Which Indoor Grow Tent Do You Need?
Choosing an indoor grow tent isn't easy. Read our handy buying guide to work out which tent you need.
Before buying any indoor grow tents, there are eight questions you need to answer.
1. How much space do you have?
Before you buy anything, you need to know how many grow tents, and what size tents, will physically fit into your growing area.
Don't forget to leave enough space for ducting. You may need an extra 250mm of space for ducting to come out of the top, back or side of your tent, depending on the model you choose.
2. How many grow tents do you need?
Most people use one small grow tent for propagation, a medium sized grow tent for vegetative growth and a large grow tent for flowering.
For propagation
You don’t need much space...
Since cuttings and seedlings require a very low light intensity, you should use low-output lighting and small propagation tents. They aren't very high and they provide all of the space you need to take lots of cuttings and germinate lots of seedlings.
For vegetative growth
Your plants are still quite small
A lot of growers opt to veg separately in smaller grow tents, as it makes more efficient use of the grow light and also makes the environment easier to manage.
If you want to propagate and veg plants in a single tent, you can use something like a BAY6 DP160.
For flowering
Most growers will be using 600W LED grow lights (and larger)
You need a tent that’s high enough for plants to grow to their full size. Most full-sized grow tents are at least 2.0m high for this reason.
Entire cycle in one tent?
Though we don’t recommend it, you can grow right from cutting to harvest in one tent. However, this does mean that you’ll end up growing fewer plants overall.
If you're doing everything in one grow tent, there's naturally going to be a lot more down time after harvesting because you have to start again from scratch each time.
When using multiple grow tents, you can have the next generation of plants primed and ready to go, creating an efficient cycle and shaving weeks (if not months) off the total growing time, making your garden much, much more productive.
It's also worth taking a look at the BAY6 Multi-Chamber grow tent, which gives you three separate, partitioned areas.
3. What’s your budget?
Once you know the size and number of tents you need, it comes down to cost.
Don't be fooled into thinking a cheaper tent costs less overall. They may be cheaper in the short-term but better quality tents, like BudBoxes, provide much better value in the long-term.
These grow tents last longer and help to increase the size of your yields. Invest in a better tent from day dot and you'll save money in the long run.
Here are the best indoor growing tents you can buy for each budget:
BAY6 Grow Tents, from £44.99
If you’re a beginner or bargain hunter, BAY6 Grow Tents are a good bet.
They’ll survive for a few crops (even more when well maintained), and for such a low cost, you won’t get a better build than this. If you’re just finding your feet, it’s a no-brainer. Ideally, though, you should opt for something that's built to last...
BudBox Grow Tents, from £89.99
You can’t go wrong with a BudBox Grow Tent.
We tried them, we tested them, we did pull ups from one of them! They’re insanely strong, with 25mm frames and metal corners... Believe us, BudBox Grow Tents will not let you down.
4. What grow lights are you looking to use?
Your choice of light and choice of tent should go hand in hand.
The more intense your grow lights, the bigger and taller your indoor grow tent needs to be.
As A Rule...
Aim for a height of:
200cm - 600w - 750w LED grow lights
220cm - 240cm - 1000w LED grow lights
More specifically….
LED Propagation Strips
Omega Clone LED grow lights run at very low intensities and produce hardly any heat. A small propagation growing tent will do the trick.
600W LED Grow Lights
You’ll need a tent that’s at least 2.0m high, preferably with a 1.2m x 1.2m floor area per light.
You can get away with a 1.0m x 1.0m tent, if you have an LED that happens to fit the space (many don't), but by doing so you’ll be creating quite an intense growing environment. Managing temperatures might become tricky.
1000W LED Grow Lights
Now we’re talking! You’re looking at a 2.2m high ceiling BudBox grow tent. All that headroom allows the heat from these high intensity lights to dissipate.
Air-cooled reflectors?
Air-cooled, HID reflectors are considered a bit old-hat these days, since most serious growers have already made the switch to using LED panels. However, for those growers who do still use them, all of our grow tents are equipped with ports that are perfect for the job.
6. What growing system and equipment are you using?
As a bare minimum you'll need space for your growing system, extraction system and lights. You might also need space for heaters, humidifiers, fans, dehumidifiers and other bits of kit.
Most of our growing systems have a flexible size and shape to fit in most set-ups.
If in doubt, call us, start a live chat or visit your local store.
7. Do you want a white or silver interior?
White lined tents (like our BudBox range) are incredibly reflective and retain a lot less heat than silver lined tents. Peak temperatures in silver tents can be 1-2oC warmer than those in a white tent of the same size. This means you can sometimes experience heat problems in silver tents.
There are exceptions – you won’t have heat problems in a small propagation tent, so silver is perfectly fine.
8. What sort of features do you need?
Here are some core features to look out for:
Watertight:
Accidents happen, a waterproof tent is great for damage control.
Reflective interior:
Every 1% of light lost results in a 1% loss in yield. A reflective interior will help minimise light lost to your walls.
Quality zips:
Burst your zip and your grow tent won’t be light-tight. The canvas on your tent will become loose, too.
Robust corners:
The corners of your indoor grow tent hold the frame in place and take a lot of weight. They need to be well made.
Strong, metal poles:
Weak poles will buckle under the weight of lights and fans.
Access ports:
The more ports you have, the more options you have when it comes to positioning your equipment.
Strong fabric:
Strong fabric will be less likely to tear, help keep pests out, stop odours escaping & reduce noise.
