Growing weed indoors is tempting. After all, it allows you to control every aspect of the grow. You can harvest great weed in January in Minnesota if you’re growing inside. The weather has no hold over you!
The trouble is that setting up an indoor grow can be time- and labor-intensive. Making sure your room is set up and has everything you need may feel overwhelming. That’s where indoor grow tent kits come in. These convenient kits can help you grow weed inside with a minimum of fuss. They’re plug-and-play. You just have to put the kit together and supply the plants and you’re in business.
What Are Indoor Grow Tent Kits
A grow tent kit is an all-in-one package that provides you with everything you need to get started. You figure out the dimensions of the space you want to fill. Then you find a grow kit that fits that space, make one purchase, and you know you have everything you need. There’s no worrying about not having enough light, the wrong size pots, or mismeasuring fertilizer
On top of that, these kits are often much cheaper than buying each item individually. A grow tent kit saves you time and money. No more doing math on your phone, trying to figure out whether a light will provide enough light for enough square feet. It just works.
What Are the Advantages of Grow Tent Kits?
When you’re setting up a grow room, you have to think about a lot of things. How will you mount lights? How do you install a vent to get hot air out of your room? How much light do you need to fill your space?
Grow kits take all of your questions and answer them. They are designed to include everything you need to have a successful grow. The light included in the package was measured and chosen because it can cover the square footage of the tent. Any ducts included in the kit are guaranteed to fit the exhaust vents of your light and your tent. All the cords you need will be included. It’s just easy.
Grow tents keep you from having to drill holes, cut anything to measure, or do anything else that might damage your living space. They save you time, because you’re given explicit directions on how to set everything up. There’s no second-guess the right size or shape – you just get the grow box and go.
What Do Indoor Grow Boxes Include?
Grow kits can have a variety of different things in them. There are items that are basically mandatory, and things that are just nice to include.
The basics of a good grow kit are:
- A grow tent
- A good light, appropriate for the size of the tent, with hanging supplies
- Ventilation, including an exhaust fan and an airflow fan
- Temperature controls and monitoring tools
Beyond that, great grow boxes can include a lot more. An ideal grow kit would also include:
- Ductwork for the ventilation system
- A carbon filter
- Duct tape
- A light timer
- Humidity controls
- Pots for growing
- Pot supports
- Nutrient testing equipment
- Nutrient application equipment
- Watering tools
- Trimming sheers
- Drying and curing supplies
- Safety glasses
Really, all that a good grow box should leave out are the plants, the growth medium, and the nutrients. Those are still personal choices on the part of the grower – what if you want to grow organic? Otherwise, a really great grow kit should come with everything you need to get up and running immediately.
How to Set Up Grow Boxes (aka Grow Tents)
Grow tent kits are about the same level of complexity as a piece of Ikea furniture. Once you’ve unpacked the box, you just need to follow instructions. Most elements are simply able to be plugged in, or mounted and then plugged in.
The first step to setting up a grow box is putting up the tent itself. These tents are designed for optimal grow conditions. The insides of the tent walls are designed to reflect as much light back to the plants. The tent is also designed to contain the smell, so you don’t bother any roommates.
Step 1
These tents are most often self-supported structures. That means that the first step is to put together the frame in the room where you want to keep the tent. Once the frame is put together firmly and safely, you can place the grow tent cover over it.
Step 2
Now you need to start installing the mechanics that will make the grow tent a perfect place for weed. In general, lighting is the next step. Your grow box should be designed to allow the accompanying light to hang from the top of the tent. That’s why getting the tent frame put together well is so important – it will support the most important part of the grow. Follow instructions for this set-up closely, because a falling light can end any grow. Your light should be plugged into or have a built-in timer. That is how you’ll set the light cycles to guide your plants to flower.
Step 3
The next step is installing the ventilation system . Depending on the grow box, it can include anything from fans to ductwork to filters. Ideally, there will be a fan for the outgoing vent and ductwork to connect that to your light. There will likely be a carbon filter to include in the outflow system as well. The carbon filter neutralizes the scent of your plants, to help you stay stealth. There should also be an oscillating fan, to keep airflow consistent throughout your tent. The best kits include duct tape, so you truly don’t have to buy anything except the kit and the plants.
Step 4
Once your ventilation system is set up, you will set up the humidity and temperature controls. The most basic of these is the thermometer/hygrometer. That tells you where your levels are at any given time. Good grow kits also include a way to take care of those levels for you, like an automatic ventilation control.
Step 5
The final step to setting up the tent is getting plants ready. A good grow tent comes with pots for you to put your plants into, along with drip trays and the tools for transplanting. You may have to provide the growth medium, so be sure to double-check.
What should be included is a way to administer the nutrients your plants will need. That includes measuring and mixing tools, along with watering equipment. In a grow tent, you probably don’t need to automate watering, since you can probably only fit four to eight plants. Look for the fertilization equipment, and keep it somewhere easy to access. Cannabis likes lots of fertilizer, so you’ll be adding some every other time you water. The easier it is to access, the simpler your life will be.
Finally, you should store your drying and curing supplies from the grow box in or near the tent. It’s best to be prepared, and with how easy grow boxes make the process, your harvest will be here before you know it. Never rush drying and curing – you can even dry and cure inside your grow tent, if you aren’t anxious to get to the next grow.
Preventing Negative Pressure in Ventilation
Once you’ve set up a grow tent, you might be concerned that the walls are “pulling” in due to the exhaust fan. This only sometimes a problem. What you’re seeing there is called negative pressure.
In moderate amounts, negative pressure is a good thing. It shows that your exhaust fan is working and pushing out enough air that clean air is getting pulled in. The trouble is that you don’t want to stress out your exhaust fan’s motor. If it works too hard, it can overheat and eventually break down. Then you need a new fan, and the whole point of a grow box is to avoid buying individual items one at a time.
So, to avoid this, you want to keep your tent walls from being pulled in too far by the fan. The simplest way to do this is to give your exhaust fan more places from which to draw in clean air. Your grow tent came with an intake vent, so first you should check whether that’s blocked. Move stray supplies out of the way and you might solve your problem right away.
If that doesn’t work, then you might need to go a step further. Most growers prefer to keep their grow tent zipped shut when they aren’t using it. However, if you’re worried about your exhaust fan, you can unzip it a bit. Negative pressure means that you won’t be losing any heat or humidity out the unzipped portion. Clean air will go in and stale air will still leave out the exhaust. That should solve any issues with the walls pulling in. Just unzip further until you’re satisfied with how the walls look.
Indoor grow tent kits make things simple. That’s all there is to it. A good grow tent kit will have everything you need to grow weed with an up-front sticker price and there shouldn’t be surprises down the road when you realize you forgot something. They’re reliable, easy, and they work.