Tent growing - How do you contain the stank?

I just got my secret jardin dr90 and now that I have it setup I'm forced to deal with some simple logistics that are proving to be a big issue. The issue is how to contain the smell & keep light coming through all of the damn vent holes. To me, the tent doesn't appear to be 100% light sealed with the socks on both the inside and outside expanded and open. In addition to that, i'm concerned about how effective the smell will be contained....it appears to me that I'll have to run my inline fan 24/7 to create a negative pressure in the tent all the time so that no stank is every emitted from all of the sock holes whether they be open or closed.

Anybody that happens to be growing in a tent, I'd love to hear your feedback on these issues!

You need a carbon filter

Negitive air pressure my man.when I unzip my tent & leave the flaps hang they suck in.as long as you have negative air pressure thing will be fine.so the only "air" getting out of my tent runs threw my carbon filter first.cant smell a thing till I open the flaps.

Irie Genetics said:

You need a carbon filter

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Yeah, I already know that....I neglected to put that in the op. My plan is to have my inline fan sucking dirty air from the tent through the filter and out with 6" insulated ducting.

Assuming that is my setup, I still can't see how I could ever turn off my inline fan b/c the second I turn it off, the smell will start emanating from all of the holes and that's no good for me. I think I just answered my own question. I'll just have to run the inline through the carbon filter 24/7 which isn't particularly bad b/c the plants will get more fresh air and I'll maintain a constant negative pressure in the tent so that no dirty smell comes out my vent holes. I must say, the quality of this secret jardin is top notch but I would like to have longer socks on the passive intake holes b/c with sun shining in the room that houses the tent, there's no way some light won't come in through the holes....whether it's enough light to do any damage is questionable..?

VitaminXxX said:

Negitive air pressure my man.when I unzip my tent & leave the flaps hang they suck in.as long as you have negative air pressure thing will be fine.so the only "air" getting out of my tent runs threw my carbon filter first.cant smell a thing till I open the flaps.

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Cool beans. 24/7 it is!

there should be draw string on the vent holes,that you pull up tightly to stop light from getting in.when the lights goes off i turn the light off in the room my tent is in,and draw the curtain so no bright light is able to get in the tent.

resinousflowers said:

there should be draw string on the vent holes,that you pull up tightly to stop light from getting in.when the lights goes off i turn the light off in the room my tent is in,and draw the curtain so no bright light is able to get in the tent.

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I see that but that will reduce air flow...I suppose it doesn't really matter a great deal if I close up the draw strings b/c the inline fan is strong enough to suck air through even tight intake holes.

has ne one ever bought a tent or anyhthing from htg supply ? if so wats the quality like

jonnynobody said:

Yeah, I already know that....I neglected to put that in the op. My plan is to have my inline fan sucking dirty air from the tent through the filter and out with 6" insulated ducting.

Assuming that is my setup, I still can't see how I could ever turn off my inline fan b/c the second I turn it off, the smell will start emanating from all of the holes and that's no good for me. I think I just answered my own question. I'll just have to run the inline through the carbon filter 24/7 which isn't particularly bad b/c the plants will get more fresh air and I'll maintain a constant negative pressure in the tent so that no dirty smell comes out my vent holes. I must say, the quality of this secret jardin is top notch but I would like to have longer socks on the passive intake holes b/c with sun shining in the room that houses the tent, there's no way some light won't come in through the holes....whether it's enough light to do any damage is questionable..?

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yes you did .. I also run my 6" ventilation 24/7 as they need fresh air all the time and so do I

tho I do cut my fans with the light, to give em a littel peace at "night"

about intake .. get some tubbing and run it through the hole and sip it tight (dutch tape is also a wonderful tool for growers I must say)
then you can also run it from a window at summer time if temps is high aso.

I got two tubes as intake, so I also can control the negative pressure by opening/closing one of them..
so I just keep a slight underpresure all the time, so Im sure all air going out is through the filter ..

I can also use the tube to "collect" fresh/cold air from a cool room/place (in my case my hallway, just remove the tube when I got visitors)

and I also let it run a few feet in to my grow room so I can dirrect the air where I want it (around/under my plants/grow)

work nicely and its cheap, I paid like 25$ for 10 meters of 6" inch Alu tubeing, used a few on my cool hood and rest for intake holes.

Slipon said:

yes you did .. I also run my 6" ventilation 24/7 as they need fresh air all the time and so do I

tho I do cut my fans with the light, to give em a littel peace at "night"

about intake .. get some tubbing and run it through the hole and sip it tight (dutch tape is also a wonderful tool for growers I must say)
then you can also run it from a window at summer time if temps is high aso.

I got two tubes as intake, so I also can control the negative pressure by opening/closing one of them..
so I just keep a slight underpresure all the time, so Im sure all air going out is through the filter ..

I can also use the tube to "collect" fresh/cold air from a cool room/place (in my case my hallway, just remove the tube when I got visitors)

and I also let it run a few feet in to my grow room so I can dirrect the air where I want it (around/under my plants/grow)

work nicely and its cheap, I paid like 25$ for 10 meters of 6" inch Alu tubeing, use a few on my cool hood and rest for intake holes.

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Thanks man you just solved my light leak problem. I've never grown in a tent and I don't know anybody personally that does so I'm flying into this blind as a bat. I get my light, ballast, ducting, and hood on the 25th and I'm excited as a 10 year old on christmas morning....except I'm paying santa to bring gifts and santa's name is htg

My next check after that, I'm getting a nice carbon filter, some clip on fans, tubes for intake, and possibly a new inline fan. The one I have right now is an S&P TD-125 rated @ 197CFM's and I'm not sure that'll be badass enough to cool my 600 that I intend to use.

I will probably have to buy my inline fan in person b/c quiet operation is paramount. I can only create so much ambient noise to cover up the sound of my fan in an apartment...plus it's gonna be in my bedroom and I like a noisy fan while I sleep but I don't want the sound of a jet engine =]

yea I know how it is .. toys for grown ups

with a 600W I would really recommend a cool tube/hood and minimum a good 5" ventilation, maybe a 6" with speed control

try the one you have now, if its not quite enough consider a bigger one, or better yet, get that cool tube and add it on that, will cost the same as a new ventilation and do the same plus more, light can be moved closer aswell and it keep it all cooler, mine had a temps raise on +10F with out and now with a cool hood its more like a 4 degrees raise.

and yea filter wont be needed fist month or so, untill they begin to flower ..

then it will also be needed .. believe me ..
you wont be able to sleep in there with out it .. with it no problem cleared my apartment in less then two hours

about noise, you can get some ventilations who don't make that much noise and only cost a bit more, check for the decibel.

also get insulated tubeings, that alone cut half the noise, build a small box for the ventilation if it's still too loud, in the end it wont be more then a littel traffic outside ..

Slipon said:

yea I know how it is .. toys for grown ups

with a 600W I would really recommend a cool tube/hood and minimum a good 5" ventilation, maybe a 6" with speed control

try the one you have now, if its not quite enough consider a bigger one, or better yet, get that cool tube and add it on that, will cost the same as a new ventilation and do the same plus more, light can be moved closer aswell and it keep it all cooler, mine had a temps raise on +10F with out and now with a cool hood its more like a 4 degrees raise.

and yea filter wont be needed fist month or so, untill they begin to flower ..

then it will also be needed .. believe me ..
you wont be able to sleep in there with out it .. with it no problem cleared my apartment in less then two hours

about noise, you can get some ventilations who don't make that much noise and only cost a bit more, check for the decibel.

also get insulated tubeings, that alone cut half the noise, build a small box for the ventilation if it's still too loud, in the end it wont be more then a littel traffic outside ..

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Thanks for all the info. The hood I'm planning to use is a glass sealed euro reflector with 6" ventilation ports on each side just so I can cram that 600 in there trouble free. I'll keep that in mind about the insulated ducting...never even would have thought of such a thing before. I've got a 5" inline fan right now (i know wtf is up with 5"?) that I need to find 2 5" to 6" flanges so I can connect my ducting....or just a shit ton of duct tape but since I'm going for top notch quality, I'm really hoping to find some nice flanges.

The more I think about it, I don't think the fan I have will really do what's necessary to move enough air once I hookup the carbon filter. Don't get me wrong, this baby pushes some good air but since I've never had a filter on it, I don't know what to expect post filter hookup. I'll just have to keep that issue on the back burner until I get my filter and test things out and see where the temps are at.

As far as the sleep goes, I actually have a fan about 12" from my face blasting on high all night long so fan noise is welcome in my bedroom...just not disturbingly noisy if that makes any sense?

I'm all excited to go to the hydro shop so I can see some equipment in the flesh...been years since I've been in a worms way shop but I remember they had all the gear hooked up on displays and you could see the equipment in action so there won't be any surprises when ya get home.

no problems ..

and yes that is what I mean, a seal refletor with glass is a cool hood ..

here is my DIY




that made my temps drop from +85F this summer to 78-80F

how much do that 5" of yours move ? CFM .. might be able to do the job ?
but your right a filter takes off around 20-30% of the sug of the ventilator .. so do to much ducting and bends, so make it as little as possible ..

and yes I also sleep with a fan on .. at summer time .. or I wouldn't be able to sleep .. a little noise is also ok for me .. or I just put on some music to cover it up (radio/TV)

flange for 4"-5" and 5" to 6" is cheap, think 5-10$ in plastic a bit more in metal ..

but yea Dutch tape is the growers best friend

and I also had to use some Alu tape at my hood to make my ducting 100% air tight, as my tube is a bit bigger (did go for a number bigger to make the air resistance a little as possible .. don't want my tube to be the narrow place on the line if that make any sense ..


and sure go to your local hydro store and check it out, I actually prefers to shop at mine vs online ..

dont get me wrong .. I do check online fist and do some research before I check my local hydro store ..

and sumtimes I do buy online if my local store don't have it .. or if the price is totaly off .. but mostly I can get them to give some discount .. specially if I tell em about the online price I found .. that or they usually trow in some freebees or some kind .. last time I got a light meter

but I like the fact that you get advice and the stuff right away and if sumthing is wrong or if it breaks its easy to go back ..

you don't have to make many bad buys online before the savings is lost or more .. most of the time there is a reason why they are cheap ..

That was one of my concerns. I went ahead and bought a 530 CFM fan (it's in the mail), but didn't know if it would be crazy fast and make a ton of noise, so for about $15 I got a speed control for it so I can turn it up or down. Haven't used it yet as I said because the fan isn't here, but I"m thinking that should work well so I have a big huge fan, but have the option to turn it down. Plus I figured running a fan at half speed is better for it than running it 100%. I just like the idea of a speed control for it.

jonnynobody said:

I will probably have to buy my inline fan in person b/c quiet operation is paramount. I can only create so much ambient noise to cover up the sound of my fan in an apartment...plus it's gonna be in my bedroom and I like a noisy fan while I sleep but I don't want the sound of a jet engine =]

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