My First Grow, Starting with Setup

[indicalla]

Im in the basement as well. It's 65° right now, and maybe 3-4° higher in the summer. I don't use a tent, just partitions with the same reflective material tents have. I use a small electric heater in the cold months. Its on the floor indirectly blowing on the pots. Using a laser temp gauge, my soil will be 70-72°. Humidity varies by the season. You just have to go with what you have, and adapt.

Thanks for the reply! Have you ever felt like the cooler temps cause your girls to struggle?

 

[Deke]

My grow last winter started slow, I didn't have the heater going. But they took off fine. I avg 2 mason jars per plant that grow. OF, and 5 gal pots.
If the cooler temps slow the flowering I'm good with that. An extra week of veg just makes for a bigger harvest.

 

[indicalla]

I'm just going to go with passive intake and I'll cover the ends of the ducts in hosiery to try to keep bad things from getting in.

 

[Ryno_nuggs]

I deal with cold temps during winter. What worked for me, was insulation, I wrapped my tent in the pink cotton candy insulation with a layer of the foam board insulation over that and then covered it all with sleeping bags. I also run a flat panel chick coop heater that is pretty low wattage, like 130 or so.

The more you insulate, the the easier it is to keep the heat in.

 

[Ryno_nuggs]

Also, don't even mess around with the ac infinity s4, get the t4 with temp and humidity sensors/controls. You will be glad you did.

 

[indicalla]

Also, don't even mess around with the ac infinity s4, get the t4 with temp and humidity sensors/controls. You will be glad you did.

Just checked it out — great suggestion, I’d definitely prefer the S4 and will get it instead. Thanks!

 

[SmokeMoreMeph]

If you wanna stick with a 2*4 tent is recommend a DIY LED from growdaddyleds.com.

This one will outperform the mars with a little less wattage and it's incredibly easy to put together. And slightly cheaper.

6 x Sun Board Strip DIY kit Samsung lm561c LEDs Quantum Grow Light Mea

DIY KIT TO BUILD 190-210W 18"X18", 18"X24", 18"x32", or 18"x36" LIGHT LISTING INCLUDES: 6 - Sun Boards with 96 Samsung lm561c LEDs 6 - 40mm x 450mm heatsinks (40mm x 860mm heatsinks for two strips are optional - just ask for details) 2 - pcs 1/2" 18ga aluminum angle in 18", 24", 32", or 36"...

growdaddyleds.com

also the $40 power strip seems excessive for about 400w total of equipment.

Looks like you're in the right direction but personally I'd go with a 4*4 or 5*5 tent.

 

[SmokeMoreMeph]

Also the mars tents look like a scam Imo. Looks exactly like the tents that are half the pride. My 2*4 was $60.

 

[indicalla]

Also the mars tents look like a scam Imo. Looks exactly like the tents that are half the pride. My 2*4 was $60.

Awesome, thanks for your feedback.
I’m not stuck on the Mars Hydro tent, but I’ve heard lots of folks say the cheapie tents have weaker framing, worse zipper hardware, etc. I’ll do a bit more research before I finalize the tent, though, as it might be an opportunity to save some bucks as you said. I definitely want something well-built though.

Probably won’t go down the DIY light path at this point, but I’m bookmarking it for future consideration. Thanks again!

Point taken on the power strip. Maybe I already have something with a circuit breaker in it that I can use.

 

[Diamond Dog Hair]

For proper VPD, don't forget humidifiers and De-humidifiers. For my tent i have to run humidifiers till stretch starts and then go to de-humidifying till harvest. I grow in a basement and if i allowed the exhaust fan to de-humidify, my tent temp will drop to ambient basement temp, about 65.