Indoor Grow Tent Project

[Autoflowerpower420]

Hey guys!
I'm planning on purchasing an apollo horticulture 48x24x60 grow tent, but I've got questions about ventilation.

Facing the front of the tent there are two 12x7 inch screens on the sides and one 20x7 inch screen in the middle.

There is one 3" hole to the left of the screen in the middle, also another one on the same side but at the top of the tent

There are two 6" holes on the sides of the tent at the top, I'm assuming for tube cooled lights

and there is one 8" hole on the roof of the tent on the right side

Now what is the best way to set this up, id like to know how many and what size inline fans I need. If you guys don't think I would need a cool tube I'm sure that's probably one less fan that I would need. I'm looking for a cheap set up.

Also will 4" fans fit in a 3" hole? Not sure how stretchable the ports are

 

[Autoflowerpower420]

I decided to get the 600 watt AH ballast kit, hps and his bulbs I really only need one fan for a cool tube correct? And then one more fan for the exhaust? Do I even need an intake into the tent if I use say an 8inch inline fan ducted exhausting out of the top? At that size wouldn't it kind of act as an intake and exhaust?

 

[MedGrower]

Hi man! I calculated the m2 of your tent and it would be 0,72 m2 area you have be able light up good. It is somewhat small area to work with but I have two pretty much similar growspaces at my place. Also I am not too much of a HPS guy but I would imagine a 400w would do just as fine in a tent of that size and it sounds to me that 600w hps would be already a bit overkill but regardless of that it would be advisable to use cool tube.

Now you just need one exaust fan in this whole set. Just think of it this way; Chain starts with the carbon filter, then you connect the cooltube to the chain, then you connect the inline exhaust fan and then you line the hose out from the rear of the exhaust fan. In a tent like yours it should vent the incoming air from the bottom because of the underpressure created by the exhaustfan so no need for anything else.

Hope this helps you and good luck!

 

[Autoflowerpower420]

Well what if I went with the 48x48x60 version? Would 600 fill that well? I plan on doing 2 MAYBE 3 plants. If I DO grow 2 plants wouldn't 400 watts be perfect? And would 400 watts be able to produce decent sized plants if growing two? Honestly if I were growing two I would probably use 7 gallon pots.

 

[MedGrower]

Well what if I went with the 48x48x60 version? Would 600 fill that well? I plan on doing 2 MAYBE 3 plants. If I DO grow 2 plants wouldn't 400 watts be perfect? And would 400 watts be able to produce decent sized plants if growing two? Honestly if I were growing two I would probably use 7 gallon pots.

I used to do up to 4 plants in 1m2 area in DWC with 400w HPS even without cooltube just fine. 48x48x60 would be doupling the m2 from 0,72m2 to 1,44m2 and for that the 600w would do perfectly IMHO. If the tent is just 60" (150cm) tall I would really really really advice to pay special attention on growing short plants or use some methods like Scrog since you wont get too much overhead to your plants and you really need that with HPS unless you want to burn your babies.

 

[woody]

600w is good for 48x48 floorplan mate 4 would fill that space nicely giving them 2ft sq each. Just take height into consideration also esp when using very big pots

 

[Jtsmoker]

I have that tent but it's the 8ft x4ft by 72 black and purple one I ran it first with ac/de 1000 watt and 8 in 900 cfm carbon hung in the top with hyper fan and a ten in. Intake filter with a hyper fan from out side the tent blowing cold are in the low intake hole of the tent it was my first auto Run I kill it 9 out of 11 where fire now that tent is for veg. With a HO T5 8 bulb and a LED Mars 700 watt so is its the one that pulls 350 watts and just one hyper fan sitting on the floor blowing up out the top vent I put a 8in. Ring in the top vent hole of the tent and pulled the draw string a little to keep it round for better air flow I hope this helps

 

[Autoflowerpower420]

Okay so I'm still a little confused guys, let me get this straight, I need an 8 inch fan for the top exhaust and another fan for my cool tube? And NO fan for intake? Is that what the screens are used for ? And if so do the screens work well?

 

[Anthropolis]

Uh, hang on lol. With all those holes, you've got options A tent of that size doesn't require an 8" fan, it'll be mega mega overkill lol. You totally can if your heart is set on it or if already purchased, but a 6" or 4" inline fan and filter should be enough. I've got the same size tent, and use 6", and that's still kinda overkill at full speed, so I use a fan controller (about $38 and worth it!) and run it about half speed most of the time.

You can run the cool tube on the same fan if s a 6" cool tube, but I thought most were 4". I think the more correct way to do it is to have it cooled with completely separate air, and with a "duct fan" or "duct booster fan" and tubing of the same size of course.

So say it's a 4" cooltube, you'd get a 4" duct fan (it's a 4" cylinder with a fan in it, not like an inline fan with a bigger fan and housing), 4" ducting, and a few 4" clamps. You'd run the ducting into the tent, clamped to the duct fan, then more ducting or directly clamped right up to the cooltube, then more ducting from the cooltube to right out the tent.

Then you'd also get whatever inline fan you want, 4", 6" or 8" and a matching sized carbon filter. then you need ducting and clamps in that size too This won't need an intake ducting. The filter sits in the tent, strapped to the ceiling , then mounthed directly or use ducting to the inline fan, then more ducting out the third tent hole, probably would be the 8" roof hole since the 6" side holes would be used by the cooltube ducting.

That's one way to do it, but there's lots of options. You set it up however it works for you. It really comes down to how ya need it to work for your situation. Hope that helps with some of the confusion. I'm no expert, one of the experts could provide even more help if ya need it.

 

[Autoflowerpower420]

Thanks man that's exactly what I needed!