Material for walls of a grow tent?

[GuerrillaRed]

Hey guys,

I'm currently in the process of designing and building a small DIY grow tent for flowering. While finding a lot of good teks and info out there, I was disappointed to see that virtually everyone who's built or designed a DIY grow tent has conceded and spent at least $100 on panda walls (I think that's what it's called) for their tents. That to me is completely against the spirit of DIY and I think if we put our heads together we could come up with a cheaper idea. I've been thinking about this for a few hours and here's a few of my ideas.

1. Tvyek, A highly breathable polyethylene that only allows 4% to 8% light through. Could be had easily and for free by raiding Fed Ex and UPS mailboxes and taking all the excess envelopes.

2. White trash bags, would white extra strength trash bags be good? I don't think they'd let any light through and they'd probably do a respectable job reflecting the light back.

3. Using a tarp on the outside and aluminum foil on the inside

Anyway maybe I'm stupid but I want to hear what you guys think.

 

[bongoie]

i'm not familiar with all the terms used either
Aliminum foil is not the best for reflecting light so count that out
Plastic is fantastic , you might find you need a few layers to lightproof tho or thick or heavy grade
My home made drobe or tent is bread boards screwed together , seames taped with aluminum foil . cavity filled with aluminum backed fiberglass , then lined in mylar
I'm an thermal insulator to trade so i got it all except the mylar free . and worked as a bread delivery man for a short while
Your right use your resources

 

[dbfr3sh]

Panda film is $1 per foot long by 10feet wide. i got 100 square feet for 10 bucks

 

[skylined]

I second dbfr3sh,
Pandafilm is definitely the best. Aluminum foil sucks, as does the aluminum sheet mylar you can buy. Go with the black and white - definitely worth the expense, and it will last you a while or cover a very large setup, whichever you're doing.

Peace

 

[McChris421]

black and white poly is a good friend of mine. I would highly recommend it and i don't think it will cost you anywhere near $100. good luck with the project.

-McChris-

 

[skylined]

I paid 80 bucks for my roll. Generally won't cost 100 unless ur getting ripped off a little bit.

 

[purpledomgoddes]

poly wall. ~12-15 coins per 4x8 sheets. avaialable @ home improvement store. rigid, durable, no lights gets through. can seal edges to wood, each other, etc. used for showers, generally.

hope this helps.

 

[richirich_99]

i use panda also to line the inside floors and the few inches around the bottom of the walls in my cab, works great, and is very durable. actually planning on building some large tent/room with pvc and panda when i get an extra bedroom. Well worth the cost.

 

[micro gro]

Visqueen costs only $40 for a 100' x 10' roll of 6 mil around here.

I guess you could always use drywall regardless of the size of tent... about $5 per 4x8 panel. That'll help keep things quieter, too.

 

[njayjay]

What does the "poly" in black and white poly stand for? I'm not in the US so I can't find any panda film sold as such but I can look around for something similar.

Can I use plain white platic if it's thick enough? Peace

 

[ddrew]

Someone is dicking you if your getting charged $100 bucks for panda film, unless your building a tent the size of a 3 story building
Panda/poly that is the way to go.