Is A Growing Tent Necessary?

I have the perfect spot to hang my equipment, but it will be exposed; which works for me anyways since I'll have fans on them the entire time. I had read that the ability to zip a tent shut keeps mites away, and multiplies your light as a reflector; but does it make that big of a difference?

i don't think zipping a tent shut matters to mites at all.
tents are usually reflective, which makes your lights that much more effective.
you don't need one, but its a lot easier to control the environment in a small enclosed area, than it is in a large open room.
thats really the only advantage. if the room you have it in can be completely dark the necessary 12 hours a day and stays within the required temp/rh ranges, then it ought to be fine

All your doing is putting a small grow room in a room, it will require the same equipment more or less powerfull in any other grow room/tent.

Also, you choose the light footprint according to your space not the other way around unless you already have the light, If you want to grow in a 4x4 then get something for a 4x4 ect... Now a 600hps would be better in a 4x4 tent then it would in the center of a 10x10 room however, that's a buyer mistake

Good luck on keeping mites out lol, I'll put money that 90% of mite infested tents were brought in from shoes/animals/clothes/clones ect.

Shakedown St. said:

I have the perfect spot to hang my equipment, but it will be exposed; which works for me anyways since I'll have fans on them the entire time. I read that the ability to zip a tent shut keeps mites away, and multiplies your light as a reflector; but does it make that big of a difference?

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I would also think about light leak. I don't see anything about you having a tight light seal. Light leak can lead to hermie problems.

Shakedown St. said:

I have the perfect spot to hang my equipment, but it will be exposed; which works for me anyways since I'll have fans on them the entire time. I read that the ability to zip a tent shut keeps mites away, and multiplies your light as a reflector; but does it make that big of a difference?

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is it needed no
is it a smart idea yes

tent have a better reflective surface then anything else so u get the most out of the light u are using ....plus smell controll is simpler just use negitive pressure with a carbon filter on the exhust and u can not smell anything with the doo shut

A tent makes sense of your grow uses a small fraction of the space is located in because it will be easier to control the environment inside.

Once the grow fills the space, the need for a tent diminishes.

Yeah it's a pretty small room off of my basement to begin with, about an 8x8 space. temperature controlled and smell isn't a huge concern for me; so really it would come down to making the most out of my light setup. For this grow I will be using two 600 watt MH/HPS hoods under 8-10 plants, I could wrap reflective material around around my walls; my greatest concern was in keeping unwanted parasitic guests away in my dusty basement.

Clean, paint and seal the room. Make sure there are ZERO light leaks. I'm neurotic about mites and bugs. I shower, put on clean clothes and have special shoes for my indoor garden. I had a small mite problem in my last grow in a tent so I take every precaution available now that I have a dedicated room.

Shakedown St. said:

I have the perfect spot to hang my equipment, but it will be exposed; which works for me anyways since I'll have fans on them the entire time. I had read that the ability to zip a tent shut keeps mites away, and multiplies your light as a reflector; but does it make that big of a difference?

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depnds on the size of the room and what u are doing with it i you are just running one or 2 lights get a tent if u wana go crazy style run the whole room with 6-8 600 watt lights

I love my 5X5! It's set up in a finished garage that's insulated so I can veg the next generation outside the tent.
I've had a lot of experience with mites. In fact, I've got them right now and am not that concerned. I can't keep them out of the garage, and I do a lot of outdoor growing. I'm finishing 5 durban poison plants that were started outside.
Healthy plants can deal with bugs. When they are young, my plants get silica to make em tough & extra chewy. They also get rosemaric acid in a product called SNS 209 that I discontinue when I flip em to 12/12. The bugs I've got are no doing well. When I'm done flowering in the tent, I'll pull everything out of the garage, seal it up, & blast it with ozone a few times. Ozone kills bugs *and* mold/mildew.

ii never bought a tent and never will, only because i can do it for cheaper and have it custom made as i like it. I will not be able to find a tent that has the same dimensions as my chamber, and i get the added benefit of sturdy walls too. I use construction material like drywall and wood, but for a person who has zero diy construction skills, it would be way easier to get a tent

Tents work great, Ya know jerry may have suggested you try them out fior yourself before taking other folks 2 cents on what will work for you brother...........keep on keepin on man!

zem said:

ii never bought a tent and never will, only because i can do it for cheaper and have it custom made as i like it. I will not be able to find a tent that has the same dimensions as my chamber, and i get the added benefit of sturdy walls too. I use construction material like drywall and wood, but for a person who has zero diy construction skills, it would be way easier to get a tent

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I got my 4 x 4 tent for 65 bucks and the steel rods fit into molded plastic that got run over by a car and still function without a crack soooo yeah man as for there strength thats a seriously weak argument!

I do use the tent still. It's a VEG/clone room now. For me it's necessary to have for perpetual growing and time saving.

MANGOBICHE said:

I got my 4 x 4 tent for 65 bucks and the steel rods fit into molded plastic that got run over by a car and still function without a crack soooo yeah man as for there strength thats a seriously weak argument!

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lol maybe the sturdiness is not the best argument, still in my setup it would not fit, I build everything custom made and it makes sense in every other way to just construct the chambers

maybe in my generation we had more diy'ers who could put out some beast builds but in my experiance the millenial generation does not have this capability like our generation does/did. Dont get me wrong ive seen some seriously AWESOME home diy from everything to lights,vortex tea microbulators, cloning trays etc so i believe you unequivic, i just dont think we can outdo the cheapo tent sales on amazon!

Well, actually beat your 65$ by far, it cost me almost nothing to build my chambers, i had everything already, wood and drywall material even some old closet door which i use as the chamber door, even paint was leftovers from my home painting, old pipes used water pipes to make sturdy raised tables, cardboard for sidewalls. But you are right that if it were for the money alone, I would have paid the price to save the effort, but i have other reasons

Fair enough but having the intestinal fortitude to source,plan and execute such a feat isnt in your everyday growers bag of tricks. If i would have had access to that kinda materials i too would have built a similar set-up, i moved way too much back then, and being able to set-up and reset with ease is nice.

Is a tent needed ? No, we call them Ghetto Grows in my neck of the woods.

zem said:

ii never bought a tent and never will, only because i can do it for cheaper and have it custom made as i like it. I will not be able to find a tent that has the same dimensions as my chamber, and i get the added benefit of sturdy walls too. I use construction material like drywall and wood, but for a person who has zero diy construction skills, it would be way easier to get a tent

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It is highly unlikely that average person can build a room for $100 -- which is what I paid for my tent.