Diy grow tents?

They look very good ... I have seen them at the local hydro shop and would be great. Easy to construct and quite hardy. I think building one might eb tough ... $150 isn't that much. And with that much grow area you'd have to go with at least a 400w HPS. Fluros just wouldn't cut it in a space that large ... and I'm a fluro fan

weediscool said:

to get optimal lighting to the plants with a HPS you have to get them as close as you can but not too close to where heat will be an issue. plants grow at different heights and keep them all at the same level isnt easy. its also likely that a person on his first grow will either put the lamp too far out or too close resulting in slow or stunted growth.

t5s are a lot less forgiving and have pretty much been proven to yeild to at least the equivilent of a 400watt using a mix of flowering floros. easier to keep closer, less heat and the plant will in all likelyhood get more lumens

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have you grown with HPS before or are you just ging on what you have read? Sure the big advantage with fluros is that they can be placed so close to the plants to maximise lumens but an HPS can be put at the top of the tent, never moved and as long as you only veg for 2-4 weeks and then flower you'll have little problem with the plants getting too close to the light and your yeild will be twice that of any fluro.

Like I said, I'm a fan of fluros for small closet grows ... but if you have the space use HID. I've yet to see proof of a T5 grow that could match HPS watt per watt x gram for gram of yield.

id say buy that grow tent or even the one above it. im ordering the largest one htg sells cuz its easier and i dont want to build my own. im using 600w hps which is air cooled. i dont think ill have any heat issues.

I have that exact enclosure using a 400W cooltube. It works very well for me. It is actually inside a closet. I personally think HID lights are far superior to CFL - the only exception is if heat limits your use of a HID light.

If I dont make my own tent I am going to use a room the size of a small bathroom, maybe 10'Lx5'Wx8'H. Do you think the room would need to be air cooled if I decide to use 400w hps?

worth it! It's actually a tent, you can break it down and put it back up. Sure the suggestions for a pvc or other frame will work, but those folks didn't tell you how to keep it light proof. Also cutting holes in film will take more work to seal your openings to fit electrical and ducting. If you have the resources and skills and time than DIY is cheaper...

Yea I have the skill. I made alot of my furniture and I also built a home studio from scratch. I Might just modify a bookshelf of mine. Or I might go pvc and drop cloths

weediscool said:

unless youre using an air cooled hood your plants are not going to be within the lumen range of what theyre telling you youre getting on the box. so typically unless your using multi hps setups youre not really getting the displayed lumens.

since you can put the t5s like right on top of your plants youre getting more lumens per square foot, typically.

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The light from an HPS penetrates farther than light from a fluorescent bulb. This makes up for the greater distance between the plants and the bulb. I'd say use an HPS. Your yields will be higher

I am thinking about putting one together myself. Did yours ever get buil?

Fluoro tubes make no sense to me at all. I used fluoro tubes on my first grow, luckily I didn't really have to invest anything in them because my brother had a ton of lights hanging around. The problem is in the effective lighting area. You have to keep your lights ideally 2 inches or less from the plants to be in the optimal range. If you are scrogging then maybe you can get away with a t5 and get some nice results. The other problem is in the price, a nice t5 set up will run you as much as a used 400w HPS, and the 400w will crush the fluoro tubes in terms of efficiency over it's life. The lumens per watt ratio for HPS is around double the fluoro.

I think if you are going to go with fluorescent lighting that CFLs are the way to go. They are by far the lowest in terms of initial cost. If you are doing a micro grow then CFLs are great. If you want to run fluoros for whatever reason then great, just don't be one of these guys that comes out bashing HPS lighting when it really is still the best all around grow lighting available.