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GROW WITH LITTLE LEBOWSKI
The Tent Grower As the grow industry has developed and progressed over the last decade or so, many products have been launched onto the market to aid the home grower in making their hobby as simple and as safe as possible. Lighting and extrac-
and filter into it. Others created their own ‘room within a room’ by putting together a simple wooden frame and fixing reflective sheeting (either white or silver) to the walls, floor and ceiling.. The grow tent follows this concept, but
With a bit of experience, you could pull 7-8 ounces of dried bud from an 80x80 tent tion products have become better value and easier to use, nutrients and additives are tailored to produce specific results at certain stages of plant growth. Of all the developments that have appeared over the years, maybe the one that has really changed the face of indoor growing is the grow tent.
is easier and quicker to put together, is light proof and waterproof, and can be easily dismantled and hidden away between grows. Put simply, a grow tent is a portable room in which a light, fan and filter unit can be hung above the plants. In prac-
WITH A BIT OF EXPERIENCE, YOU COULD PULL 7-8 OUNCES OF DRIED BUD FROM AN 80X80 TENT Go into any decent hydro shop anywhere in the world and you will usually be faced with a variety of grow tents in different shapes and sizes.
tice, the benefits are far reaching as they allow the grower to create a space in which they can control every aspect of their growing environment.
Historically, smaller scale growers would butcher a small cupboard to fix a light
This is of particular importance at this time of year when outdoor tempera-
tures are relatively low. Rather than heating your entire room (or even house) to maintain a nice temperature for your plants, you simply heat your tent using a small tube or oil heater. Growers using a smaller tent rarely need to add a heater at all, as the heat emitted from their grow light is enough to maintain a nice temperature for their crop. Another great benefit of using a tent is that they help to control odour. Grow tents create a semi-sealed environment that use negative pressure to prevent the smell of your crop from escaping. Negative pressure is where the amount of air being moved out of the tent is greater than the amount of air being moved in. Provided the extraction fan is constantly on, the only way the ‘smelly air’ can leave the tent is through the filter and fan.
ideal environment for around 1 to 4 small plants. This size of set up can be easily hidden away in the corner of a room, ideal for a small scale, covert grow op. With a bit of experience, you could pull 7-8 ounces of dried bud from this space. The equipment can be kept simple. A basic 250 watt lamp with a euro reflector will take care of the lighting duties, it’s not necessary to invest in an expensive reflector to direct light onto the plants; in a tent of that size there is nowhere for the light to escape. A 4 or 5 inch fan and filter will easily be able to handle the extraction and air exchange requirements of an 80cm x 80cm tent space and there is no need to use an additional fan for the air intake, the passive intakes in the tent will suffice.
Temperature can also be controlled through extraction, so it’s always a good idea to upscale your fan and filter size. For example, if a 5 inch extraction is sufficient for your grow tent, then go for a 6 inch set-up. This way you can use a speed controller to run the larger fan at around two-thirds capacity which will reduce the amount of noise that the fan makes. Having the extra power in reserve, allows you to increase the air exchange during the warmer summer months, this reduces temperatures and keeps you growing all year round. Another nice benefit of having that reserve power in your fan is that you can turn the fan up when you need to open the tent. This extra extraction helps to prevent any air from leaking out of the tent door. Very handy for when you’re harvesting your plants. Tents can be used for commercial growers looking to create and control a number of mini environments in a larger space, by splitting their crop across multiple tents. But where tents really excel is the home grower market. If you’re a smoker looking to keep trips to the dealer to a minimum, but with little space to spare for an indoor garden; a small, 80cm x 80cm, grow tent offers the
The small tent can be used to propagate, grow and then dry your crop, very handy if you do not have the space to set up a separate propagation and drying area
You could fit some small pots and saucers into your tent and go the hand feeding route or there are plenty of small scale hydro systems out there that are tailor made for a tent this size. Each will help to increase yields and cut down on growing times, allowing you to get more crops in per year. Just be wary how tall the systems sit because in a small tent space is at a premium, you don’t want to lose too much head room. So choose a low lying hydro system.
