Grow Tent Help

[JohhnyBlaze44]

Iv made my mind up and decided on doing my first grow. Im going to be doing a hydroponics set up with a grow tent. Im going to probably be doing a 400watt or 600watt hps lighting set up. Im still trying to learn the forums and i cant find a grow tent thread. Does anyone have a recommendation for a grow tent size or know a helpful thread? I have half of an 10x8 foot room to work with.


These are some of the grow tent sizes i found on amazon. (from what iv researched secret jardin is one of the best brands on the market?)





Anyways any help but be appreciated and im looking forward to being a part of the rollitup community



John

 

[bullwinkle60]

I had a secret Jardin but had to take it back because the zipper ripped out in two places. I now have a 27x227x70 Grow lab tent with a 400 watt mh/hps. I've got 4 plants in 3 gal smart pots. It's a little crowded but I'm on the 2nd week of flowering and I think it'l be ok. Happy Growing and may all of your harveswts be bountiful,
PS I'm quite stoned right now.

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

How much did you pay for the grow lab tent if u dont mind me asking? Would you recommend me getting a little bit of a bigger size for the price? its all good lol im stoined too

 

[kryptoniteglo]

What kind of plants are you going to grow? I ask because height is as much an issue as footprint.

I have a 2x3x5.5foot AgroMax tent with 400WT and it was GREAT until my plants tripled in size during flowering. I had to get a 3x3x6.5foot tent to accommodate the height. With that size, I think a 600WT bulb would be better. The 400WT was fine in the smaller tent.

So if you're growing indicas, the smaller tent might do well for you.

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

What kind of plants are you going to grow? I ask because height is as much an issue as footprint.

I have a 2x3x5.5foot AgroMax tent with 400WT and it was GREAT until my plants tripled in size during flowering. I had to get a 3x3x6.5foot tent to accommodate the height. With that size, I think a 600WT bulb would be better. The 400WT was fine in the smaller tent.

So if you're growing indicas, the smaller tent might do well for you.

I bought 10 seeds from nirvana. I got the "wonder woman" strain

 

[dubba86]

Agromax I have two of them...great quality.

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

***update

Iv decided to grow with soil instead of using hydroponics. I was reading some journals and from what everyone says soil is more forgiving and ideal for a first time grower. I think im going to go with the agromax tent set up from HTG. Im having a hard time debating between the 400/600 watt hps lighting set up and weather to do a 3x3 or 4x4 tent set up. I also dont know if i should germinate all 10 seeds i have of my wonder women seeds (sativa) or just germinate half of them just in case something goes wrong with my grow. I also have 5 feminized blue mystic seeds (indic) . Experienced growers should i try to just grow the wonder women stain or just the blue mystic strain? or both? Im looking to buy most of the equipment by the end of this week. Thanks



John

 

[grorite]

do a 4x4 with a 600

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

just my 2¢

i bought a cheapo amazon tent for like 80 bucks, 32x32x60 or some shit like that...put a 400w HPS in it and was able to flower out 3-4 plants at a time.

the cheapo amazon tent was just fine as far as quality goes, poles are a bit cheap but for the amount of money i saved not buying a name brand tent i was able to afford a roll of duct tape and toss a small piece around the joints where the poles fit into each other to keep them from seperating (my only issue with the tent) it has lasted me 2 years now and still growing in it. the materieal it is made out of seems pretty heavy dudty, it came with a insert for the bottom that work great....not saying cheap is always the way to go but i have for sure got my moneys worth out of this tent.

i agree with grorite aabove 4x4 and 600w will give you a fairly decent amount of room. i also agree with going soil for your first time, wise choice, i have been growing 2+ years now and the more i learn about hydroponics the more i keep shying away from it. without proper equipment its just a failure bound to happen and PH pens and PPM testers can get pricy for reliable ones.

check out apollo bran balasts and light kits on amazon, for the price they are pretty nice and thye offer a 1 year warranty on all bulbs and a 3 year warranty on thier ballasts. as you grow your going to want to expand your operation even if its just minor things like adding in a veg room or a cloning station but a 600w HOD and a 4x4 tent will get you off on a good start. dont forget your going to need to invest in containers, soil, nutrients, fans, temp/humidity gauge, ducting, carbin filter (if smell is a issue which it usually is even if your 100% legal no one needs to know your growing) extra light bulb (being stuck without a light sucks)

my advice to you is to write down a budget you need to stay within, then sit down and brainstorm every little thing you might need for this grow, research costs and see what you come up with. if you can still buy that expensive name brand ballast and tent after thats all done by all means go for it but it would sucks to put out all that money and then wind up too broke to continue your adventure.

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

oh and anothe rpiece of advice if growing with soil that i wish someone told me when i first started out.

garden/dolomite lime is your friend, buy some and ammend your soil with it BEFORE you plant. this will help ensure a nice balanced PH. PH issues in soil can be a pain in the ass to correct and can lead to all kinds of other problems.

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

just my 2¢

i bought a cheapo amazon tent for like 80 bucks, 32x32x60 or some shit like that...put a 400w HPS in it and was able to flower out 3-4 plants at a time.

the cheapo amazon tent was just fine as far as quality goes, poles are a bit cheap but for the amount of money i saved not buying a name brand tent i was able to afford a roll of duct tape and toss a small piece around the joints where the poles fit into each other to keep them from seperating (my only issue with the tent) it has lasted me 2 years now and still growing in it. the materieal it is made out of seems pretty heavy dudty, it came with a insert for the bottom that work great....not saying cheap is always the way to go but i have for sure got my moneys worth out of this tent.

i agree with grorite aabove 4x4 and 600w will give you a fairly decent amount of room. i also agree with going soil for your first time, wise choice, i have been growing 2+ years now and the more i learn about hydroponics the more i keep shying away from it. without proper equipment its just a failure bound to happen and PH pens and PPM testers can get pricy for reliable ones.

check out apollo bran balasts and light kits on amazon, for the price they are pretty nice and thye offer a 1 year warranty on all bulbs and a 3 year warranty on thier ballasts. as you grow your going to want to expand your operation even if its just minor things like adding in a veg room or a cloning station but a 600w HOD and a 4x4 tent will get you off on a good start. dont forget your going to need to invest in containers, soil, nutrients, fans, temp/humidity gauge, ducting, carbin filter (if smell is a issue which it usually is even if your 100% legal no one needs to know your growing) extra light bulb (being stuck without a light sucks)

my advice to you is to write down a budget you need to stay within, then sit down and brainstorm every little thing you might need for this grow, research costs and see what you come up with. if you can still buy that expensive name brand ballast and tent after thats all done by all means go for it but it would sucks to put out all that money and then wind up too broke to continue your adventure.

Thanks alot man, i appreciate it. Thats funny you mentioned the list/brainstarming idea. I was browsing the forums here/youtube/google searches and i wanted to come up with a basic budget that will cover everything. Im really glad you told me about the amazon tent. I was going to buy a named brand tent. It was the Jardin Darkroom II Pro DR120 48"x48"x80" for $200....I guess thats when i realized that this is going to be an expensive [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]project/hobby but well worth it in the end lol. I think im going to [/FONT]
go with that same tent you got from amazon if they still sell it. The next thing i researched was lights and it seemed like the only RIGHT way to go with lighting was a 400/600 Hps set up. I think a couple ppl mentioned the better branded ones with the temperature/light dimmer switch. I was thinking about going with the Digital Greenhouse 600w hps grow light i found from htg

http://www.htgsupply.com/Product-Digital-Greenhouse- 600w-HPS-Grow-Light.asp

The problem i ran to was "Customize your product" section on the bottom. Do i really need all the upgrades and options? Theres so many Reflecors/bulbs/timers to pick from i had no idea what was good/needed

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

http://www.amazon.com/600Watt-Electronic-Dimmable-Reflector-Hydroponic/dp/B00521B894/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1356468291&sr=8-11&keywords=600w+apollo


150 bucks, 3 year warranty, 2 bulbs, cool tube, timer and rope ratchets.....cant really beat it man.

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

might not hurt to invest in some better bulbs but a ballast is a ballast and just use the apollo bulbs as backup.

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

Thanks again. Since were on this budge topic lol How much would i need for the exhaust/filter/humidity portion of the tent. If im not mistaken i will need a carbon filter set up for oder control, and im not really sure of what else i need for my tent. I seen so many variations i couldn't really justify a basic standard set up

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

if your going to run a carbon filter dont go too cheapo on it as you want it to actually do its job. theres some filter/fan combos on amazon not sure the quality of them but reviews are always great to browse over.

as far as humidity....not really my topic as i dont run a de humidifier or a humidifier, best i can say for that is get a gauge and monitor if humidity is falling or rising to far above "ideal" conditions you may want to look into it. you can pick up a humidifier at wal mart fairly cheap but not sure what functions it has you would probabally want something that shut itself off once reaching you ideal humidity level.

heres a fan filter combo with more good reviews than bad.......

http://www.amazon.com/Hydropronic-Inline-Carbon-Filter-Control/product-reviews/B002ZJNW3Q/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

if your going to run a carbon filter dont go too cheapo on it as you want it to actually do its job. theres some filter/fan combos on amazon not sure the quality of them but reviews are always great to browse over.

as far as humidity....not really my topic as i dont run a de humidifier or a humidifier, best i can say for that is get a gauge and monitor if humidity is falling or rising to far above "ideal" conditions you may want to look into it. you can pick up a humidifier at wal mart fairly cheap but not sure what functions it has you would probabally want something that shut itself off once reaching you ideal humidity level.

heres a fan filter combo with more good reviews than bad.......

http://www.amazon.com/Hydropronic-Inline-Carbon-Filter-Control/product-reviews/B002ZJNW3Q/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

I might go with that one, the reviews seem pretty legit on it. As far as nutrients and soil. Is there any brands you would prefer, you have been a great push to get me motivated and started

 

[RetiredMatthebrute]

i prefer not to really give much "advice" on which soil and nutes to use as i havent really used them all so my opinions are somewhat biased.

i will say i use Fox farm ocean forest soil (or happy frog, just recently switched due to the happy frog being same price as ocean forest and you get .5 cuft more soil)

ammended with Espoma garden lime, Espoma garden tone (fertilizer) and perilite. Im using the general organics lineup for feedings and seem to be doing alright, I do feel i could be doing better though..

my grow is in my sig, havent posted any pics recently am working on getting over there to get some but seems like every time i go over i forget my dam camera also my avatar is a pic of my current grow.

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

It seems like everyone uses fox farm soil. Im definitely going to go with that. Hopefully i can start the first week in january!

 

[JohhnyBlaze44]

Noob question but with that Apollo kit is that all i will need for vegative and flowering? From what iv seen you just need to swap the bulb out and switch the timer when your plants ready to flower/bud?