Grow tent set up

[SweatingBuckets]

Hi all.

Looking for a little advice for someone more experienced here.

Little background first, I recently purchased a complete grow tent kit from a hydroponics store near me and was hopeful to start a small grow in my bedroom. I was researching some kits and finally decided on a Bay6 Grow tent kit.
The kit comprised of:
1.2m X 1.2m X 2m Bay6 XL straight door grow tent
1 x Bay6 600w HPS dual spectrum bulb with Euro reflector
1 x 600w magnetic ballast
1 X Kaizen 5" inline duct fan
1 X Kaizen 5" Carbon extractor filter
1 x 5m aluminium ducting.
A set of rope ratchets for the fan and filter
A set of Easyroll light hangers
4 x 12L fabric pots.

It came pretty quick and was very easy to set up.
This is what it looks like assembled.



I've also bought a few other things such as a thermometer, hydrometer

I wanted to just throw myself into it soon as possible and ended up messing it up through being too eager, researching too much and trying to implement others advice for their grow instead of concentrating on my own space.

I didn't maintain the temperature of the room before I germinated some seeds and as such, the temperature was far too high (over 38°C). My ducting is next to a window but not directly outside and I have no way to cool my room besides buying an air-con which at the moment I cant afford. I do eventually want to buy a portable ac for inside the tent but I wont be able to until next week. Can u guys give me your suggestions for a decent one?
I do also has a 6" oscillating tabletop fan and a small tower fan inside the tent as well which has managed to lower it slightly. I was thinking of wrapping the ducting in white PVC tape so that it resembles a dryer hose and attaching it to a dryer air vent so that I could put the hose fully outside the window which will hopefully lower the room tem as well?
Has anyone tried this and what were the results?
Ive also got another 6" oscillating fan which I've not connected yet. I'm wanting to secure that one to the inside top so that its blowing air above and below and hopefully eliminate hotspots.

I'm also using BioBizz AllMix soil and I'm using a tri-pack of Biobizz Indoor nutrients that consists of Grow, Bloom and Topmax for when I eventually get round to feeding them nute. It's tough to get a definitive answer as to a few things as everyone's experiences are different and I guess I'm struggling to find out what's good for mine.....

Couple questions tho?!
1. What light am I better using when they are seedlings? Can I use the 600w HPS straight away or is that gonna be too strong for them?
2. How do I prepare the BioBizz soil for when I put it in its starter pots? The packaging says it can be put straight from the bags into its pot but I find is quite compact from the bag and I was told from a mate of mine that he sieves this soil before he pots. How do people prepare their soil?
3. I'm struggling with keeping the temps cool in the room and the tent. Has anyone some advice or tips on how to maintain temperature? When my intake vents are shut on my tent, the sides suck in which ive heard is a good thing as it tells me I have negative pressure but the temperature inside then is ridiculous (high of 40°C) and I am flummoxed on how to lower it more?

Sorry guys I know it's a long post and I thank you if you've lasted this long lol.

Any advice or experience with using hps lights? Am I missing anything?

 

[coreywebster]

Right for the temps

1. attach a short length of dryer hose to your duct and hang it out the window if your comfortable doing so.
It will make a difference.
2. A better hood with air cooling will make a massive difference

3. Make sure your not measuring temps with your thermometer directly in light, it needs to be shaded from light.

4. If your room or house is already hotter than your desired temp then your fucked and need an AC.
So how warm is your house?

 

[PissingNutes]

Concentrate on your own grow space and situation because you want it functional in your routine. When thinking of my setup I always ask myself and if that works for my everyday style.
You won't be second guessing that light but in a tent you will need serious ventilation at the canopy without air cooled hood.
Having the air circulated in every corner of the tent as well as doing it's job directly on the plants is so important or you will see huge differences if just one small area isn't ventilated. 26 celsius is the maximum that doesn't change unless you use co2.
Ventilation is more about CFM on your fans, figure out in your tent where and how much is going in and out to control your grow.
Fans pull hot air or push cool air, not push hot air.
You should use the AC in the room where your tent is in and regulate the temp in the room, easily manage your tent environment.
When flowering with 600w HPS your seedlings should get 400w for consistency in cycles, haven't seen any other recommendations.
Don't overlook humidity sweetspots in veg and flower.

 

[coreywebster]

For your seedlings.

Its possible to start them under a 600w hps but its too much light, not ideal spectrum and a waste of electricity.

If your ballast is dimmable then I would get a metal halide bulb suited to the lower wattage of the dimmed ballast, 400w or 250w.

If not then a couple of 20w cfl in cool white or a strip light like t5 close to the seedlings will be good.

If you have to use a 600w hps then hang it high, but its high in red and low in blue so it will influence the structure of the seedling.

edit, ballast wont be dimmable been magnetic. but dual spec bulb does have more blue in it so its not a bad allrounder.

 

[BobThe420Builder]

A none ducted hood HPS will be hot as hell

Like above..if ambient is hot..tent will be hotter

Need the tent bellow 90f, or you will have issues big-time

T5 is great for seedlings and early veg

 

[SweatingBuckets]

Right for the temps

1. attach a short length of dryer hose to your duct and hang it out the window if your comfortable doing so.
It will make a difference.
2. A better hood with air cooling will make a massive difference

3. Make sure your not measuring temps with your thermometer directly in light, it needs to be shaded from light.

4. If your room or house is already hotter than your desired temp then your fucked and need an AC.
So how warm is your house?

Thanks for the reply mate.
I'm definitely going to buy a dryer hose for the reason you gave, I've got the end of the hose right next to the window but it's still not fully ventilating everything out the room.

Stay in a flat which has good insulation so can maybe run a little hot throughout the day but can be cool at night if heating isnt on. Average of 25°C

I had been putting the thermometer on the floor in the corner so it wasn't directly under the light and I've also just bought a little thermometer for the room as well.

 

[SweatingBuckets]

Concentrate on your own grow space and situation because you want it functional in your routine. When thinking of my setup I always ask myself and if that works for my everyday style.
You won't be second guessing that light but in a tent you will need serious ventilation at the canopy without air cooled hood.
Having the air circulated in every corner of the tent as well as doing it's job directly on the plants is so important or you will see huge differences if just one small area isn't ventilated. 26 celsius is the maximum that doesn't change unless you use co2.
You should use the AC in the room where your tent is in and regulate the temp in the room, easily manage your tent environment.
When flowering with 600w HPS your seedlings should get 400w for consistency in cycles, haven't seen any other recommendations.
Don't overlook humidity sweetspots.

Yeah I wasn't sure with an aircon as they can be noisy and coupled with the fans and filter would make a lot of noise but last time I used HPS lights it was in a loft so never had this problem with the tent being cool. Hell, in the loft I never used to run the extractor full time either cause the temp was always spot on so probably underestimated the heat generated from the light.

Thanks for the advice mate.
Definitely going to buy an air cooled hood. It was an option with the bundle but like a chump I never clicked.

 

[PissingNutes]

Concentrate on your own grow space and situation because you want it functional in your routine. When thinking of my setup I always ask myself and if that works for my everyday style.
You won't be second guessing that light but in a tent you will need serious ventilation at the canopy without air cooled hood.
Having the air circulated in every corner of the tent as well as doing it's job directly on the plants is so important or you will see huge differences if just one small area isn't ventilated. 26 celsius is the maximum that doesn't change unless you use co2.
Ventilation is more about CFM on your fans, figure out in your tent where and how much is going in and out to control your grow.
Fans pull hot air or push cool air, not push hot air.
You should use the AC in the room where your tent is in and regulate the temp in the room, easily manage your tent environment.
When flowering with 600w HPS your seedlings should get 400w for consistency in cycles, haven't seen any other recommendations.
Don't overlook humidity sweetspots in veg and flower.

I edited three times sorry

 

[PissingNutes]

The noise is minimised by how it's setup or tied down. My tent with 6 fans is up on workbench things and I sleep right next to it.

 

[SweatingBuckets]

For your seedlings.

Its possible to start them under a 600w hps but its too much light, not ideal spectrum and a waste of electricity.

If your ballast is dimmable then I would get a metal halide bulb suited to the lower wattage of the dimmed ballast, 400w or 250w.

If not then a couple of 20w cfl in cool white or a strip light like t5 close to the seedlings will be good.

If you have to use a 600w hps then hang it high, but its high in red and low in blue so it will influence the structure of the seedling.

edit, ballast wont be dimmable been magnetic. but dual spec bulb does have more blue in it so its not a bad allrounder.

Yeah I was looking at a few cfl set ups for seedlings. Would just 2 cfl bulbs be enough for 3 plants when it is a seedling?

 

[PissingNutes]

Definitely going to buy an air cooled hood. It was an option with the bundle but like a chump I never clicked.

Hey you could eventuallly use it in veg where more heat is required and use old bulbs, or even running at 400w on a newer Vivosun digital ballast.

 

[SweatingBuckets]

A none ducted hood HPS will be hot as hell

Like above..if ambient is hot..tent will be hotter

Need the tent bellow 90f, or you will have issues big-time

T5 is great for seedlings and early veg

Yeah the temp was crazy hot. Hit a high of 41°C which I nearly had a heart attack at With intake vents open I could get it down to 34 but was always running for too hot.

Think I've bought the wrong kit tbh. Definitely need an air cooled hood.

 

[PissingNutes]

Yeah I was looking at a few cfl set ups for seedlings. Would just 2 cfl bulbs be enough for 3 plants when it is a seedling?

If you want to tinker with lights

 

[PissingNutes]

You'll surely want a veg and a flower area, we find space . Use what you have, you're on the right setup don't fuck your growth with lights.

 

[IndoBlazing76]

Yeah I was looking at a few cfl set ups for seedlings. Would just 2 cfl bulbs be enough for 3 plants when it is a seedling?

Hey There, i only have a small space as I'm also growing in a flat. I use a 130w Cfl in a small cupboard for my cuttings, seedlings and a couple small mums, with a small oscillating fan blowing over them, no extraction. All works fine for my personal situation.

 

[SweatingBuckets]

You'll surely want a veg and a flower area, we find space . Use what you have, you're on the right setup don't fuck your growth with lights.

Lol oh I'll find space, sick of paying and running about to get it plus I like looking at pretty things

 

[IndoBlazing76]

Hi all.

Looking for a little advice for someone more experienced here.

Little background first, I recently purchased a complete grow tent kit from a hydroponics store near me and was hopeful to start a small grow in my bedroom. I was researching some kits and finally decided on a Bay6 Grow tent kit.
The kit comprised of:
1.2m X 1.2m X 2m Bay6 XL straight door grow tent
1 x Bay6 600w HPS dual spectrum bulb with Euro reflector
1 x 600w magnetic ballast
1 X Kaizen 5" inline duct fan
1 X Kaizen 5" Carbon extractor filter
1 x 5m aluminium ducting.
A set of rope ratchets for the fan and filter
A set of Easyroll light hangers
4 x 12L fabric pots.

It came pretty quick and was very easy to set up.
This is what it looks like assembled.
View attachment 4647685
View attachment 4647686

I've also bought a few other things such as a thermometer, hydrometer

I wanted to just throw myself into it soon as possible and ended up messing it up through being too eager, researching too much and trying to implement others advice for their grow instead of concentrating on my own space.

I didn't maintain the temperature of the room before I germinated some seeds and as such, the temperature was far too high (over 38°C). My ducting is next to a window but not directly outside and I have no way to cool my room besides buying an air-con which at the moment I cant afford. I do eventually want to buy a portable ac for inside the tent but I wont be able to until next week. Can u guys give me your suggestions for a decent one?
I do also has a 6" oscillating tabletop fan and a small tower fan inside the tent as well which has managed to lower it slightly. I was thinking of wrapping the ducting in white PVC tape so that it resembles a dryer hose and attaching it to a dryer air vent so that I could put the hose fully outside the window which will hopefully lower the room tem as well?
Has anyone tried this and what were the results?
Ive also got another 6" oscillating fan which I've not connected yet. I'm wanting to secure that one to the inside top so that its blowing air above and below and hopefully eliminate hotspots.

I'm also using BioBizz AllMix soil and I'm using a tri-pack of Biobizz Indoor nutrients that consists of Grow, Bloom and Topmax for when I eventually get round to feeding them nute. It's tough to get a definitive answer as to a few things as everyone's experiences are different and I guess I'm struggling to find out what's good for mine.....

Couple questions tho?!
1. What light am I better using when they are seedlings? Can I use the 600w HPS straight away or is that gonna be too strong for them?
2. How do I prepare the BioBizz soil for when I put it in its starter pots? The packaging says it can be put straight from the bags into its pot but I find is quite compact from the bag and I was told from a mate of mine that he sieves this soil before he pots. How do people prepare their soil?
3. I'm struggling with keeping the temps cool in the room and the tent. Has anyone some advice or tips on how to maintain temperature? When my intake vents are shut on my tent, the sides suck in which ive heard is a good thing as it tells me I have negative pressure but the temperature inside then is ridiculous (high of 40°C) and I am flummoxed on how to lower it more?

Sorry guys I know it's a long post and I thank you if you've lasted this long lol.

Any advice or experience with using hps lights? Am I missing anything?

I also struggle with Temps, mainly because I can't currently run any extraction due to the noise so I have digital ballast that I alternate between 250, 400 and 600 dependent on temps, only thing I can do at the moment sadly.

 

[SweatingBuckets]

Hi all.

I've emailed the company that I bought the bundle from in the hope that I may be able to exchange a few things from my order.

I've asked for an air cooled hood in exchange for the Euro Reflector as I seriously dont think with my space and situation that the Eùro is viable, its just too much without being able to vent properly.
I've also asked to exchange the magnetic ballast for a dimmable, digital ballast. Should have bought that at the start.

I've decided to buy an air con next week that I'm gonna use in my room and I've just bought a small 5" intake fan for the intake at the bottom of the tent. Should be enough with them both to take fresh air in and maintain the temp in the tent.
I'll start a grow diary soon if anyone wants to follow my grow.

A mate of mine has gave me some Biobizz Root Juice that he had in his garage. I've never used it tho so if anyone has any experience using it, would be great to get your input?

 

[PissingNutes]

Hope that works out, the magnetic ballast isn't for a tent really and with the air hood combined with a digital dimmable ballast you can lower your hood closer to the canopy and set a lower Watt setting where you get over 2000 flux lumens something on plants and the spectrum is not killed like LEDs.
I'm forced to look at this option since my AC is 900 watts and I have a second ballast+hood coming for veg (using older bulbs in veg) will be pulling too many amps for one breaker circuit; have two 15A 120V to work with.

 

[SweatingBuckets]

Hope that works out, the magnetic ballast isn't for a tent really and with the air hood combined with a digital dimmable ballast you can lower your hood closer to the canopy and set a lower Watt setting where you get over 2000 flux lumens something on plants and the spectrum is not killed like LEDs.
I'm forced to look at this option since my AC is 900 watts and I have a second ballast+hood coming for veg (using older bulbs in veg) will be pulling too many amps for one breaker circuit; have two 15A 120V to work with.

Yeah I'm hopeful I'm able to exchange a few things. This is my first grow with my equipment (I've done another grow but was my mates tent and was in my loft at the time so was easy to maintain temperature) and I just bought same type as he had.

Thanks for the advice mate