Questions About Setting Up A 5x5 Tent!

[MrSmiley]

Hello all, relatively new to all of this. I have a small grow cabinet that seems to be running well, it uses LED lighting... I am planning on turning this into a seedling and veg chamber though and have purchased a grow tent for a larger flowering area.

Gorilla Grow Tent 5x5
is the product I have.
(5x5 tent)

Now, recommendations on how much light i will need, and what kind of ventilation system i need?
I have looked a lil on the internet for "basic packages".. not really seeing what I want as a package, so assuming it is better and cheaper to buy things individually anyhow.

It will be set up in my garage. The garage door is opened multiple times daily.

Things I want:
Enough light to grow 3 to 4 plants very well.
An exhaust, which utilizes a appropriate sized Carbon Filter.

400w? 600w? 1000w?

GENERAL QUESTION ABOUT VENTILATION:
Ideally, I do not want to have to cut any holes in my attic ceiling for ventilation if at all possible. With a grow tent this size, is it possible to simply intake my air from the garage, filter it through the carbon, and exhaust it right back out into the garage? will this cause SIGNIFICANT heating or o2 problems? Would much prefer the tent to be a stand alone unit and not have too many wires and pipes coming/going from it.

Thank you for any links, remarks, advice, or any replies that are given to this

MrSmiley

 

[JJ Bones]

Hi MrSmiley

For the 5x5 grow tent you will want to go with a 1000w grow light. This will be perfect for your grow tent and they are dimmable these days meaning you can run it at lower wattages too if you wanted.

You can fit 3 - 4 plants in their easily, if you plan to grow bigger plants. If you grow smaller plants in a SOG style you can easily fit 16 plants.

You will want to corner-off or conceal your tent as much as you can. While the Gorilla is one of the best I still wouldn't risk letting light leak in because the garage opens often.

I recommend you get a 6x16in Phresh Carbon Filter which is rated for 400 CFM. You might be able to get away with the 200 CFM version however it's cutting it close and I'd recommend the 6" because it will make things easier considering reducers.

Along with this you can get a 6" Inline Fan for the carbon filter and your grow tent. We are official sponsors of the forums and we sell all this equipment, please email me joey@perfectgardens.com and I can help you get setup right plus get this all ordered.

We offer free phone consultations for 420 magazine members, unless it's a very large grow which would require much more conversation.

 

[MrSmiley]

Thank you for your informative response JJ Bones, 1000w and a 6" 400CFM w/filter it is! That is exactly what i have been eyeballing.

In your opinion, is there a circumstance or situation where choosing one hood is better than another? I have noticed some hoods have a cool tube and others do not -- is this a major decision? I am fairly confident that I want a cool tube with a extra large wing..

and also, if anyone is still out there, could someone please address this question?

GENERAL QUESTION ABOUT VENTILATION:
Ideally, I do not want to have to cut any holes in my attic ceiling for ventilation if at all possible. With a grow tent this size, is it possible to simply intake my air from the garage, filter it through the carbon, and exhaust it right back out into the garage? will this cause SIGNIFICANT heating or o2 problems? Would much prefer the tent to be a stand alone unit and not have too many wires and pipes coming/going from it.

This is how I am running my smaller cabinet, but I wanted to make sure it would be alright for exhausting both just back into the garage... or if i am flirting with a problem, given the emissions of 4to8 plants.

Many thanks!

 

[JJ Bones]

I think the tubes within a reflector are pretty cool: Air Cooled Reflector-6 in. with Internal Cool Tube

Ventilation depends on the size of your garage. Typically it's a problem because you're recycling your heat which means you're never replacing with cooler air.

 

[MacEFL]

If your tent can be by a wall, you can cut a hole in the wall (I know), put in a thimble and on the outside a vent cover. Make it look like a dryer vent. I think much better to get the old air outside. But, what part of the world do you live in. Outside temps will dictate what you can get away with. A tent indoors pulls in cooler air from the home. In a garage in the summer you can pull in excess of 100° air easily, again depending where you live. That in my opinion won't cool 1000 watts very well. Definitely pull your air in from floor level, it will be the coolest.

 

[Doozy]

Have you already purchased a light? If you're already running LED why not go for LED in the 5x5?

I have exactly the same size tent minus the extra height, and I plan on running 4 x 400w Mars II LEDs in there. There's a really good thread on here about them, just search for topled discount. I think my 4 lights come in at just over $800 delivered. People on these forums are seeing great results with the Mars II lights, they might be a bit more expensive initially but they pay for themselves in the long run.

Not to mention the heat is much less, which in your case would mean you wouldn't have to worry about venting outside.....just exhaust straight into the garage! Seems like a no brainer to me.

If you want any more info or links to LED grow journals etc just let me know happy to link you up!

Nice tent btw, was going to go for a Gorilla myself but couldn't justify the expense over my Hydrolab. In the UK Gorilla tents are around $550 for a 5x5!

 

[Guesstimator]

I use a vented hood and I thank God I do. It is my first HPS lamp and OMG does it just kill the heat in that tent. I am so glad I got a vented hood. It is the only way to go IMHO.

More on topic to the quoted above, I have my setup in the garage (see link in signature) and I have no issues venting inside the garage. I have a bit of a drafty garage so I am sure that helps too, but it works great for me.

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[jaamzhow]

Ditto on the topled lights. The initial outlay is more than MH/HPS but I have read on various threads about savings of $100-$150 on monthly power bills.

 

[Gsus4]

Have you already purchased a light? If you're already running LED why not go for LED in the 5x5?

I have exactly the same size tent minus the extra height, and I plan on running 4 x 400w Mars II LEDs in there. There's a really good thread on here about them, just search for topled discount. I think my 4 lights come in at just over $800 delivered. People on these forums are seeing great results with the Mars II lights, they might be a bit more expensive initially but they pay for themselves in the long run.

Not to mention the heat is much less, which in your case would mean you wouldn't have to worry about venting outside.....just exhaust straight into the garage! Seems like a no brainer to me.

If you want any more info or links to LED grow journals etc just let me know happy to link you up!

Nice tent btw, was going to go for a Gorilla myself but couldn't justify the expense over my Hydrolab. In the UK Gorilla tents are around $550 for a 5x5!

HIya Doozy.

I've also been thinking about getting a 5 X 5 with the Mars II. Just wondering - why did you choose to get 4 X 400W instead of the MarsII 1600W?

 

[WelshFarmer]

Comes down to light spread surface area. You can get better light concentration dividing panels up then going with one large panel. This is the down side to LED and it's easily overcome using smaller multi panels.

 

[madscientist9]

I use a pair of mars 2 900's and love them and the heat is significantly reduced over an hps

 

[SpudGreen]

Hi Mr. Smiley,

I'm still a newbie grower and have the same Gorilla 5x5 tent. I went with a Kind K5 XL1000 which has many great features, the 18 hour auto-run programmed lighting to mimic sunrise to sunset feature rocks, but the light doesn't fully cover the entire tent. The light has enough power to veg properly but wish/need to supplement lighting to get from my current 25 watts per sq ft to the high 30's or potentially 40. A 6" hurricane fan and phresh filter with duct muffler meet my ventilation needs as the tent is inside a climate controlled environment.

My urban indoor garden is much easier to deal with due to LED lights for heat and noise related to curb heat. However, the led companies should be more up front regarding wattage. If you want a decent yield, my belief is that you still need the same watts as an hps.

I'm looking at the various Mars Hydro reflector leds now to find the right shape for my needs. Anyone, have experience with these lights? They come in a variety of models and seem to offer a good deal for the job. The mars2 lights also look like a decent option. Having a couple of lights does help with configuring the best arrangement for lighting. I'd suggest researching the actual wattage and both veg and bloom coverage to ensure adequate coverage. I'm happy with my choice as I wanted to minimize risk and go with a sure thing, but there are cheaper options than what I pursued. The plug and play feature of leds is costly....depends on your situation and environment/location. Fortunately, most don't understand what a grow tent can produce, and it can be put almost anywhere without detection.

 

[rastapops]

hows this for a setup?