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indoor grow tent equipment
- Thread starter MKS
- Start date
I found it cheaper and easier to convert an unused closet instead of paying for a tent. I used an empty coat closet and simply lined it with mylar. I picked up a 400 watt dual ballast so I can use both MH and HPS bulbs in the same setup. I used a cool tube for my hood and picked up a small can fan to exchaust the air directly from the tube to an outside closet next to the inside closet. I only had to cut a 4" square in the closet to disburse the hot air. Picked up a small fan to pull air into the closet through a vent on the bottom. The plants grow really fast and got huge. I started from seed and about 6 weeks they where 12". About 3 weeks later they started to flower and I switched over to an HPS and changed the ferts. 4 weeks later the plants got so big I went from 4 plants to 2 and had more pods than I knew what to do with. The entire cycle only took about 4 months. My electricity bill did go up about $25 a month, but it was well worth the cost.
if you are set on a tent... your equipment will just depend on what you want to do i guess.
but i agree with light. if you can swing it, dont even bother. i ran a 600w hps in a guest bedroom with a window naked, no blinds even, just some red curtains and some crummy ocilating fan.
most dont want their windows to glow like the sun at night tho, so a tent becomes necessary. i eventually put that 600w in a tent so i could work back there without having my pupils shrink down to the size of a grain of sand. every time i spent any time in there, and then walked out into a regularly CFL lit room it felt like my cones or rods... w/e one gives you color vision, were being absolutly cooked by all that fugly orange light.
im not a super indoor grower or anything, but ive been around the block.
you will need atleast a 400w setup imo for a typical 5x5 or 4x4 . in a 3x3 its probaby overkill... but a 250watt ballast is basically the same price... so might as well go 400w. i have 2 tents, one is a sun hut i think, sun hut silver? its like 52" x52" and a teeny tiny tent that holds a single nursery flat, 18"x36"... its a lighthouse hydro tent from ebay i really really really REALLy like that tent. its so small i just place it on the wire bookself i store my collection of junk on. its perfect for growing out plants in a seed flat. as far as i can tell, construction wise its built every bit as well as my larger expensive tent, zippers... thickness of the material etc. it was like 60 bucks plus shipping way back when, but i dont think its sold anymore. however light house hydro stuff is still listed i believe. im going ahead and assume their large tents are built as well as this tiny one, so i can definatly reccomend lighthouse hydro tents.
if you are just starting plants for a spring season outdoors you might look at one of those giant t5 fixtures. some of the 4' x 8 light models can cover like 10 nursery flats.
as far as fans go, the inline stuff is certainly the most popular and very easy to setup, i dont own any so i cant offer any advice there...ive heard solar and palau fans are good, but expensive. id just get the cheapest 6" one you can find around 300cfm personally, since the economics of growing peppers differ from that of cannabis. i use a centrifugal blower from an old air purifier, it was free, and when wired to its slowest speed its basically silent. you can find blowers like this everywhere... old window ac units, dryers, old hvac equipement etc. if you are handy you might take a few minutes to find one. grab some tin snips, hvac tape and a 6" flex duct collar from lowes and you are good to go.
but i agree with light. if you can swing it, dont even bother. i ran a 600w hps in a guest bedroom with a window naked, no blinds even, just some red curtains and some crummy ocilating fan.
most dont want their windows to glow like the sun at night tho, so a tent becomes necessary. i eventually put that 600w in a tent so i could work back there without having my pupils shrink down to the size of a grain of sand. every time i spent any time in there, and then walked out into a regularly CFL lit room it felt like my cones or rods... w/e one gives you color vision, were being absolutly cooked by all that fugly orange light.
im not a super indoor grower or anything, but ive been around the block.
you will need atleast a 400w setup imo for a typical 5x5 or 4x4 . in a 3x3 its probaby overkill... but a 250watt ballast is basically the same price... so might as well go 400w. i have 2 tents, one is a sun hut i think, sun hut silver? its like 52" x52" and a teeny tiny tent that holds a single nursery flat, 18"x36"... its a lighthouse hydro tent from ebay i really really really REALLy like that tent. its so small i just place it on the wire bookself i store my collection of junk on. its perfect for growing out plants in a seed flat. as far as i can tell, construction wise its built every bit as well as my larger expensive tent, zippers... thickness of the material etc. it was like 60 bucks plus shipping way back when, but i dont think its sold anymore. however light house hydro stuff is still listed i believe. im going ahead and assume their large tents are built as well as this tiny one, so i can definatly reccomend lighthouse hydro tents.
if you are just starting plants for a spring season outdoors you might look at one of those giant t5 fixtures. some of the 4' x 8 light models can cover like 10 nursery flats.
as far as fans go, the inline stuff is certainly the most popular and very easy to setup, i dont own any so i cant offer any advice there...ive heard solar and palau fans are good, but expensive. id just get the cheapest 6" one you can find around 300cfm personally, since the economics of growing peppers differ from that of cannabis. i use a centrifugal blower from an old air purifier, it was free, and when wired to its slowest speed its basically silent. you can find blowers like this everywhere... old window ac units, dryers, old hvac equipement etc. if you are handy you might take a few minutes to find one. grab some tin snips, hvac tape and a 6" flex duct collar from lowes and you are good to go.
You can grow without it, but you'll get better results using it.
i wouldnt think its worth the hassle of building something funky to surrownd your plants with mylar. just cram it all into a corner somewhere