Have 1000 want to buy/build a tent or a hydroponic grow box/cabinet opinions?

 
get a tent, easier to customize and fit to your liking and add adjustments later.
 
for $1000, you can get everything you need for a tent at about those dimensions.

 

Would suggest checking out the grow journals under Hydro, YouTube, and sites like http://www.growweedeasy.com. Lots of great info. Last October I had never grown inside and it had been decades since I had any plants. I will be harvesting in a few weeks, this is what my 5x5 looks like now.


1stsfdoc
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Go amazon get a 48x 48 x 64 $115 on prime get digital ballast, cool tube, timers, nutes, tester ,lights 600 W or 1k W. Cfm fan etc. etc and have change..

 

i posted up here read everything and sorta followed advise..  Boy i wasted a lot of money by not fully understanding what I wanted and as a result I did not listen to the "better" posters
\nI started like you I knew what i wanted to do but did not know how to get there.  I have wasted nearly $500-$700.
\nIf i did it all over again I would buy the biggest tent for your space..  if its a 3x3 or a 6x10 doesn't matter.  For a brand, do a simple google search and you will see a trend of what is good SJ gorilla ect.. The reason why is the weight limits of what each tent can hold (bought one too small wasted $$).  Do you plan on hanging a cool tube if so you need to make sure you have the width needed so you can properly vent (bought a 2nd tent that was sturdy enough but was too narrow) If you want to go non LED you will have to account for extra heat 10-20 degrees higher depending on the watts (bought a 600 than 1k wasted more $) because of the heat added I had to buy a portable AC (wasted more $ cooling a room i was heating) 
\nPlease do not take offense Im going to guess this will be your first grow? if so I would strongly going soil because of the forgiveness of soil over hydro. until you are able to see and know how to fix things that go wrong with your babies.. 
\nSo learning from my lessons get a phresh filter best thing out there buy an LED light (not promoting but I am cheap and I shopped and shopped and mars hydro did have the most aggressive pricing) Once you have those two buy your tent. spend a 100-200 for a great PH or combo ph meter if you want to get in hydro.  that will be around $700-$800 ish.  add in some good priced nutes/fans/inline fans/ducting etc you should be right around the $1000-$1100.  
\nFilter lights and ph meters are the heart of the grow..  buy the right ones when you have the $.
\nI hope this helps!

 

There is some good advice in here. You can figure out a few things at home, then research what fits best from there.
 
1. Figure out your growing space. Get a tent that will fit.
2. Find a light that supports that space, or even a little more (usually too much light itself isn't the issue in a grow, it's ventilation).
3. Get fans. You'll need a circulation fan for inside the tent. You will also need a nice inline fan (not a booster fan).
4. Carbon filter. This will be in your tent with air being pulled through it, through the ducting, through the inline fan, and pushed from there to wherever. Usually out of the grow room (not just tent) as recirculating hot air from lights into the same room is only going to make things worse. Plus you want to be pulling fresh "air" for the plants into the tent. This carbon filter is what keeps the smell at bay... outside the tent lol.
 
That's the main stuff. From there things should still be added. Obviously your growing medium, the containers the medium is in, light timers, temperature and humidity monitor (lmao, what is that called?!), light hangers, a way to transport water, pH meter, ppm if hydro, zip ties (glorious thing), duct tape  seeds or clones...
 
My point after that ramble is it's better to research, research, research before buying equipment. I first started growing with a buddy who had grown before. He helped me realize that the money I was about to spend on prefabbed grow equipment would have been a waste. I think that translates here because you can still easily buy more than you need, or will use, in your actual grow. I support the larger lights because they are a worthy investment for any grow, but the rest you should carefully consider. It's the experience that yields the best results (given that the equipment used is at least adequate, which with your budget it will be) 

 

Gorilla is the best tent ive seen. They are no joke. Expensive though so I went the SJ way. Still an excellent tent but nothing compares to Gorilla.. imo

 

For tents I use Lighthouse Hydro and think they are stellar for the price. Light is very well contained, no tears after years of use, easy to put up once you understand it lol... I think they could use thicker gauge poles, but it's never been an issue with me. Even with 4 light fixtures and a carbon filter hanging off the top bars!
 
I've heard good things about Gorilla too though.

 

If you live in a permanent dwelling, build yourself a room.  You can have the same size room of higher quality as a tent for 1/4 the price.  Think of all the extra grow supplies/tools you can get with that money.
 
If you live in an apartment or move around a lot or have the possibility of having to shut your grow down on emergency, buy a tent.
 
 
 
 
 
Just my opinion.  I have a 4'x8' secret jardin collecting dust.  Tents suck, but are useful for certain situations imo.

 

 
So long as you have a way to vent out the hot air haha. Pros and cons of each.

 

 
What do you mean?  It's as simple as cutting a hole and installing a flange in the room you build.  No different than a tent.

 

 
Mostly that you have to have some basic tools and get the materials to your house. For a homeowner it shouldn't really be an issue, but I know people without tools or even sense enough to use them.
 
EDIT: I also meant to say a way to vent heat out of the room the built room is in lol. Like if you have a bedroom and decide to build a grow box in there, it doesn't make sense to just vent the hot air back into the room the fresh air comes from.

 

Agreed I custom made my grow area. Have a veg, flower and cloning area for probably around the same price as a tent that big. Again... situational.

 

 
Yeah that's what I'm sayin, tents are useful in some situations.   If one can build a room for themselves though that's the way to go.  It's much cheaper and can be built to specifications.
 
 
As for venting the heat, how does that differ from a tent at all?  Growbox/room or tent.  Same thing.  I could build a 8x4 tent or room and vent the heat the exact same way.  I'm not seeing the issue?      Simple as installing a AC unit in the window to the room and problem solved.

 

 
Haha, how did that pass over my head! You're absolutely right it's the same.

 

Have you been smoking the devils lettuce again?