Buying a Grow Tent from A to Z
Have you decided to start indoor growing, but are not sure what equipment to buy? Choosing from the vast range of grow shops can be quite a challenge for beginner growers. Different equipment is needed for growing microgreens, tomatoes or medicinal plants. We will guide you step by step through buying a grow tent and everything you will need to get started.
Growing plants indoors requires careful preparation and the right equipment. The most important components of every indoor garden are a grow tent, grow lighting and a ventilation system. All these components need to be correctly sized to suit both the plants and the space you have available for growing. We will explain how to do this in the following lines.
Grow tent
Plants grown under artificial lighting need a stable and optimised environment for their growth. This is best achieved in the enclosed space of a grow tent, which is the basic building block of every indoor garden. The basic criteria for choosing a grow tent are the type and quantity of plants you plan to grow. Growers of microgreens or kitchen herbs will be fine with smaller tents with an area of up to 1 m². Sprouts, seedlings and most herbs do not grow very tall, so we recommend choosing a grow tent that allows plants to be grown on several levels, for example PROBOX PROPAGATOR L. You will need a larger grow tent for growing fruiting and flowering species, such as tomatoes, chilli peppers or medicinal plants. Most growers will be fine with tents measuring from 1x1 to 1.2x1.2 m², but you can also find more spacious versions with an area of 4 m² and more.
A quality grow tent should meet several parameters. The tent should be made of high-quality, sturdy fabric that does not let light or air through, and it must have strong seams and quality zips that can withstand daily use. The inside of the grow tent may be white or coated with a silver reflective film (mylar). Some manufacturers also offer grow tents in unusual shapes (Secret Jardin), others add practical windows to their models (BudBox) or offer extensive modification options (Secret Jardin). The price of a grow tent will vary depending on size and build quality, but even with cheaper budget options (Trafika, URBANBOX) you can grow a beautiful harvest.
Grow lighting
Plants need light, which they use in the process of photosynthesis, during which they convert its energy into glucose and oxygen. Under normal circumstances, the source of energy is sunlight, but in indoor growing the Sun is replaced by grow lights. With only minor exceptions, growers illuminate plants with special LED fixtures that imitate natural daylight. Grow lights with a predominance of the blue part of the spectrum (grow) are intended to support vegetative growth and are suitable for growing microgreens, salads, herbs or for the first part of the life cycle of flowering and fruiting species. Grow lights tinted towards the red part of the spectrum (flower) support flowering and ripening in plants. We covered the importance of the light spectrum for plant growth in one of our older articles on our blog, which you can find here.
Grow lighting must have not only the correct light spectrum, but also the appropriate intensity. Just as if you exposed them to the midday sun, you can burn germinating and young plants with a grow light that is too powerful. TLED technology is an excellent solution for growers of microgreens, herbs or salads, who usually light plants from very close range and on several levels. When growing tomatoes, chilli or medicinal plants, it is necessary to provide the plants with more energy in the order of hundreds of watts per m². Parameters such as PPF (the amount of photosynthetically active photons) and PPFD (the density of photon flux falling on an area) are key for assessing lighting efficiency. Less powerful lights have a PPF of around 0.8–1.5 μmol/J, while high-quality modules reach up to twice that. The ideal PPFD varies according to the growth stage of the plants, from 200–400 μmol/m²/s for seedlings to 600–1000 μmol/m²/s in the flowering stage.
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Ventilation
As already mentioned, the growing space should be as well isolated from the surroundings as possible, but plants need a constant supply of fresh air. Extract fans remove warm and humid air from the grow tent. Fresh air intake can be passive, or a second fan can be used for this purpose, which is especially useful in larger grow tents. You will need one or two circulation fans inside the grow tent. These are designed to imitate the natural wind that affects plants outdoors and stimulates them to form strong stems. Constant air movement also makes life more difficult for pests and helps prevent hot or cold pockets of air from forming, for example under lights or in the corners of the grow room.
When choosing ventilation for a grow tent, the size of the tent, the type of plants grown and the intensity of the lighting all play a role. The output of the extract fan is usually stated in m³/h and should be at least 2–3 times the volume of the tent. An essential accessory when growing strongly aromatic species is a carbon filter that absorbs odour. You will also need several metres of ventilation ducting, preferably silenced, metal cable ties and several carabiners (Rope Ratchet or a similar type) for hanging lights.
You may also be interested in: Where and how to correctly place fans in a tent or grow room
We have shown how to assemble and equip your first grow tent step by step. Now you only need to decide which growing medium and growing method you will choose. Useful tips on how to do this can be found on our growing blog.