Grow Tent Setup [About to lose my hydroponic virginity...]

Hey guys, I'm an amateur grower but I learn very quickly! I've grown outdoor enough for a pound but this is my first time with a grow tent setup plus my first time with hydroponics. My grow tent will be a Secret Jardin model.

1) System: I'm looking to do as little "DIY constructing" as possible. There's several hydroponic kits out there, such as: http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/waterfarm.html

I have seen people do grows with them however it does look a little big.

What do people usually use for their systems with these tents? I'm looking to get as much yield in the tent and will do things such as scrogging and CO2 if necessary

2) Automation: I'm not cash strapped, but I am time strapped. I want to automate the plant maintenance as much as possible. Is this easy to do? I know lighting is, but what about watering, do automatic cycles work well?

3) Air: Temperature control will not be a problem. However, What do most people use for air circulation in these tents? They have holes for outtake fans, but do most people just throw in a home fan?

4) Quantity: Disregarding the benefits of multiple strains, should I grow one big plant or many small plants in the tent? I am looking for max yield

5) Lighting: Do most lighting systems have the 3 different K settings built in, or will I have to buy 3 different lights? What power and type should I get?

OK, I'll take stab at a few of these.
What kind of system? People here use every type of system in a tent. If you like the Waterfarm, that's cool. If you want low maintenance I would look at the external controller, not the stand alones.
That system is pretty automated on it's own.
Even if heat won't be a problem and I suspect that it will, you need to get fresh air in and out of the tent. At the very min you will need a decent exhaust fan. Remember humidity can be an issue during flower.
2-4 plants depending on what you want to do.
400W lamp switchable to burn both MH and HPS.
This is just one mans opinion, your results may vary.
Good luck with whatever you land on.

1) If you are looking to get as much yield as possible from a tent using a hydroponic setup, I really suggest you look into a deep water culture system. They are even pretty easy to DIY. For an assembled version, check out: http://www.stealthhydroponics.com/index.php?a=SHH9&gclid=CIuZ9MmZmaYCFdtg2god0izang

2) Full automation of everything can cost $$$$$. You can however somewhat economically automate your ph. http://www.stealthhydroponics.com/section.php?xSec=27 It is somewhere on there. Sorry, I am out of it right now.

3) For in tent, a good fan I can slip on to a pole, rail or similar, diameter depending on tent size. You can always use good circulation, just use your head and don't blow the leaves off. I use a Stanley blower I got on amazon for exhaust... it kicks ass.

4) Depends on purpose / preference. If you are going to go deep water culture, I've seen some monster yields off each plant. They get BIG.

5) K is the Kelvin or temperature of the light, for the thread's sake, spectrum. This is important with using CFL lights as to make sure there is a good mix of 27 and 65k lights. HID usually has a set spectrum. The usable light by the plants is called the PAR spectrum. Bluish light is good for vegetable mode. More yellow to red HPS is better for flower.

Ceramic MH vs HPS


MH:


As far as what you *should get*, this subject has been known to start 2 world wars and 3 more that were so deadly, humanity was in fact destroyed and we are now in the matrix. I really really like what I am seeing from these ceramic MH units. They only go up to 400W bulbs bu that spectrum is sexy. Note there is a difference between ceramic-mh and mh.

LowStressLady said:

Hey guys, I'm an amateur grower but I learn very quickly! I've grown outdoor enough for a pound but this is my first time with a grow tent setup plus my first time with hydroponics. My grow tent will be a Secret Jardin model.

1) System: I'm looking to do as little "DIY constructing" as possible. There's several hydroponic kits out there, such as: http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/waterfarm.html

I have seen people do grows with them however it does look a little big.

What do people usually use for their systems with these tents? I'm looking to get as much yield in the tent and will do things such as scrogging and CO2 if necessary

2) Automation: I'm not cash strapped, but I am time strapped. I want to automate the plant maintenance as much as possible. Is this easy to do? I know lighting is, but what about watering, do automatic cycles work well?

3) Air: Temperature control will not be a problem. However, What do most people use for air circulation in these tents? They have holes for outtake fans, but do most people just throw in a home fan?

4) Quantity: Disregarding the benefits of multiple strains, should I grow one big plant or many small plants in the tent? I am looking for max yield

5) Lighting: Do most lighting systems have the 3 different K settings built in, or will I have to buy 3 different lights? What power and type should I get?

Click to expand...

ow.douglas said:

OK, I'll take stab at a few of these.
What kind of system? People here use every type of system in a tent. If you like the Waterfarm, that's cool. If you want low maintenance I would look at the external controller, not the stand alones.

Click to expand...

I don't have any preference, WaterFarm seemed pretty popular when I did my research... what other popular choices are there?

I also took a look at the RainForest, and I'm not really sure which one is better. Do Aeroponics work as well in a tent? Both the WaterFarm and RainForest 36 take the same amount of space (12 inches by 12 inches), but will the RainForest have space issues? I'm willing to do LST and Scrogging if possible...

http://www.generalhydroponics.com/genhydro_US/rainforest.html

Ponicengineer said:

1) If you are looking to get as much yield as possible from a tent using a hydroponic setup, I really suggest you look into a deep water culture system. They are even pretty easy to DIY. For an assembled version, check out: http://www.stealthhydroponics.com/index.php?a=SHH9&gclid=CIuZ9MmZmaYCFdtg2god0izang

Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, although I haven't heard that many good things about those! In terms of lighting, I know on the BCNL BloomBox they use T5s at the bottom to improve yield because the light gets cut off and the space is wasted as there could be more buds! Is there any type of similar light setup in tents for that additional growth?

UPDATE!!! I've decided to focus on WaterFarms for my first hydro grow. Gonna modify it with an airstone as well as I saw in another thread it really enhances root growth.

As for the lighting, what do people recommend for a proper lighting solution? I'm looking for something that is switchable for all plant stages so I don't have to keep unscrewing and turning on and off lights. (Is it worth it to get one inclusive lighting system or much cheaper to get separate ones for each stage?)

I am thinking 600W in power as I am only growing 2 WaterFarms. May decide to expand once I see the size of the tent I'm buying.

Was wondering what brand of lights are trusted?

Is it worth it to get the switchable/convertible/two-way setups for convenience?

hey i love dwc and all but for the purpose of minimum maintenance, i'd suggest flood/drain in grorock with timer and pump. in dwc, you need to keep a close look on airstones and res temps. in flood drain setup you could easily leave room unattended for a whole week and then just go check the res and top it adjust light location with growth and let them be! only work would be at harvest when you need to clean rocks and recycle but there are handy ways to do that too... go for aicooled tubes for venting and for light, HPS, you will need a minimum of 5000lumens/sq.ft roughly 50 watts or less. the bigger lights are more efficient. look into vertical setups too, they yield much higher once perfected but are more difficult...

@ zem and anyone else interested!

By Gro Rock do you mean this? http://www.gchydro.com/Baby+Bloomer+Gro+Rock+Garden.html

Any other recommendations for pre-built flood/drain systems?

For lights, do you have any brand recommendations in the 600W range. Is it worth it to get the switchable/convertible/two-way setups for convenience?

I was looking into vertical grows or rotating grows but for now I think that is too complicated. I'll definitely give it serious thought in future grows though! I think I can solve most of light inefficiency with good spacing, scrogging and LST.

no thats not a right system for weed. by growrock i mean something like hydroton brand. i can't recommend any prebuilt system since i have never bought one, but if you want one, go to a hydro shop where they sell systems intended for weed. most people however would simply get a tote, res timer pump and hoses and just set it up themselves, but i can understand that you don't even wana do that and any price you pay for a weed setup pays for itself so quickly since weed is a pricey crop! make sure the system you get fits into your grow area.
for lights, it is handy to have a switchable ballast, just switch the bulb from MH to HPS when flowering. get the highest lumen output lamp with an aircooled tube.
there are prebuilt vertical systems but the price is silly lol i don't have a vertical system yet, but next time i grow, i will have one setup, i will downsize light from 400w to 250w and try get the same yield or more as that's actually possible once done right! but yeah you don't need to do it and most growers don't since it is more complicated, requires more space, and work.
that avi is soooo sexy... lol