Pro's and Con's Grow tent vs lumber built room?

[surfguitar]

Hey all

For my next grow I'm planning to setup in a couple months I was originally planning to build a room out of lumber inside my garage with full on insulation and what not. While browsing craigslist I came across some grow tents and it got me thinking. What would be the advantages of these vs building my own room?

Off the top of my head,
Advantages-
Easy to setup
Resell-able
Can take down grow room and reassemble in the case of inspection or If I want to move it

Disadvantages-
Less customization
Less insulation from outside weather
Cant really go sealed if I decide to go that route which I would like to at some point in the future(but than again at that point you can always re-sell it)

The price would be similar, probs about $300 either way for a 8x8' grow room. The home built growroom will obviously have more bells and whistles tho. I own the house so not a big concern about building something and cool air will come from under the house for intake so environment shouldn't really be that big of an issue in either one. It's basically laziness and resell-ability vs something more permanent and better quality from what I can tell, unless I'm missing something.

Would love some input from folks who have gone both ways and what they preferred

 

[Lapides]

I've done tents and custom built rooms. I am in a position to grow in my garage in the next couple of months, and there is no question what I'm going to do.

Build a room.

Customizable. Easier to dial in the environment. Just overall better in my experience. Don't get me wrong, I like tents. But you really can't beat a well built grow room.

 

[ThePizzaMan]

If you own the house....there is no need for a tent

 

[drsmoke69]

surfguitar,

tents are cool and cheap, and best thing about them is there not permanent. you will spend less money setting up using a tent because there's less you can do with them. now if this is your lifestyle and your going to stick with this then build a room, you will be happier in the long run, but its a never ending expense, like trial and error. i have three hidden rooms in my house and every day i come up with new ideas to make them better or bigger or more stealth. half the fun in growing is building the grow room. hope this helps.

 

[Raw_Dog]

Building a room is more time consuming and harder to reset up in case of emergency moving situations. These days all I need is an a/c,2 tents, bulbs , ballast, flip box, 1timer, light cords and oscillating fans... Cheap and highly effective.

 

[ponocrookedbrah]

I absolutely loved my tents for years but was in a rental. I know I could build a dream room if I owned my house though..

 

[Mr Blah]

I know it has been said but building a room if you own your house is a lot better in my opinion.
Just build it with screws and you can take it down if need be.

 

[FlowerFarmer]

Build it!

Pond liner a nice white dry-walled room and call it a day.


Tents are OK for quick hit and runs or rentals, but can be disastrous as well. If growing in a tent certainly be extra careful with water. A simple spill or water getting under the tent and it's trapped there and will not dry back out. Can cause much damage to the floor below the tent as well as create a perfect scenario for mold.


After bouncing in and out of tents over the years I'm done with them for good. They provide no advantage to me when I can toss up some black and white poly, giving myself some working room and just as easily (or easier) torn back down. My experiences with tents have been a headache.. I'm OK with the little ones for hobby growing, but get into the 4x8s and 5x10s I think you're better off just building a room or polying a space with 1x1s.

Anytime moisture can be trapped under plastic/material is a recipe for mold/disaster.

 

[Easy7]

Depends on the grow. Tents are nice for having grows on different cycles. If you like to seperate males for seed, a tent is valuable. Not everyone looks for huge area's for veg, so a tent is handy.

If your going for weight, then sure build the room.

 

[supermanlives]

I wouldn't ever again buy a fucking tent.

 

[the gnome]

i see the reasons for using a tent,
BUT
for the size of these tents $400 for a 5x5 and then the $$ for the fans
and lamps, odor control, cooling, Co2 if you want its not worth it imo for such a small area.
so you get the 9x9 tent(gorilla grow) and your spending over $1100 just for the tent
building or modifying a room is way more economical.
you can do a lot with that kind of $coin$ in a spare bedroom that size.

for the small grower cab grower its good,
or as said above a nice isolation place for males.

but the do serve a really useful purpose for certain growers or they wouldn't sell

 

[OrganicOzarks]

Building rooms is way cheaper. That being said I am now for the first time in a position where I have to buy tents. Not looking forward to it.

 

[ydijadoit]

Just set up a Secret Jardin 5x5 in my garage, right next to my stick build 4x4 sealed cab...
The tent works, but to set it up to my standards, it was no picnic, and could not be torn down easily. A 5 pound Ebay carbon scrubber and pc fans are not gonna cut it for me. Hanging two aircooled hoods, and a big carbon scrubber from some flimsy Chinese ten is not on the menu, either.
By the time I was done setting it up, I could have built a room.
The only reason I got the tent was portability. I will tear down, and store nicely, just not a quick process. (I hung all the heavy stuff by cable, through holes cut in the tent, and up to a ceiling joist.)
Otherwise happy with the basic concept, and it works for what I need, which is testing new strains, and drying.
Forget "Sealing" one, that's a joke. Much better results with framing, OSB, caulking, and weatherstrip tape, IME.
Regards

 

[ILikeCheetos]

tents are so short!!! fucking sucks for hydro. they have those extendable ones but they are a ton of cash.

If you own the spot build the room. if you rent get a tent. heh that rhymes. you can break down and pack up a tent when they have a fire sprinkler check or the neighbors place floods.

 

[Granger2]

I built my own "tents" out of 2x4's, 1x2's, cheap paneling, plywood, white paint, drywall screws [only nail in the room is for hanging a yard stick], black silicone caulk.

The room is sealed with 5 stalls- a 3x6, 3x3, 2x4, and a 2x2x3 nursery. The 2x4 has 325w of CFL lighting for mothers, etc. With dimmable ballasts [600w] I have all kinds of options. The rest of the room outside the stalls is a lung room with AC, Dehum, carbon filters, fans, sink/water supply, CO2, etc.

2x4 construction is overkill, but I can hang anything from anything. If I were so inclined, I could hang on, sit on, lean on, fall into anything and it wouldn't so much as vibrate. Far cheaper than tents.

If you need emergency take down, this isn't for you. Good luck. -granger

 

[surfguitar]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!!

Think I'm convinced to build the room, that's kinda what I was leaning towards.

Stay safe all

 

[RB26]

Check my sig. Do yourself a favor and don't buy a tent, do it right the first time!

Good luck!

 

[Bud Green]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone!!

Think I'm convinced to build the room, that's kinda what I was leaning towards.

Stay safe all

I think you'll be happier in the long run by building...

Your idea of cool air coming from under the house at first sounds like a good way to keep the temps down without A/C, BUT, please consider the fact that the crawlspace of a house, while having free, cool air will most likely also contain all kinds of MOLD SPORES and so forth...You will likely need a VERY good air filtration system..

 

[Bongstar420]

Seems like a non-sequitur to me if you are willing to invest your own time and have access to tools for the purpose of assembly. The lumber built room is far more versatile in terms of room geometry and material composition no matter the size you wish to construct in addition to being very sturdy under good assembly practices. The capital cost of a lumber structure is on average half (capital cost for lumber rig material is $50-100 vs $175-275 for same sized factory grow tent). A grow tent is for someone who wants to be able to "flush" their plants and backpack the grow room out in like an hour or less or has no carpentry skills/tools in my opinion.

 

[Raw_Dog]

I definitely agree, but only build a room if you can guarantee you will be there for an extensive amount of time. If you ever feel that you have to "dip" then a built room isn't the thing to do. I can run my own power so I can set up 6
On a flip in 4-5 hours... Just give me a basement.