Tent/Closet/Overall Setup Advice Needed

First time poster -- long time lurker!

Wall of text inc, go to bottom for tldr, however I believe this post will be helpful in the future to those deciding how and what to purchase for a closet grow room.

-- I will try to keep this main page updated as I have more questions/answers. Please feel free to ask me anything and i will answer to the best of my ability!


Background: About a month ago I attempted my first grow and it was a struggle as I had 0 growing knowledge or experience beforehand.The plant began to thrive and grow quite a bit, and it was almost ready for flowering. Then one night I transplanted into a larger pot and tried to change the grow room (closet lined with emergency blanket and some foil) to make up for the larger plant + pot. I woke up to my plant behind "tackled" by my light (cheap p.o.s. CFL setup)-- it was crushed and burned, and had no chance of survival.


Synopsis: I got my first failed grow under my belt and believe I am ready for something better, meaning I am ready to put some more money into it. I only have experience with CFL bulbs for lighting.


My Plan: Buy a grow tent, and all of the necessary supplies, and set it up in my "environment" (see below). I'm currently in the mindset of running 2 Auto-flowering plants (Northern Lights) in the tent.


My Dilemma: I am definitely a beginner and do not know what is best for my environment. I also don't have experience with how grow tents function on a day to day. I have researched (and still am) different tents/lighting setups/air flow/odor control, but I need some advice from this community, as I know it will be the best for my plants.


My environment: Large bedroom closet that will contain some clothes and other small items however I can empty a 3' x 3' x 5' area. The actual dimensions of the closet are approximately 7' x 4' x 8'. There is no A/C vent in the closet (obviously but thought I should point it out), the closet opens into a medium sized bedroom that is "well ventilated". Where I am located it will get hot within the coming months, summer temps ~90s-100+ so I am worried about temps, I will probably keep the house around 78F when it does begin to warm up. There are quite a bit of people around me so odor control is 100% an issue that needs to be addressed (I plan on using a carbon filter and a DIY onagel bucket). Coupled with that, I can not have a super loud fan, it needs to be nearly silent if the door to the closet and bedroom are closed. I'm limited to about 1 power outlet, can be two if I get a decent extension chord. Humidity in the city I live in is pretty high - however inside humidity usually stays between 30-50%.


Budget: I want to stay in the ball park of $400 (preferably less of course). I have found this "complete kit" http://growace.com/complete-grow-packages/ga-400w-hobbyist-series-grow-package.html and I have sort of based price comparison off of this. However I feel that if I bought the pieces separately I might be able to get better quality for the same or maybe a little less of a price. I'm in no way "rolling in the dough", but I want a quality setup so I will have to deal with the consequences of the large upfront price.


Discreteness: I would like to keep all of my purchases as discrete as possible. In other words, I don't want to have something shipped here and it have "HYDROPONIC GROW TENT" written on the front of it. There are few places around me that carry the supplies I would be purchasing but they are a little more expensive than online.


Slew of Questions: I apologize for the laundry list, as most of you would just say "Google it" and you would be correct, I can find my answers online elsewhere. But those answers are for a different environment and don't take in many relative aspects of my current situation. I also highly prefer the personal responses from the veterans that I get on here as opposed to some random blog or article.

1. Will that area (3' x 3' x 5') be large enough for 2 medium sized plants that will most likely be auto-flower?
2. I currently have 6 x 23W CFL 6500K bulbs, are there tent set ups that allow for this kind of lighting and it is reasonable? They are socketed for normal light fixtures.
3. If the environment temp is 78F, will a ventilation fan be enough to keep most lighting cool enough?
4. Will a carbon filter and some Onagel/odor neutralizer be enough to neutralize the smell of 2 plants? By neutralize I mean hardly smell it, if at all, in the next room.
5. How noisy is a ~4" ~150cfm Vortex inline fan? As before mentioned I have people in my proximity so noise is just as important a concern as odor.
6. Will buying a complete kit (like http://growace.com/complete-grow-packages/ga-400w-hobbyist-series-grow-package.html) be less hassle and about the same price/quality as separately buying each piece?
7. For those of you who have purchased grow tents and accessories online, if someone (average intelligence stranger) were to stare at the package for a little bit, would it be obvious as to what it was? I'm paranoid about shipping.
8. Will I need an an exhaust fan or will the flaps that come on most tents work for my small setup?
9. Is a 400W MH HPS w/ Cool tube enough/too much for two plants?
10. Will a setup like this be too much electricity for one room and blow a breaker?

On-Hand Supplies:

• 1 Qt FoxFarm Grow Big and Big Bloom
• About 3lbs of "expanding shale"
• 10Gal bucket (was going to use to make DIY onagel bucket/fan)
• 6 x 23W CFL 6500k bulbs and 1 x 23W 2700K CFL bulb
• 1 2ft Surge protector w/ 6 plugs
• 1 6ft extension chord w/ 2 plugs
• 1 Oscillating 3.5' tall fan
• 1 Heater/fan
• Hammer, measuring tape, screwdrivers, etc ~No power tools though
• 2 unused lamps
• 1 6Gal pot
• Basic household items
• A pretty decent brain and little bit of cash ~$400

TLDR: Trying to decide on grow tent for medium sized closet. Odor, noise, and any indicators of growing need to be null. Want to run 2 autoflowers in 3' x 3' x 4', decent size budget, however very little knowledge about grow tents and the set up of them. Can't decide on whether to buy piece by piece or in bulk, shipping needs to be decently discrete. There are shops around me that carry supplies for high prices.

1. I think that will be big enough. If it isn't then the wall will stop the growth. I would try 2 in that space if it were me.
4. Depends on the size of the carbon filter and the size of the fan running it.
5. Buy one based on noise level. They aren't that loud.
6. I make all my own stuff and no matter how much I think about it I still have to go to the hardware store 3 or more times. At the end of the day I know everything about my setup though.
8. Probably need a fan. It really depends on how much heat your lights put out.
9. I use 4 - 600 watt HPS lights on 1 plant with co2 and it likes it. 400 watts should be fine.
10. A typical breaker is 15 amps. Thats what you need to look at when making a grow room. If you have 110 volts then a 400 watt will put out about 3.6 amps I would guess (that's a pretty small amount of amps) so 3.6 out of 15. You'll be fine.

If growing is not legal where you live then seriously consider just buying a bag when you want to smoke. The consequences of growing are usually much higher then just possession and growing is fun but a lot of work.

computergroove said:

1. I think that will be big enough. If it isn't then the wall will stop the growth. I would try 2 in that space if it were me.
4. Depends on the size of the carbon filter and the size of the fan running it.
5. Buy one based on noise level. They aren't that loud.
6. I make all my own stuff and no matter how much I think about it I still have to go to the hardware store 3 or more times. At the end of the day I know everything about my setup though.
8. Probably need a fan. It really depends on how much heat your lights put out.
9. I use 4 - 600 watt HPS lights on 1 plant with co2 and it likes it. 400 watts should be fine.
10. A typical breaker is 15 amps. Thats what you need to look at when making a grow room. If you have 110 volts then a 400 watt will put out about 3.6 amps I would guess (that's a pretty small amount of amps) so 3.6 out of 15. You'll be fine.

If growing is not legal where you live then seriously consider just buying a bag when you want to smoke. The consequences of growing are usually much higher then just possession and growing is fun but a lot of work.

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1. Since I plan on doing more Indica auto-flower I was thinking the size of the plant would be small enough for two as well.
4. I was thinking an average 4" 190cfm inline fan w/ filter, as well as a pretty good working "onagel bucket fan".
5. Do you think I should grab a duct muffler, or can I get one quiet enough?
6. If ordering everything separately, is it difficult to set up? I don't have many experience with setting up something like this.
8. Do you mean a fan inside of the tent?
9. Damn, you use 4 x 600W for just 1 plant?
10. Thanks!

Thanks for the reply and help, still browsing the internet for the best deals. Let me know if you have any suggestions on items!

If I got a 6" 300 CFM fan of good quality with a duct muffler, do you think it would be very loud?

I'll probably be keeping the door cracked enough to pipe some ducting into the next room for the inline fan, hopefully that will help temperatures.

I'm most likely going to get a dimm-able ballast/light combo, so hopefully it will be not too strong for the beginning.

If I have a 5' tall tent, will I need to lower the 400W light during early stages?

I would like to buy it piece by piece, but I'm a little worried about the difficulty of installing everything.

Thanks for the advice/help!

I grow in a tent 2x3x5.5. 400W MH/HPS. Usually two plants, but I'm about to start a grow with four plants. With the two plants I topped for 4 main colas and did some LST. With four plants in there, I'll still top, but won't LST. That spread my two plants out nicely, but I won't have room for that with four.

I bought my basic kit off HTG. For me it was a good idea, as I wanted to start right away. And it worked out great. I've just upgraded that kit though, adding an air-cooled light and a carbon filter. I think $400 is a tight budget if you're buying a kit AND want to make sure you've got your heat and odor control taken care of.

It might be worth saving the money on the tent and building something, then putting your money into light, temp control and odor control. You should check out the DIY room. I think it's under Grow Set Ups. But it's somewhere. Many people have gone down that route as much as possible and ended up with great grows.

Take some time to figure this out, as it could save you a lot of money AND keep your grow private.

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/372572-dadios-flood-drain-closet.html Here is link to my close set up. Be bold, go hydro.

My budget can go above $400, I just didn't want to spend more than that if I didn't have to. I'm thinking I'll be able to keep it around that price range if I buy each piece separately and find some deals.

Did you get something similar to http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-HTG--400w-Small-Bubble-Boy-Tent-kit ? Their airflow seems a little weak, and no carbon filter included, also no cool tube. I've looked online and added it up, and it seems I can get a much better setup buying it piece by piece. I haven't found any complete kits better than the one I linked in my post yet.

I don't think I'll be living in my current residence for a long time, so I want something I will be able to pack up and set up another place. I will check out the DIY room, but as I said, the closet still needs to be usable for storage and clothes, which is mostly why I need the tent.

dadio161 said:

https://www.rollitup.org/grow-room-design-setup/372572-dadios-flood-drain-closet.html Here is link to my close set up. Be bold, go hydro.

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I'd like to get more experience with some soil grows first, they are more forgiving I believe.

When you buy it as a package, you still have to assemble it all...

You will not want to store clothes and have your grow in the same closet . You clothes WILL absorb the scents of your grow op. Believe me. Been there , tried that.

Thanks for the advice new420grow, will try to follow up with an update when I get everyhing bought and setup!

skatercodyme said:

When you buy it as a package, you still have to assemble it all...

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I know, but I'm pretty much guaranteed that they will all assemble together correctly. I've pretty much vetoed the complete package idea though, I can customize with the equipment and save about $100 piece by piece, allowing me to get better things.

I'm not too worried about the smell on my clothes, I can take stuff out ahead of time to air it out, it's just that is the only place I can put them.

lol. Okay , I tried to warn you about the smell. Non smokers are going to smell you like a marijuana air freshener. Just because you can't smell it doesn't others won't. For your clothes .... look into a garment rack that you can put up outside closet. This is what I had to do.

I have a similar setup as well.... are you still around or was you're grow op exposed?