Need help with perpetual grow set up!

If you read this please bare with me and thanks.

I currently have a 8x4x8 grow tent that has quite a lot of pin holes all around the seems and zippers, although it was free so I'm not complaining. But it's also not fully filled up with light. I'm running a Timber Redwood VS cob LED in half the tent, using up 4x4 section of it.
The other 4x4 section of the tent has a 4x2 Samgsung 561c strip DIY LED made by the notorious and awesome nfhiggs himself. (May he rest in peace) leaving a 4x2 section open.

The 4x2 light was in my 4x2 grow tent, I took it out because I only had 1 carbon filter and fan to use at the time for smell purposes.
I just ordered a 4" AC Infinity Cloudline T4 fan with a carbon filter so I can put the 4x2 light back in my 4x2 tent and start doing perpetual grows, as that's the main plan in all of this. It will be used as my veg tent or for drying when needed.

Now here is the question I'm stuck on... are pin holes in tents a big deal, causing hermies and ruining harvests?

Since I have a big ass 8x4 tent in my room, with the plan of taking out the 4x2 light which means only half of this big holy tent will be used and just taking up space in my small room. Annd I can't afford to spend money anytime soon on another $900 Timber to fill the other half.

My spare room I work in is only 11'x12', not spacious at all with a slim fold out table and computer desk as well as another 4x2 tent all in this one space. It's crammed lol.

The figuring out what to do part? I have a $200 limit right now...

1. Should I keep this pin holy tent and leave it as it is, with timber and my 4x2 samsung strip in there so I can keep 6+ plants for flower? instead of decreasing my amounts, but with perpetual grows I don't think i'm too worried about my yeilds being smaller as it will be more quicker and more consistent harvests.

Meaning I would have to buy a 4x2 light for under $125, I would more than likely get a 4ft (4/8 blub 6500k) T5 fixture, still making it a reliable veg tent. Or...

2. Put the 4x2 light back in my 4x2 tent as I intended. And possibly buy a cheap ass chinese LED (not blurples lol) off amazon to toss in there and use to fill the other 4x4 section? I know it wouldn't be very good for flowering, I'm aware of that.
Even though I don't even think I can find a cheap LED efficient enough under $200 to even fill a 4x4 and make it worth the money in the end run.

Or 3. My last option, which would be to put the 4x2 light back in the 4x2 tent for veg, buy a new 4x4 tent and ditch this non zipping holy pos, which I would be investing in a Secret Jardin or Gorilla, something nice for a nice timber light! Iffy about the Mars Hydro tents, Idk.

It would also open up space in my room which would be pretty nice and I'd have a good tent, but then limits the number of plants/yields.

If you read through this all, and it even made sense tbh then thank you lol.

I would fill that fucker up with all my lights and bust out one big run to get some cash to buy a bunch of gear.

Then I wouldn't do a perpetual where I have multiple stages of flowering in a tent because once you get pests you will have them always. I would setup a veg tent for a mother or two and clones and to veg my plants. maybe use the leaky tent for that. Then setup a flower tent or two if you wanna stagger them and every time you harvest you can clean the flowering tents and reload them fresh with clean plants from the veg tent that are ready to flower. By doing that you could harvest one tent every 35 - 40 days or so, with three flowering tents you could harvest one every 23 - 25 days ish... thats the way to get consistent harvests. you could add flowering tents, start with one, get it bad ass, then build another.

Personally my old set up were much like that, mostly pin holes around the zips , it never caused me an issue, the one I had before that one I even had my veg tent inside my flower tent and again not an issue , though I was kind of asking for one running that way.

My view on light leaks is tiny amounts of normal light don't hurt anything, but certain power pack diodes, like a red one on all the time might cause a problem. That's just my opinion based on experience.
Also photons are shooting out from your lights and hitting a pin hole which means you see it, but it doesn't mean its hitting your plants in your other tent.

In the long run I might be tempted (in your shoes) to eventually swap out the 8x4 for a couple of 4x4s and keep those crops independent eliminating the issues renfro highlighted, which I have been though multiple times over the years running mine.
Now I have gone that road myself I feel its easier for me to maximise the spaces I have, which I need to since I have downsized myself recently.

For now I would just crack on with what you have and relax.

Hows old Higgs's light holding up?

coreywebster said:

Personally my old set up were much like that, mostly pin holes around the zips , it never caused me an issue, the one I had before that one I even had my veg tent inside my flower tent and again not an issue , though I was kind of asking for one running that way.

My view on light leaks is tiny amounts of normal light don't hurt anything, but certain power pack diodes, like a red one on all the time might cause a problem. That's just my opinion based on experience.
Also photons are shooting out from your lights and hitting a pin hole which means you see it, but it doesn't mean its hitting your plants in your other tent.

In the long run I might be tempted (in your shoes) to eventually swap out the 8x4 for a couple of 4x4s and keep those crops independent eliminating the issues renfro highlighted, which I have been though multiple times over the years running mine.
Now I have gone that road myself I feel its easier for me to maximise the spaces I have, which I need to since I have downsized myself recently.

For now I would just crack on with what you have and relax.

Hows old Higgs's light holding up?

Click to expand...

Ok good to know the pin holes shouldn’t be an issue. I’m probably going to buy a 4’ t5 to put in my 4x2 for veg plants and keep my lights in the 8x4 and keep it pushing. And it’s doing great man! It’s pumped out done amazing buds, no doubt about that. Can’t appreciate the light or nfhiggs himself enough, it’s my first true LED. I’m going to keep it until it can no longer harvest a plant. I’m on my 4th or 5th harvest now with it? It’s much better than the very first light I bought which was a 300w (124 actual watts ) viparspectra in my old 2x2x4 lol. Just got this 8x4 tent and Timber light a few months ago, my first harvest under it will be done in a week or two!