Marijuana laws have evolved a lot over the years and have been relaxed in most of the states across the US. While it was outright illegal a few years ago, smoking weed has now been legalized in many states, in some for medicinal purposes but even for recreational use in some states! However, what is yet to change is the social taboo that it brings along. A lot of people consider growing marijuana as a big taboo and it has actually led the growers to grow their weed indoors. When you grow it indoors, a grow tent is one of the most important things that needs to be bought with a careful amount of research.
Here’s a closer look at everything that you need to know about a grow tent before you buy one – but more specifically, the right grow tent size – because when it comes to growing weed indoors, size matters a lot. Your grow tent cannot be too large or too small otherwise it will hamper the growth of your plant.
Over the course of this article, we take a closer look at growing weed indoors vs growing weed outdoors – the basic differences between the two, along with a look at what a grow tent is and why it is important. We then come to the primary question at hand – how to choose a grow tent of just the right size, followed by some other important factors that need to be considered while buying a grow tent. Let us begin:
Growing Weed Indoors vs Growing Weed Outdoors
As we mentioned above, one of the biggest reasons as to why a lot of weed is increasingly being grown indoors is because of the social taboo that persists. However, there’s another reason – a bigger reason than just social taboo – growing weed indoors actually gives you a much greater control on the growth of your cannabis plant than compared to growing it outdoors.
Figure this – if you plan to grow your cannabis plant outdoors and it does not rain for a really long time, or if the sun doesn’t shine just bright enough due to bad weather conditions, the growth of the plant will be adversely affected. There’s also the risk of snow and excess rain damaging the plants. Stray animals and other factors can also damage your weed. However, none of these reasons are to be worried about if you choose to grow your weed indoors.
When you grow your weed indoors, you grow it in a controlled environment. Sunlight can be replaced by grow light, which provides both – warmth as well as light to the plants. The air circulation and even water-needs can be taken care of with the help of a proper ventilation and timely watering of the plants. Another important factor when it comes to growing your weed indoors is that of the grow tent – which is the space in which you can grow your weed. Let us take a closer look at grow tents and how to choose just the right size of a tent for your growing needs and purposes!
How to Choose a Grow Tent of the Right Size?
Your grow tent needs to be of the right volume, the right size and area, as well as the right height! Here are some things you need to consider in order to get the grow tent of a right size:
- Know Your Plants: The most basic thing here is that you need to know exactly what plant(s) you are going to grow. This is important because the height of these plants will decide how big of a grow tent you should be buying. You should also be familiar not only with the height of the plant, but also the various growth cycles, the amount of heat and light requirement and practically everything associated with the plant’s life cycle right from it being a seed to the harvesting phase before you decide to buy a grow tent because different plants have different requirement for light, air and heat.
- The Number of Plants: Another major aspect that determines the size of your grow tent is the number of plants that you are planning on growing. If you are planning to grow lesser number of plants, you will probably need a small to medium sized grow tent but if you are planning on growing a larger batch, you might either need multiple grow-tents or a large sized grow tent based on the needs of your plants.
- The Kind of Light You’d Be Using: While many people tend to consider the type and number of plants while they’re choosing a grow tent, they tend to miss out on this third important factor – the type of light that they’d be using. The strength and intensity of your light decides the size of the tent too! If your light is going to be too hot or too intense, you might prefer buying a larger tent with a surface which is not too reflective because then the plants can die due to an excessive amount of heat or humidity. Hence, the more intense or hot the grow light is, the larger the grow tent needs to be.
- The Distance of the Light from the Plant: Now this is a mix of some of the aforementioned points. For this you need to know all the type of plant and its light requirement, the various growth phases as well as the kind of light that you would be using. The distance of the light from the plant affects the size of your grow tent because the higher the light needs to be at its farthest from the plant, the bigger the size of the grow tent. Make sure you do your research well before you buy a grow tent. A small-sized grow tent would be greatly detrimental to the growth of your cannabis plants because they might get burnt out due to excess light.
Advantages of Using Grow Tents
When it comes to growing your weed indoors, you can’t simply grow it in a room. You would need a smaller and enclosed space where you can actually put your plants and set up your lights and provide air circulation in order for the growth to happen in a proper manner. Grow tents allow you to create just the perfect temperature inside them, generate the required amount of humidity, and ensure that excess light does not get dissipated and reflects back on to the plants. Given that they help you reflect your light on to the plants, they are also energy efficient and allow you to use your grow lights to the maximum potential.
Another major benefit of using a grow tent to grow your weed is that it also ensures that all the pests and insects are kept away. Spider mites, flies and other irritants are kept at bay – this is especially beneficial when you compare it to growing your weed outdoors where infestations of these sorts are pretty common and all your plants are at a risk of getting damaged if not taken a proper care of!
Grow tents also have an added advantage for advanced-growers. They are very flexible and adaptable – allowing you to switch from soil-based growth to hydroponic growth with ease. Also when it comes to changing from the vegetative stage to the flowering stage, you need to make minimal changes! Another, smaller, benefit of these tents is that they allow you to control the pungent odor that plants might sometimes emit. While they don’t contain it by 100% but there’s still a drastic reduction in the odor which can then be dealt away with, with the help of a proper ventilation system.
Other Important Factors You Need to Consider Before Buying a Grow Tent
Here are some other important factors that you need to keep in mind before you buy a grow tent:
- The Size of the Grow Tent: As discussed in this article in extensive detail, the size of the grow tent matters a lot. You need to know how high your plants are going to grow and hence what is the right size for your grow tent. Getting a small or a big grow tent as opposed to the needs of the plants can have adverse effects. Hence this is a crucial factor you need to consider before you buy a grow tent. In addition to being of the right size, the tent also needs to be of the right strength so that it can hold on to grow lights that will be hung on it. The tent also needs to be durable enough.
- Ventilation System: Grow tents are great places for those who like to play around with temperature and humidity. You can control both these factors inside a grow tent much better than outside it. However, you also need to know that when it comes to these two elements, you also need a good ventilation system so that the hot air can be dissipated and the humidity levels can be controlled otherwise your plants will get damaged due to excess heat or humidity.
- Features and Accessories: Support bars, light systems, timers, etc. are critical for any grow tent, especially for advanced users. Most users prefer buying grow tents which provide them with the most number of accessories so that they do not have to be purchased separately.
- Does it have multiple chambers?: Instead of using different grow tents for different phases of growth, some users prefer using grow tents which have multiple chambers which you can simply shift your plants across during different phases of their growth cycle which makes it easy to manage! These tents help you organize your growth better but the disadvantage here is that many grow tents with multiple chambers tend to have a small space for vegetative growth and you cannot accommodate a large number of plants there. Nevertheless, a good choice for those who are planning to grow a limited number of plants.
- Reflectiveness: Last but not the least, the reflectiveness of the grow tents also matters a lot! The more reflective the surface is, the more light it will bounce on to the plants. However, this is a careful territory as you need to ensure you are not using a light of a very high intensity when using a very reflective grow tent. Furthermore, as a rule of thumb, always prefer a grow tent which does not let the light leak out. The higher the thread count the better the grow tent.
Conclusion
We hope this article helped you make the right choice when it comes to buying a grow tent for your needs. The size of the grow tents matters a lot and it is essential that you get the right size for your growing needs. Get one which is too big and your plants might not grow at the same speed and with the same intensity! Hence, you need to make a careful and planned decision when it comes to choosing the right grow tent size and we hope we helped!
Happy Growing!
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