Grow Tent Kit v.s. Buying Individual Parts

Hey all, nice to meet ya. Cancer just came knocking so I'm looking to move quickly & crash coursing here.

Grow Tent Kit v.s. Buying parts individually

Then...

Buying from a local grow shop v.s online. Huge difference in price?

I'm looking at 4x4 for growing 4 plants. Feel free to make any suggestions thanks everyone!

First off sorry to hear about that man I wish you well and hope you can beat it without complication.
Second ... It's kinda gona depend on what you're looking for in the end. You can buy a kit but generally the components are subpar and not really exactly adequate for the tent size
Online you're going to get better deals. Grow stores have large overhead and reflect that in their prices.
Buying separately will allow you to have something more suited to your needs.
There's alot of options out there and it can become fairly confusing. There's entry level lights all the way up to commercial level so you need to pick something that would work for you in your space and your budget. Ask 5guys and each will give you a diff answer on what lights you should use etc. At the end of the day you need to do some research decide what style of growing you're going to do and pick your stuff based in that. Then you will have a better chance at being successful.

Online will give you control for quality parts at the best price, and also the best priced kits.

Depending on the type of local hydro/garden store, don’t dismiss them as a resource. They often will be the same or cheaper on some large bags of grow media/material.

I would part it out, and get all equipment & feed online. Medium & pots, trays I’ve found to be slightly cheaper than hydro shops. When buying them single.. it’s not so bad.. but a dozen or more.. I’d have to hit the store for the best price. It all adds up. There is a “deals” thread here that has some nice budget stuff to start off cheap.. some items are actually pretty good for the price.

I would source everything separately because convenience always has an additional cost.

Separately…Tent, extractor, and all other equipment on Amazon. Get your lights from a reputable company, make sure it’s adequate for your tent size. Some lights don’t “fit” due to underpower but I’d go with something rated for bigger tent that will dimensionally fit your tent and includes a dimmer. That way you are covered if you want to expand…
Hope you beat the cancer! Lost my father about 5 yrs ago. No battle, way too quick. Peace and strength vibes sent your way.

Best to just make a list and check prices at the local hydro store vs online, mainly for the "smaller" items. The high value items will almost always be cheaper online-lights, tent, ec/ph meters, vent fan, etc. Really heavy or bulky items, like coco coir/soil are generally much much cheaper locally. Skip the kit and do your homework on each item you buy, you'll get the best price and you'll really know what your working with. Just don't be tempted by the fancy looking bottled nutrients in hydro stores-do yourself a favor and buy a simple mineral salt fertilizer to start out with, like Jack's A/B or Maxibloom. Always better to start with a simple, solid foundation, and grow your knowledge/experience from there.

As said above do research on each individual item. Don’t cheap out too much on any of the bigger equipment bc u won’t end up being happy. I bought 6 cheaper leds when I should’ve used all the money on those for a real nice one.
Start small and grow into more space the better u get. Also not sure of ur climate but I have 4 season with huge RH and Temp swings. That is something I didn’t really think about when I was first building my setup and wish I would have..

DrDukePHD said:

Hey all, nice to meet ya. Cancer just came knocking so I'm looking to move quickly & crash coursing here.

Grow Tent Kit v.s. Buying parts individually

Then...

Buying from a local grow shop v.s online. Huge difference in price?

I'm looking at 4x4 for growing 4 plants. Feel free to make any suggestions thanks everyone!

Click to expand...

It's cheaper to go bigger on everything than you think.... because this game is addictive and you'll want to scale up if you go too small.

My advice woukd be go for a 1.5m x1.5m tent and everything to power it.... at minimum

I'd make my own 'kit'...wait...I did make my own kit.

Much more of a fan of parting things out so that you can pick the stuff that's best for your situation. Also, because of how a grow unfolds, you can maybe not buy everything at once but buy a tent and a light, then a fan or two, etc. down the line so you're not doing a huge initial purchase but more reasonable purchases across a few weeks or months.

oill said:

It's cheaper to go bigger on everything than you think.... because this game is addictive and you'll want to scale up if you go too small.

My advice woukd be go for a 1.5m x1.5m tent and everything to power it.... at minimum

Click to expand...

All i can legally grow is 4... do i need a 4x4 (1.5m x 1.5m) for four plants?

4x4 is 1.2m x 1.2m not 1.5x1.5 so not a very huge space and since you are only able to produce 4 plants i’d make those plants monsters so they could last you for a while. sorry to hear your situation i hope it gets better soon man.

LewberDewber852 said:

As said above do research on each individual item. Don’t cheap out too much on any of the bigger equipment bc u won’t end up being happy. I bought 6 cheaper leds when I should’ve used all the money on those for a real nice one.
Start small and grow into more space the better u get. Also not sure of ur climate but I have 4 season with huge RH and Temp swings. That is something I didn’t really think about when I was first building my setup and wish I would have..

Click to expand...

Ok so im looking to grow 4 indica plants in a 4x4 tent, what size/brand light would you suggest? I also have 3-4 seasons.. how do i factor that in with equiptment? We talking humidifier/dehumidifier & a control system for it? Thnx!

Sorry to hear about your situation. Punch cancer in the man.

Here is what I would do if I was going to buy a whole new setup.

4x4 tent as tall as you can get

AC infinity 8” with temp/humidity control

Quality filter (mountain air, Phat….)

400-600 watts of quality led (Timber, HLG…..)

Get a tower fan that ossolates. Mount it horizontally to save space.

Run 7gal fabric pots
Soil
And feed a simple dry amendment Grow and Bloom


As for humidity

It’s going to depend on your area.
I run a humidifier about 7-8 months out of the year. Never need a Dehumidifier.

Source individually. Often the kits are done to a price point. If you want it done quick see your local bricks and mortar store and you can be set up and growing two hours later.

And Ill add if you support your local store then your $ stays local.

If you have to have a tent, spend your money on the extraction (insulated ducting and properly sized duct fan/s), the light, and maybe climate control in the form of about a 6 gal dehumidifier for the room. Shit likepH pens are not required and even the most expensive ones need their expensive probes replaced regularly enough. I like doing hydro based setups so I don't need to spend money on medium and don't have to deal with that dirt.

If you’re going indica dominant and have the space, you could go and utilize bigger than 4x4, unless you got a 10’+ ceiling, then let us know because you can go real big with a plant.

Or, listening to your time constraints, if you ie: have a good 3x6 spot inside, I HIGHLY recommend getting two tents (two 3x3s or two 4x4s or w/e will fit and looks like a good buy). One to veg and one to flower, dial down and set each tents lighting and environment perfect and never touch it. Your “flips” will be as easy as taking a plant from tent A and to tent B, and making sure no settings change.

One tent now for a month or two is fine, but plan on a veg/nursery tent AND a flower tent. You can keep it to 4 plants, have two getting huge and healthy in veg, and then have two cruising in the flower tent, stagger their age how you want, but I think this should/could give you much greater yields than 4 plants in one tent.

I’m thinking 2-tents will double your production, but it could probably be pushed on a tight time schedule to almost 2.5-3x your “production-per-season”. Also this plan let’s you build the first tent and learn from it for building the second. And if one tent/part bites the dust, you have a second settup handy.

DrDukePHD said:

Ok so im looking to grow 4 indica plants in a 4x4 tent, what size/brand light would you suggest? I also have 3-4 seasons.. how do i factor that in with equiptment? We talking humidifier/dehumidifier & a control system for it? Thnx!

Click to expand...

Also, start/look at AC Infinity, they’re pretty good stuff and very good priced for grow environmental/odor control. Bluetooth control so you can chill and check the plants.

Lighting, I’d point you to HLG (https://horticulturelightinggroup.com/) as my favorites, but also recommend Grow Lights Australia (https://growlightsaustralia.com/) or Timber Grow Lights from what I see frequently on here have the best product and highest customer satisfaction. They primarily are the best lights from the best companies best I can tell (all 2 cents). Sorry if I missed another (especially if their fine company is a supporter of this website).

Ask for a deal, buy separate but from one vendor that way you might get a better package kit.