grow tent help

About to begin my second grow and researched many different grow box/cabinet ideas before designing one.When i went to price out all my materials etc. i realized its gonna cost way more than i anticipated.Now im leaning towards the idea of a grow tent.Been looking at them on e-bay and found some really good deals,cheaper than what i was gonna build.Does anyone have any advice on which ones to get and which ones not to get?Some are lined with mylar and some just say "lined with reflective plastic".Need some input. Im looking to go with 3x3 area for my 400 watt hps.I have 2 78 cfm pc fans .Would those work in a tent that size?Any advice?any brands or anything i should look for or look out for when buying a grow tent?

a 3x3 with a 400 would be perfect but some brands tend to have a toxic fume if you dont set them up and air them out beforehand. I use a DarkRoom 4x4x6 and my 400 is barely cuttin it. HOme Box and Darkroom are the most trusted as far as i know but there are some being made by local hydro shops that are just as nice. only thing is make sure you set it up an give it a good sniff and maybe even let it air out for a couple hours

or you could just go get 1 inch pvc and some corners then grab some panda poly and self stick velcro. it may not be as nice but if you take your time and put effort into it i 'd bet you could make a really nice one

Hydrohut, Homebox, Secret Jardin Dark Room, GrowLab, BudBox, Grow Box, Grow Room, Grow Hut. def buy a brand name cause some of the tent admit chemical when you put the light inside and some are not light proof. That 400 wat is gonna give off some heat. Tents tend to hold the heat. I think you should go with a 4in inline those little dinky fans you have are not gonna cut it. Check these tents out http://www.htgsupply.com/products.asp?categoryID=19. good luck

i have a grow lab now.... secret jardin last few grows.... the off gassing you hear about was from a few of the hydrohut models a while back ... i got one o fthe bad ones first tent and it sucked.... when looking for a tent you want to look for port placement/size of ducting you want to run... say your running 6 inch then you dont want to buy a 4 inch tent ya know.... also look at the placement o fthe holes for cooling the light, try and figure out where you will be setting it up and make sure your vents wont go strait in to the wall
here is a link to my tent setup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qylJmwWSOJY

SmokeyMcChokey said:

or you could just go get 1 inch pvc and some corners then grab some panda poly and self stick velcro. it may not be as nice but if you take your time and put effort into it i 'd bet you could make a really nice one

Click to expand...

That's what I did. 3/4" PVC, black/white plastic, duct tape (black and white), and velcro for the door. Rough estimate, about $70-80 in materials for a 2.5'x3.5'x5' tent/room.

Nice work MrBlanco

Thank you, sir. I still need to get the ventilation taken care of so I can put the door on. Right now I just drape it across the opening at night, scotch taped to the top.

Ventillation is a big thing when you are doing tents and cabinets with 400 watts....those fans you have won't really do much to remove heat.

Thanks guys.I might got back to the drawing board now after looking at mr.blanco's set up.Never thought about a pvc frame etc.My plans consisted of 2x4 frame and plywood for walls etc...My only question for mr. blanco is how about odor control.Will that plastic hold in the odor enough?im gonna use a carbon filter etc. but one of my reasons for considering buying a tent was the no air/light leak factor.

It should hold the odor, I got the idea for the plastic from the Jorge Cervantes dvd. I was originally going to use 2x3", also from the video, but pvc just seemed all around easier since I'm not much of a builder.

For the people asking, I'm going to make a DIY in the near future.

I use a sun hut 2x4 with a 1000w in it. heat is definitly an issue i use a 410 cfm to cool the fan and a 110 cfm fan with the filter and it keeps it 7 degrees above room temp. The carbon filter will help but there is no such thing as air leak proof. Use a fan that creates a negative pressure in the tent to keep everything being sucked out and you shouldnt have a problem. go green everybodys doin it. one

I went with the growlab after lots of research... growlab is made by homebox (my 2nd choice) but it is an upgrade...i was considering making one too but then i thought... whats $400 compared to all the zones this thing is going to make... (I got the 4x8 tent BTW).

has 8" duct openings with draw strings all over it... can run 4" duct and just pull the draw string to make it light and air tight... beautiful.

they are completely light tight, and the inside is completely reflective, including the floor, which is also designed to contain a pretty large water spill.. (should hold 4" of water on the 4x8 surface - i just googled it, that is 80 gallons)

i'm running 2KW in my tent, and a can filter with 33 lbs of carbon in it... whole filter is like 50 lbs... plus an inline fan, which i will hang from the ceiling of the tent, with the oversize light hoods... something you'll have to consider when building your own... i wouldn't hang all that shit on pvc, so you might have to re-arrange or re-inforce something.

the grow lab also has windows on the front of the tent, that velcro shut... i didnt think i would like them, but they are actually quite helpful for taking a quick peek in the tent without opening it up... its actually quite hard to tell if the lights are on inside or not.

anyways, tents are the shit... i've actually got 2 growlabs... one is for the moms/clones...

sun hut is one i've only recently heard of - they are more expensive that the grow lab, but possibly slightly heavier...

either way... the home made grow tent will in no way compete with any of the big names... but it will still grow some shit like mad if you do it right... the scotch tape holding the face of it on will only last for so long... having a good tent is just for peace of mind... and the fact that you can re-use it after you disassemble.

peace

If I was running over 100lbs. of gear I wouldn't have used 3/4" pvc. You'd be surprised at how sturdy it is already, though. I have a bunch of metal poles from an old 10'x10' yard tent I could've used too, I just wouldn't have been able to build to suit my space.

And I'd beg to differ with your assertion that you can't make a quality product of your own. I built this without even having taken a look at the commercial tents in person, just online long enough to know I didn't need to spend 4x+ the money for my needs. Modifications such as the drawstring opening or closed catch tray would be very cheap and easy to add. My catch tray is just another sheet laid on the ground, but I have the plans and left over pvc to make a fully enclosed box. Also, if you noticed, I said I was putting the door on with velcro and that the scotch tape is, indeed, temporary until I decide what I'm going to do with my ventilation. I can also very easily reuse mine if disassembled, because I designed it with that in mind. The plastic sheeting for the top and bottom are taped down but the front/back/sides are a single piece, so it breaks down quickly and more than small enough to fit under a bed. Flat white is also an outstanding reflective surface. If I wanted to add mylar that would, again, be cheap and easy.

Don't see why you've got to knock my work just to make what you have seem that much cooler. I guess some people just need to chop the heads off others to make themselves taller.

awe shit man.. i wasnt trying to chop your head off to look taller.

I was just saying that if you built your own, you couldnt set them up like the commercial tents with everything hanging from the ceiling.... not unless you changed to metal conduit pipe or something....

i've hand made my fair share of shit... and if i tried to make a grow tent, i dont think it would be suitable for a homeless person to live in... and damn sure wouldnt be air or light tight.

i'm glad your shit's workin' for you though... i wasnt trying to knock it... i know there's someone out there with a home-made tent growin' better than i am right now... i dont give a shit....

so there, i just cut my own head off... now your a little bit taller because there is a little bit of your spinal column sticking out of your neck hole...

peace.

Ah, just a misunderstanding. It's all good.

It's actually completely light tight except for the door, no pinholes anywhere with the overhead light off. I have the plastic overlapping and taped both inside and out, hence the roll of both black and white tape. I bought 3/4" wide velcro for the door so that should be almost completely light tight as well. This is just going to be a small operation. I'm looking to eventually put out around 8-12oz. a month once I get everything dialed in. Then I'm going to do an outdoor grow in the spring with some mango and/or another large yeilding strain.