V
vchaz
- 17
- 3
Hello everyone, I'm a new member here and a newer farmer as well. I have been using grow tents for about a year. I currently run a 5x5 Apollo Horticulture tent as well as a 2.5 x 2 gorilla grow tent lite.
I will post some pictures here as well of my design / setup.
I have carbon filters, inline fans, regular fans, oscillating fans, dehumidifier and humidifier, Cree COB grow lights, some supplemental lights from RapidLED, as well as some flower initiators from GrowMau5.
At night I take in cool air from the outside, and in the day I typically push my warm air out into my apartment and draw in air from the outside if the outside is cool enough. If it's warm outside, I push my warm air outside and draw in cool air from my apartment.
Here is what I've learned about grow tents, which is contrary to a lot of the information you will find online and on youtube:
Light Leaks:
---------------------------
When the lights inside your grow tent are on, and the lights outside your grow tent are off, sometimes we will notice small amounts of light coming through the seams near the zippers and the zippers themselves. A lot of people see this and freak out thinking "LIGHT LEAK! MY PLANTS!!!!!".
While this does indicate that light is able to get out / come in through those seems, we have to evaluate whether or not this is going to be a concern. Let me explain why it might not be for most people: Inside of our grow tents, we have very high light intensity. Outside of our grow tents, we tent to have a lot less light intensity, otherwise we might not need to use a grow tent. While we may see the light peaking out of the tent when our room lights are off but our grow lights are on, try the reverse. Turn your grow lights off and then zip yourself up in your tent, leaving the lights in the room on. You will notice that there doesn't seem to be any light coming into the tent. Does this mean your tent doesnt have any light leaks? Of course not! You've seen them. What it means is that there is more light intensity/light pressure inside of the tent than outside of the tent. If the light intensity/light pressure outside of the tent is enough to penetrate the seams and zipper when the grow lights are off but the room lights are on, you should patch the tent. Otherwise, you really don't need to worry about light that leaks out but doesn't leak in. Most standard 45-60w bulbs that we have in our ceilings are not enough to penetrate the tent. If you have strong lights outside of your tent, perhaps because you don't veg your plants in a tent, then you may also run the risk of light coming into your tent. However, most people don't have that problem.
Air Pressure / Negative Pressue:
---------------------------
Most videos on youtube tell you that you want to have "negative pressure" inside your grow tent. Essentially, you want the walls of your tent to be sucked in when you have your inline fan running and moving air from inside of your tent to somewhere else, perhaps out a window or just into the same room. The fact is, you do not want negative pressure. Negative pressure means that air is leaving your tent faster than it is being replaced. If you have supplemental Co2 in your tent, you are likely wasting it and have very low PPMs. What you actually want, is positive pressure. You want to have so much air coming into your tent, that the sides are not caving in. I have accomplished this by hanging a very large fan, aiming it towards the lights, and turning it on full power when the lights are on. This essentially makes sure that I always have a balanced or slightly positive air pressure. If I were to turn my regular fan off, the air pressure would turn negative again. I will post a video of this as well.
Thats all the thoughts I have for now, I will be back with some pictures of my grow tent design and explanations of everything. Currently I have just a few really smallish plants in my tent, so I would consider changing my design a little bit if I was going for a full canopy. For instance, I have PVC pipe setup so that I can create a SCROG if I need to.
I will post some pictures here as well of my design / setup.
I have carbon filters, inline fans, regular fans, oscillating fans, dehumidifier and humidifier, Cree COB grow lights, some supplemental lights from RapidLED, as well as some flower initiators from GrowMau5.
At night I take in cool air from the outside, and in the day I typically push my warm air out into my apartment and draw in air from the outside if the outside is cool enough. If it's warm outside, I push my warm air outside and draw in cool air from my apartment.
Here is what I've learned about grow tents, which is contrary to a lot of the information you will find online and on youtube:
Light Leaks:
---------------------------
When the lights inside your grow tent are on, and the lights outside your grow tent are off, sometimes we will notice small amounts of light coming through the seams near the zippers and the zippers themselves. A lot of people see this and freak out thinking "LIGHT LEAK! MY PLANTS!!!!!".
While this does indicate that light is able to get out / come in through those seems, we have to evaluate whether or not this is going to be a concern. Let me explain why it might not be for most people: Inside of our grow tents, we have very high light intensity. Outside of our grow tents, we tent to have a lot less light intensity, otherwise we might not need to use a grow tent. While we may see the light peaking out of the tent when our room lights are off but our grow lights are on, try the reverse. Turn your grow lights off and then zip yourself up in your tent, leaving the lights in the room on. You will notice that there doesn't seem to be any light coming into the tent. Does this mean your tent doesnt have any light leaks? Of course not! You've seen them. What it means is that there is more light intensity/light pressure inside of the tent than outside of the tent. If the light intensity/light pressure outside of the tent is enough to penetrate the seams and zipper when the grow lights are off but the room lights are on, you should patch the tent. Otherwise, you really don't need to worry about light that leaks out but doesn't leak in. Most standard 45-60w bulbs that we have in our ceilings are not enough to penetrate the tent. If you have strong lights outside of your tent, perhaps because you don't veg your plants in a tent, then you may also run the risk of light coming into your tent. However, most people don't have that problem.
Air Pressure / Negative Pressue:
---------------------------
Most videos on youtube tell you that you want to have "negative pressure" inside your grow tent. Essentially, you want the walls of your tent to be sucked in when you have your inline fan running and moving air from inside of your tent to somewhere else, perhaps out a window or just into the same room. The fact is, you do not want negative pressure. Negative pressure means that air is leaving your tent faster than it is being replaced. If you have supplemental Co2 in your tent, you are likely wasting it and have very low PPMs. What you actually want, is positive pressure. You want to have so much air coming into your tent, that the sides are not caving in. I have accomplished this by hanging a very large fan, aiming it towards the lights, and turning it on full power when the lights are on. This essentially makes sure that I always have a balanced or slightly positive air pressure. If I were to turn my regular fan off, the air pressure would turn negative again. I will post a video of this as well.
Thats all the thoughts I have for now, I will be back with some pictures of my grow tent design and explanations of everything. Currently I have just a few really smallish plants in my tent, so I would consider changing my design a little bit if I was going for a full canopy. For instance, I have PVC pipe setup so that I can create a SCROG if I need to.