Grow Tents

Here is a popular topic in the grow classes.

A grow tent is a light-proof cubical enclosure made of fabric with a highly-reflective surface inside. It holds an HID light or two and the good ones provide an excellent grow environment inside. The sizes range from about 4 x 4 feet square to about 5 x 8. The main advantage of a grow tent is that it can sit in the corner of a bedroom, for example, and provide a light-tight growing environment. This is very important because the plants must receive 12 hours of complete and uninterrupted darkness during the flowering period.

The grow tents are engineered to safely hold the light fixtures, fans, and ducting and generally provide a waterproof (or at least water-resistant) covering for the floor. The main reason the tents are popular is because of their convenience. A grower can buy one at the grow store, add the fans and lights, set the rig up in the corner, run the exhaust duct out the window, add the plants, and off they go! A pretty good deal for a few hundred bucks.

If money is tight, a really nice rig can be built from rigid foam insulation sheets that are available at the Home Depot. The 1” thick x 4‘ x 8’ sheets are backed with reflective foil on each side and cost about twenty bucks each. The foam can be cut with a steak knife to make doors and vent holes. Foil-backed duct tape is very strong, sticky, and light proof, and it sticks to the foil-backed foamboard very well. The foamboard is very easy to work with and can be just the thing for making relatively-solid, light-proof walls, blocking out windows, etc.

Be careful if ever buying a used grow tent. Some were manufactured in China from improperly-made synthetic fabric, which off-gasses fumes toxic enough to kill some strains of cannabis. Craig's list? Check it out real well!

Also be sure to vent the exhaust out a window, or perhaps into an attic or basement. Some growers set up the tent the first time and merely exhaust the air from the tent into the room that houses it. This defeats the whole purpose of ventilation after a while and raises both the heat and humidity. Be sure to blow the stale air into a separate, outdoors environment.