indoor Why Tents???

AJ Drew

AJ Drew

Tents seem to create more problems than the are worth.  The only benefit I see is reflective walls.  Can someone enlighten me about other benefits?

Drawbacks I see: Heat, Ventilation, Humidity, Cramped access, added cost

I see them discussed so often, I have to think I am missing some huge benefit.
 
-Heat is only an issue if you're using hot HID lights.  If you use fluorescent lights, however, the impact on the tent temperature is minimal.
 
-Ventilation only keeps your heat issues in check, even if you're using hot lights.  Just pull in your fresh air low and exhaust your spent C02-depleted air high.  The key is making sure you're using a fan that can exhaust the volume of the tent in only a few minutes time.

-Humidity is a non-issue if your tent is well ventilated.  As plants transpire, a lot of the moisture is exhausted along with the spent air.
 
-Cramped access kinda sucks.  But I don't see how it could be any worse than moving containers around outside.
 
-Added costs can be drastically reduced by going the DIY route, instead of buying a ready made tent.
 
 
 
 
Personally, if given an alternative, I wouldn't use a tent.  But my basement temps during the winter months don't give really give me any other options.  So if I want to start seeds in January, or overwinter some of my plants from the previous year, I need to do so in an enclosed space.
 
If you get indoor pests, trust me, you will want them contained in a tent. Nuking the tent can be a pain in the ass and might require scrubbing every inch of the interior, but it's still a defined space to care for.
 
control, can create a small area with the climate,smell,lighting,temp,humidity you want without affecting the area where the tent is placed.
 
tents are useful to weed growers more who are looking to have no light escape and vent air out through a carbon filter.
 
 
Richard Tater said:
-Heat is only an issue if you're using hot HID lights.  If you use fluorescent lights, however, the impact on the tent temperature is minimal.
 
 
Click to expand...
 
You are confusing heat with temperature.
 
Actually, the waste heat from fluorescent is higher than that with HID as they are less efficient.
 
Living in NYC I have incredibly limited indoor space. The benefits of a tent is that I can use bright as hell LEDs, zip the damned thing up and still use that room for other things. If I had to keep my lights out in the open it would be really awkward to just hang out in a room with my sunglasses on while everything is cast purple.
 
I will admit ventilation with a tent system can be a real pain in the ass and its something I'm going to need to work on this year. But with that being said my plants in the tent do MUCH better than the ones raised with grow lights outside of a tent, so hey as long as the plants are happy I'm happy.
 
They are nice to use as a dedicated space like others have said.

Possible advantages

Limited room available eto dedicate for growing.
Creating a warm invironment during colder months in a normally unheated area
Isolating from family (children and pets)
Dual purpose growers...cannabis and peppers. Veg tent can dual as a germination space.


Tons of new growers run into heat and temperature issues trying to grow in an enclosed space....ventilation and good air flow are common issues.

Never used a tent but can see the needs why some do...great option for many reasons.
 
This is the first year with my tent.  I got it just to contain the light, and not make it so bright in our bedroom all the time.  Its handy at times.
 
My main issue that I'm having is humidity.  Its constantly around 41% humidity in that thing even with a humidifier.  I can't get more humidity in it. 
 
willard3 said:
 
You are confusing heat with temperature.
 
Actually, the waste heat from fluorescent is higher than that with HID as they are less efficient.
Click to expand...
 

god yes. i see this so much on weed forums.
 
with the exception of some of the low pressure  bulbs... HID's are well over 90 l/watt in most cases with modern shit.  thats better than most LED luminares that i have seen thus far. 
 
the only real upshot to flourescents and LED is they make more efficient use of that light spectrum... wasting less on bands that are considered useless to plant growth.  but flouro's dont magically emit less heat intrinsically... they are just doing less work and hence emitting less heat as a result.
 
again... a watt in is a watt out.  in a sealed up environment like a tent or a house or basement, watts consumed will eventually end up as watts of heat.  you basically treat a 1kw light bulb as a 1kw space heater because in the end its almost exactly 1kwh of total heat, latent and sensible.
 
yes there is a very small amount of energy absorbed from the light and put to chemical use rather than reemitted as heat, but this number is so small that for purposes of calculation, you just treat it as 0... it makes no difference.
 
its exactly the same for mechanical work... if you spin a shaft by doing 1kwh work on it, assuming the work is wholly contained within the insulated system, it will remit 1kw of heat as the bearings heat up... air moves around, and noise is generated. it sounds simple, but its hard for alot of people to understand at first, myself included 
 
willard3 said:
You are confusing heat with temperature.
 
Actually, the waste heat from fluorescent is higher than that with HID as they are less efficient.
Click to expand...
 
I'm not confusing anything.  I have a tent I just built with two 4-bulb T8 work lights, and the heat that they produce is minimal.  Even after being on for hours, the fixtures are never too hot for me to touch.  They just provide enough warmth to keep the tent 10-15 degrees warmer than my basement, and I only need to use a cheap low CFM inline fan to keep the space properly ventilated.
 
If I was using an HID in the same tent, say just a 400W, I would need to use a much higher CFM fan to keep the area from getting too hot (on top of having to sacrifice precious vertical space).  The efficiency of HIDs vs. fluorescents doesn't make much of a difference here either.  I still have a much easier time controlling the heat level in my tent using fluorescents than I would with HIDs.


 
 
Huh, I was shopping tents just this afternoon....

Please, continue. I was unsuccessful at talking myself into buying one, even though $83 for a 48x32x59 seemed worth it. Maybe you guys can knock some sense into me. I seem to be of the opinion that I can build my own for less and to better specs for my space.....
 
Richard Tater said:
 
I'm not confusing anything.  I have a tent I just built with two 4-bulb T8 work lights, and the heat that they produce is minimal.  Even after being on for hours, the fixtures are never too hot for me to touch.  They just provide enough warmth to keep the tent 10-15 degrees warmer than my basement, and I only need to use a cheap low CFM inline fan to keep the space properly ventilated.
 
If I was using an HID in the same tent, say just a 400W, I would need to use a much higher CFM fan to keep the area from getting too hot (on top of having to sacrifice precious vertical space).  The efficiency of HIDs vs. fluorescents doesn't make much of a difference here either.  I still have a much easier time controlling the heat level in my tent using fluorescents than I would with HIDs.

 
Click to expand...
 

Comparing two t8's to a 400w HID is like night and day in output.
 
Richard Tater said:
-Heat is only an issue if you're using hot HID lights.  If you use fluorescent lights, however, the impact on the tent temperature is minimal.
Click to expand...
willard3 said:
You are confusing heat with temperature.
 
Actually, the waste heat from fluorescent is higher than that with HID as they are less efficient.
Click to expand...
 
queequeg152 said:
the only real upshot to flourescents and LED is they make more efficient use of that light spectrum... wasting less on bands that are considered useless to plant growth.  but flouro's dont magically emit less heat intrinsically... they are just doing less work and hence emitting less heat as a result.
 
again... a watt in is a watt out.  in a sealed up environment like a tent or a house or basement, watts consumed will eventually end up as watts of heat.  you basically treat a 1kw light bulb as a 1kw space heater because in the end its almost exactly 1kwh of total heat, latent and sensible.
Click to expand...
Richard Tater said:
I'm not confusing anything.  I have a tent I just built with two 4-bulb T8 work lights, and the heat that they produce is minimal.  Even after being on for hours, the fixtures are never too hot for me to touch.  They just provide enough warmth to keep the tent 10-15 degrees warmer than my basement, and I only need to use a cheap low CFM inline fan to keep the space properly ventilated.
 
If I was using an HID in the same tent, say just a 400W, I would need to use a much higher CFM fan to keep the area from getting too hot (on top of having to sacrifice precious vertical space).  The efficiency of HIDs vs. fluorescents doesn't make much of a difference here either.  I still have a much easier time controlling the heat level in my tent using fluorescents than I would with HIDs.
Click to expand...
This might get interesting.
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Richard Tater said:
I'm not confusing anything.  I have a tent I just built with two 4-bulb T8 work lights, and the heat that they produce is minimal.  Even after being on for hours, the fixtures are never too hot for me to touch.  They just provide enough warmth to keep the tent 10-15 degrees warmer than my basement, and I only need to use a cheap low CFM inline fan to keep the space properly ventilated.
 
If I was using an HID in the same tent, say just a 400W, I would need to use a much higher CFM fan to keep the area from getting too hot (on top of having to sacrifice precious vertical space).  The efficiency of HIDs vs. fluorescents doesn't make much of a difference here either.  I still have a much easier time controlling the heat level in my tent using fluorescents than I would with HIDs.
Click to expand...
lul 4 bulb t8 = 32*4 = 128 watts.

128 not equal to 400. apples and cantaloupe.

put three fixtures inside the tent, or get a 150w HPS and compare the difference.

again, as williard said. watts in = watts out in heat ultimatly.

the only time this does not apply is when you are storing energy... say coiling a spring in 100% efficiency. the watts put in do not yield heat untill that energy is released, because the energy is essentially stored at a higher energy state equal to the work put in.

its like pushing a rock up hill, then wedging it in place with a piece of wood. when you eventually pull out that piece of wood, and the rock starts rolling, the work put in will then be put out as heat assuming everything is contained in a perfect insulated environment and no sound escapes etc.
 
stettoman said:
Huh, I was shopping tents just this afternoon....

Please, continue. I was unsuccessful at talking myself into buying one, even though $83 for a 48x32x59 seemed worth it. Maybe you guys can knock some sense into me. I seem to be of the opinion that I can build my own for less and to better specs for my space.....
Click to expand...
 
If you need a tent to fit a very specific area, building your own is the way to go, IMO.  That was the primary reason I went the DIY route with mine.  But when you factor in all of the work involved with building your own, the money you save ends up being a wash in the end.  I still think it was worth it though.
 
 
 
Psychographic said:
Comparing two t8's to a 400w HID is like night and day in output.
Click to expand...
 
I'm actually using eight T8s in my tent.  So 256w.  It's still not close to the output of a 400w HID though, and that is perfectly fine by me.  Due to height limitations, I didn't build my tent with the intention of ever using anything other than fluorescents in it.

 
 
#1 reason - isolating a growing area in a dwelling that doesn't have adequate room for dedicated growing. (and to reduce the energy footprint that goes into all systems - lighting, climate, ventilation, etc)

#2 reason - you're growing weed. 
 
Maybe I've mixed the order, but it's something like that.
 
Growing peppers doesn't really need tenting, because we're not controlling temp and humidity to produce a perfect bud.  We harvest fruit, not flower, so it's really not so picky.  But I'm not one to tell anyone that they can't or shouldn't have something. 
 
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