Please judge/criticize my first tent setup

Hey friends,

I am a medical patient and new member to the forum and growing community. Please see my tent and grow setup image attachrd and get me know if you think I should change anything. Thanks

What lights are you running and what are the tent dimensions (4x8?)? I'm willing to bet those aren't going to cut it based on how it looks. Don't bother with the Exhale bag, either. It won't hurt anything to leave it in there but they don't help at all unless you have more than enough lighting and the tent is sealed. I bought those when I started and they made zero difference.

Thanks for reply!

Few details:

4x8 tent with 1 vent left open on floor

5 - 5 gallon cloth pots with fox farms soil mixed with perlite and worm casings.

6" inline fan exhausting with carbon filter on 3Hour on/off schedule

2 - viparspectera-ul 600 watt LEDs

1 humidifier

1 large oscillating fan, 4 small fans

1 radiator

1 exhaust c02 bag

I keep the temp around 75f and humidity around 60rh.

Anything other ideas about things I should change/add/remove, etc? Trying to bend that learning curve as best I can. Thanks again!!

MidwestTentGrowerDude said:

2 - 600 watt LEDs

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What are the actual lights, though. You can't go off what they say in the name of the light, you have to go off the actual operating wattage. I'd be willing to bet that each of those lights only draws about 140W - 150W and you would need 8 to be suitable in a 4x8 tent.

If you are running THESE then those are 260W each and you would need at least 4 of those lights in a 4x8 tent

Yes, those are the lights I'm running.

Ok - that is great to know. So Ill look at hanging 2 more of those in my tent.

Ya.... I'm a newb. Oversight like yours is invaluable. Thanks for helping me try to figure out what I'm doing

MidwestTentGrowerDude said:

Yes, those are the lights I'm running.

Ok - that is great to know. So Ill look at hanging 2 more of those in my tent.

Ya.... I'm a newb. Oversight like yours is invaluable. Thanks for helping me try to figure out what I'm doing

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You're welcome. Pretty much everyone buys insufficient lights at the beginning.

it looks really good in there sir. I agree with farmer, dont buy another co2 bag until your ready. its just being wasted right now. other then that you will need more light. 8 of those if possible, 4 would prolly "work" though. LED's are days of research by themselves.

getogrow said:

it looks really good in there sir. I agree with farmer, dont buy another co2 bag until your ready. its just being wasted right now. other then that you will need more light. 8 of those if possible, 4 would prolly "work" though. LED's are days of research by themselves.

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Those lights are $160 each. For the price of 4 of those he could get something much nicer. @MidwestTentGrowerDude , if money is a concern then I would suggest getting two of THESE instead of two more of what you have. They pull 300W each, are close to half the price, and have a better light spectrum that will help make the light temperature of your tent easier on your eyes, too. Those blurple lights bother the crap out of my eyes.

TreeFarmerCharlie said:

Those lights are $160 each. For the price of 4 of those he could get something much nicer. @MidwestTentGrowerDude , if money is a concern then I would suggest getting two of THESE instead of two more of what you have. They pull 300W each, are close to half the price, and have a better light spectrum that will help make the light temperature of your tent easier on your eyes, too. Those blurple lights bother the crap out of my eyes.

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I am not the one to decide which leds are best. Looks like farmer is on it....i would follow his advice.
I do know they finally made leds that are just as or more powerful then hid but they are very expensive. you wont find them on amazon or ebay by yourself either. It takes guys like farmer to help guide ya.

to keep things safe as possible, take a look at the labels on the lights your using and look for actual wattage or amperage. The crap they tell you just makes it hard to prep for: "3000 watts, 2000 watts ect..." If they really pulled that much electricity then you would wire it comepletely different. Im guessing farmer is right on 260 watts ....thats about right for them lights. That heater you have is 1500 actual watts on high. That is the most powerful thing in the tent. Put that on its own breaker if at all possible.

TreeFarmerCharlie said:

Those lights are $160 each. For the price of 4 of those he could get something much nicer. @MidwestTentGrowerDude , if money is a concern then I would suggest getting two of THESE instead of two more of what you have. They pull 300W each, are close to half the price, and have a better light spectrum that will help make the light temperature of your tent easier on your eyes, too. Those blurple lights bother the crap out of my eyes.

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Thank you thank you thank you!!! I cant tell you how grateful I am for all this input. I'm going to scoop those 2 lights you linked @TreeFarmerCharlie , thank you so much for your guidance. It is so very greatly appreciated.

I'll post another pic when I get it setup.

Quick update - I added those 2 lights @TreeFarmerCharlie recommended. See images attached.

I plan to clean up the cords and straighten out the lights. Having said that..... waddayathink? Thanks all for your input!

Hope they give you better coverage in there!

You could try to discharge the humidifier by the radiator near a circulation fan, so that the heat and humidity are constant in the canopy.
One end gets wet, one end warm with opposed units.
I'd put a small fan near the intake vent to disperse fresh air thru the lowers , then the rising heat and humidity would be dispersed by the oscillating fan.

I'd also lower the small fan at the top, you want the hot air to stratify and stay there, be sucked out.
Use that fan to shed heat off your lights and keep the heat moving up to the top.

You can recycle some heat and humidity in winter by putting the discharge vent near the intake, mix some back in.

DCcan said:

You could try to discharge the humidifier by the heater near a circulation fan, so that the heat and humidity are constant in the canopy.
One end gets wet, one end warm with opposed units.
I'd put a small fan near the intake vent to disperse fresh air thru the lowers , then the rising heat and humidity would be dispersed by the oscillating fan.

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Yes - still trying to figure out optimal placement of fans, humidifier, and heater.

1 oscillating fan kinda in the middle
1 humidifier near the intake vent
1 heater opposite side from humidifier
4 small fans placed throughout tent to help circulate

DCcan said:

You could try to discharge the humidifier by the radiator near a circulation fan, so that the heat and humidity are constant in the canopy.
One end gets wet, one end warm with opposed units.

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like this?

Pretty much, that will keep any excess moisture from accumulating on plants or equipment.
You will have to experiment with the other fans as the canopy fills, stick a joint or wet finger in and see where the air flows.
I just try for down, around, upward and out...works for me

MidwestTentGrowerDude said:

like this?
View attachment 4522438

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I've had 2 of those heaters explode on me... messy fuckers to clean up.

All looks good to me. Not convinced on the exhale bags.

TreeFarmerCharlie said:

You're welcome. Pretty much everyone buys insufficient lights at the beginning.

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I definitely would not say everyone.

This trend started to be a thing that began occurring with the introduction of LED and other various lights. People have seemingly been ignoring the importance of proper research, and it seems to be getting worse. Not just lights, either.