Reddit reviews ThermoPro TP60S Digital Hygrometer Indoor Outdoor Thermometer Wireless Temperature and Humidity Gauge Monitor Room Thermometer with 200ft/60m Range Humidity Meter

Absolutely, here we go:


Essential Hardware

$80 Clones - $20 from dispensary.

$325 Lights: Horticulture Lighting Group 260 QB LED Kit

• I cannot say enough about these lights. I had to run them anywhere from 50-75% during veg to prevent light burn. Great coverage for a 2x4 tent. Nothing but praise 10/10 would buy again.
  
  $70 2' x 4' x 5' Mylar tent
  
  
• Holding up well, easy build. Is not 100% dark, light leaks outwards from spots along the zipper and pinholes but no light leak into the tent during dark.
  
  $90 4" Inline duct fan and Carbon Filter
  
  
• This puppy can SUCK, I have to keep it on the lowest setting to prevent the pressure inside the tent from dropping (need to work on my passive intake next grow). Carbon filter works great. Lowers humidity in a pinch.
  
  $10 - Ducting/Clamps from ACE
  
  $21 Osculating Fan
  
  
• I have it on a small stand and osculating 24/7. It pushes air, not a jet engine though.
  
  Already on hand: Box Fan
  
  
• Had one from years ago. Sometimes I open the tent and blast this on high right on level with the buds just go shake out the leaves, gets a bit crowded in the scrog and I'd like to eliminate any humidity caught between leaves sticking together. Think you can scoop one from Walmart for like $15 bucks, $20 max.
  
  $25 [Humidifier] (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Sunbeam-Warm-Mist-Humidifier-SWM6000-BWM/32664862)
  
  
• This puppy does well. I use the first setting, usually can run 16+ hours on a full reservoir of H20. No filter which keeps cost down, just need to clean it one or twice a week with a brush for the hard water deposits. 5-10 minute process.
  
  $45 Dehumidifier
  
  
• This was a bit of a mistake purchase. I wanted to test and see if a small model offered on amazon (this looked to be one of the best for sub $50, and has the biggest holding tank out of them all) could put in any kind of noticeable work in a tent. What I noticed is that it will be able to roughly maintain humidity at times, after I run the exhaust fan to lower the levels. When the lights are out and the temperature drops, this thing has no chance. Go with a full size dehumidifier or rely on the dry Colorado air + passive intake + duct fan. I was struggling with humidity issues during the cold of the winter, now that I can have my windows open my ambient room humidity is usually 40% or below.
  
  $18 4" inline duct booster fan
  
  
• Also a mistake purchase. Does not move a lot of air. Had plans to use this for an airflow/passive (not) intake system but it's not worth the electricity cost to run this thing. I'd stay away.
  
  
  $13 Ph Meter
  
  $12 TDS PPM meter
  
  $9 Soil Moisture, Light, Ph meter - Does it's job
  
  $9 Ph Control Kit
  
  $14 Ph Calibration solution
  
  
• For the life of the Ph meter, I store the tip in 7.0 solution that I pour into the cap. Good to have on hand for calibration.
  
  $6 Spray Bottles (Did not use these much, only very early during transplanting.)
  
  
  
  
  $7 for 30ct Starter grow bags
  
  
• Do not recommend, breathe terribly, water stagnates even with modifications. Had to feed lightly and often, and really monitor dampness. Needed these for the outdoor garden anyways)
  
  
  $18 Hygrometer for Temp/Humidity
  
  
• Worth it to get the wireless monitor so you're not opening the tent all the time)
  
  $8 for 6ct 5 gal Smart Pot knockoff
  
  
• Do their job, hold up well. I cut the handles off to make watering under the scrog easier.
  
  
  $40 - Soil: Two bags of Happy Frog. Ocean forest was sitting around.
  
  Nutrients: $165
  
  
• I have a local grow shop that I purchased a lot of these from. The 1 litre Cyco nutrient bottles ranged from $10-$18 and I have 7 different nutrients - call that $100 after tax.
  
  
• Grow A, Grow B, Bloom A, Bloom B, Dr Repair, Potash, Silica
  
  
• I purchased Key to Life - Uptake For just shy of $20. Great for calcium uptake.
  
  
• Cyco Grow XL Super Phosphoric Acid was $45 - not cheap for 100ml but I think the potential yield improvement will cover that cost, especially over 3-4 grows which I expect to get out of the bottle.
  
  $13 - Scrog net: for something like 50-100ft of plastic garden fence from Home Depot. Using a lot of it for a garden.
  
  
  $15 - Miscelaneous: Eyedroppers, duct tape, zip ties, and odds and ends: Call it $15.
  
  
  
  
  So to total that all out we're looking just over 1000 that I spent, could have kept it under $950 if I had not purchased the small duct fan or dehumidifier. Also: Soil and nutrients for $205. Could work that down to under $150 by dropping a couple unnecessary yet desirable nutrients.
  
  
  Sorry for the formatting! I'm going to do a big post write up and this is a great place to start at least. Thanks for the motivation.
  
  
  
  
  

We used the Kestrel in the Air Force. It was accurate enough for us to use to take official observations with, so it will likely do well for you.

For indoors at home, Amazon has a pretty well received dedicated humidity sensor.

What's the humidity in the basement? You'll want to keep it about 50% or under. All homeowners should have a humidity meter (hygrometer). If you get an indoor/outdoor one, you can keep the outdoor one in your basement, so you can monitor the temp/humidity on your main level as well as the basement. If your dehumidifier isn't able to keep it at 50% or under, it's either too small or you could set it up so it drains to a drain or sump pump so you don't have to empty the bucket. Or you have a leak or water infiltration problem.

Are there any places in the basement where you can see dirt? Maybe under the stairs or under a tub/shower (where the plumbing goes into the ground), or a crawlspace area, or where the foundation meets "regular" walls? If so, that could be the source of the smell - closing up a hole under the tub/shower improved/removed the last lingering smell in my basement.

Is there a drop ceiling where mice have been? It might be nasty up there. You might want to dispose of the drop ceiling panels.

Finished walls - do you see any evidence of water problems? Look with a bright flashlight for any rust or stains or anything that might indicate that there's been water problems in the past. If you find any, that's where you'll want to look for mold. If there's mold, the place that you've checked might not be the area where mold is. Did the back of the drywall that you cut out look fine? Think about where leaks or problems might have happened (around water heater, sump pump, anything water related), and near any windows.

Others have accurately said that the walls aren't finished in the way that we now know is better. XPS on the exterior walls, then framing & drywall is the way to go if you have to do it from the inside. Like someone said, you have to cover the foam with drywall for fire safety purposes. The way they used to finish basement walls just leads to moisture being trapped and condensation problems.

I use this indoor/outdoor wireless thermometer/hygrometer. Records max/min temp and humidity (all time and over 24hr period) in memory. It's 3oz (without batteries), so not the lightest, but worth the weight for me. It's pretty fun being able to see the freezing temps outside your tent while wrapped up in a sleeping bag. If you want a similar thing which records only temperature then they are available at around 2oz.

There are some alternatives which connect to an iphone/android app which are much lighter, but more expensive.

Because I'm too lazy to walk down there to see for myself.

And definitely too lazy to set up a video camera to watch something as boring as plants growing.

Extra sensors are an extra $10 each. I have one in each of my 3 tents.

ThermoPro TP60 Digital Hygrometer Indoor Outdoor Thermometer Humidity Monitor with Temperature Gauge Humidity Meter, Wireless Outdoor Hygrometer, 200ft/60m Range https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKH666P/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_iDHJAbRGGPEVV

Thanks for all the info!

Regarding the soil, I bought this soil and this perlite for my new plants but I haven't repotted the peppers (only have used it for new plants). I did a 50/50 mix. I was concerned about including vermiculite because, in reading about it, it seemed it would retain moisture, and that doesn't seem to be an issue...

For reference, here's the greenhouse: https://imgur.com/3yWhKW8 I'm mostly growing hot peppers but also some other herbs.

How do I go about repotting the large pepper plants? I've never done it with plants this big. Do I just pull them out, knock off all the dirt and move them to new pots? I imagine the root system takes up most of the pot and I don't really want to go to bigger pots (I'm limited on space in the greenhouse).

For fertilizer, I bought this and the plants seem to love it.

For the hygrometer, would something like this work?