Love Tents? Why? Hate Tents? Vent Your Reasons!

[Douglas.Curtis]

Grow tents have been around for a while now, and as a result they've gone through a lot of changes. What changes have you seen which were good ones, which features do you wonder about or wish would go away?

I'm curious how many of you actually have ducting coming in through the top of your tent? I mean, personally I don't even have ceiling height for getting ducting up there. lol Still, I can see how it would be helpful running multiple tents in a large room.

What features do you love?

Which ones do you wish would disappear forever?

 

[handwerker]

what i love: i can go in and disassembling is easy.
what i hate: zippers, the weight when its packet, when sth. cant get fixed you can throw too much waste unusable away

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Yes, quick take down is great They're light and easily moved.

Ugh, the zippers. Have to be careful bumping them when not completely unzipped. Once you bump/stress it, you'll always feel where the teeth are messed up there as you zip past it. You're correct, the whole tent is useless if a zipper gets munged in one spot. Lots of waste there.


What about height?

 

[madalasatori]

- You lose several inches all around due to the negative pressure sucking the walls inwards

+ they help to keep sound contained

 

[Gazoo31]

Yes, quick take down is great They're light and easily moved.

Ugh, the zippers. Have to be careful bumping them when not completely unzipped. Once you bump/stress it, you'll always feel where the teeth are messed up there as you zip past it. You're correct, the whole tent is useless if a zipper gets munged in one spot. Lots of waste there.


What about height?

I wish they made them taller. I find with a 600w hid, and a RDWC system raised up I have very little height. Gorilla tents are nice they have extensions you can buy but they’re not cheap. Using a secret jardin currently.

I also have a vivio sun and like the way it goes together better. It uses spring loaded ball detents instead of plastic pieces to hold the tubes. It leaks more light though...

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

- You lose several inches all around due to the negative pressure sucking the walls inwards

+ they help to keep sound contained

You'll love it when nobody cares about the smell any longer. I use positive pressure and 'gain' a few extra inches as the sides bow outward. You're very correct on the neg pressure situation for sure.

Sound is a biggie for sure, even if stealth is not a concern. I know a lot of people who have trouble sleeping with noise like hydro systems and whatnot all the time.

I have a DR120 and the height thing is just weird. With the new LED panels coming out, there's almost a foot of extra space which does help. Unfortunately for me, my ceilings are barely above the top. lol I'm guessing the Gorilla extension consists of short extension poles and a zipper extended top?

Ugh, cheap poles Don't get me started, but my dislike goes way past grow tents and all the way back to camping tents. lol

Light leaks are a pet peeve of mine. Why call it a dark room tent if it's not dark. Seriously!! lol Seams, zippers, velcro patches, pinhole sidewall leaks...

 

[I'mback]

I wish they made them taller. I find with a 600w hid, and a RDWC system raised up I have very little height. Gorilla tents are nice they have extensions you can buy but they’re not cheap. Using a secret jardin currently.

I also have a viviosun and like the way it goes together better. It uses spring loaded ball detents instead of plastic pieces to hold the tubes. It leaks more light though...

... as I and love it.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Sweet!

 

[tobedetermined]

i started with a 2 x 4 Mars-Hydro tent & upgraded to a 4 x 4 Gorilla with extension for my 2nd grow. The extra height is perfect - it just fits the 8' ceiling assembled. The Gorilla seems to be thicker material & the zippers are much, much better. I wish they used better glue (or stitching) on the Velcro sealing strips though because they tend to peel off after a while.

 

[EvilCartman]

Ive been using tents for about ten years. You can't beat the portability aspect. I'm currently setting them up in a new location after a change in residence. Thankfully, no issues with zippers.

Started with a SJ DR80.
It's the oldest at 10 years.
Main gripe is the size of the ports are smallish, ~5 inches. Even a small tent should accept 6" ducting. It's held up well over the years, with no issues other than the Velcro strips getting "tired".

Other ones are SJ DR120's.
A little over 8 years on the oldest of these. Vents are better at 6", but for this size tent, I'd prefer 8".
One of them had a few pinhole leaks where the metallizing on the inside seemed thin, but not a problem.

All in all, I'm happy with them. They've surprised me. At first I was concerned about the way the corners were put together with the plastic pieces, but no issues yet, and I hang a good bit of weight from the top, too.

 

[thailer]

gorilla lite tents are easy for me to put together because the top ceiling is it's own piece and not attached to a wall or body of the tent. if the tent is all one piece, i need someone's help, which i don't have.

when the tents, even my gorilla lite, are zipped up with me inside them to test for light leaks are NEVER fully dark. you sit in there at first and it looks good but wait a minute or two at least and then you'll see the truth. it takes a lot longer than you realize for your eyes to adjust to the dark and the longer you wait, the more light is shown. i can see my plants in my gorilla tent after two minutes of waiting. they're great for veg but that's it IMO. i have had bad luck with herms in tents and my rooms i built are superior in every way except portability. cost to build is a bit higher but its sturdy AF and after you duct tape holes in tent walls just to get pin holes anyways, lol the value is apparent.

 

[I'mback]

gorilla lite tents are easy for me to put together because the top ceiling is it's own piece and not attached to a wall or body of the tent. if the tent is all one piece, i need someone's help, which i don't have.

when the tents, even my gorilla lite, are zipped up with me inside them to test for light leaks are NEVER fully dark. you sit in there at first and it looks good but wait a minute or two at least and then you'll see the truth. it takes a lot longer than you realize for your eyes to adjust to the dark and the longer you wait, the more light is shown. i can see my plants in my gorilla tent after two minutes of waiting. they're great for veg but that's it IMO. i have had bad luck with herms in tents and my rooms i built are superior in every way except portability. cost to build is a bit higher but its sturdy AF and after you duct tape holes in tent walls just to get pin holes anyways, lol the value is apparent.

FWIW it is not all that dark outdoors neither!

 

[thailer]

FWIW it is not all that dark outdoors neither!

word. it could've been the beans. i had a sunhut before the gorilla lite and it was worse. i paid extra for the gorilla brand just due to the thickness of the walls compared to other tents at the time but was surprised when it happened again. i think if the tent is placed in a bedroom and there's no direct sunlight from a window on it, it is a lot darker. i noticed if i kept the light off in the room and checked, i couldn't see light through the walls.

i don't grow outdoor but isn't the difference that the plants that are light deprivated or grown indoor more finicky to light leaks due to the forced flowering compared to plants grown outdoors that are exposed to the full moonlight? seems like when my rooms are totally dark, i don't have herm issues.

 

[I'mback]

word. it could've been the beans. i had a sunhut before the gorilla lite and it was worse. i paid extra for the gorilla brand just due to the thickness of the walls compared to other tents at the time but was surprised when it happened again. i think if the tent is placed in a bedroom and there's no direct sunlight from a window on it, it is a lot darker. i noticed if i kept the light off in the room and checked, i couldn't see light through the walls.

i don't grow outdoor but isn't the difference that the plants that are light deprivated or grown indoor more finicky to light leaks due to the forced flowering compared to plants grown outdoors that are exposed to the full moonlight? seems like when my rooms are totally dark, i don't have herm issues.

Your argument presents certain merits. I black out my window but an over head light still runs and I've had no issues. I do have the capacity for "total blackout" if required. During lights on, with the room darkened I see no light leaks from the tent.

 

[thailer]

i didn't think to sit in the tent for a bit to check and a family member who saw it said i should actually sit inside it for a few minutes and let my eyes adjust. so i did and was really surprised. to salvage the situation i tried a couple things. maybe my over head light was too close to the tent compared to yours. i dunno. it was a sunhut and so i bought a gorilla and it was a lot better but still at times when sunlight would shine though. i was just disappointed and so i use rooms now, which i admit is difficult for people to do.

the cost to build in the garage really added up quick. a 4x4x6'8" gorilla lite tent cost me a little less than $300?? the room ended up being 9x6x9' and materials including a framed exterior door was $750ish but i used an existing wall of the garage for the long length. if i was able to use a corner of the garage, i could've save like $150ish.

$13.88 per sqft for the room
$18.75 for the tent.

and that's not including the extra height in the room compared to the tent. so basically if you can build one, i would do that over using a tent. even with a cheaper tent, the benefits of having stud walls, unlimited weight restrictions for hanging stuff from the ceiling, etc...just my two cents.

 

[I'mback]

You can have a room (cottage) or a tent (Winnebago). My garage unfortunately is both my machine shop and woodworking shop. It is also unherated. I would have to cinsider that as well. My current setup fulfills my needs and, at the end of the day it is all that counts

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Thailer, you're definitely correct in how long it takes human vision to adjust. I was very surprised years ago at much you can really see with low lumens.

As far as I'm aware, the hermie/light-leaks issue is more from the stark contrast between complete dark, and a ray of light shining on part of a branch. Over the years I've read many reports of growers having no problems outdoor, with strains having light leak issues indoor.

This does not change the effective/ineffectiveness of tents due to light leaks. Unfortunately.

EvilCartman, great input and thank you. SJ's have definitely stood the test of time and my DR120 is still going strong as well. I'm interested in seeing the strength differences between the Gorilla and SJ zippers.

I'mback, ty

 

[I'mback]

Thailer, you're definitely correct in how long it takes human vision to adjust. I was very surprised years ago at much you can really see with low lumens.

As far as I'm aware, the hermie/light-leaks issue is more from the stark contrast between complete dark, and a ray of light shining on part of a branch. Over the years I've read many reports of growers having no problems outdoor, with strains having light leak issues indoor.

This does not change the effective/ineffectiveness of tents due to light leaks. Unfortunately.

EvilCartman, great input and thank you. SJ's have definitely stood the test of time and my DR120 is still going strong as well. I'm interested in seeing the strength differences between the Gorilla and SJ zippers.

I'mback, ty

With all do respect, there is to much BS going on, no wonder folks don't have a clue!

 

[thailer]

Thailer, you're definitely correct in how long it takes human vision to adjust. I was very surprised years ago at much you can really see with low lumens.

As far as I'm aware, the hermie/light-leaks issue is more from the stark contrast between complete dark, and a ray of light shining on part of a branch. Over the years I've read many reports of growers having no problems outdoor, with strains having light leak issues indoor.

This does not change the effective/ineffectiveness of tents due to light leaks. Unfortunately.

EvilCartman, great input and thank you. SJ's have definitely stood the test of time and my DR120 is still going strong as well. I'm interested in seeing the strength differences between the Gorilla and SJ zippers.

I'mback, ty

so do zipper light leaks and the light coming through the holes where the thread in the sewing shines through not cause hermies?

 

[psyphish]

Never had any issues with light leaks. Homebox Evolution and the latest Secret Jardin tents are really great quality.