Question about grow tents

[kurie726]

I have a question about grow tents. Specificaly, the Home Box XS. If I used it to grow one, max two plants, would the ventilation provided w/ the box be enough? The idea is to put the whole box in a large closet, because cutting any kind of hole in the wall is not an option. I was planning to leave the closet door open during light hours, so that fresh air could enter through the boxes built in ventilation.

[TheMetal1]

The Homebox line does not come equipped with active ventilation. It has passive intakes located near the bottom... and "ports" that you can hook duct work/fans to near the top. The Homebox will not exchange or ventilate air by itself. You will, most likely, need to purchase appropriate exhaust equipment in order to keep the temperature under control.

Without proper air exchange/circulation... your plants will be subject to heat stress and insufficient CO2, which will increase your chances for hermaphrodites and decrease your yield potential.

With the Homebox XS, since it is small... you won't need an extremely strong fan to pull hot air out, but it will also depend on what type of lights you want to use and if you are going to use a carbon scrubber. CFL's are probably the best bet given your situation in the Homebox XS.

Where are you looking to buy from? I'm checking some tents out too. Just trying to find one that doesn't say "INDOOR GROW TENT."

[kurie726]

Really I just want to grow one or two plants, so that I can have something to smoke on w/o paying the ridiculous prices that are charged around here. But I digress. I don't know what kind of lights I will be using. I am very attracted to LED lights, because of the reduced heat and cost. How many lights would I need to grow one plant in there? I saw a grow log where the gentleman had what appeared to be desk lamps pointing at his plants. If I could get the lights at Walmart or something, that would be great.

What do you mean by finding a tent that doesn't saw "indoor grow tent"? I had not made a choice of vendor yet. I did see one for about 100 dollars though. That was the lowest price I found.

I would honestly much rather just use the closet... but as I rent, cutting any kind of holes in it is out of the question.

[TheMetal1]

The short answer:
Yes, you need active ventilation in the form of a fan that will remove hot air to limit the potential for plant health issues. Don't get me wrong, people DO just toss a plant under a light and jam it into a stuffy, stale closet... but results are not very impressive.

Obviously when it comes to lighting, more light = more buds... but it has to be the RIGHT light. Intense light with poor ventilation is going to cause heat problems. There is a simple way to determine if you have adequate light.

- Figure out the square footage of your grow space (length x width)
- Calculate the TOTAL usable lumens that your lights will provide
- Divide the TOTAL lumens by your square footage
This = Lumens per square foot
Roughly 2,000 lumens/sq.ft. is really the MINIMUM you can offer the plant for growth. Anything 4,000+ lumens/sq.ft. is going to give you relatively vigorous growth. So, regardless of what type of light you use... ALL lights give off lumens, thus this formula will give you an idea as to your light situation.

Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs will probably be your weapon of choice. They are relatively cheap and make it much easier to maintain temperatures (also available in many stores and don't require additional supplies). If you have a light socket... you can use a CFL. In terms of efficiency... they are not the best (High Intensity Discharge lights will give much more lumens per watt... but are much more difficult to keep cool) but for your situation, they seem to be your only option.

LED's are cool shit... but very expensive. At this point, many people use them as supplemental lighting in combination with CFL's or HID's. Some DO go 100% LED's... but I certainly can't afford that. They are true pioneers :jointsmile:

Check these out for now... and don't buy anything or germinate a single seed until you have worked your grow out from start to finish. It will save you time and money... something I think we ALL could use a little more of :hippy:
http://boards.cannabis.com/basic-growing/127522-simple-noob-instructions-growin-da-dankness.html
http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-lighting/121311-el-cheapo-guide-lighting.html
http://boards.cannabis.com/indoor-lighting/140735-answers-about-cfl-hps-how-much-light.html

And about saying "Indoor Grow Tent." I just read a story about a guy getting it delivered to his house... and on the box it said "Homebox: The Original Indoor Grow Tent." Just wanted to find a company that had a bit more discretion when labeling their packages. I did find a distributor that assured no identifiable markings on the box... but I'd like to buy straight from the manufacturer (especially with reports of imitations that don't have very "white" siding... making it less reflective)

[kurie726]

Thanks for the helpfull info ^_^ I just got back from the Lowes in town and did some pricing. I also checked out the very helpful lighting FAQ you linked. I calculated the total square footage of the grow tent to be 552.25 square inches, or roughly 3.8 square feet. A 150 watt HPS light would proves approximatly 3700 lumens per square foot. But from what I have read, you only use this bulb when you switch the plant to 12/12 and induce flowering, correct? I would need a different type of bulb for promting vegetation. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[greenthumb2007]

yea ive been using a grow tent i really didnt see how bad the intake nets at the bottom were untill my plants started dying. now i just keep it unzipped at the bottom because the fan im using creates alot of suction. how could i get fresher intake air without laying flex across my room? it exaughts into a carbonfilter that sits in the closet with the tent. What do u think about dry ice to boot CO2?

[TheXFactor]

Text (http://cannabis.com/growing/growroom-Stickydank_basic_co2_method.html)

i have a homebox 4x4x7 i like it... and i might get a seperate one for flowering and put the carbon scrubber in that... i do plan on adding co2 through the method mentioned above.

My last batch of seedlings died... it had bad room syndrome... i fucked them up in every imaginable way.

im contemplating investing in a t-5 system to get seedlings going and then place them under a 400mh... i am curious what is the best 400w mh bulb out there. forget the price.... also wat is the best HPS bulb out there?

[greenthumb2007]

well i have a ballast and u can get a bulb that can switch from MH to HPS so you only need one light. i plan on trying to make a stack in my 6foot tent so where i can veg some shoreline clones using hydroponics to do my sea of green setup. and for veg i will make a LED light setup to reduce heat and my watt output. im not sure yet but i think ill have enough room to use the top half of the tent to flower my clones using my current light.