Grow tent and cooling

telecaster

Active Member
Hi guys I'm getting ready to start my first ever grow I have 5 seeds of critical kush and a sunmaster 600w setup with dual spectrum lamp my aim is to yield at least 20oz and hopefully more as it needs to last us at least 3 months!!

With the tent I was thinking of going with a 4x4 (or perhaps a 3x3?) and as for the cooling I have no idea, the light uses a cooltube so I assume I need some sort of fan as well as carbon filter for the smell. Will one big fan be enough to handle all of this or will I need additional fans to control the temps? Some of those big fans are over $100 which is far more expensive than I imagined I'm hoping to spend as little as I can on the cooling so I can put most my money in a good tent.

As for the tent my budget is $200 the secret jardin 120 dark room II would've been perfect for my budget but I've heard the quality is awful on them now. I looked at the gorilla tents but a 4x4 was over $400 which is way out of my price range, I've found other tent brands like lighthouse, virtual sun, ledwholesalers but they don't have good reviews either. I've heard of some other good ones like grow cube and budbox but can't find them anywhere in australia or with overseas shipping. Would the lighthouse tent be ok? The last thing I want is it to crash down and potentially start a fire while I'm gone I can't see, to find a single decent tent in my price range to the point I'm almost tempted to just buy the secret jardin despite hearing how much they've dropped in quality.

Is it possible to yield over 20oz in 3-4months with this setup? What yield should I expect on average provided everything goes well with no hiccups? I'll only have 5 plants and I don't plan to scrog them because I need to pack away the tent quickly if need be I've heard a scrog setup isn't exactly portable. I've heard critical kush is a big yielder so hopefully it's possible.

Any advice would be much appreciated!!
cheers
 

stickyhits

Well-Known Member
So your setup is using a cooltube? I've never used one but I hear they aren't very good compared to a regular coolable reflector so that will hurt your yield right there. I would go with an Agromax tent if your trying to stay on a budget, they are around 200 for a 4x4 tent and they use all metal corners etc. Don't go cheap on the fan get an inline. I don't think you will yield 20 ozs with a cooltube and you will need a bigger tent to increase your yeild so get the 4x4 not the 3x3.
 

Ou8aCracker2

Well-Known Member
You need an inline centrifugal from a hydro shop.

A good 6" 440cfm inline centrifugal exhauast fan matched to a 6" carbon filter.

Nothing wrong with SJ tents.
 

telecaster

Active Member
hmmm I just picked up a growlab 120 off ebay I couldn't find too many reviews but I've heard it's a decent tent! I still need to sort out the cooling and found this on ebay http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/150MM-Centrifugal-Exhaust-Vent-Fan-6-Inch-Air-Activated-Carbon-Filter-Kit-/331104067252?pt=AU_Seed_Starting_Hydroponics&hash=item4d17571eb4 the brand looks generic and it's still very pricey but is it a good fan? Will I need any other fans as well besides the filter/centrifugal fan? The way I'm thinking of hooking the cooling up is as follows: carbon filter/fan inside tent>cooltube>vent outside tent. I've heard you can have the filter/fan outside the tent but heard it's much better to have them inside.

I also heard cooltubes yielded more than hoods because you can get the light far closer to the plants? I'd imagine there'd be many opinions on the topic!
 

Ou8aCracker2

Well-Known Member
If you can keep it cool enough,open reflector is better as the glass on aircooled hoods and cooltubes makes for a 10% to 15% lumen loss.

I prefer bare bulb vertical.
 
Top