small Tent w/ 1000w hps

Nuglove

Member
I'm new, so here we go.
So I took some equipment as a partial payment a while ago. I'm setting it up and need some help.
So the tent is 4'x2'x4.5' I have a 1000w hps lamp with a vent fan and phresh filter.

I plan on growing from seed using soil.
But first. Will this light work for this size tent?
Assuming so, how many plants can I fit in it?

Do I have the ventilation set up correctly?
Blowing fresh air in through the hood, and out through the filter?

I have tons of nutrients but we'll get there.
 

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n0thing

Well-Known Member
1000w is overkill in that small of a tent. I have the same size for mothers and you'll have problems with the 1000w unless you run scrog.

Ventilation is backwards. You want to extract the hot air from inside the tent out through the hood. Air flow = hot air inside tent through filter > hood > fan > outside.
 

Kerovan

Well-Known Member
Your tent is far too small for 1000W and far too short for anything practical. Possibly a 400W hps, but even that would be pushing your luck in a tent that short. Even with a low powered light you will be looking at possibly 2 plants about 14" tall max.
 

n0thing

Well-Known Member
What type of light would you recommend for this tent? and would it make sense to grow autoflower?
LED would probably be best. A 400w would do well but HID run hot and if you don't cool it well enough you have to keep them far enough from the plants so they don't burn. Your height is the biggest set back for you. Most pots will take at least 12" away, leaving you with only 3.5' minus however much space your light takes up and that's without adding in the distance from your bulbs.

I haven't messed with autos in years but I'm pretty sure you're going to have to run photoperiod because you'll have to top and train your plants to maximize yields and autos don't do well with that (correct me if I'm wrong.)

Don't get discouraged, you can rock out in that little tent for personal use, just need to set it up properly. Two plant scrog would do well in this tent but there's other options as well.
 

coreywebster

Well-Known Member
Tents are cheap, I would want to get at least a 4x4x7 and run that light, problem is your fan looks like a 4" and filter is tiny so your going to have to decide if your upgrading fan filter and tent or downgrading light. I wouldn't want more than a 250 in there. If it were me i would try and get a part exchange on your fan and filter and upgrade the lot and run the 1000w. You can go as big as a 5x5 with that light. Why fuck about, your first crop will cover your outlay many times over.
 

Nuglove

Member
I'm going to downgrade the light, and throw the 1000w in one of my bigger tents.
(I have 3 tents, one about the same size, and 1 around 5x5)
The problem is the poles that came with them are unorganized/missing pieces and just a headache.
If you look in the pictures you can see I took an old skeleton from an ikea stand up closet and cut it down, it fits perfectly inside. So for simplicity I set up this tent.
I could go out and get some pvc pipe and cut new poles for the bigger tent to run the 1000w in.
 

fn217

Active Member
Are you prepared to deal with the heat levels of a 1000w HPS? If you haven't experienced it it really is a truly intense source of heat. I couldn't imagine ever running a 1000w HPS in anything but the largest of tents, with some form of real climate control or extreme air turn over with cold fresh air.
 

Nuglove

Member
Are you prepared to deal with the heat levels of a 1000w HPS? If you haven't experienced it it really is a truly intense source of heat. I couldn't imagine ever running a 1000w HPS in anything but the largest of tents, with some form of real climate control or extreme air turn over with cold fresh air.
apparently I'm not. do you have any suggestions? and is there any type of light source I can use to get the same power without putting off so much heat?
 

fn217

Active Member
apparently I'm not. do you have any suggestions? and is there any type of light source I can use to get the same power without putting off so much heat?
Depends what you are looking to spend. For the price of a new 1000 HPS fixture and electronic ballast, you might be able to get yourself into a high quality LED fixture which would blow you away. You may wish to head into the LED section for recommendations, as honestly I don't feel qualified enough to make a recommendation. A DIY COB kit like this would blast that tent with photons. Keep the driver out of the tent and have good air extraction and your temps should be solid.

http://www.rapidled.com/vero29se-2-x-2-grow-kit/

EDIT:
This was shared with me in another thread and looks like a great bet for your setup.
https://growerslights.com/products/horticulture-lighting-group-260-watt-xl-quantum-board-led-kit
 

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
What type of light would you recommend for this tent? and would it make sense to grow autoflower?
Printed Circuit Boards(PCB LEDs) - go read up in the LED forum. They're super easy to figure out and build. Ask questions over there.

Or Citizen COBs run soft(50 watts each). Again, you can find this info in the LED forum.

Sell your 1000 watt on craigslist. Or start looking for a 5x5 tent and keep it. The tent you currently have is perfect for 250 - 300 watts of PCB or COB, which can be done for $300 or less.
 

Nuglove

Member
Printed Circuit Boards(PCB LEDs) - go read up in the LED forum. They're super easy to figure out and build. Ask questions over there.

Or Citizen COBs run soft(50 watts each). Again, you can find this info in the LED forum.

Sell your 1000 watt on craigslist. Or start looking for a 5x5 tent and keep it. The tent you currently have is perfect for 250 - 300 watts of PCB or COB, which can be done for $300 or less.
What's the light worth? about.
 

Shinsou

Member
What's the light worth? about.
To replace a 1000w hps with led you would need 600w of cobs at least.

So that would get expensive, only worth if you plan to grow for a while(would be overkill for that tent anyway)...
I say either get that 5x5 out or dont use a tent at all, looks like you are in a garage?
 

ANC

Well-Known Member
If you are going to go HPS in a small tent, you want a cooltube or a housing that has the light behind a pane of glass and ducting ports on either side one end goes to a cool air supply, other to somewhere to exhaust hot air . Then I'd run a separate setup for blowing air out of the tent and ducting out also to the hot air exhaust site
 

Johnny Lawrence

Well-Known Member
To replace a 1000w hps with led you would need 600w of cobs at least.

So that would get expensive, only worth if you plan to grow for a while(would be overkill for that tent anyway)...
I say either get that 5x5 out or dont use a tent at all, looks like you are in a garage?
It's only 8 square feet. Three to four hundred watts of cob/pcb would crush that tiny space. Thousand watt hid is overkill for that square footage.
 

n0thing

Well-Known Member
I don't understand the discussion at this point.. You have a 1000w HID system with a fan and hood. You already have a 5x5 tent. Put them together and baby you got a grow goin.
 

Nuglove

Member
Also
I have another space I plan on setting up early next month, 8x8x8
Temperature is going to be an issue.
Would it make more sense to invest in an led system
or use the 1000w I have, and invest in some form of climate control?
 
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