Should I get A Grow Tent?

Total newbie. 40 years ago we would just plant some seeds in the dorm room and using simple flourescent gro lights we got decent bud. Times have changed!!
I am looking to do a small personal grow using T5 for veg and either HPS or T5 for flowering.

I live on 20 acres and am pretty secluded. 2 choices: grow in spare bedroom but that would mean grow tent with filters etc so as to not alert the rare visitor

Other option is to use my storage room out back. it has electrical power and ceiling fans. It is 12x12 and I thought maybe just mylar on adjacent walls and shower curtain to close in. In winter room temp can get to high 50s so i would need a space heater. in summer room can get hot so ceiling fans. Of course I could use a grow tent in storage building as well. this would prevent possible prying eyes from peeking in window,.

So my question is without going high tech with hydro, co2 etc what do you suggest keep in house with grow tent or keep in storage area?

Oh yes I imagine the plus to using spare bedroom is easier temp control as house has heat/ac. If I go tent than I need ducting, fans etc. i just want to keep it simple. Can i use grow tent without ducting and fans by just letting a small fan blow at either top or bottom/

Any help is appreciated

I would go with tent in spare room. The reason is, its a lot easier to control the enviroment in tent.
If you run t5s the heat will be minimal so that will help. Either way though, you're gonna need a fan and filter to eliminate odor.

hydrogreen65 said:

I would go with tent in spare room. The reason is, its a lot easier to control the enviroment in tent.
If you run t5s the heat will be minimal so that will help. Either way though, you're gonna need a fan and filter to eliminate odor.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your help. Any suggestions about ducting, filters etc. Looks a bit overwhelming. Worse than buying a car. You are right about the temp control in the house. Can I use a simple carbon filter in the tent or need I start hooking up in line filters with ductwork etc/ I am willing to do this if need be but simple is better.
I imagine all tents have some issues with small light leaks. im thinking a 4x4 for say $200 will work
Thanks again

That is a problem I would like to have.

I find that access and storing good water and having a place to dump it, is ideal. Does the spare bedroom have a bathroom?

Both are far from my 5 ft wide bathroom....let me see....a real puzzle.

IAC, I have a 32" x 32" inch tent in the bathroom to give me two separately, lighted spaces. Tents are pretty amazing once you realize they are smaller than they look. I can get 4 plants for 8 weeks of vegs on there.

When I finally get into the garage...need more success, says wife, I will have a tent inside a big tent.

I will say, with HID there is no "too big"of a space. I run a 1000w water cooled HPS, (and 300 w CFL for Veg.) The water cooled light also requires a 9000 BTU A/C in that tiny bathroom, just to stay even. And that is only until we need the whole house Unit.

And don't forget it takes almost 14kw to run a 1000w HID for 12 hours.

And consider circuit power. If I didn't have 30A in that bathroom in 2 circuits....well.....I can still max out 30 A, easily and trip breakers.

Usually only 15A in a bedroom.

Consider 220V. Is it easier to get in the Shed or the house? Saves money.

I bought a 4x8x8 for 220. You can place fan and filter in tent and just run duct from fan out of tent..
Its really simple to setup.
You can use the T5s from start to finish, you just need to change bulbs when going to flower. I ve made several runs with T5s from start to finish with good results. Just make sure you get the T5HO, the 54w .

An added benefit for a tent, was the space on top. I am very 3D in that bathroom. I could only build up.

Don't cheap for exhaust fans. Don't use those same diameter, "booster" fans. Junk. Get a real fan with the blades 2 x the width of the pipe.

Just for example, that "smallest tent on the market" I have? It is only 60 inches high and I still used a 400 cfm exhaust.

Totally agree, the fan and filter is definitely not an area you want to cut corners on. You will hate it in flower if you do.

What would you say, is the minimum space required to setup a worthwhile DWC garden?
4-6 plants.

I love them, they simplify a ton of stuff!

no vibration from a hanging fan, two zip ties.

I use the A/C size to hang big things like filter and inline fan.

I use removable zip ties for wires and fans attached up high.

I like a Tent in the House, that's what I do, mine is second story so nosey people looking in my window.

Put a lock on the Door and a descent set of blinds in any window then
get some Panda film and a staple gun and duct tape.

black side out you cover the window openings with panda film.

apply tape wherever you want to staple so the staple doesn't blow thru the plastic.

I double up the Panda. White in and out. Black side out, looks pretty sinister, and noteworthy compared to White which looks "normal" like a curtain.

Good point Doer!
My window is second story with no real access to look unless you climbed a tree!

i just started growing last january. i did it on the cheap. i bought a 4x4x2 foot 'mother' tent from a local hydroponics store. i use a 4 bulb high output 4 foot t5 fixture with a couple of cfl fixtures that i have 26 watt cfl bulbs in. for my veg i use 4 10000 kelvin(color) t5's. for flower i use 3 3000 k plus one 10000 k with uva bulbs. the cfls are 2700 kelvin bulbs. i find i would like more height so if you are able, i'd get a taller tent. i grew 4 plants my first grow. they got really crowded. i went with 2 plants this go round and it is tight but manageable. i grow in roots organics soil. i had a shitty exhaust fan to start with. upgraded when the smell got pretty strong so i could use a carbon filter. there is still some stink but if you have air fresheners, you can mask most of it. i do not exhaust to the outside. my tent, even with the t5's can get into the 80's. i bought my seeds from attitude seeds. i was happy with their products. no males(all feminized seeds) and only 1 out of 10 seeds failed. the best thing about growing at home is the smoke is really, really powerful. if you thought your college bud was decent, get ready to be floored. my kids smoke. a lot. like i mean a ton. and they have never had anything as good as what i have grown as a noob. their friends all wonder where they get the killer smoke. just read as much as you can on these forums. and ask a lot of questions. there are a lot of folks here that are more than happy to help. i am about to harvest my second grow and the early indications are this will be a lot better than my first. i can get the names of the tent, fan and filter if you need. i bought it all at a place called htg because they are local. i am sure you can find something similar. i just took the advice of the guys that ran the store to start with, jokingly saying i was growing tomatoes. they all played along. if you are interested, i have my most recent grow journal in my signature where i have been anal about updating with pics and narrative from day one. it has taken about 3 and a half months from germination to almost harvest. good luck...

I have run tents in a room and the room with no tent and if the room is one you can keep any unwanted visitors out of it is a far superior choice to go without the tent, much more airflow and if you can vent out a window you're golden. Tents do have their uses but I feel like they trap heat more than anything, but people in colder climates may prefer that.

orangeade5 said:

I have run tents in a room and the room with no tent and if the room is one you can keep any unwanted visitors out of it is a far superior choice to go without the tent, much more airflow and if you can vent out a window you're golden. Tents do have their uses but I feel like they trap heat more than anything, but people in colder climates may prefer that.

Click to expand...

Here is my perfect solution (for me). I am using a large tent in my spare room but using the tent frame only. I bought a 10x10 tent to put in my garage and decided to set it in my spare room inside the house instead. This thing is huge and after finished setting up the frame, I decided to leave off the tent and sealed up the room instead. This frame is almost as big as my room and it is awesome having just a tent frame in there. No need to drill any holes in the ceiling or wall to hang lights and ducting. I hung all my lights, fans, filter and all the ducting inside the frame just like the way I would if I have the whole tent in there. I have carpet in the room but no problem...I just use the water proof tray that came with the tent and set the frame right on top of it.

Anyone else do this?

CBDPower said:

Here is my perfect solution (for me). I am using a large tent in my spare room but using the tent frame only. I bought a 10x10 tent to put in my garage and decided to set it in my spare room inside the house instead. This thing is huge and after finished setting up the frame, I decided to leave off the tent and sealed up the room instead. This frame is almost as big as my room and it is awesome having just a tent frame in there. No need to drill any holes in the ceiling or wall to hang lights and ducting. I hung all my lights, fans, filter and all the ducting inside the frame just like the way I would if I have the whole tent in there. I have carpet in the room but no problem...I just use the water proof tray that came with the tent and set the frame right on top of it.

Anyone else do this?

Click to expand...

I cant imagine a tent frame supporting all the weight of a whole setup o.o

I can imagine however that a 10x10 tent frame would be more rigid than your average 4x4 tent frame

The frame is crazy strong. It called HydroHut Estate with total weight: 286 lbs . Ceiling holds 150 lbs on each side, 300 lbs total.
http://hydrohuts.com/products/the-patented-hydrohut-estate-grow-tent/

Look at the picture on page 14. That's what my set up kinda looks like.
http://hydrohuts.com/images/hydrohut_estate.pdf

darklawliet said:

I cant imagine a tent frame supporting all the weight of a whole setup o.o

I can imagine however that a 10x10 tent frame would be more rigid than your average 4x4 tent frame

Click to expand...

You aren't thinking like a mad scientist. People say, oh isn't a tent too black and soaks up too much infrared?

I say, mine is covered in foil Bubble Warp panels. It took about 1 hour to do it.

People say how can a tent support another tent and grow?

I say mine has a pair of notched 2x4s, as more vertical support at every corner, It took about 1 hour to do it.

I think a good vertical setup would be small cabinet tent on top another, larger tent for Bloom. All you need is a step ladder, to work with the upper, Veg tent.