Building a grow tent from a 5x5 pop up greenhouse.

[Ladyhawk]

Hi everyone! We've been planning our DIY grow tent and I thought I'd find a place to run our ideas across some like minded people and see where our designs might fail or help others. Our greenhouse came with shelves on three sides, we only put the rear shelves in to use for storage and starting vegetables for our outdoor garden. My DH is partially handicapped so we will be using the sides where the other shelves would be for 8 plants -4 on each side so he has room for a rolling desk chair through the center. A 6x6 heavy duty tarp wrapped in a 5x5 wood frame for the floor taped to the greenhouse cover (greenhouse tape? Duct tape? Other attachment ideas?) Some kind of matting through the middle floor where the chair will roll so it doesn't bunch up or tear the tarp. Panda film attached to the inside (toying with the idea of attaching the panda film to large pieces of cardboard and then to the frame with the cover overtop but concerned the cardboard would soak up moisture and eventually fail). Exhaust system in the upper back shelf area (vivosun g6 is what I'm looking at), can either vent out window or to room (pros? Cons?) We already have 4 vivosun 100 watt aerolights that will go 2 per side, the vivosun grow hub, and I plan to get the vivosun side lights and run a set down each of the sides. (Enough light?) Intake were looking at a smaller inline duct fan placed lower at the opposite corner from the exhaust fan. Both intake and exhaust will have prefilters/socks to keep out bugs and dust. Planning to install the lights right before the roof bend which is at about 4' on this greenhouse. I have extra poles from another broken greenhouse to help with the light support, just need to find clips to attach them.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Hello and welcome to the farm! You've clearly done a lot of thinking, and I think you can make it work. I like your screen name. It's one of my favorite films. I won't hold being a Raiders fan against you. I hope our former Seattle quarterback works out well for your team.

My DH is partially handicapped so we will be using the sides where the other shelves would be for 8 plants -4 on each side so he has room for a rolling desk chair through the center. A 6x6 heavy duty tarp wrapped in a 5x5 wood frame for the floor taped to the greenhouse cover (greenhouse tape? Duct tape? Other attachment ideas?) Some kind of matting through the middle floor where the chair will roll so it doesn't bunch up or tear the tarp. Panda film attached to the inside (toying with the idea of attaching the panda film to large pieces of cardboard and then to the frame with the cover overtop but concerned the cardboard would soak up moisture and eventually fail).

I'm not visualizing that well, but I understand how rolling a chair in will be a problem. A ramp will be needed. I would install a piece of plywood that's the same thickness as the tent's tubing on the inside. A carpenter could make a beveled threshold for the outside. That'll be a challenge. Desk chairs don't roll over obstacles easily.

Will the tent have a door? How are you going to make it?

We already have 4 vivosun 100 watt aerolights that will go 2 per side, the vivosun grow hub, and I plan to get the vivosun side lights and run a set down each of the sides. (Enough light?)

100-watt lights are okay for vegetation but might not be enough for flowering. If you haven't grown previously, a conversation about how these plants grow and the differences between photoperiod and auto-flowering varieties would be helpful. Some growers use separate tents for the vegetation and reproductive (flowering) stages of the plants' lives.

Intake were looking at a smaller inline duct fan placed lower at the opposite corner from the exhaust fan. Both intake and exhaust will have prefilters/socks to keep out bugs and dust.

I'm not sure why people use different sized intake and exhaust fans. I don't use an intake fan, but if I did, I'd use the same size and run both at the same speed. The exhaust outlet should be at the top of the tent.

Exhaust system in the upper back shelf area (vivosun g6 is what I'm looking at), can either vent out window or to room (pros? Cons?)

A 6-inch fan is an adequate size for that tent. An issue with venting is the odor, so venting outside can be a problem if annoying neighbors are nearby. It that's an issue, a charcoal filter at the exhaust can be helpful. The odor doesn't bother us, so we vent the exhaust inside except during the hottest part of the summer.

Planning to install the lights right before the roof bend which is at about 4' on this greenhouse. I have extra poles from another broken greenhouse to help with the light support, just need to find clips to attach them.

Is that 4' the distance from the floor to the light? If so, that's not much room. Even 6' can be tight at times. There are short-growing strains, though.

These plants can grow large and tall, so I'm also wondering what the area of the floor is. Four square feet per plant is a useful way to estimate how much will be needed. So, you'll need 32 square feet for 8 plants using that estimator. Even that can be inadequate at times.

---

I don't wish to discourage you, but this may be a difficult project. An alternative might be one or more smaller tents. I have a 2x4 tent that makes it easy to attend to 2 or 3 plants. (I usually grow 2 in it.) I keep a chair in front of it and can easily reach the plants while sitting. When the lights are on, I can take a picture of it for you. It's similar to this one:

CLOUDLAB 642, Advance Grow Tent 4x2, Thickest Poles and Canvas 48" x 24" x 72"

Elevate your harvest utilizing the Cloudlab 642 advance grow tent. Its premium 4x2 design includes heavy duty steel framing to support heavy inline fan gear.

acinfinity.com

This tent costs $139. I believe two of them side-by-side or even back-to-back would be a better solution for you. Premade tents have connections for the venting and holes for the wiring.

 

[Natep]

Hi everyone! We've been planning our DIY grow tent and I thought I'd find a place to run our ideas across some like minded people and see where our designs might fail or help others. Our greenhouse came with shelves on three sides, we only put the rear shelves in to use for storage and starting vegetables for our outdoor garden. My DH is partially handicapped so we will be using the sides where the other shelves would be for 8 plants -4 on each side so he has room for a rolling desk chair through the center. A 6x6 heavy duty tarp wrapped in a 5x5 wood frame for the floor taped to the greenhouse cover (greenhouse tape? Duct tape? Other attachment ideas?) Some kind of matting through the middle floor where the chair will roll so it doesn't bunch up or tear the tarp. Panda film attached to the inside (toying with the idea of attaching the panda film to large pieces of cardboard and then to the frame with the cover overtop but concerned the cardboard would soak up moisture and eventually fail). Exhaust system in the upper back shelf area (vivosun g6 is what I'm looking at), can either vent out window or to room (pros? Cons?) We already have 4 vivosun 100 watt aerolights that will go 2 per side, the vivosun grow hub, and I plan to get the vivosun side lights and run a set down each of the sides. (Enough light?) Intake were looking at a smaller inline duct fan placed lower at the opposite corner from the exhaust fan. Both intake and exhaust will have prefilters/socks to keep out bugs and dust. Planning to install the lights right before the roof bend which is at about 4' on this greenhouse. I have extra poles from another broken greenhouse to help with the light support, just need to find clips to attach them.

Welcome. I think this would work awesome for starting seedlings or for cloning- mothering tent. Looks like you could do multiple shelves down the sides with florescent led bars. The another larger light for vegging a mother. Like maybe a sf1000 or the acinfinity s22. Could be cool but will be a ton of work good.

 

[Ladyhawk]

Hello and welcome to the farm! You've clearly done a lot of thinking, and I think you can make it work. I like your screen name. It's one of my favorite films. I won't hold being a Raiders fan against you. I hope our former Seattle quarterback works out well for your team.


I'm not visualizing that well, but I understand how rolling a chair in will be a problem. A ramp will be needed. I would install a piece of plywood that's the same thickness as the tent's tubing on the inside. A carpenter could make a beveled threshold for the outside. That'll be a challenge. Desk chairs don't roll over obstacles easily.

Will the tent have a door? How are you going to make it?


100-watt lights are okay for vegetation but might not be enough for flowering. If you haven't grown previously, a conversation about how these plants grow and the differences between photoperiod and auto-flowering varieties would be helpful. Some growers use separate tents for the vegetation and reproductive (flowering) stages of the plants' lives.


I'm not sure why people use different sized intake and exhaust fans. I don't use an intake fan, but if I did, I'd use the same size and run both at the same speed. The exhaust outlet should be at the top of the tent.


A 6-inch fan is an adequate size for that tent. An issue with venting is the odor, so venting outside can be a problem if annoying neighbors are nearby. It that's an issue, a charcoal filter at the exhaust can be helpful. The odor doesn't bother us, so we vent the exhaust inside except during the hottest part of the summer.


Is that 4' the distance from the floor to the light? If so, that's not much room. Even 6' can be tight at times. There are short-growing strains, though.

These plants can grow large and tall, so I'm also wondering what the area of the floor is. Four square feet per plant is a useful way to estimate how much will be needed. So, you'll need 32 square feet for 8 plants using that estimator. Even that can be inadequate at times.

---

I don't wish to discourage you, but this may be a difficult project. An alternative might be one or more smaller tents. I have a 2x4 tent that makes it easy to attend to 2 or 3 plants. (I usually grow 2 in it.) I keep a chair in front of it and can easily reach the plants while sitting. When the lights are on, I can take a picture of it for you. It's similar to this one:

CLOUDLAB 642, Advance Grow Tent 4x2, Thickest Poles and Canvas 48" x 24" x 72"

Elevate your harvest utilizing the Cloudlab 642 advance grow tent. Its premium 4x2 design includes heavy duty steel framing to support heavy inline fan gear.

acinfinity.com

This tent costs $139. I believe two of them side-by-side or even back-to-back would be a better solution for you. Premade tents have connections for the venting and holes for the wiring.

Thanks for the input! Yes this is our first time tackling a tent of this scale so we're tackling challenges as we go. And hubby is the die hard Raiders fan, he grew up close to Oakland

We were looking at that transition for the chair, I hadn't thought of cutting a slope out of wood but he's a decent carpenter so that's a good idea.

Height wise we were readdressing the growing area last night and he wasn't happy with it either. We decided to take the pitched roof out altogether in favor of a flat roof. We have multiple poles and connectors from other pop up greenhouses we've previously used for the vegetable garden and figured out how. That puts the floor to ceiling at 76" with the wicking tub setup at 3.3" from the floor, grow bags of 3 or 5 gallon are 9.9" tall. So I need to look at the recommended distance from the lights to the ceiling, I know they have to have a clearance besides for the light itself for the integrated fan.

Light has been one we have been struggling with so I appreciate the input, as I said we hadn't tackled anything of this scale before and having the center area not used as growing space is not something I've seen anyone else do. I've been juggling in my mind with how much light to adequately cover the growing area while not going overboard through the center area since it's not being utilized for growing but still needs to have enough coverage so we're not 1 sided. I even considered a reflective curtain setup that would redirect the lighting to the growing area but how much would that impact the air flow?

Yes a carbon filter is definitely in the plan, we're out in the boondocks but don't need to have the whole house covered, he was joking last night if we vent out the window we'll have the neighborhood deer lining up So in room or out the window really boils down to what is more efficient. We're in Virginia so summer gets very humid.

Cover and door was originally based on the cover that comes with the greenhouse attached to a tarp 1 ft larger on a frame the same size as the bottom of the greenhouse to create a 'basin' to contain any spills. With the change to the roofline we're having to scratch that. Two products we're looking at is panda film and this

Grow Tent Material | Blackout Canvas Material for DIY Grow Tent Project | HTG Supply

Blackout Canvas is a sensational grow tent material available HTG Supply. We also carry a great selection of other liner. Fast & discreet shipping guaranteed!

www.htgsupply.com

We both sew, and I have a juki sewing machine I use for quilting that more than capable of handling multiple layers of tarp material and insulation. That being said how much insulation do we need? I'm kinda adopting a try it and see, panda film cardboard, and then at least 1 more layer of panda film will probably be used for the first cover since it's easier and cost effective with an upgrade to a sewn cover with a to be determined layer of insulation after we've determined what works best for our grow area. The original cover had a door of 2 zippers in between the 2 poles at the front. I plan to copy that design using 2 light blocking zippers made for grow tents and adding a 3" black stick on door draft stopper at the bottom, we have a roll of that stuff from putting it on the house doors. The plan for the inlets/outlets is reinforcing the layers with tape and cutting the holes to size then using coupling made for dryer vent hose. Two additional ports, one on each end for wiring. I sourced some vents on Etsy made for this purpose that have a 6" light proof filter with a rubber 'grommet' area to accommodate wires.

 

[Ladyhawk]

Hi everyone! We've been planning our DIY grow tent and I thought I'd find a place to run our ideas across some like minded people and see where our designs might fail or help others. Our greenhouse came with shelves on three sides, we only put the rear shelves in to use for storage and starting vegetables for our outdoor garden. My DH is partially handicapped so we will be using the sides where the other shelves would be for 8 plants -4 on each side so he has room for a rolling desk chair through the center. A 6x6 heavy duty tarp wrapped in a 5x5 wood frame for the floor taped to the greenhouse cover (greenhouse tape? Duct tape? Other attachment ideas?) Some kind of matting through the middle floor where the chair will roll so it doesn't bunch up or tear the tarp. Panda film attached to the inside (toying with the idea of attaching the panda film to large pieces of cardboard and then to the frame with the cover overtop but concerned the cardboard would soak up moisture and eventually fail). Exhaust system in the upper back shelf area (vivosun g6 is what I'm looking at), can either vent out window or to room (pros? Cons?) We already have 4 vivosun 100 watt aerolights that will go 2 per side, the vivosun grow hub, and I plan to get the vivosun side lights and run a set down each of the sides. (Enough light?) Intake were looking at a smaller inline duct fan placed lower at the opposite corner from the exhaust fan. Both intake and exhaust will have prefilters/socks to keep out bugs and dust. Planning to install the lights right before the roof bend which is at about 4' on this greenhouse. I have extra poles from another broken greenhouse to help with the light support, just need to find clips to attach them.

Update: We are doing well with the modified 5x5 pop up greenhouse. We did go with the 4 100 watt aerolights and also added a strip of 8 "blurple" lights I had been using for starting tomato seeds as side lights and everything is growing great! We used the 6" exhaust fan I mentioned from vivosun and added a 6" intake fan mostly for cooling as it's low and near the window AC. We used poles from another broken greenhouse to raise the entire roof to the original level of the peak. I'll add some pics after we get through this grow and clean up the wires a bit.