A grow tent is necessary when growing vegetables or crops indoors. Unfavorable weather conditions outdoors sometimes present challenges for conventional gardening. For example, winter frost makes growing some crops in outdoor gardens challenging for some gardeners. Consequently, such gardeners consider growing vegetables and herbs indoors. Grow rooms are among the necessities for indoor gardening.
Introduction
If you’re venturing into indoor gardening, a question that may linger in your mind is; what is a grow tent? A grow tent is an enclosure that creates a suitable environment for growing plants. Manufacturers use durable materials like nylon or canvas to make grow tents. Also, they ensure the bottom is waterproof.
A reflective material lines the top and sides, directing light to the plants. Most growth tents have vents to allow for proper air circulation and regulation of the humidity and temperature levels inside. While you can find a cheap grow tent online, it’s crucial to buy one that creates an optimal space for the plants you want to grow. Moreover, it should allow greater control over your indoor garden.
Grow rooms are crucial because they save space. Unlike other indoor gardening methods, you can set up a grow room in any space, regardless of its size. Hence, grow rooms are gaining popularity among people with small homes and apartments with limited spaces. Additionally, a grow tent allows you to control the environment where your plants grow. Thus, you can use it to increase your yield.
How to Choose the Right Grow Tent
While there are many grow tent sizes and brands, only a few will suit your growing needs. For example, you may find a Vivosun grow tent and a Green Qube grow tent when shopping. However, consider more than the brand name when deciding on the growth tent to purchase. Here are tips for choosing the correct indoor grow tent.
Available Indoor Space
Consider the space you have for the tent before buying it. Whether you have a closet, bedroom, basement, or garage, you may have limited room for the growing tent. Therefore, choose equipment that lets you maximize the available growing space.
For example, a closet is a small space measuring between 2x2ft and 2x6ft. Therefore, a 2x2ft grow tent or a 2x4ft grow tent would be fine for a closet. For a room, you may need a larger grow tent. But since a master bedroom is larger than a guest room, and a living room is bigger than a den, determining the right size requires more consideration. Nevertheless, an ideal grow tent for a room may range from 3x3ft to 5x5ft.
For a basement, you may have more open space. Hence, you can use a 4x6ft tent for a small basement and a 4x8ft grow tent for a larger basement. A garage may be smaller than a basement but has more available space than a room. Therefore, you can choose between a 5x5ft grow tent and a 7x7ft grow tent.
Number of Plants
The number of plants you intend to have in the growth tent is also a vital consideration. The size will tell you how many plants to have in a grow tent. Therefore, ensure your tent is sufficiently large for your preferred yield. Also, ensure it’s not unnecessarily big if you want to have a few plants.
The best way to determine the number of plants for a grow tent is by allowing a room of around 1-2 square feet for every plant. That way, you can map out the number of plants to fit in the grow tent and the size of the area to place it. Here’s a breakdown of the number of plants to grow in a grow tent.
- 10x10ft grow tent or larger tents: These can accommodate 30 plants growing in 5-to-7-gallon pots.
- 8x8ft to 9x9ft grow tents: These can hold between 14 and 16 plants growing in 5-to-7-gallon pots.
- 8x4ft grow tents: These can accommodate 8 to 10 plants in 5-7-gallon pots.
- 6x6ft to 7x7ftt grow tents: These hold 6–8 plants in 5-7-gallon pots in a line.
- 5x5ft grow tents: These fit between 5 and 6 plants in 5-7-gallon pots.
- 4x4ft to 4x5ft grow tents: These hold 4 to 6 plants in 507-gallon pots.
- 2x4ft to 3x3ft grow tents: These accommodate 2–4 plants growing in 5-7-galling pots.
- 2x2ft grow tents: These fit 2 mature plants growing in 5-7-gallon pots.
These rules may have exceptions, depending on your gardening habits. For instance, hydroponic flood tables can take up more space in a grow tent, limiting the space above and around the plants. Also, you can train your plants to grow wide rather than tall, reducing the available room between them. Additionally, some plants, such as auto-flowering plants can be smaller throughout their growing period. Hence, 25-50% more plants can fit inside the growing space.
Tent Construction
Upon deciding on your grow tent size, it’s time to explore the critical stuff. Please consider the grow tent material and structure. Having more details about your grow room will help you make better decisions regarding your indoor garden. Here are critical grow tent features to consider:
Frames
The frame holds the grow tent cover and other components in place. Therefore, ensure it is sufficiently strong to hold the ventilation equipment, including the grow tent carbon filter and fans over the plants. Manufacturers use various materials to make the connecting poles, including plastic and metal. Additionally, consider poles and connectors. Do they lock together or slide into each other?
Cover
Considering your tent’s cover material is also important. Excess light can quickly leak into the plants if you choose a low-quality cover. Also, it may not insulate your garden appropriately. Therefore, consider the material the manufacturer has used to make the cover. Some manufacturers use canvas, which is a tough, water-resistant fabric. Others use Oxford cloth, another waterproof fabric, tear-proof, and wrinkle-resistant.
Moreover, the enclosure’s cover can have a diamond or hammered reflective material. Diamond material provides a maximum reflection of intense light. Hammered material allows light to hit several points on the ceiling, walls, and floor, reflecting it onto the plants. Please consider the pros and cons of these materials to pick a tent with the ideal cover for your crops.
Zippers
Zippers enable you to insulate an indoor garden, making them vital for a growing tent. Also, they provide the first defense line against airborne contaminants and pests. Therefore, consider the zipper material, multiple vs. single zippers, and other factors. Additionally, check how the manufacturer stitches them on the tent.
Air Vents
How many air vents or pots does the tent have? The number of ports or vents depends on the size of the grow room. For instance, a smaller tent requires less airflow than a larger one. Hence, it may have fewer tents. Also, whether you’ll use a grow tent humidifier and the humidity requirements for the plants you’ll grow should help you decide on the air vents you want your tent to have.
Grow tent add-ons
This enclosure can also have add-ons that you may consider essential for your grow room. These may include shelf racks, height extensions, windows, trellis, tool pockets, and flood trays. Please consider these extras to choose a grow tent that suits your indoor gardening needs.
How to Set Up a Grow Tent
Setting up a grow tent is straightforward if you’re handy with the necessary equipment. Here’s a step-by-step guide for doing it:
- Clear the space and put the tent together: Start by clearing the space where you want to set up the tent. Also, ensure you have all the materials for putting your tent together.
- Hang the grow light: Select the best grow light for a tent, depending on your choice. Please compare various grow lights for tents to pick one that suits your indoor gardening needs. Nevertheless, the best grow lights are easier to hang. You can use rope ratchets to hang grow lights, which allow easier adjusting.
- Hang your exhaust fan: You can also use rope ratchets to hang the exhaust fan inside your tent to muffle its side. An exhaust fan facilitates heat removal by creating a straight path via which air leaves the tent. With the correct exhaust fan, you have no reason to wonder about how to cool down a grow tent.
- Connect the carbon filter: Carbon filters eliminate smells from the grow tent. For instance, if you want to grow cannabis indoors, you can use the carbon filter to prevent its spell from getting baked on your clothes and hair. Since a carbon filter is heavy, you can use rope ratchets to hang and adjust it too.
- Double-check everything: Remember you’re setting up an indoor garden. Therefore, perform smell, sound, and light checks to ensure everything is correct. For instance, ensure your grow tent fans make minimal noise by enhancing their efficiency. Also, you can place water and air pumps on wood to muffle vibration. Also, ensure no smells or light leave the tent. Turning on the exhaust fan, grow light, and other equipment will help you determine whether everything is okay.
Besides the above steps for setting up a grow tent, perform a safety check. Ensure everything is secure, and electronics, such as power strips and wires, are off the ground, just in case the water spills. The rule of thumb is to ensure electronics are above the waist and no cords hang around your tent.
Optimizing Climate Control in a Grow Room
Many gardeners want to know how to cool a grow tent down without spending a fortune. The secret of a successful indoor garden entails more of the intricacies of caring for a child. It requires patience, attention to detail, and understanding. Whether growing edible, ornamental, or medicinal plants like cannabis in your indoor garden, you must provide an appropriate environment. Here’s how to optimize climate control in a grow tent.
Work on the Grow Tent Light Setup
Glow lights provide the light your plants need to thrive. However, they also produce heat which can damage the crops. Investing in modern grow lights, such as LED lights, is better than sticking to high-pressure sodium systems, which add heat to the grow rooms. Therefore, invest in quality grow lights and set them up correctly.
Control the Temperature
Your grow room should be sufficiently warm to ensure plants don’t freeze and cool enough to avoid drying the crops. The ideal temperature for a grow tent ranges between 65 and 85 degrees. You may want to know how to cool down a grow tent without AC if you’re a hobbyist grower with a few plants. Unfortunately, you may need a simple window AC for a small grow tent, although it may be insufficient. Therefore, consider buying an exhaust fan for a grow tent and installing it correctly.
Keep Air Moving
Proper air circulation prevents mold growth in a grow room. It also helps the plant build stronger branches and stems. The plants absorb water through the roots. This water moves up the stem and eventually evaporates via the small pores on the leaves. Proper air circulation prevents moist air from hanging on the leaves, which can otherwise facilitate fungus and mold growth. Installing oscillating fans for grow tents can maintain proper air circulation.
Control Humidity
Humidity control is vital in regulating the climate in a grow room. Besides mold control, regulating humidity influences the transpiration rate of the plants. A handheld sensor can provide accurate humidity measurements. You can also install an electronic monitoring system with sensors that facilitate automatic recording and taking actions with grow tent dehumidifiers and fans. Nevertheless, humidity control is vital, especially when scaling up your grow operations.
Regulate Carbon Dioxide
Plants need carbon dioxide to make food through photosynthesis. Therefore, ensuring it’s at the correct level in your grow tent is important. When your grow room has quality light, plants may use more carbon dioxide than the tent provides. Therefore, ensure the carbon dioxide level encourages plant growth in your grow room. The proper carbon dioxide level depends on the time and plants’ growth phase. You may use odorless compressed carbon dioxide by installing a valve and setting a timer to turn it on for a fixed duration. Also, you can use electronic sensors to automate the process. Overall, think about carbon dioxide when optimizing climate control in your grow tent.
If you have difficulties optimizing climate control, you can call experts to help you. Nevertheless, thinking ahead and planning accordingly will enhance your grow room’s success.
Preventing Pests and Diseases
You can avoid prevalent pests and diseases in grow tents by sealing the indoor grow room and maintaining appropriate environmental conditions. The most common pests in grow rooms include:
- Caterpillars
- Aphids
- Fungus gnats
- Thrips
- Spider mites
- Snails
- Slugs
- Whiteflies
Some of the prevalent grow tent diseases include the following:
- Root rot
- Powdery mildew
- Blossom end rot
- Leaf spot
- Fusarium wilt
- Rust
Unfortunately, avoiding these pests and diseases is sometimes inevitable, no matter how hard you try. Hence, learning ways to prevent and control them is crucial. Here’s how to do it.
- Maintain a proper grow room atmosphere or environmental conditions.
- Quarantine new crops until you’re sure they are disease- and pest-free.
- Clean your grow areas between growing cycles to eradicate decaying or dead plant matter.
- Prevent animals and pests from entering your grow areas.
- Sterilize instruments and hand tools, especially when moving them from one grow space to another.
- Check your clothing for contamination and pests before entering and leaving your grow areas.
- Practice companion planting to control pests and diseases naturally.
- Use preventative natural deterrents like neem oil.
- Use grow media that deter pests, like those with diatomaceous earth.
- Remove and quarantine infected plants immediately to prevent spread.
Paying attention to plants in your grow room will help you detect pest infestation and diseases early and take the appropriate action before the situation escalates.
Final Words
Whether you buy a cheap grow tent or invest in the most expensive grow room, setting it up correctly and practicing proper care will influence your plants’ health and yields. This article has shared tips to help you get the most from your grow room. Please follow them to maximize returns from your investment in indoor gardening.
FAQ
Is a grow tent worth the money?
Yes. A grow room can differentiate successful grow from wasting time. Although it requires initial capital, it can save you money over the long run. That’s because it reduces the time and money you spend lighting, heating, and providing nutrients to your indoor plants.
What is the purpose of a grow tent?
A grow room or tent is a collapsible tent that lets you grow crops indoors. It creates a conducive garden ecosystem indoors, separating it from the other areas in your home or garage. Thus, its purpose is to create a space for growing plants indoors.
Can plants grow faster in a growth tent?
Yes. A grow room creates optimal conditions for plant growth. Therefore, plants grow healthier and bigger because they enjoy an ideal environment. Also, this environment can enhance plant yields.
How many plants can I put in a grow tent?
The number of plants to put in a grow tent depends on its size. For instance, a 15cm by 150cm grow tent can house 2-6 plants. A 150cm by 200cm grow plant can accommodate 2-8 plants. Also, the type of plants and their growth habits will influence the number your grow room can house.
