Gorilla Grow Tent Layouts

[merrblah]

I am hoping to get this project completed and operational in the next month.

Objective:

This is a small exploration setup to isolate mothers from a seed collection. Plants will be grown from seed, cuts will be taken, and plants flowered as soon as clones root. Then selections will be made, clones kept/discarded, and new seeds cracked.


Equipment:




Tents:

Exterior Dimensions:

(1) Gorilla Grow Tent 2' x 4' x 6'11"
(2) Gorilla Grow Tent 2' x 2.5' x 5'11"

Usable Plant Space:
(measured as distance between bottom of lights and top of growing surface)

Flowering: 24" x 48" x 52"
Moms/Veg: 24" x 30" x 24"
Clone: 24" x 30" x 17"


Side note: The drawings are side by side for scale only. The tents will not be set up together, nor will they be throwing exhaust at each other.


Tent Descriptions:

The larger tent (2' x 4' x 6'11") will be for flowering 10 plants per cycle under mixed spectrum lighting (400w CMH, 300w HPS). All ballasts will be outside of the tent. All lights will be hung horizontally in batwing-type reflectors, will not be air cooled, and will be positioned perpendicular to the 4' side of the tent for maximum dispersion. The fan will operate well below capacity (25% - 50%) on a variable speed controller. Passive intake at the bottom.

The smaller tent (2' x 2.5' x 5'11") will be for vegging seedlings, keeping moms, and rooting clones. There will be custom-fitted wire shelving to separate and support the two open chambers. Passive intake at the bottom.


Questions:

Any thoughts on layout, ventilation, mixed light spectrum, etc. would be welcomed and appreciated...

Is running an 8" fan at low speed going to be quieter than a 6" fan at close to full bore?

Is there a better way to light a 2' x 4' footprint? In choosing lighting, I found this elongated footprint to be highly problematic. Air-cooled 600w HPS oriented parallel to the 4' side? Multiple lighting sources seemed to be the only solution.

Any equipment changes or recommendations? I'm flexible.

Any concerns or potential problems/challenges?

 

[Cameltom]

dont get a gorilla, waist of money. Ya it looks cool but who are you gunna show off your badass tent to, no one thats who.
save your money get a 4x4 agromax and a 600w light with a 6 inch can fan Max and youll be ballin lol. my can fan cools two 600w to the touch with a carbon filter on the end, and my fan is on low setting... it might look small and plastic, however it has put any 6inch fan i have seen to shame.

 

[merrblah]

I was hoping to reduce my footprint for this exploration as I will be flowering much smaller plants. However you're probably right -- I have a 4' x 4' home box, 600w Lumatek, and a 6 inch can fan & filter laying around here. I'm still up in the air -- I'm somewhat obsessive about the details and I like the fit of a clean 2' x 4'.

I will likely skip out on the 8" fan. I knew it was overkill, but it now even seems like overkill on low. I normally run air-cooled light setups, so I was planning on over compensating when running bare bulbs.

I ordered the 2' x 2.5' gorilla tent for the clones and mothers.

Thank you for stopping by and offering your thoughts!

 

[Cameltom]

I was hoping to reduce my footprint for this exploration as I will be flowering much smaller plants. However you're probably right -- I have a 4' x 4' home box, 600w Lumatek, and a 6 inch can fan & filter laying around here. I'm still up in the air -- I'm somewhat obsessive about the details and I like the fit of a clean 2' x 4'.

I will likely skip out on the 8" fan. I knew it was overkill, but it now even seems like overkill on low. I normally run air-cooled light setups, so I was planning on over compensating when running bare bulbs.

I ordered the 2' x 2.5' gorilla tent for the clones and mothers.

Thank you for stopping by and offering your thoughts![/quot

lol i have a 2x4 tent for mothers and clones, i managed to fit one of the small outdoor greenhouses in it. now i have a split level. it works great!
if ya want a smaller footprint just put the 600 in a smaller hood. kinda simple....
im on the search for keepers as well, doing a selection of 40 headband beans right now... is the bigger tent for flowering?

 

[merrblah]

Good luck with your seed search! It is an exciting time and headband has some killer genetics in it! Who is the breeder of your beans?

Here's what I'll be searching through...
Genetic Inventory:


The bigger tent is for flowering. These two are going to be designated for research and development ONLY. I have some 160+ seeds to go through -- probably going to take close to two years, even with rapid cycling (only flowering 10 at a time to keep plant/clone counts reasonable).

By smaller footprint, I mean smaller tent. The 2' x 4' tent fits very nicely in the space I have available and it is very non-conspicuous versus the larger 4' x 4' tent which draws immediate attention upon sight.

Optimally, I like to light a 3' x 3' space with a 600w. I thought about putting the 600w in the 2' x 4' however the only way I can get it to fit with the air-cooled hood and ducting is oriented in-line with the 4' side. Then it just seems that I waste the best light on the 2' side and the edges of the 4' side go under-lit.

600w HPS in a 2' x 4', air-cooled


The current solution:
400w CMH, 2 x 150w HPS in a 2' x 4', non-air-cooled


No joke, figuring out how to light this space has been the BIGGEST challenge of this project.

 

[stoneybud2]

Simple dude.
Dual cool tube. 2x 400. Way more then enough.
I use to grow in 2x4's. N IMO your over thinking the light.
SB2

 

[Cameltom]

Reserva Prevada Headband aka Sour Kush. Im looking for an extremely sour plant, the one thats doing the best smells like grapefruit right now. Week5Day1
killer seed selection man!!!
i have a nice collection my self
this is off the top my head
Big buddha chiesel
TGA chernoyle, space dawg and plushberry
BOG sour bubble and bog bubble
Escobars. cheeseberry, blue rocket and anesthesia
DNA. Stacked kush
Reserva Prevada. Kosher Kush
S a nnies. Jackberry and exterma
nervanas ak-48 and papaya
and Mdanzings quickster and sour 60

 

[merrblah]

stoneybud: That was one of my original ideas since the light footprint was a perfect match. However, with 6" ducting (I need 6" on each end to run ducting up to top of tent) I could only use a maximum of 18" long reflectors/cool tubes -- AND I can't find any. The shortest seems to be 19" cool tube :/

2 x 400w HPS in a 2' x 4', air-cooled



Camelton: I have been lucky to have been around a couple of grapefruit expressions in different plants and they have always been top notch. Sour grapefruit sounds amazing! I see you have quite the collection as well. Let me know what happens with those BOG Sour Bubbles.


So no one is on board with the 700w mixed-spectrum setup (pictured below)?? I thought that would produce some stellar, resinous buds

400w CMH, 2 x 150w HPS in a 2' x 4', non-air-cooled

 

[Cameltom]

stoneybud: That was one of my original ideas since the light footprint was a perfect match. However, with 6" ducting (I need 6" on each end to run ducting up to top of tent) I could only use a maximum of 18" long reflectors/cool tubes -- AND I can't find any. The shortest seems to be 19" cool tube :/

2 x 400w HPS in a 2' x 4', air-cooled
View Image


Camelton: I have been lucky to have been around a couple of grapefruit expressions in different plants and they have always been top notch. Sour grapefruit sounds amazing! I see you have quite the collection as well. Let me know what happens with those BOG Sour Bubbles.


So no one is on board with the 700w mixed-spectrum setup (pictured below)?? I thought that would produce some stellar, resinous buds

400w CMH, 2 x 150w HPS in a 2' x 4', non-air-cooled
View Image

according to this chart a 600w light should be good up to 29 inches away from the light.That would kinda be overkill, there would be no dark spots.... i would just supplement with T5s if you really want supplemental light. you could be a baller and get a plasma light for 1500 bucks. I plan on getting one in the next year or 2... its just not in the budget right now

 

[stoneybud2]

@merrblah
They make a 36" cool tube . A lot I've seen are dual socket slready but easy enough to put one in. And running 400's you'll get that tube real close. So no loss there.
SB2

 

[merrblah]

Camelton: agreed the 600w is too much. And I'm really not looking for production quantities here, just exploring some seeds. Anything 400w+ will show me all I need to know. When this is done, I'll return to a larger setup and really blow out those clones.

In regards to the plasma, I like the spectrum, but I don't like being on the edge of the technology curve. I'll wait awhile and let those come down in price drastically. In the mean time, I am more than satisfied with my past endeavors with HIDs. As they say, if it ain't broke…


stoneybud: I looked extensively for the cool tube you mentioned and the only 36" dual or single was discontinued. I did, however, find a place that offers 17" cool tubes. That may be the solution...


In other news, the first tent arrived today and I must say I am really impressed. The quality on these tents is through the roof. Thick, sturdy, robust. And the design was really well thought out and executed -- it successfully addressed issues I have encountered with past tents. Only complaint at this point is I hate the tool pouch in the grow area. I do not nor would not ever store anything in the grow area. The grow area is for plants ONLY. Stupid idea.

But seriously impressive tents overall.

 

[Cameltom]

im glad you like your new tent!

 

[lr3]

i like the additional height of the gorilla, but the workmanship isn't as good as i had expected it to be (thread stitching tearing thru along zippers, zipper on mine sticks due to sloppy sewing where part of the nearby fabric gets caught in the zipper, velcro closures on windows and vents tend to wear out quickly (got iffy after just one grow)).

i've got a 4x2 for clones and mom's and a 5x5 for flowering.