Grow Tent- worth it?

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MeNtAlPaTiEnT

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Hey guys!

I've always made my own grow rooms out of two by fours and drywall/thick plastic, but this time around I' super interested in these grow tents, especially cheap ones from china aka aliexpress for only 120 dollars a piece. Would anyone reccommend them due to ease of setup and no light leakage? I've never had one before so I want to hear your guys' opinions, cheers! :vap-Bong_smoker:
 
Hey old friend, nice to see you again. I have been using Grow Tents for years now and they make things way more manageable. I mean if you have the skills and room to actually build a grow room with lumber and drywall you can way out do a tent if you have the skills and money. Outside that Tents can allow the rest of us to experience the feeling of having a pretty controllable space. I love them and couldn't imagine growing without them. I don't have a lot of space so running 2 tents in a spare bedroom works great for me. I use the 2 windows in that room as AC since I only grow during the cooler to cold months. That with good ventilation has been perfect.

As far as being able to use the cheaper brand tents off eBay I can also 1st hand attest that yes you can do that. All of my tents have been cheaper knockoffs. Sure the name brands will be better quality, but as a grower on a limited budget, I also have to be thrifty. Just check reviews and only buy from the sellers with the higher ratings.
 
Yes, hello Hamster! I didnt think you'd still be on here! Glad to see you're still rocking the forums. My rooms are never all that great, there's always light leaks and such. Thank you for your input Sir HamsterLewis!
 
Yes, hello Hamster! I didnt think you'd still be on here! Glad to see you're still rocking the forums. My rooms are never all that great, there's always light leaks and such. Thank you for your input Sir HamsterLewis!

Yep still here. Hard to believe that 9 years ago I found this place. It's what got me growing and that is why I am still here. It's home.
I think a tent or eventually, 2 would help you for sure. If I could only get one tent it would obviously be for Flower. That's where a tent will be strongest. They are way easier at blacking out. Even if you get a pinhole or two its an easy fix with some reflective tape.
 
How tall are your tents Hamster? The one I am looking at is 180 Cm(5 feet, 10.87 inches) tall, wish I had a tape measure with me, but I'm not so sure it's going to be tall enough for flower /and/or veg. Hmmm.
 
If you can still build something larger, it's a little easier to grow some sativa strains that are not conducive with small areas and stretch alot but good yields and highs.
 
My Flower tent is 6.5 feet tall and 4x4 wide. 5 feet tall will mean you will have to be on top of training your plants. I used to flower in 5-foot tall tents but I decided the extra foot and half would be a better fit.
 
My tent is the most expensive 1 you can buy, lol. It is 4x8 and 8ft tall. I love it. It will last 20 years.
 
I love the idea of tents just that in my case, I always built my rooms because I am in the renovation industry so I have many leftovers to build a growoom for free and I do it custom built to fit my system and my space. The grow tent is a great buy for almost everyone. There is still a place for the custom built rooms imo.
 
I love the idea of tents just that in my case, I always built my rooms because I am in the renovation industry so I have many leftovers to build a growoom for free and I do it custom built to fit my system and my space. The grow tent is a great buy for almost everyone. There is still a place for the custom built rooms imo.

No doubt and if I were in your situation I would build my own. You can not beat a well-built custom grow room. Especially if you have the money to buy all those extra goodies. That being said, as a person who can't I really could not see myself growing for as long as I have without grow tents. They make life so much easier.
 
i am far from being what i consider a good grower but i am into my 5th year growing. i started out with a cruddy 4x4x2 foot mothers tent and t5's. grew some really nice smoke and stayed with that cruddy tent and cruddy lights for 4 years. it was a cheapo tent but i am still using it after 5 years. i upgraded to a cheapo 3x3x6 feet tall tent so i could use an led. i don't have the height to go any taller but if i could i would. so, i agree with hamster, cheapo tents work and work well for me. i got new tent for 88 bucks on amazon. i see a 5x5x6.5 footer for $99 on amazon. not sure i am supposed to post links to amazon but here it is...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XXGCCKG/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
 
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I went cheap on veg tent, went with a Secret Jardin for flower. Like the zippers better for light leaks.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys. I can never quite seem to make a fully light proof room for whatever reason (sucky handiman I guess!). Light proofing a flower room I think would be the biggest contributing factor for me getting a tent if I were to get one. Hmmmm!
 
I have never found tents to be light proof. Between the zippers, the openings and just the plain material itself, I can't see flowering in a tent that isn't in a totally dark room, and not getting light leak problems.

I would challenge any tent maker to put me inside the tent that is in a well lit room and and not have me see some light leaks.

Actually, I seldom even close the door on my tents. I have 2 in a room and I just keep that room dark. The tents stay open most of the time.

On the other hand, there is a thread going on right now at mjp that is debating whether light leaks actually cause hermies or not. Someone will do some experimenting and clean up that story sooner or later.

There are a number of worthwhile comments in that thread arguing on both sides.
 
Oh darn, I was really hoping most if not all tents would be light proof when fully zipped up.
 
That's not been my experience but I buy cheap tents (not cheap, just not Gorilla).

Maybe someone else has better luck with their brand.
 
my tents are in a basement room. i don't leave lights on in there but i don't purposely keep the lights off in the basement room either and there is a window opening to the outside. the tents i have, both cheapos, must be light tight enough because i have never had a hard time forcing the plants to flower nor have i ever had a hermi. the way i am thinking about it, plants in the wild flower and don't get all freaked out by star light or moon light so i'd think as long as you are not pulling a clark griswold in your grow room you will probably be ok. just my opinion though. i have never sat in my tent and closed it up to see how much light i can see from the room outside. also, i am a crappy grower. i have not had an easy-peasy grow ever so your results may vary. i try but i am a)unlucky, b)kinda dumb and c)overthink EVERYTHING...
 
I used to grow in tents. I had 3 secret jardin tents. 2-5x5x7 and 1-4x4x7. They were all very light proof and worked great until LEO took a razer knife to them :( But I loved using the tents because they are not just light contained but also air mass contained. They allow you to better control the air temps and humidity, as well as odor. I am an old carpenter so when I set up in my new location, I just built my rooms within an existing storage building, but if I had a bigger place, I would go back to the tents. I think it comes down to personal preference (as well as ability to DIY), as both have pros and cons. :)
 

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