Question about place I set my grow tent

It's starting to get cold now, and my original plan was to have my grow tent in my empty basement (not empty as in no one lives down there, but empty as in there's nothing built. no rooms or walls or anything). My basement is NOT connected to my heater that heats my house, so whatever temperature it is outside, it is in my basement as well.

Is it still possible to grow down there IN my grow tent with my tent basically being outside? I cannot place it anywhere inside my house without it being a disturbance, in plain view, or pissing off my mother. I know if I maintain the tent closed, the lights should heat up the tent, but if I have a fan going on as well it would just be outside cold + fan cold = super cold.

Note: My basement is not one with the only entrance being stairs from inside the house. It has both a sliding glass window, and a door with a hole for a dog to go through. All of these things added from the previous owner who decided to ditch the idea of finishing the basement. A small heater is out of question, as it would not be worth it. All the heat would just escape. I can not BUILD anything either like a room (not allowed to).


My tent is 4 x 2 x 5 (in feet), and I have a 400w light system. If need be I COULD buy a 1000w ballast to produce more heat. I am a new grower and really don't know what to do in this situation. This is like learning how to park a car without having a car to drive experience for me.

I would prefer if I could get as many serious responses if I could. I KNOW I have to research more, and sarcastic answers do not help.

Get a bigger tent to allow for a space heater inside for lights off. Or maybe try putting the heater right next to the intake on a timer.

The 1000W system would definitely warm it up. Can you afford the electric bill? 400W and 600W with adjustable controls 50%, 75%, and 100% give you a more affordable electric bill. What is the temperature in the tent with the 400W? Have to keep it sealed up if its really cold.

what is the temperature differential (inside tent to outside) with your current setup??

to be honest, a 400w bulb gets pretty damn toasty in a 4x4x7, let alone a 4x2x5, but you of course have the problem of lights off temps. i suggest you buy an oil filled radiator and put it on a thermostat inside your tent. these things don't use as much electric as fan heaters and you get them them pretty small. also use a single fan controller for your extraction, so it is going the minimum speed when it is cooler. this saves power plus keeps the noise levels down. set your fan controller to 25 degrees C, your heather thermostat to 21 degrees C, that way your heater won't trip the fan controller and waste energy. your tent will always be at a steady temp keeping your girls happy.

another tip is run the light cycle during the night time when it is coldest. this will allow the bulb to do most of the heating during the coldest times.

you pretty much have to use a heater dude. winter times, you cannot get around it.

I would highly suggest that you only veg during the winter months, thus having lights on 24/7. I know that doesn't solve your immediate problem, but there's always next year to be planning for now.

I dont want to have to make room between the heater and plants to avoid the plants getting burned/caught on fire.

Could I have a secondary tent connected to my grow tent and have the heater in that? I assume the heater would heat up both tents and I wouldn't have such a high chance of the single tent catching fire from everything being so close together

Let me know what you guys think. I would get a space heater with a thermostat

I think trolls idea about the oil filled heater is the good one, these put out a very even heat

Could I still have my plants next to the oil heater? Or would I have to have some space between the two to prevent a fire or causing damage to my plants?

oil rads don't cause fires mate. don't go sticking a 3 bar fire in there haha. oil rads are the best because when they switch off at the right temp, they stay hot for a good while, very slowly cooling down, it keeps a nice steady temp range in the tent. i have 2 of them for such occasions, one is a baby one, n'aww! they are awesome. do not consider any other method of heating, even these poxy greenhouse heating bars, they are shite. if you can get one with a temp thermostat built in, awesome, if not, you will need to buy one that fits on your plug and has a temp probe you can run into the tent. keep it away from close contact with the plants, think of them as light bulbs. crank that sucker up full and place your hand near to it. if you can stand the heat, so can the plants. if it gets uncomfortable, your plants will feel that too. place it in front of your main air intake location so air drawn in from the negative pressure your exhaust causes will force air to pass over your heater as it enters the tent. this is important as you don't want a cold side and a hot side. get a temp gauge with a memory so you can check daily highs and lows.

never run 24h just to keep plants heated, plants need sleep. you want a 20/4 cycle max. they are not seedlings any more. also if you veg all winter, ei 3-4 months, that is going to grow damn big, and then flower that? it will take over the tent. bad idea. plus, no fucking weed, man! defeats the object, you might as well kill your plant, buy some seeds ready for next year and start over.

the number one cause of fires in grow rooms happens at the plug socket and is caused by your lights. so don't sweat it. just make sure your basement has a suitable power supply for these extras you are pumping into it. make sure your lights and your heater get their own plug socket at the wall. no power strips for those babies. power strips are for fans, pumps, etc. the ickle stuff. as a general rule if the wattage is triple digits, it needs its own plug. not ideal but more ideal than a fire.

keep us posted man.

and GOOD GOD do NOT use a space heater! you use those to dry out rooms after they have been flooded man, damn. oil filled only, nothing with fans or glowing bits.

something like this mate http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/like/181255816132?hlpht=true&ops=true&viphx=1&lpid=95&device=c&adtype=pla&crdt=0&ff3=1&ff11=ICEP3.0.0&ff12=67&ff13=80&ff14=95&ff19=0

nothing above 1000 watts, you are heating a tent, not a room. a mini one will be fine.

I have a 5x5x78"tent and a 1000w MH growing in a basement with no heat temps outside tent 45 to 50 right now and temps inside tent are at 84 with a fan at the bottom of the tent and a small fan at the top blowing heat out

that is because you have 1000w MH...

Alright so I should get a mini oil heater with a thermostat, and I ONLY have it setup to run when I don't have my light on? Or do I have the mini oil heater on for the entire time if it has a thermostat so should it ever get colder than a desired temperature it kicks on and heats the tent up?

you leave it on all the time and let the thermostat do all the work for you. on particularly cold days, your lights might not be enough. this will keep your girls happy. like any female, it isn't easy!

Green Troll, I think the fan speed control is a great idea. Do you know if anyone makes a "Low/High temperature controlled fan speed controller"?