# Has Anyone Finished a Grow with the Dark Room Grow Tent??



## bruceirons (May 9, 2008)

has anyone completed a grow with the Dark Room?
are there problems with the tent?


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## indicafloyd007 (May 11, 2008)

Hi, Im using one of these a DR80 and im thinking of giving it up for the summer. Ive got it in my bedroom and there is no give with the temps its just to hot. Ive brought everything needed fan controller for intake outtake fans but its still in the 90's with a 400w hps bulb. Think getting it when i did was a mistake and will have to wait till it gets cooler (after summer) . Ive just got a cool tube so im going to see how that works out see if it drops the temp. Great product easy to set up and use just wrong time of the year. So if its going to be in a cool place i would recommend one. Hope this helps.

Ind1cafl0yd.


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## 420inmyapt (May 12, 2008)

Hey indica how many vent holes those DR80's have? I know loudblunt runs a DR150 w/ no heat problems. I am going to be investing in a DR300 soon and i expect no heat issues ( have a 8,000 Btu a/c gonna use) Its all about air movement man. 

But i could see in certain areas temps being way too hot in the summer to effectively vent these. They are thermally sealed, so no heat escapes through the fabric, so that might be making your situation worse. Have you thought about running it with the doors open? or is security an issue? There are so many different aspect of everyones grows, be it climate or equipment nothing is going to work 100% the same for one as it did for another.

Personally I think these are the best tent out of the market, i mean their construction is solid, they are reflective on the inside, thermal sealed, light supports, vent socks, doors and windows, and to top it all off they make a 9ft version


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## indicafloyd007 (May 21, 2008)

Hey sorry for the delay but have been working away. Right it has 2 vents at the bottom of the tent which i only just opened one the other day, did help a bit but nothing to right home about! And the 2 inlet and outlet for the ducting thats all it has. I brought my self a cool tube as well but forgot i will need an intake for it (Doh!!). I might try and see moving it nearer to the window and use the cool air from outside pull it across the cool tube with the out let fan and out the room see if that drops it. And it would be to bright to have the door open security is an issue with me as renting. Ive had it set up for 4 months now and keep going back to it trying different things ive managed to get it down to about 80oc but ive got a plant on my window seal put her in there and it dried the leaves out so she come straight out, Poor little thing looked well sorry for her self.


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## Streetsk8 (May 22, 2008)

why dont u shoot ur hot air from ur cool tube out ur apartment ??
or in ur room
u dont need intake for cool tube
only an outake
intake is passive
take air in tent
and blows it out of tent
making ur hot air go out
anyway
good luck


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## LoudBlunts (May 22, 2008)

the dr80 dont have as many ventilation possibilities as its older brothers.

what type of fan you running on the lights? you need a fan bigger than you're area..


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## indicafloyd007 (May 22, 2008)

The Fan is a RVK125 which is just sucking out at mo on its own. Its a 400wHPS agro. Im going to try the cool tube tomorrow hopefully that will help and have the vents open down the bottom. Also ive got a primair fan controller controlling the fan, Where is the best place to put the prob as to get the best accurate temperature?? feel like im going round in circles need to get something on the grow im getting itchy feet!!.

Thanks for the replys guys too


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## Diknuts (May 22, 2008)

I made my own tent 7.5ft by 7.5ft by7ft using this stuff called panda film.I ordered it from here and got really quick service.This stuff is 100% light tite and really durable.



Panda Film reflective sheeting from 4 hydroponics.com by Growco Indoor Garden Supply


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## justgrowit (Jul 18, 2008)

I own the DR80 and heat is a major issue. It's best used for mothering or cloning with lighting that is less powerful and produces less heat. I purchased a 400WHPS Hydrofarm and a lumatech digital ballast but the ducting is 6". The DR80 vents are roughtly 5" so that required a trip to Home Depot for air duct reducers (which were large) and when all said and done, there was too much "stuff" in a small place. I think I'll use it to mother a plant someday. I'm thinking the DR120 will work with my 400W Hydrofarm cool tube. Problem is, I *really* should then get something large enough to accommodate at least 600W to do some damage.


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## skitzo (Aug 9, 2008)

wow guys. all of you are doing the same damn thing wrong!!!

stop cramming big shit in a little box! if you all know its thermal sealed...why are you growing with a 400w HPS in it!?!

i grow with the DR80 and have no issues. i use a 250w HPS Cool Breeze with digital balast(keep things cooler on the lights part by going digital), with ducting running from the light to the tent port, which has a vortex 4" fan(exhaust), sucking thru a little more ducting, ending with a carbon filter at the end.

i have no intake, i can manage with out one.

good luck to you all. i will be starting my grow journal soon with my DR80 setup if any of you would like to see that in the future. top44 <3


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## BCtrippin (Aug 9, 2008)

If you arent using an air cooled hood you wont fix your heat issue in the tent.


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## Mindmelted (Jan 28, 2009)

I have a dr80 with a 400 wtt hps/mh light with a s&p td-125 fan on a filter and my temps stay around 78 degrees.That is using the passive intakes on the side of the tents.Just finished a snow white grow.


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## zombie1334 (Feb 12, 2009)

Mindmelted said:


> I have a dr80 with a 400 wtt hps/mh light with a s&p td-125 fan on a filter and my temps stay around 78 degrees.That is using the passive intakes on the side of the tents.Just finished a snow white grow.


Where do you have the exhaust blowing to, and what are the temps of the room that the tent is in?

I am planning a DR80 400W HPS grow soon. How many flowering plants can you fit in one of those?


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## Mindmelted (Feb 12, 2009)

zombie1334 said:


> Where do you have the exhaust blowing to, and what are the temps of the room that the tent is in?
> 
> I am planning a DR80 400W HPS grow soon. How many flowering plants can you fit in one of those?


Exhaust goes into the attic and out.Ambient room temps are 75 degrees.
I have 4 4gallon square buckets in mine.
It is a little cramped depending on the strain.


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## fat sam (Feb 12, 2009)

im using the dr 150 and heat is always an issue, you got t have air cooled lights, but i run a 600 and a 430 both air cooled and dont have heat issues,ofcourse i have to run the fans constantly


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## indawindica (Feb 12, 2009)

I use the dr150 5x5. completly sealed w/co2. using a air cooled 600w with no temp issues. always stays in the 74-76 range. I love the tent!


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## zombie1334 (Feb 12, 2009)

Think it would be a problem if the hot air from the lights just blew directly into the room that the box was in? I live in an apartment and don't really want to blow it out the window, it may look suspicious


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## sittinherebored (Feb 12, 2009)

zombie1334 said:


> Think it would be a problem if the hot air from the lights just blew directly into the room that the box was in? I live in an apartment and don't really want to blow it out the window, it may look suspicious


no. i have a 400watt hps and 11cfl's in my bedroom. ditch the tent and just keep ur ceiling fan on and cover the windows good


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## Hotwired (Feb 12, 2009)

If I answer both questions do I get +rep? ok



bruceirons said:


> has anyone completed a grow with the Dark Room?


 Yes



bruceirons said:


> are there problems with the tent?


 Yes

Did I have to elaborate? oops


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## zombie1334 (Feb 13, 2009)

sittinherebored said:


> no. i have a 400watt hps and 11cfl's in my bedroom. ditch the tent and just keep ur ceiling fan on and cover the windows good


No can do. I don't have a ceiling fan, nor do I want to have to make our entire bedroom into a catacomb. Plus, we have 2 cats, so their hair would be all in the buds. 

If you are using your whole room to grow, than I'm sure heat would not be an issue. The DR80 is only 2.7 x 2.7 x 5.3, so heat IS an issue. Thanks for the advice though.


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## xrayspecs (Feb 13, 2009)

im using a DR60, which is only 0.6mx0.6mx1.4m. 

100mm RVK fan outtake at top via filter
passive intake
250w cfl

i have no heat issues at all, if anything its a bit too cold, about 70f. about the same as the room ambient temp. ok im not using hps but i think 250w hps would be no problem at all, only issue is limited height to grow the plants under hps (given room for fan and filter, light, and pot).

making sure there is plenty of passive intake (but less power than outtake) is very important, this makes a big difference for me.

these tents have a 3 large grilles at the bottom that can be uncovered by lifting a velcro cover, i use 1 open as passive and works fine. using this makes the tent non-lightproof though. also some light shows through the zip for the door, so i am extra careful about using room lights. 

for me the problems are the restricted height (probably applies to DR80 also), and lightproofing issues.

personally if i knew as much when i bought it as i have now learned, i would just convert my closet into a growroom instead of using a tent, and make sure it is properly ventialted. thats what i intend to do for my next grow.

i guess though if you dont have the option of doing a diy job with panda sheeting or mylar then tents are a great way to get started.

oh i forgot to say, someone was asking if you can vent into the room you also vent from. Yes, this works OK, but is just not ideal. I have had no problems doing this, although i do keep the room door open mostly (i dont mean the tent door), to ensure that air circulates outside of the room as much as possible.


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## SAPFO (Feb 13, 2009)

Im looking at this right now. Whats the yeild mate? How long etc...


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## xrayspecs (Feb 13, 2009)

who - op or me?


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## SAPFO (Feb 13, 2009)

you mate...xray.


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## xrayspecs (Feb 13, 2009)

well its my 1st grow about 8 weeks in, 2 plants, but you could fit 4 at most in this space. they are about 27" tall and basically if they get any bigger i have problems as i cant raise the lights any more. the light, filter and fan take up a lot of space at the top of the tent. not sure about yield but the plants have plenty of bud sites and are healthy looking. i think 1oz per plant is realistic with 250w cfl (the big cfls), but time will tell.


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## warkrimez (Feb 13, 2009)

Doin my first grow in a dr100 at the moment,initially i had heat problems as i didnt wanna use my ruck fan till flowering,i have 5 ducting holes in mine so ive plopped a mini in the bottom left corner hole and another minifan in the upper right hand corner with a mini fan over my seedlings sitting 18inches under a 400w grolux....temp is a steady 77f now but my humidity is at 39%


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## Babs34 (Feb 13, 2009)

*Interesting...I just picked up something all too similar from a thrift shop, but it's a "portable closet." I'm new to any kind of indoor growing and I'm not messing with HPS, so I'm trying to figure out how I'll set this up. It's 6 feet wide, 6 ft. tall...zips up front. I'm going to try to use flourescents alone. I went to Lowes and got a gazillion ideas on how to mock that tent already before even seeing one. I'm thinking of just using the shelve liner, which is exactly the same silver color....or maybe just building a white frame around it. Either way, it will cost me virtually nothing in the end.*
*For all practical purposes, it seems like I could use that really thick black plastic and duck tape a frame around it. Any ideas or suggestions?*


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## xrayspecs (Feb 13, 2009)

yes those portable closets would work fine, you just need to lightproof, you can just buy reflective sheeting and tape that to the inside. make some holes for venting and voila. im sure with fluoros this will work just as well as any bought tent.


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## Babs34 (Feb 13, 2009)

*Yeah, xray...I think so too. I keep hearing that a white background would work better though. I was considering mylar, but I feel that would overheat such a small space...not to mention it isn't cheap. I love getting creative. *
*LOL, I just realized I typed "duck".....correction, duct.*


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## spagettiheady420 (Feb 13, 2009)

I have the dark room 150 and it does just fine. Im running 2-6"Air cooled 600w HPS, with my exaust goin through my lights and it works great. I plan on doing 40 clones in flood and drain 4x4 table with a 70gal. res. I have a coconut fiber mat that goes on table-under rockwool blocks and 1 6" inline fan blowing cool air in bottom left duct hole. My problem is the room only reaches 64 degrees when the lights are on. Im probably goin to buy a thermostat controller, any suggestions on what brand?


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## Mindmelted (Feb 19, 2009)

Just started my White widow grow.


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## zombie1334 (Feb 21, 2009)

Think you could fit a 6" inline fan, 6" carbon filter, & 400W HPS with 6" hood in a DR80?


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## warkrimez (Feb 21, 2009)

yes they would fit in.whether you get the temps balanced with the light close to you plants with all the zips closed is a different story...im using a dr100 with a 400w grolux my temps average 78f but i did have probs at first as im not running my ruck fan and carbon filter till they start to smell.


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## xrayspecs (Feb 25, 2009)

zombie1334 said:


> Think you could fit a 6" inline fan, 6" carbon filter, & 400W HPS with 6" hood in a DR80?


you can fit it in, but like zombie said thats not the problem! way too hot, and plants way too close to the light.


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## spagettiheady420 (Apr 1, 2009)

here are some pics of my setup


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## warkrimez (Apr 1, 2009)

that a dr150?


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## mcone (Sep 20, 2009)

Just picked up a Growlab80 tent. Using it for veg, but it's large enough to flower two 42" monster plants(11" for pots and 18" for lights) or four dense 24" plants. It is 2'7" x 2'7" x 5'11" tall. I don't know why the height is a problem for people, I might even put in a shelf so I can do seedlings at the bottom!! 
Currently have 180w of CFL over 6 clones inside (adding light as needed), and will probably have room to veg all six plants to 18" before I transplant them and split the crop for flowering... Strains are Headband, 707 Headband, Purple Extreme, Two M.T.F, and Green Crack.

Temps in the room are 76F, and it is 79F 2" below the bulbs inside. Exhausting the tent with 2 computer fans to reduce noise overall. It is a whisper closet!

Easy to assemble and disassemble for sure, actually ripped some strawberry cough and put it together in another room before realizing it didn't fit through the door. Had it back together within 15min in the right room. Easy as rolling a j!

Throw a video camera inside to monitor temps and you don't even have to open the tent until it's time to water or raise the lights. Talk about covert, "Whats that box in your bedroom?" - "Oh, expandable wardrobe.. You know these tiny closets..."


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