4'x4' grow tent planning

Working on plans for an indoor grow tent. This is my first build. Preliminary ideas are as follows: (the items followed by price are still needed, the price indicates budget)

• 4x4x6-8 grow tent $100-200
• 400w hps/mh light system
• ffof soil/ 3g growbags $50
• fan/odor control (plan on a DIY carbon filter) $100-200
• timer
• digital thermometer/humity
• ph kit $20
• seed stock Lowryder 2

Overall my goal is to assemble a durable system that will give privacy and effiecency. With these goals in mind, I have a few questions, aimed towards those helpful experianced riu members:

• In reguards to a grow tent, I have seen several cheap tents, and then some nice ones that seems to be much better, but of course the cost is higher. Would a cheap tent fill my needs, or would it be best to spend the extra money and get the better tent? Examples this http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponics-Grow-Tent-Hydro-Cabinet/dp/B0035MTIDK/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1290206359&sr=8-8 economy tent or this nicer tent http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Jardin-DarkRoom-120-Inches/dp/B0029AHQKG/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1290207450&sr=1-7 .
• I plan to vent the tent with a blower fan or a can fan. What would be an ideal CFM to properly push enough air through the carbon filter and still properly vent the heat from the light and tent? The tent will either be in the cool basement 50f-winter 65f-summer or in a bedroom that remains 72f all year long. Does anyone preffer the can fans or the blowers for any reason?
• I plan to invest in a ducted hood or a cool tube, when that is done should the intake start at the hood, or should another intake be added to duct the rest of the tent?
• Has anyone any preference to which media to use as the carbon filter (the carbon filter rocks or the actual carbon filter paper used for heating and cooling)? How large should the filter be? I was thinking about using this design and tailor it to my needs: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=509470

Anyways thank you for your time and knowledge!

personally i bought full tent kits, they came with carbon filter can and extractor fan, 600 watt hps bulb,hood and ballast, 6" clip fan, and some times a few other odds and ends like temp gauge. for a 4x4x6.5' tent it was just over £300( is that around $500). all comes packaged discreetly. ive bought a couple of them using e bay and direct from hydro shop. i always use sum1 elses credit card and get them posted to different address. there are differences in tent quality,things like difficult zippers or pin hole light leaks but i think ur better off buying it as one package, some come witha full hydro set up as well but thats obviously more expensive.

yeah he's wright, dont make the same mistake i did. i started with a homemade grow box with cfl's from walmart. the second box was home made aswell and 2 t5 4footers. now i have a 4x4 tent with a small hood. i moved up to a 6inch blockboster. my next move is 4x4 ebb flow system with a tray. now just look at how much i spent on the play play setup when i could have have the wright setup from the start.

Yeh do it right the first time. Im runing a 1000w in a 5x5 tent I started with a 400w then a 6oow now a 1000w and im as happy as can be. I have had nothing but success with my grows . Check out my grow I have some good pics of my tent. Good luck

jojodancer10 said:

yeah he's wright, dont make the same mistake i did. i started with a homemade grow box with cfl's from walmart. the second box was home made aswell and 2 t5 4footers. now i have a 4x4 tent with a small hood. i moved up to a 6inch blockboster. my next move is 4x4 ebb flow system with a tray. now just look at how much i spent on the play play setup when i could have have the wright setup from the start.

Click to expand...

i just made a 3x6x8 tent for under $70 its not perfect but better than spend hundreds 1200 watts in here temp riht now is 78 humidity 43% i still have some to make the carbon scrubber but it shouldnt be more than like 20-30 bucks. Save ur money dude

I just upgraded from a DR120W (2x4) to a DR120 (4x4) and run 600w hps, it was fine in the smaller tent but not enough for the bigger tent. I think a 400w might not be enough, IMO

Good luck

Thanks, I have decided on the dr120. As far as ventilation I havent decided between a blower or an inline. Cant wait to get this all sorted out.

Use the blower only as an intake fan, it will not do the job to get heat out, unless you are growing in a cold place this winter... If you go with a 400w or 600w, personally, I would recommend a 6" inline fan with a minimum rating of 400cfm, if you decide to go with a 1000w (that tent can handle it) you will need at least an 8" fan.

Good luck, I'm loving all the space I get from my DR120 compared to my DR120W

Hey thanks everyone. + rep to you all!

harry larry said:

Working on plans for an indoor grow tent. This is my first build. Preliminary ideas are as follows: (the items followed by price are still needed, the price indicates budget)

• 4x4x6-8 grow tent $100-200
• 400w hps/mh light system
• ffof soil/ 3g growbags $50
• fan/odor control (plan on a DIY carbon filter) $100-200
• timer
• digital thermometer/humity
• ph kit $20
• seed stock Lowryder 2

Overall my goal is to assemble a durable system that will give privacy and effiecency. With these goals in mind, I have a few questions, aimed towards those helpful experianced riu members:

• In reguards to a grow tent, I have seen several cheap tents, and then some nice ones that seems to be much better, but of course the cost is higher. Would a cheap tent fill my needs, or would it be best to spend the extra money and get the better tent? Examples this http://www.amazon.com/Hydroponics-Grow-Tent-Hydro-Cabinet/dp/B0035MTIDK/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1290206359&sr=8-8 economy tent or this nicer tent http://www.amazon.com/Secret-Jardin-DarkRoom-120-Inches/dp/B0029AHQKG/ref=sr_1_7?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1290207450&sr=1-7 .
• I plan to vent the tent with a blower fan or a can fan. What would be an ideal CFM to properly push enough air through the carbon filter and still properly vent the heat from the light and tent? The tent will either be in the cool basement 50f-winter 65f-summer or in a bedroom that remains 72f all year long. Does anyone preffer the can fans or the blowers for any reason?
• I plan to invest in a ducted hood or a cool tube, when that is done should the intake start at the hood, or should another intake be added to duct the rest of the tent?
• Has anyone any preference to which media to use as the carbon filter (the carbon filter rocks or the actual carbon filter paper used for heating and cooling)? How large should the filter be? I was thinking about using this design and tailor it to my needs: http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=509470

Anyways thank you for your time and knowledge!

Click to expand...

400w is too small for a 4x4 area....400w is ment to cover a 3x3 area.... your alot better off going eather 600w or 1000w......dont get funky blower get a nice inline fan like "can-fan" or "Eleicent" or vortex...IMO i think Eliecent fans are the most silent for there size....

harry larry said:

Hey thanks everyone. + rep to you all!

Click to expand...

Good advice that I will echo:

Don't be cheap, buy quality equipment the first time and have more fun growing, not fighting with temps. The DR120 sounds like a stellar idea, that was my first choice though I ended up with a DR100 that I still absolutely love!
For what it's worth, I just purchased one of these inline blowers and I think if you had one of these and a speed controller, operating in the ambient temps you mentioned earlier, you'd be a pig in shit, so to speak.

I bought the 6" version.
http://www.4hydroponics.com/growroom/fans2.asp?ItemNo=windTunnel

What do you guys think about the dr120t? Would the slightly shorter flowering room make a difference? and is 2 foot tall enouph for a good mom/clone/veg chamber?

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