Growing indoors gives you more control over the countless variables involved in outdoor cultivation. The biggest challenge? Mimicking the outdoor conditions that help cannabis plants thrive—like proper Vapor Pressure Deficit (VPD) and steady, CO2-rich airflow.

Here’s what you need to know about the importance of grow room ventilation (and how you can improve your own).

Why Proper Ventilation Is Critical to Your Plants’ Health

CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS

One of the goals of any grow room is to replicate outdoor growing conditions as accurately as possible, which isn’t possible without healthy levels of carbon dioxide. If your space doesn’t have a constant flow of CO2, your plants might (literally) starve because they can’t produce needed nutrients during the photosynthesis process.

HUMIDITY CONTROL

Transpiration, or sweating, is a natural process through which water and nutrients are pulled up from the soil to the rest of the plant. This naturally drives up the humidity in your grow space. Not having enough moisture in the air can also put stress on plants and cause them to dry out. Sufficient air circulation is essential to controlling humidity levels and preventing the accumulation of any rot, fungi, mites, and other pests that can kill your yields.

TEMPERATURE CONTROL

Of course, grow lights are essential in any indoor growing environment because they simulate sunshine, but they can also increase the overall temperatures in your grow area and damage your plants. While LED lights produce less heat than traditional HIDs, there is always a risk of producing excess heat, in the form of infrared radiation, which can be minimized with consistent airflow across the canopy.

VAPOR PRESSURE DEFICIT

VPD is the difference between the amount of moisture in the air (relative humidity) and how much moisture the air can actually hold (determined by temperature). A high VPD can put too much stress on your plants and cause them to dry out, while too low a VPD can result in plants getting stressed through oversaturation. Finding the ideal VPD range allows an operator to dial in the plant’s moisture intake and control it’s metabolism for optimum growth and vitality.

Key Features of an Effective Ventilation System

To address the critical microclimate issues that can kill your yields, we created the AirGlide—a cutting-edge ventilation system built with the features that help plants thrive.

AIRFLOW

Humid, stagnant air can lead to disease-ridden plants. To manage humidity levels and keep plants as healthy as possible, the AirGlide can be installed just above or below your canopy (or both) for a consistent breeze.

INTAKE/EXHAUST FANS

Your plants need doses of fresh air to get the CO2 essential to photosynthesis. Capable of accomodating any fans, the AirGlide ensures constant supplies of CO2 while expelling the hot air that can cause all sorts of damage, from root issues to bud rot and burned leaves.

CO2 ENRICHMENT

Commerical grow operations shouldn’t rely on an exhaust system to ensure sufficient supplies of CO2. The AirGlide system comes standard with CO2 supplementation ports so you can achieve the higher CO2 levels required for healthy growth.

FILTRATION

The goal is to keep your grow room as controlled as possible, which means eliminating any contaminants in the air.

Other Factors to Keep in Mind for Better Ventilation & Healthier Plants

MATERIAL

Cleanliness is key when it comes to producing high-quality product, and not all ducts are made with this idea in mind. While some grow rooms still use metal ducts, these tend to be difficult to clean, on top of being bulky and inefficient. Today, most commercial cultivators prefer fabric ducts, which, when designed intelligently like the AirGlide’s ducting system, simplify the cleaning process without sacrificing airflow efficiency.

CFM RATING

For a healthy growing environment, you need to continuously exchange the air in your grow space. This means your exhaust fan’s efficiency, measured in cubic feet per minute (CFM), is critical and should, at the very least, equal the volume of your grow room. However, most growers go even higher to account for other factors, such as how much excess heat their lights produce.

INTEGRATION

No two grow spaces are equal, so why should your ventilation system be any different? Depending on your facility, your racking system, your plants and so much more, your ventilation requirements will vary. That’s why we made sure our system isn’t one-size-fits-all and can be adapted to meet any of your needs.

AirGlide: The Customizable Airflow System Your Plants Need

Take the first step towards better grow room ventilation when you install our innovative airflow system. Designed after proven applications, like car intake manifolds, our system delivers superior airflow of 11 meters per second and features antimicrobial fabric ducts with adaptable exhaust holes. To get more details about how the AirGlide blows away other systems on the market, take a guided tour or contact us today.