Grow tent recommendations & insulation

[dante76]

I have an xtra sun 6 hood w/ 1000 HPS and wondering what the best tent size would be for this. I was considering an 8'x4'x6.5' tent but is this too big for just the one light?

Considering a tent because growing in my garage is more challenging than i thought. The cold is freezing my plants and thought the tent would help retain heat from the light.

What do you xperts think? Should i go with a smaller tent? Will a tent help insulate heat during the winter?

thanks in advance

 

[Desert Dan]

Dante,

If you want to retain heat you are better off framing up 4x4 or 5x5 square box in your garage. You could insulate it pretty well this way, but a tent doesnt really retain much heat.

DD

 

[Phaeton]

I live in a cold climate.
The lights are hung from the ceiling joists, but the tent (?) is built of 1" x 2" inexpensive lumber. Reflectix is stapled to the frame.

It is all very light duty, but it is inside, no wind or rain. Very effective for the plant and very cost effective compared to a store bought tent. Mine is not light tight at all, the light hangers go through cutouts, but the outside room it is in gets quite dark.
Some skill and some tools are required, not a lot.

If it's really cold I suppose a layer of visqueen could be stapled to the outside, but reflectix is a 1/4" mylar coated bubble sandwich with dimples, holds heat well.

 

[Hydrolized]

Put a heater in the garage, or build a cheap room like DD and Phae said...a 4x4 room would only take no more than 15 2x4's so thats $45, and a decent door you could get for $55-$100....and your still under what a decent 4x4 tent costs....Although, if it's not a sealed room your going to need ventilation even during lights off, so it still might be a little cold during lights off. If you do build out a little room and have the money, consider going sealed with CO2 and a dehumidifier, which will add heat at night when it runs...might be the best option for winter.

 

[dante76]

thanx for all the input on this. honestly, i'd rather spend the dough on the tent. i work about 10 hrs/day and don't really have enough time to build my own housing.

Other opinions i recieved on other forums believe that the tent will help insulate heat but i guess theres no way to find out without doing it

 

[Phaeton]

The "occupy wall street" protestors in our local city park got really cold when the temps hit -40. The wimps put up small single wall tents, more porous than a grow tent, and stayed. There occupiers were quoted "the tents made it possible to remain".

So the tent will definitely be an improvement.

 

[Hydrolized]

The tent will insulate...but the problem still stands that your going to be pulling ice cold air into the tent even during lights off...it needs 24/7 ventilation without CO2...so it's still going to be cold.