Grow Tent Questions

Hotwired

Well-Known Member
i have heard from several people Regarding the dark room that it is not light tight.
i have also heard if you stick a flash light to the wall itself it shines.
again this is what i have heard. i have also heard the corners break due to being plastic
there is also word of the silver inside flaking .. these are just things i have heard.
untill i know for sure i am holding.
This guy is correct. The DR tents are definitely NOT worth the money. I started a full write-up on my tents but decided not to finish it when I completed my test runs. I really have nothing good to say about the DR tents other than they helped me NOT to break apart my room building my own.

Don't try to hang anything over 25 pounds if you have a tent over 5' x 5'. The 5 footers use 2 metal bars for their cross sections. The 4' and less use only 1 metal bar as cross sections and are slightly stronger due to not having a bendable point in the middle.

If you have them you better grow during the day. The zippers also have spots where the light comes thru. From BOTH the zippers and the threading that is woven in to the tent seam. The sewing around the 8" sock holes also lets light thru. I closed myself inside the tent during the day in a room that had decent blinds and I could still see light thru the fabric in certain areas of the tent.

I paid $650 for a 5' x 10' tent and I could smack myself for it. I used half a roll of duct tape just going around and closing off light leaks thru seams and small holes.

BTW, these were the new and improved tents.

So basically I'm stuck with this crap now. The makers of these tents knew they would get some good business once the tents from other companies had problems. They made some halfway decent crap and threw it out there to us consumers at outrageous prices.

Buncha ripoff artists. I could tear em apart and ruin their business but fuck em. Who would listen anyways? :-o
 

AKDrifter

Well-Known Member
WOW!!

I thought I did my homework on tents and now I find this one. Luckily I had to go out of town before I pulled the trigger on mine.

A tent was my plan since it could be popped up quickly and moved if necessary. Also it seemed to have the base set up making the rigging of ventalation/lights ect. very easy for this beginner.

I was planning on the Homebox l, do not really care if I could hang from the upper supports, as I will just hang a light in there, and was under the impression (from their web page) that they did not use PVC in their construction, so that was not a worry. I know a tent will have to be handled carefully, and one would need to avoid gorillia fucking the zippers and plastic corners and support poles, but once it is up and lit how much abuse is anyone really going to put it through besides unzipping the thing every day?

So spacifically what is the consensus on the Homebox L? Anyone own this model ?

I may just build a box and be done with it.

Thanks again for any info, this thread is great.
 

old yeller

Active Member
And whats up with the DR120 inside measurments? 3'11" ?
I just ordered the SunHut XL (a little over 4'x4'x6.5') over any of the Jardens for a bunch of reasons. Steel poles, heavy canvas w/silver lining, big zippers, 2 included 6" exhaust flanges (over the awkard sock set-up) & it cost me $200.
Now, I'm perfectly capable of building a DIY one myself, but after i figure in labor, trips to HD & supplies, this was a no brainer.
The main reason I bought the SH (other than above) is that I'd like to be able to put in an E&F hydro system in the future & the SunHuts are oversized to accomadate 4'x4' or 4'x8' flood tables. Also the XL is the perfect size for my new 600W HPS.
 

Mindmelted

Well-Known Member
To bad about that.Mine is fine.I have the dr60 and dr80,the dr60 has a 250 watt hps/mh and the dr80 has a 400 watt hps/mh.Plus i have my filter inside.No problem at all,leaks no more light than any other tent i have tried.
 

mixin

Well-Known Member
i have a darkroom dr 80 and i absolutely love it. that thing is bad ass. it is completely dark with a 250 hps on from the outside and that is great for me. i love it!
 

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
Buy the homebox, I just got my XXL and its perfect. I did months and months of research on tents while I was getting my budget together, I was set on the darkroom for a while but then I started finding real opinions. Homebox is a better price, better quality, and it works.

If you need portability and to be able to store your tent without people asking about the pile of poly and pvc or 2x4s then go with the homebox.

.02
 

bongsurf

Active Member
just got a tent from htg supply. set up was easy and everything was moved in within 20 minutes of opening the box with two people. we'll see how everything works out, but i'm hoping for the best.
 

Bagelthief

Well-Known Member
yea, im using the DR240w right now, there are countless pin holes in the material itself. more then 60, right in the middle of the material all over the tent, not even close to any seems or zippers or anything. like somebody grabbed a needle and started poking holes into the thing. the vent socks have pin holes ALLL the way around, and the zippers let out a ton of light. when i stand inside and zip it up, it is pretty light tight, except for the aforementioned pin holes, but there arent any major leaks where it would fuck up the plants flowering. but that might be due to the fact that the room im using it in only has a single 30w cfl to light it with, and its kinda far from the surface of the tent. all in all, for the 450 bux i paid for this tent, i did expect better, and i do feel a little let down. ohh yea, i could hang from the inside of the tent, but im a light weight (130 pounds soaking wet), however, you can kinda tell that the poles are kinda cheap. the zipper is big and feels strudy, but like i said it leaks light like a mother fucker.
 

Hotwired

Well-Known Member
ohh yea, i could hang from the inside of the tent, but im a light weight (130 pounds soaking wet), however, you can kinda tell that the poles are kinda cheap.
This is because the poles in your tent are only 4' long and only 1 metal bar. If you bought the bigger tents that are 5" wide, then they use two 2 and a half foot poles to create the 5" length. This sucks strengthwise because they can't hold weight for shit.

It seems like the bigger the tent the more problems they have with the skin and seams.
 

Bagelthief

Well-Known Member
yea. pretty gay how there really doesnt seem to be an awesomely great, hands-down winner, QUALITY tent out there. Some things that definitely need improving on for the DR are 1) THICKER material!! 2) MUCH BETTER stitching!! 3) STEEL poles and steel corners!!
thats about it, but when you think about it, those 3 things are exactly what defines a GOOD, SOLID tent.
 

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
Im telling you, handsdown, the homebox is the best for the money, I paid 499 for the XXL which is 5ftx10ftx6.5ft and Zero light leaks or issues, metal poles are incredibly strong.

I havent heard any bad things about the homebox from anyone else?
 

BCtrippin

Well-Known Member
Yeah I was totally set on the Secret Jardin Darkroom, but then I starting finding all these posts with people complaining about shitty quality and pinholes everywhere. Homebox cost less and is better quality and no PVC, which was the other big issue for me.
 

Abnjm

Well-Known Member
Im telling you, handsdown, the homebox is the best for the money, I paid 499 for the XXL which is 5ftx10ftx6.5ft and Zero light leaks or issues, metal poles are incredibly strong.

I havent heard any bad things about the homebox from anyone else?
I'm just a noob, but I picked up the Homebox XL last week. It seems to be well-built, and I can hang my light, fan and charcoal filter pretty easily. My problem is heat. I have a 600w MH with Cool Jr. air-cooled reflector, but cannot get the temps under 85. It'd be nice if it had separate exhausts for the light and the room. If anyone has ideas on cooling the XL, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 

Abnjm

Well-Known Member
I use a stand alone AC and my temps stay at 78-80. you an find good deals on craigslist
Sorry if I'm jacking this thread, but I checked out your grow log and saw your A/C unit. Do you know how many BTU's of cooling it produces?
 

AKDrifter

Well-Known Member
I just ordered my Homebox L. Everything I read on this and four other boards pushed me in that direction, no complaints on quality, no PVC and the size fits perfectly, I have about 41"x41" to use.

I really like all the features, but I am planning on one modification. I will be hanging a Hydrofarm radiant 6 in there, and am thinking about getting two 6" flange kits for $15 each and mounting them high centered on the sides. This will allow me to cool the light with one fan, I know heat is the main issue in any tent. My other ducting and vent ports in the tent will be used to draw fresh air from the room below (AC/heated air) and then exhaust through the carbon filter. It is an attic space so a constant supply of 74f-78f will be needed to maintain good temps.

I do need to figure out what ballast/light set up (MH/HPS) for the reflector, and what size fans to use, but I am in the process of ordering everything over the next few days.

I will post a review once I get everything up and running.
 
Top