I now use a 4x4 tent with 2 two 260 w. Led V2 Rspec. I want to go to a 5x5 tent because of the equipment I have in the tent taking up room. (Dehumidifier,heater,fan) if I keep the girls in a 4x5 area and kept the lights over that area and then used the other footage for the equipment is there going to be enough light coverage still or am I going to regret this? Im trying to avoid another light purchase for basically 5sq.ft more coverage.
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The easiest way to control temperature and humidity inside the tent is control it from the room You’re pulling fresh air from That being said you could take all that stuff out of the tent. Leave circulating fans Just my thoughts. Good luck.
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Only thing I have in the tent is the 2 HLG kits and 2 fans. Also the cords. I use a 4x4 tent and it is still to small for my crazy grows.
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Two 260s are perfect for a 4x4. Pipe in what you can and hang what you can’t.
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Yep you can do that as long as the foliage is in the lights footprint.
If you can swing this purchase it’s a great tool for reading your light output and adjusting / moving the plants position for best coverage.
This meter used in conjunction with a conversion calculator found on HLG web site will get you where you need to be in the different grow stages for optimal lighting intensity for each stage.
I put together a chart that I made using the calculator conversion from HLG site that I use.
Also DLI (Daily Light Integral) is something you’ll want to understand for providing them the proper amount of photons (light) in the course of a day (lights on) to get the most photons to them for maximum results.
And as others suggested there are alternatives to having that equipment in the tent…like rigging up your dehumidifier intake with a simple fitting taped over it and then ducting into the tent so it draws the air directly from the tent reducing humidity while keeping the heat it produces from releasing into the tent. Many work arounds just depends on your particular circumstances and if your environment is like mine in a basement in Ohio it changes based on season and even daily based on what the outside weather is doing.
Hope this help
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Thanks for your input and suggestions,I’m going to read up on that light meter that seems like a interesting tool to have.
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Good info. I have a meter just like that.
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Not sure if it will help in your situation, but check out my post in this category called “Home made PVC rack for extra space in tents”. What you’re talking about is the exact reason I made these racks for my tents. My space heaters and humidifiers still do their jobs perfectly but it they no longer steal space from my plants.
I wish I could do as you suggest and I’ve given that much thought however it’s a basement set up.There is no heat and it’s humid.no way to heat the basement in a practical cost effective manor and ditto with the humidity.There is no answer to my knowledge but to have everything in the tent so I can keep the plants at the range needed.I think I’m going to buy a 5x5 tent to replace the 4x4,that should be fine for equipment space and still have a 4x4 grow area and thats why I’m trying to use the lights I have.I think I’m going to just by some Mylar panda film and install a 4x4 knee wall around 2 sides to maintain the 4x4 grow area yet with the 5x5 tent it will create enough room for equipment.Does this sound practical? I have 4 plants and they are well trained and short.
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I have a 4x4 tent Inside a 10x10 room in basement area cool fresh air available to pull inside tent I also have the drivers For the lights mounted on the heat sink on top of the light. So the The heat the light and Drivers puts off basically heats the tent. I pull in enough fresh cool air to regulate temperature. And keep negative pressure inside tent. Also run Lights of the night And off during daylight.
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Nice idea for yourself,I don’t think I can be comfortable with electrical things under my pots.I always have a fair amount of run off when I feed and with water/cloth pots etc.One mistake could be a terrible outcome,I know it’s just me but I could never sleep with my heater,humidifier and fans under my cloth pots.Im sure there’s a way to protect that set up from a spill but my plants take lbs of water and I’m just to nervous to have that set up however! It works for you so alls good thanks for the suggestion.
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I’ve given that set up ( build a small room ) some considerable thought and I agree it would work although I’m still going to need some heat when the lights are out but that’s no real issue.It just seems to be more of a fixed set up rather than a portable option which for now is what I need but I envy you because that’s the way to go.
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By running lights the coldest part of the day during the night. If you supplement heat to your room during the daylight hours it won’t be much. If you can keep the temperature differential within 14 degrees between day and night you’ll be fine.
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Everything your telling me is really tipping the scales towards doing a room so I’m going to look in to it a bit more.So what you do is run your heater outside the tent as needed along with a humidifier if needed in your 10x10 area (outside the tent )with a simple fan or two inside your tent and also the exhaust of coarse.
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Yes, that is correct. Exhaust fan inside tent running 24/7 pulling fresh air in pass through hole open at the bottom of tent. I monitor temperature inside room and also inside tent they usually match because I’m controlling temp and humidity in 10x10 room. There are several basement Growers on here . This will vary a little from a summer grow to Winter grow. Extreme cold. You may have to supplement a little heat in the room. Go for it. You can make that basement grow work great.
Harpone1, keep this in mind if you do a room. The door size means a lot. I converted a 6’ x 4’ closet into a really nice grow room. I put a tremendous amount of work and money into it to make sure it was all done right. I’m very happy with it overall, but if I had the chance to go back and do it again, I would make a major change. Instead of converting the closet, I would have been better off doing away with the closet walls, and putting a 6’ x 6’ tent in it’s place. Managing my tents is far easier than the closet. The closet is on 2 outside walls, so it’s more affected by outside temperature than my tents in the same room are. But mostly, it’s a struggle reaching the plants that are not right near the door. I have to do a lot of shuffling plants around when I need to reach the sides or back. In a tent you can unzip the entire front and often a side as well. So if you build a room, consider as wide of a door as you can, or maybe even doors on two sides. Good luck and have fun either way!
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I agree. @Cap_Ron For someone that’s growing for personal use a tent much easier to manage. You can set one up in a minimal amount of time . For less than a hundred and twenty bucks. Comes with support bars, catch tray,pucker string holes for Flex out ,an cords in. Couple of different zipper doors for entrance. Just my thoughts. Happy growing.
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Well,for the last 2 days I’ve installed a 10x11 room in my basement.looks fine,not a professional job but it’s well done.Im putting the set up in tomorrow so will see how this turns out but it seems like its going to work well.I think that was the way to go and if not I have a nice room for a work shop.thanks for your input.
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Sounds good. The way I look at it much easier an cheaper for me To control 10x10 space than the whole basement.