What Size Grow Tent Do I Need for My Garden?
If you are wondering what size grow tent is best for your cannabis garden, you are not alone. While people are drawn to grow tents for their convenience, they still have a difficult time visualizing the parameters of these setups.
Whether you are a commercial producer or hobbyist grower, grow tents offer an easy and convenient way to cultivate cannabis. If planned appropriately, tents will save you a good deal of time and money on your indoor cannabis garden — especially compared to laborious and expensive growroom build-outs.
To maximize on the benefits of grow tents, it’s essential you take the time to choose the right sized tent. Luckily, there are some very logical parameters to follow in choosing the perfect grow tent for your needs.
What Grow Tent Sizes are Available on the Market?
To accommodate increasing market demand, manufacturers make grow tents in a vast array of shapes and sizes. Some are small enough to fit inside a closet, while others are the size of large rooms in themselves.
For a first-hand glimpse at some leading grow tents, we had a look at the AC Infinity product line. AC Infinity makes advanced grow tents with premium fabrics, convenient ports, storage pockets, and a strong internal frame. Some of their most popular tent sizes include:
- Cloudlab 733: 3ft x 3ft x 6ft
- Cloudlab 894: 8ft x 4ft x 6.5 ft
- Cloudlab 811: 10ft x 10ft x 6.5 ft
With commercial producers in mind, certain manufacturers make tents as large as 20ft x 12ft x 8ft. However, it’s pretty rare that growers need a tent that is larger than 10ft x 10ft.
Available Space & Harvest Goals
Now that you have an idea of what size grow tents are available, you should take that info and weigh it against your available cultivation space. Additionally, this is a great time to assess your overall goals for your cannabis garden.
Before you rush out and purchase a new grow tent, you first need to measure the area where you plan on setting up. For example, if you own a small condominium and you plan on growing in a closet, you will want to settle with a small size. Whatever size room you choose, always be sure to measure it carefully before making a purchase.
Your harvest goals are also important in the grow tent shopping process. To illustrate, if you need to grow many plants to keep up with your CBD needs, a big tent is likely a better call. However, a small tent is likely enough for one person growing boutique flowers for occasional personal use.
Vegetative and Flowering Growth Phases
Another important point to consider is how cannabis plants grow through different phases of their life cycles. Not only do cannabis plants grow far larger during the flowering phase, but they also require different cultivation equipment. In the end, one of the largest challenges of tent growing is balancing the needs of the plants with available space and infrastructure.
All-in-One Setup
Some growers prefer to use a single tent for all their cultivation needs. If your space permits, its generally best to use a larger grow tent for these “single tent” operations — you will be using the same space for propagation, vegetative growth, and flowering.
It is not unusual for cannabis plants to double in size as they transition into the flowering phase. As such, if you were to pack a single tent full of vegetating cannabis plants and switch them to flowering, they would easily overwhelm the space in a matter of weeks. If you have ample room at home and plan on growing in a single tent, it’s a good idea to purchase a larger tent.
Staggering Between Multiple Tents
Another great option for tent growers is “staggering” crops between different tents. With this method, you utilize different-sized tents for different cannabis growth phases. In doing so, you keep a consistent wave of harvests coming throughout the year.
Because cannabis plants in different growth phases have unique spatial requirements, you can match tent size with plant size using the staggering method. To illustrate, when propagating seedlings and cuttings, a small 3ft x 3ft tent should be more than enough room. Moving onto vegetative growth, you will move your plants into something larger, like a 5ft x 5ft tent. Finally, move your plants into a 10ft x 10ft tent for flowering.
Because a three-tent setup allows you to harvest every 2-3 months, it’s a great choice for year-round production.
Cultivation Equipment
A final point to consider when sizing a grow tent is the cultivation equipment needed to do the job. Importantly, not all hydro equipment is engineered to work appropriately within the tight confines of a grow tent. Even more, equipment needs tend to change as cannabis plants enter new phases of growth.
One of the most challenging parts of situating cultivation equipment in grow tents is lighting. For vegetative growth, low-powered fluorescent lights work great. You can comfortably run these lights in small tents without concern for excessive heat. However, once your plants enter the flowering phase, you will need to power your grow with stronger lights, such as high-pressure sodium (HPS) and light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures.
If you opt with HPS lights for flowering, you will need to figure out a way to keep your tent cool. Importantly, whether you choose a hood/air-cooling setup or portable AC unit, you will need to account for this extra space within your tent.
Summary: What Size Grow Tent is Best for Me?
Due to their ease of use and affordability, grow tents have gotten extremely popular over the past few years. Today, you will find see grow tents used as propagation rooms for commercial growers, as well as flower rooms for home-based producers. While the increased popularity of grow tents is undeniable, many people still have a lot of questions about the best way to utilize them.
To choose the best tent possible for your needs, follow a logical decision-making process based on overall harvest goals and available space. After that, carefully consider how the different growth phases of cannabis plants will affect your overall cultivation plan. By following all these parameters, you can start a new grow tent operation that will be streamlined and productive.
AC Infinity is the foremost name in air delivery systems, designing and developing the latest innovations in cooling and ventilation technology. They offer a suite of quiet inline fans that automate the growing progress and track key metrics. Visit acinfinity.com or contact [email protected] to learn more.
