Growtents.com review (they are on ebay too)

The V Ape

Member
Hello all,

Didn't know if this was the best place to put this so lemme know if it belongs somewhere else.

As I have been getting started, I took a few leaps of faith on some vendors when I couldn't find any reviews online. So I have been posting my experiences for others.

I wanted to make a small closet for my first grow and after pricing out and looking at the hassle of building something myself I settled on a grow tent.

I checked ebay, online, these forums and stumbled upon www.growtents.com (found them on ebay first but the prices are better on their webpage).

Since i was going to get a small one, I ordered a 36x24x60 tent for $119US including shipping. After ordering I was contacted by the sales guy who said they did not have those available for shipping to Canada but offered to give me the 48x48x72 one at the same price. Much larger than I needed, but why not right?

This looks to ship out of Grimsby Ontario, and since I was near Toronto I got it via UPS, with tracking in 2 business days. Not too bad for free shipping. Apparently they also ship US orders from another location, but I don't know from where.

The box was non-descript and just had 1 piece 48x48x72 stamped on it and that was it, so the box is stealthy and wouldn't raise questions. It was sent by Pulse Electronics, so even better.

I quickly unpacked the box and was impressed by the tent right away. Apparently it is 600D canvas (some places sell 900D) with mylar on the inside. It felt really tough. The frame was white painted metal and it came with a base liner.

The instructions were easy enough to follow and on my own I was able to have the thing up in 20mins. I made a mistake and had the poles in the wrong direction, but after fixing that it was up in a jiffy.

Once together it has an additional tray for the bottom which was kind of nice since there will be more wear and tear on the floor. It has 2 6" ports on the side and top, as well as 2 4" ports. There is 2 air vents on the bottom which have flaps to keep the light out.

I put some of my lights up (still waiting for some to come in from ebay) which hung from the bracing frame easy enough (though I did not like that one of the frames when spaced equally is partially over one of the ports - but i won't be using that port anyways). Turning on the lights and I was amazed at how much the mylar reflects. It was pretty intense.

I zippered the whole thing up and checked out for light leakage and could only find 2 little pin holes on the whole thing. That is even with my extension cord being fed through a velcro port. (All the ports have these removable covers with velcro on them)

I then turned on the lights in the room, and zippered myself up inside the tent with the grow lights off and was engulfed in darkness except for the 2 pin holes and if the air vent flaps aren't in the right place you get a minimal glow from the lights outside the room. Once I fixed the flaps position it was pretty rock solid.

The only thing I am a little nervous about is the stitching on the main zipper for the entrance. It will get the most use, and feels really heavy duty, but I question how the stitching will hold up to long term use. Time will tell I guess.

Pros:
Company held good on "upsizing" my tent for lack of availability
Extremely fast and free shipping, me and then are in ontario but is UPS tracked shipping
Great build quality (only issue being the pin holes)
Cheap as compared to sourcing from the US+Shipping+Duties or local hydro store
Excellent communication from seller

Cons:
2 Pin holes, which are barely noticable to me
Main zipper stitching may start to fray after use, but only time will tell.
4x4 is way to big for me ;)

Overall I would give www.growtents.com service a 5/5 and the product a 4/5.

Hope this helps someone else looking for a decent built, cheap grow tent.

Vape it up,

The V Ape
 

Airwave

Well-Known Member
The great thing about Secret Jardine tents are all the holes it has for ducting and cables. Why other manufacturers seem to have such a hard time copying this is beyond me.
 

The V Ape

Member
Yeah, there are vent holes and such for 4" and 6" vents. Also with the velcro patch they have to cover them, there is zero light penetration. The rest of my lights and filter/fan came today so I will see how the frame handles the weight, but I don't have any concerns.
 

Tragik92

Well-Known Member
Yeah, there are vent holes and such for 4" and 6" vents. Also with the velcro patch they have to cover them, there is zero light penetration. The rest of my lights and filter/fan came today so I will see how the frame handles the weight, but I don't have any concerns.
i ordered a tent today, post some pics of your set up, i wanna check it out!
 

The V Ape

Member
They are 2 42W CFLs (120 comparible) and a 90W LED UFO from Lighthouse (purchased from Gotham Hydroponics via Ebay).

I think I had the light way too high so they stretched, and also found the pots were way too small. I moved them to larger pots and the current ones were packed full of roots to the brim.

Learning as I go!
 

The V Ape

Member
Nice! I got mine in 2 business days in Canada. Hopefully you get yours soon. I have picks on my camera of the setup which I will post soon.
 

Tragik92

Well-Known Member
They are 2 42W CFLs (120 comparible) and a 90W LED UFO from Lighthouse (purchased from Gotham Hydroponics via Ebay).

I think I had the light way too high so they stretched, and also found the pots were way too small. I moved them to larger pots and the current ones were packed full of roots to the brim.

Learning as I go!
having the light far away could have been the problem, but that also happens if theres too many plants and not enough light. the cup sizes are good, just next time DONT use see through cups because that weakens the roots. and it was way too early to do your first transplant. i start out in something the size of ramen noodle cups and transplant on their 10th node, or 8 inches tall whichever comes first. youll learn tho, just practice. i was a beginner like 2 years ago too so no big deal. if you ever have any questions let me know
 

The V Ape

Member
Thanks Tragik. I actually transpanted them last night. What a difference. The small cups were PACKED to the brim with roots. 18 hours later, the plants leaves are larger and more "pep" to them. they don't look all droppy.

Definately will be using larger start cups.

For those that asked, here is a picture of the inside of the tent. (back on topic! :D )

SANY0050.jpg
 

iDC5

Active Member
Hey guys, i have also used this site a few times, Just recently even, Can't beat the free shipping either.
I got the 4x4 also, and originaly the 400watt light kit works Awesome, I have upgraded to a 600Watt.
Tent is about a year old, been abused a bit moved around, Cat ran up it a few times, No Complaints.
 
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