To build or buy? Some help please.

I need to get something going soon for my veg area. The plants are starting to suffer.

Hoping some people can help me decide on just buying a grow tent or constructing one with wood and thick plastic sheeting.

So if you have owned a tent or still do, is it incomparable ? Is there flaws?
How is the easy of setup/take down....Any brands to stay away from?
+rep 2 help

Thanks

Tents are great. They just make everything so much easier. Really simple to put up and take down and much cleaner and easier to keep clean than a room or self made tent.

At this point there really aren't any tents left on the market that off-gas so it is really a matter of what size you want, how sturdy you want the supports, and what size vent holes. I personally have had great success with the three tents I purchased off e-bay. I went with the cheapest I could find and on all 3 occasions was surprised at the quality.

Its easy to build shit,... U need to know how to control ur temps,... Also whats ur grow space and what light system are u going with?

if cost isnt an issue then buying a tent is the way to go...its already setup...holes and vents in the right place...and most of the higher priced tents have great panda film/mylar that goes with them...a lot of the ebay type panda film is cheaply made and sometimes not even light proof.easy to build and most of the time fail proof.
if cost is a issue there is nothing wrong with building your own...most of the pre-made tents prices are through the roof...paying $300+ sometimes for a box of plastic seems a bit much to me.plus when building your own you can make it the exact size you need or want...after looking into tents i found that i could not find one close to the size i needed...so i opted to just make a grow closet.but at the same time to build a good tent thats going to hold your lights and not collapse you need a little know how to build a proper tent.

I built a room in my basement without even considering tents.. that said my last two grows havent been boastworthy yet, so I wont maintain it was the "better" choice to make for my setup/equipment.

However, the flexibility within DIY projects is always the winning appeal to me- my room is set up exactly how I have wanted so far- and when I want to improve it I can (i'm only half utilizing the space).

Temperature and space are more difficult with tents, light efficiency is worse with rooms generally.. good luck!

Do you have a job? If not than get off your ass and build like a god.

I can build very good, that's not the issue.
I do work and I have guaranteed income, close to retiring if it matters

its alot of things.

and reading threw some of the ideas and comments sprung some new thoughts. With me looking to purchase a home in the coming months , it be wise to get a tent and not worry about building in another room.
I will worry about building a room once i can find a nice home. With a nice back yard A grow room in its own.

Now any suggestions on affordable, dependable and about 3x3ft grow tents

I would recommend this tent if you are going small (like me)...http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-REFLECTIVE-HYDROPONICS-MYLAR-GROW-TENT-32-x-32-x-63_W0QQitemZ230608455111QQcategoryZ43555QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m263QQ_trkparmsZalgo=SIC&its=I%2BC&itu=UCI%2BIA%2BUA%2BFICS%2BUFI&otn=10&pmod=180642933480&ps=63&clkid=8409192865127198403#ht_3512wt_1139

Do you own that one in the link?

This is the one I found and was thinking of purchasing.
http://www.amazon.com/Reflective-MYLAR-Hydroponics-3x3x78-GYO1005A/dp/B002TZTS8E/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1302618263&sr=8-4
Would you consider that equal or better then the one you own/linked?

The reason for wanting to stay around 3x3 ft is my 600w will fill that area nicely if I decided to use this tent for my flower box and put my veg in the closet.

How easy are them tents to ventilate for climate control?
Whats the MIN cfm fan would you recommend. I wanna get a bigger fan for my air cooled hood and use my lower cfm fans i have now for the environment exhaust/intake. The ones i am using is 160 cfm's and I have them stacked together just to pull enough air to cool my hood for now. I bet putting that 600w in the tent and them fans i have wont work.

http://www.amazon.com/Hydrofarm-Active-Air-inch--Line/dp/B002JQ14F8/ref=sr_1_5?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1302663118&sr=1-5

Thats the fan I wanna get.

That tent is almost identical to the one I linked, and a great price. If that meets your needs, then I would buy it. Just a note, the venting will be only 4"-5" so you will need to buy a duct reducer for the fan you have picked out. To optimally refresh your air you are looking at a fan that falls between 183cfm to 315cfm for that tent. So the fan that you have linked is perfect for that job. I would not go with a 4" fan, as it will be over worked with a 600w HID.

Have you looked into a carbon filter as well?

Thanks again dude ....This next bowl will be in honor of your helpful spirit.

I have no worries or needs for a carbon filter as of yet. Thou my current ops do smell , its not a priority.

That fan i linked I wanna use to vent out my air cooled hood.
Then i have two other fans rated at 160 cfm's That i plan on using for the environment. and of course a small oscillating fan.

Buying that 3x3 tent tomorrow . So should get to me the start of the next week...If you would like to see how I put it up and configure it , I should have my grow journals updated with pictures of it by the end of next week.

Just now I need to figure if it would work better as a CFL veg room or a flower box with an 600w in it. ugh such hard decisions

Definitely would love to see some pics when you are up and running!!!

I love to share, especially if in any sense it can add to the helping nature of this community.

Awesome. You should add your journals to your sig too. Saw a great scrOG grow of yours.

this is my thought since u said u can build....you can buy the tent $95 or for about $140 build your own and have tons of supplies left so when u do move u could build yourself a huge room...i went to my hydro store bought roll of plastic white/black i lined 2 8x8 rooms walls and ceiling.. i moved rolled that stuff up.in my new place i have a 2.5x 5x8 room i made outta 2x3s and another room 3.5x6.5x8 i used the roll not what i used for the other old rooms cause they are already cut for a 8x8 and no sence of cutting it....so for about $140 i lined 2 8x8 rooms and BUILT 2 rooms.....it took about 1hour to frame each room and build and can be tore apart in less than 10 minutes packed up and re=used. just my opinion ....i would never buy a room i feel i can build one that suits my needs better than a pre-fab were i gotta use there holes ,vents ect

Good point, but if you are incompetent like me, it's just a whole lot easier to buy.

MidnightJoker said:

Good point, but if you are incompetent like me, it's just a whole lot easier to buy.

Click to expand...

I hear ya , i build for a living (self employed) so i'd rather build one . Some people just wont be able to build one and some that can would rather just buy one cause its easier..Either way as long as your growing thats all that counts....Also if anyone wants to try and build one pm me and i can give u info on how u can make a tent in a closet just using duct tape,thumb tacks,
and one board as long as u can make one cut with a saw your good.....oh this will not be free standing u need at least 2 walls ,but will also tell u on how to make a free standing one if u wanna try that also GOOD LUCK

If you're like me you'll build. I enjoy building in general, almost as much as i love mary jane. so the combination gets my jollies off. I'd always recommend building, it'll save you money and you'll learn more.

Either slap together 2x2 and panda film, or buy a tent. There is no other cost effective solution other than that, IMO. I've built solid rooms and insulated, dry walled, and ventilated them. I have built many grow cabinets, and I have built whole rooms with Panda film, and it seems to retain heat, seal, and reflect. It is over all very easy to work with, and you can patch and repair with electrical tape. Grow cabs are really nice, but grow tents are so much easier. If you have ply wood laying around, I would build a cab, if you have 2x2, 2x3, or 2x4 laying around, I would build a tent with panda film, if you don't have any of that because you aren't super-macho like me, than I suggest buying a tent. Tent's are perfect as they are and require no extra engineering. I rarely see a difference in price between building in your own and buying a tent on a good deal.