with a fan and a filter, but for a closet grow? would you need some sort of air purifier?

a number of of more involved growers will filter incoming air. for most home hobbyists it's not a requirement. if you're not comfortable breathing it the plants won't be either. filter it for yourself first lol


a general rule of thumb is you need to move enough air to replace the entire volume every 5 mins. pay attention to the cfm rating on the fan, and set it accordingly. i personally have it at every 2 1/2 in flower to avoid mold etc.

 

[Jaz]

I have grown in a wardrobe without a fan, just saying.

Not a big grow by any means; one plant, christmas tree shaped, a few feet high with one main cola.

It had sliding doors so there was a gap between the two doors for air exchange between my room and wardrobe, I slept in the room too so my expired CO2 probably also helped with the grow,

As for smoking near your plant, don't do it.

j

 

[bobj]

Not so much a purifier, as just bringing in fresh air and exhausting the stale air. I guess depending on the level of “purification” it could help if it filtered out mold spores.

what if you don't have that? how detrimental is nasty stale air that builds up over time to a plant?

my closet space is 8 ft tall by 7 feet long by about 3 feet wide, I'd probably need an industrial sized fan that costs thousands to vent all of that. I mean I'm blowing it around with a 16" fan already, but should I try and optimize an air purifier in the area?

 

[bluter]

what if you don't have that? how detrimental is nasty stale air that builds up over time to a plant?

my closet space is 8 ft tall by 7 feet long by about 3 feet wide, I'd probably need an industrial sized fan that costs thousands to vent all of that. I mean I'm blowing it around with a 16" fan already, but should I try and optimize an air purifier in the area?

as long as your extractor fan is moving enough air you'll be fine with passive intake. just do the math. it's not that bad. even a small extractor fan moves a pile of air. if anything you'll have to turn it down.


if you don't want to use the whole space just get a 3 x 3 tent. i'd use it all though lol..

 

[bobj]

as long as your extractor fan is moving enough air you'll be fine with passive intake. just do the math. it's not that bad. even a small extractor fan moves a pile of air. if anything you'll have to turn it down.

its not an extractor fan, it's one of those oscillating 3 speed pedestal fans.

to answer your other point, when I walk into that space (it's a sliding door closet space) the air seems.. different. It smells like old dirty garden soil. Even walking up to where my room is upstairs I can catch smells of the soil. So I can only imagine it's probably not the most ideal breathing conditions for my plants. But then again, what are optimal air conditions for plants?

 

[bluter]

But then again, what are optimal air conditions for plants?

a proper space vented to outdoor.

a lot depends on how many plants you are committed to growing, and how large you let them get. there are a lot of single plant micro grows and grow cabs folk run, that just circulate internally, but they also usually have some sort of active intake and ventilation.

what you are smelling could be mold / mildew if you've been growing a while. even one or two plants transpire a fair bit. after some time it seeps in to the walls. it's half of what a proper extractor fan is supposed to take care of. they move a fair bit of water as well as air.


have a look through a few of the diy set ups to see how folk have dealt with it. my flower room runs an external vent but my veg space recirculates. if it ever gets to be an issue i do have a plan for venting the veg space to outdoor. i couldn't run the flower room without venting to outdoor.