Cheap Grow Tent Idea

So I noticed that commercial grow tents are pretty outrageously priced so I got the idea to look for portable clothes closets as a possible alternative. Turns out you can get 19.5" x 36"x 60" ones for $30 or 5 foot wide ones for $40. I won't mention the store name but let's just say it's a major large scale retailer. They're made of white "nonwoven fabric", which should be fairly reflective and also permeable to moisture to conduct humidity away. A single 150 watt HPS or an LED unit would probably work well in the smaller ones or two of them in the larger ones. Might have to put a dark fabric around them if there's other light in the room I guess. You might even be able to stick two of them together somehow to make one larger square one. Anyway, just a thought for a way to save money on grow tents. Maybe it's been suggested before, I don't know.

Walmart, and they probably would work but the outdoor plastic sheds are probably your best bet. And yes from a hydro store they are ridiculously priced but amazon has 4x8 for about 160

ODanksta said:

Walmart, and they probably would work but the outdoor plastic sheds are probably your best bet. And yes from a hydro store they are ridiculously priced but amazon has 4x8 for about 160

Click to expand...

A gaylord cardboard box will do the trick !

ODanksta said:

Walmart, and they probably would work but the outdoor plastic sheds are probably your best bet. And yes from a hydro store they are ridiculously priced but amazon has 4x8 for about 160

Click to expand...

I actually went to Walmart this afternoon and picked one up. Looks like it should work nicely. The fabric is actually pretty strong and thick. I'm gonna put the covering on upsidedown from how it's shown in the online catalogue though, so it unzips from the bottom instead of the top. You need access to the plants in the bottom rather than clothes at the top. You just have to put some plywood or something over the bottom of the interior because it's just fabric as the floor of it. Too bad they painted the poles black instead of white though. Would have reflected light. These portable closets definitely have potential though and are really cheap. I'll probably get another one and join the two together into a square like I mentioned, though it does seem a shame to cut them.

dude, dude, dudeee ...

you can get a decent tent these days for $150ish

is it worth the trouble?

noysy said:

dude, dude, dudeee ...

you can get a decent tent these days for $150ish

is it worth the trouble?

Click to expand...

If I wanted to order one and wait around for it to come then maybe, but at that price still to high anyway. The commercial ones aren't made of a fabric material that lets humidity pass through it either. I think the Walmart portable closet is the state of the art in grow tents.

each to there own

BobCajun said:

So I noticed that commercial grow tents are pretty outrageously priced so I got the idea to look for portable clothes closets as a possible alternative. Turns out you can get 19.5" x 36"x 60" ones for $30 or 5 foot wide ones for $40. I won't mention the store name but let's just say it's a major large scale retailer. They're made of white "nonwoven fabric", which should be fairly reflective and also permeable to moisture to conduct humidity away. A single 150 watt HPS or an LED unit would probably work well in the smaller ones or two of them in the larger ones. Might have to put a dark fabric around them if there's other light in the room I guess. You might even be able to stick two of them together somehow to make one larger square one. Anyway, just a thought for a way to save money on grow tents. Maybe it's been suggested before, I don't know.

Click to expand...

Go for it

Tim Fox said:

Go for it

Click to expand...

Way ahead of ya, cuz I already procured one. That was way easier than ordering in a commercial grow tent. The 3 foot wide 5 foot high ones are just right for a small grow. It's about 4.5 square feet of floor space. A 160 watt Cree CXB LED high-bay would work real nice in there. This is what I mean. Actually, I just noticed the prices were at the bottom of the page and the 240 watt ones are only a few bucks more than the 160s. I wonder if that would be too much for the little tent. Might need one of the 5 foot wide tents for that light. The light probably wouldn't spread well enough though. Crap. Just have to take the 160 I guess.

LOL. "state of the art". Bro, if you're happy. We all are happy. Good job.

GrowUrOwnDank said:

LOL. "state of the art". Bro, if you're happy. We all are happy. Good job.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Discovering the Walmart grow tent was the best thing I did today, except for actually buying said grow tent.

You got it set up yet? The internet mob is waiting.....

paranoid4areason said:

You got it set up yet? The internet mob is waiting.....

Click to expand...

I did try putting it together.I gues putting the covering on upside down would require cutting a couple holes in the corners, since it only comes with holes for the poles in the part that's normally on the bottom. Also, I can see that light will pass through the covering pretty strongly so I guess a layer of mylar or whatever inside will be needed. Still, it looks like it would be about the right size for a small grow and would look like a simple portable clothes closet from the outside. It has a pole across the middle of the top for coat hangers, which would work well as a lamp hanger. I'm not actually using it yet. That will be a while away. Even if you just used the frame of it and put two together for a 3'x3' tent and covered it with something other than the cloth it comes with it would be worth the low price. The pole framework is quite sturdy. Could cover it with woven poly tarps or something like that. Though if you could get a 3'x3' commercial grow tent for $100 or so I suppose it would be worth it. For a small one that's only 3' by 19" the closets would be good though. I don't think they even make commercial grow tents that small. It would be good for a small DIY LED grow, using one or two 100 watt COBs, or a single 150 watt HPS.

So you saved $100 -50 for Mylar.. Guess it's a steal, now cut holes for cords and intake/exhaust light proof that and your good. Obv do something for the floor to make it waterproof and sturdy. That hassle is worth 50 to me. Now your even with a sub par permeable fabric making controlling odor and RH a bitch. But at least you didn't have to pay for shipping!!!

Indagrow said:

So you saved $100 -50 for Mylar.. Guess it's a steal, now cut holes for cords and intake/exhaust light proof that and your good. Obv do something for the floor to make it waterproof and sturdy. That hassle is worth 50 to me. Now your even with a sub par permeable fabric making controlling odor and RH a bitch. But at least you didn't have to pay for shipping!!!

Click to expand...

Yeah, the idea wasn't all that great really, but it was something to do and at least now I have a nifty portable clothes closet for my clothes. Sweet.

at least you're thinking outside the tent!