Please judge/criticize my first tent setup

CptTripps

CptTripps

Well-Known Member
MidwestTentGrowerDude said:
As a medical patient, I can only grow 5 plants (at any stage) legally.
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Honestly, you could have gone with a 4X4 tent then. Most of us with 4X8s are running 10-15 plants in them. Alternatively, you could grow 5 monsters in there, but you're going to need (nearly) completely different lighting for that. That being said...grow with what you have!

If you upgrade lighting down the road, you could use those as supplementary lights down low to get the under side of the plant, or side-lighting.

Another thought if you're interested in upgrading lighting now: If you're under 30d and still have the boxes, you can return those lights to Amazon. Here in the US it's damn simple...couple of clicks in the app....then you take the box to Kohls or UPS Store and they return it for you. You could get 2 TSW3000s and cover the whole tent. That'd get the heat up there in the tent too, and you wouldn't need the space heater. Just a thought...
 
JimmiP

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
I would do what the previous poster suggested and order different lights. I personally am still a MH/HPS guy. Because in this climate (I'm assuming you are in Illinois too) you can need/ use that extra heat (especially in basements). I run 600w MH/HPS with cool tubes and a ducted hood, dumping heat into the surrounding basement. And hid lights will give you better spread and penetration in that space. Which can (not poking at led) lead to larger, denser buds and bigger harvests. You could run three 600w cool tubes inline within that tent and grow all five into monsters.
Just draw the air through the tubes from outside of the tent. Then put a smaller fan on your filter. In the summer you can vent the heat from the lamps to the outside.
Just some thoughts to try and help with that ridiculous five plant limit they have stuck people with.
 
MidwestTentGrowerDude

MidwestTentGrowerDude

Member
Thanks for the input and thoughts @JimmiP and @CptTripps . Definitely something for me to consider as I fall into this new hobby and learn best practices.

Both those lights you guys pointed out are awesome and probably more appropriate for a tent this size.

My goal is to complete 1 or 2 grows with the setup, work out the kinks and see what works and what doesnt work. Eventually, I'll likely end up getting a 2nd small tent to veg and put these lights in there and then upgrade lights in the 4x4x8 to something like you guys suggested (HPS or TSW3000)
 
JimmiP

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
Right on. Always been a fan of both of them. I currently have four Illinois Green Cush in flower. It has two or three weeks to go. I also started a Dutch Passion, Passion Fruit for the next go.
Good luck with what you are doing. You have everything you need to grow and with what is going on in the world right now it's a sure thing that people need a hobby. Lucky for us, ours is one of the best!
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
Setup looks good brother !
i have run radiators all my life , never heard of one blowing up or leaking. (they dont make "safe space heaters" anymore but the radiator is the closest you can get. slightly more efficient too.)
love the midwest strains. grew up on the ol northern.
 
JimmiP

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
What got to grow said ^. I have used the radiator type heater for years. I have seen them break and leak but that was after it was thrown from the truck at my friends scrapyard. Lol. But anyway, they do give off some good stable heat that the fans take care of moving around nicely. Heck the one I have now is ten or twelve years old and has surface rust on it .
That being said, I cant remember if you have, a controller. If you don't, I would get one asap. Once you set it right your environmental worries about heat and humidity go away. Just remember to fill the humidifier (I have forgotten before, lol). The demand for humidity will change when you reach flowering but that's still a little bit down the road for you.... by the time you start flowering you might need to run the dehumidifier too.
 
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JimmiP

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
I looked back at your list and did not see a controller. I would get one or two of these (or something similar). 20200303_011752.jpg there are others in multiple price ranges. But these are reliable and only cost $70.the humidifier and heater were unplugged in this shot as I was moving stuff around.
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
JimmiP said:
I looked back at your list and did not see a controller. I would get one or two of these (or something similar). View attachment 4522926 there are others in multiple price ranges. But these are reliable and only cost $70.the humidifier and heater were unplugged in this shot as I was moving stuff around.
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can you explain one of these for a dummy ?
These were close to a thousand dollars back in the day an never ran much co2 so didnt "need" one.
Now , things have changed and its time to use one. Im assuming they turn on/off heat/ac/humdifier/dehum/ect... ? Thanks for the input.
 
JimmiP

JimmiP

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
can you explain one of these for a dummy ?
These were close to a thousand dollars back in the day an never ran much co2 so didnt "need" one.
Now , things have changed and its time to use one. Im assuming they turn on/off heat/ac/humdifier/dehum/ect... ? Thanks for the input.
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Sure , I can explain it. You already have it pretty much right. And yeah, I remember them being super expensive years ago too. Aside from turning heat or cooling on and off same for dehumidifiers and humidifiers or a combination of the two, like I use it. You can use it to set ranges of temperature or humidity drift. This one also has alarm functions for exceeding high and low settings.
They come with a temperature probe (or two depending on the setup you choose to use) and a humidity probe. I mounted the box outside of the flowering room and drilled a hole in the wall to run the probes through. The humidity probe is on the wall inside the room at the canopy height and the temp probe is in the canopy. After you set your parameters it takes care of the rest by turning the respective devices on and off for you. Warning the alarm sounds annoying and will go off if you have the door open to long. It does have a cancel button for that though.
They save a lot of headaches from environmental change effects.
 
MidwestTentGrowerDude

MidwestTentGrowerDude

Member
JimmiP said:
I looked back at your list and did not see a controller. I would get one or two of these (or something similar). View attachment 4522926 there are others in multiple price ranges. But these are reliable and only cost $70.the humidifier and heater were unplugged in this shot as I was moving stuff around.
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That's awesome, thanks for sharing that!

My humidifier has a humidistat that I now have set to 50rh

As far as heat is concerned - with the 4 lights it looks like I won't even need to run the radiator. I'm also playing with inline fan schedule - currently alternates on/off every 3 hours
 
ColoradoHighGrower

ColoradoHighGrower

Well-Known Member
Nice setup man! I grow in coco/sphag/perlite/worm casting mix and use fox farm trio plus a couple other things too, and love it! Get some CalMag too, and maybe a bottle of Orca or similar bonus for soil/root health.

One comment on your plants/pots: are you growing autos? or reg/feminized photoperiod sensitive strains (like veg under 18/6 and then flip to 12/12 for flower)? If autos, you're good. If regs, then a couple things to change next time:

1) start your seedlings in starter trays/pucks/whatever or cups no bigger than solo cups, and transplant up to 1gal>2>gal>5gal pots as needed during veg.

2) always water the entire pot, give it a good soak with some runoff at bottom.

For me in 3gal smart pots, I usually apply at least 3-4 pitchers by hand to each plant, slowly to prevent it from just flowing off and down the sides and not actually soaking into the soil. This is another reason to not start seedlings in a huge pot like that. Just leads to inefficiency, impropper watering, and root issues. Only autos get germinated/up-potteted directly into their "forever pot" and watered partially until bigger like you have done here.
 
MidwestTentGrowerDude

MidwestTentGrowerDude

Member
ColoradoHighGrower said:
Nice setup man! I grow in coco/sphag/perlite/worm casting mix and use fox farm trio plus a couple other things too, and love it! Get some CalMag too, and maybe a bottle of Orca or similar bonus for soil/root health.

One comment on your plants/pots: are you growing autos? or reg/feminized photoperiod sensitive strains (like veg under 18/6 and then flip to 12/12 for flower)? If autos, you're good. If regs, then a couple things to change next time:

1) start your seedlings in starter trays/pucks/whatever or cups no bigger than solo cups, and transplant up to 1gal>2>gal>5gal pots as needed during veg.

2) always water the entire pot, give it a good soak with some runoff at bottom.

For me in 3gal smart pots, I usually apply at least 3-4 pitchers by hand to each plant, slowly to prevent it from just flowing off and down the sides and not actually soaking into the soil. This is another reason to not start seedlings in a huge pot like that. Just leads to inefficiency, impropper watering, and root issues. Only autos get germinated/up-potteted directly into their "forever pot" and watered partially until bigger like you have done here.
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These are not autos

That is solid advice about starting small as far as putting and then transferring to larger pot

Also, great advice on watering- thank you!
 
DrUgZrBaD

DrUgZrBaD

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
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.
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You go off the amperage, And voltage,wattage is useless it’s for the consumer to think is important.
So if your light draws 20 amps and is 204 volt
You know you need a 20 amp double throw
And yes there’s 204 volt (mostly ac units)
And you run a 12-2 or Go another gauge up depending on your distance.
that’s way easier than using wattage
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
DrUgZrBaD said:
You go off the amperage, And voltage,wattage is useless it’s for the consumer to think is important.
So if your light draws 20 amps and is 204 volt
You know you need a 20 amp double throw
And yes there’s 204 volt (mostly ac units)
And you run a 12-2 or Go another gauge up depending on your distance.
that’s way easier than using wattage
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You can go off wattage or amperage. whichever the sticker shows you.
If your light is drawing 20 amps then you CANNOT use 12/2 romex. 12 wire is rated for 20 amps max. Most codes anywhere in the wor......nevermind. you do not understand electricity. Sorry.
watts/volts =amps
amps x volts =watts
Watts is how the power company bills you. not amps.
 
getogrow

getogrow

Well-Known Member
Yes its always a lot easier for me to use tiny pots then go up and its easier in general but long as you water right , your plant will enjoy that big pot and will actually be better for the soil food web (organics) to build up a good system.
 
DrUgZrBaD

DrUgZrBaD

Well-Known Member
getogrow said:
You can go off wattage or amperage. whichever the sticker shows you.
If your light is drawing 20 amps then you CANNOT use 12/2 romex. 12 wire is rated for 20 amps max. Most codes anywhere in the wor......nevermind. you do not understand electricity. Sorry.
watts/volts =amps
amps x volts =watts
Watts is how the power company bills you. not amps.
Click to expand...
Why could I not? Kitchen counter plugs are 20 amp by code it’s 12-2
So if it’s rated for 20 amps you use a 20 amp breaker.
Also, you didn’t read the first. One right it is 204 volt, you loose your neutral and it becomes a traveller so now you have a double throw breaker. You can max the wire there is nothing wrong with that. Plugs and lights are the exception 12 max On a 15 amp but with all the led you could put 100’s on.
Why are most dryers 30 amp so you run 10-3
I hope you understand what it means to loose the neutral and make it a traveller
 
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