Hello All! So excited to be posting here for the first time! Well, I have been lurking for about 5 mo and finally decided to really start growing! (thx to you guys!) I think I have the basics of whats needed however I am stuck at one issue- tent or diy grow box? Space, odor, location is not an issue as we have a completely unfinished but clean basement which is HUGE. I live near 2 restaurants (Mexican and Indian, go figure) and with proper filtering, the smell shouldnt be an issue. Im just not sure on which to choose. While I love the idea of being handy and building something on my own, to my own exact specifications;the ease of a tent (maybe 20 min setup) is very tempting. Cost isnt so much of an issue im not rich by any means but I will spend whats necessary for a quality product. What ya guys think? opinions? Personal pref? Would love for the pros to weigh in! THX!!
I prefer tents. Diy can still cost a little bit and tents are so much easier to move or takedown should you need to do so. Plus, like you said it takes all of about 20 minutes to set up a tent
I'm a big DIY. I was originally going to grow in a very large styrofoam cooler. I ordered shorter stains knowing I wouldn't have a lot of room. I got the cooler out of storage and it wasn't as big as I remembered. Still huge for a cooler, but small for a grow. My mind immediately went to other DIY options. I considered a large box made from styrofoam sheeting. I considered large trash bins. I could have made these work, but I was wanting to get started. Buying the materials in my small town would cost twice as much as from a big-box store, but I live 45 minutes from the nearest big-box store. My vehicle can't carry 4'x8' sheets, so I was going to need to borrow a vehicle also. Blah-blah-blah, etc. I got what turned out to be a nice 4'x2'x5' tent shipped to me for < $90. Great size for my needs, as I am never going to grow more than 3 plants at a time. A few minutes to set it up, and I was pretty much ready. However, I would never steer someone away from a DIY project, I enjoy them too much myself. If I could have been more patient, I would have built 4'x2.5'x6' closet. The extra 6" of depth would be nice (that's what she said). I still may do that.
I'm a terrible diy'er and very unmotivated. I have been working on my current grow cabinet for a few months now, I say go with the tent. Too much time invested to give up now, should have just gone with a tent.
i got a cheap 5x5 on amazon for like 160..has metal corners but the zippers take a min to break in...i think its worth it and will easily pay for its self first run...those 400+ tents are just too much i would frame a room with drywall before that
If you own your house then i would diy and make a room within a room Renting or anything like thy i would go with a tent
I grow in my basement too, I have a diy box and a large tent. They both have their advantages, the box just requires more of your time. I'm actually in the process of building a new 400w box for veg, but I love my 4x8 tent too. Maybe you could start with a tent to get going right away and build yourself a veg box at your leisure while the first grow is developing. That gives you more time to do research and plan it out.
I have an old tv cabinet in the corner of the dining area of my place. You would never guess what was in there. Very stealth. I hope to expand to a tent but I need to work on a disguise for it first. How good you need to hide it should determine what you do. Sent from my fucking phone
I'm a new grower too, really enjoying my gorilla tent. Getting it dialed in in terms of what you actually need to start, learning how to control your environment, there's definitely a learning curve. Having a tent that sets up in twenty minutes and is ready to grow much sooner than a full build out made getting started for me a lot less headache and expense. Growweedeasy and George cervantes' grow Bible, all the great resources and community on these and other forums, there's plenty of help to be had. I went with a tent because while I'm more than handy with tools, I felt it was much easier to get started this way than the complications that can arise from a full grow room build. And if you expand, you'll have a great separate veg and gestation area, or a contained spot to cure your buds! Since my goal is a perpetual setup where I yield enough to be a caregiver in my community, the tent as a first start made sense. I say go for the gorilla tent. The build quality is top notch.
I have always been a DIY guy myself. If you check out my journal you will see that I have a 2 room setup currently flowering under 4 600w lights in one room and in my veg room I have an assortment of cfls. I turn out 4-5 lb per 2-3 months, on 16 plants per 2 month cycle. However all my walls are multiple layers of tarps, my co2 generators are milk jugs and mason jars, my clone bubbler is an old tote and some fish tank stuff, I tie all my plants up with fishing line, i dry on a couple screens from my windows, and my water supply consists of a garden hose tied into the water at my washing machine. But again, I harvest usually 5 lbs every 2.5 months ago, and I spent nothing really, except the lighting.. For me, it has worked great so far (first couple years) but now i am really interested in getting professional grade tents. It becomes more necessary as you go i think..
I own my house and im happy I didnt build a grow room because the room I have the tent in will be for the baby in 9 months. Sent from my SGH-I747M using Grasscity Forum mobile app
When I do upgrade to tents I'm planning a 10'x10' for my 4-light flower cycle, a 5'x8' for my veg room and mothers, and a 3'x3' for drying. All together this is going to cost me over a thousand. The question of weather to DIY or not will basically come down to your bottom line, what you can afford..