Best Grow Tents for Weed

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Written By Rocky Horton

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The best grow tents for weed allow you to create the ideal conditions for your plants while also conserving energy on lighting and climate control.

This article will discuss a variety of considerations you may have when choosing a grow tent, such as size, material, frame weight capacity, and more. Next, we will compare and contrast six different brands of quality grow tents to find the perfect tent for your next grow.

Why Use a Grow Tent for Growing Weed

Although the setup cost of a grow tent may seem intimidating, grow tents have many benefits that make them a superior choice to growing in a closet, cupboard, or open room.

Grow tents give you an impressive amount of control over your cannabis plant’s environment, allowing you to regulate the temperature, humidity, lighting, and even CO2 concentration with far greater accuracy than other growing methods. In the ideal climate of a grow tent, cannabis plants will grow larger and faster, and they will produce larger, more potent harvests.

Grow tents are also a more energy efficient way to grow cannabis. The reflective inner walls of a grow tent increase the efficiency of your grow lights, while the airtight walls keep heat and humidity from dissipating into the rest of your home.

Finally, grow tents provide helpful features such as support beams to mount equipment and ports to run ducts and cables through. In an open room or closet, it can be much more difficult to mount items like lights and fans, and they will often be more difficult to adjust.

What to Consider When Choosing a Grow Tent

There are a large number of different grow tent configurations available on the market, which can make selecting the perfect tent difficult. A few important things to keep in mind when looking over grow tents are how many plants you want to grow, how large a space you have to set up your tent, how discreet your tent needs to be, and how much money you have to spend on the tent and equipment. Below, you will find a few grow tent attributes that you may want to consider before making a purchase.

Size

Common sizes of grow tent include 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, 4×8, 6×6 and more. An adult cannabis plant will take up approximately four square feet, so a 4×4 tent with 16 square feet of floor space can fit about 4 adult plants, or a larger number of juvenile plants.

Most grow tents will have a standard height of around 80 inches (6.6 feet). While this is taller than most cannabis plants will grow indoors, the top two feet or so of the tent will be taken up by lights and fans, so the usable space for the cannabis to grow is usually closer to 5 feet.

Fabric

Most quality grow tents will be lined on the inside with mylar. This highly reflective material allows light rays to be bounced back at your plants, increasing the efficiency of your grow lights. Mylar is offered in a few different finishes, such as hammered and diamond. Diamond finish will reflect back more light, but it will also increase the heat in your tent more rapidly.

The outside of a grow tent is typically made of a plastic tarp, usually nylon or polyester. These materials are flexible, lightfast, and resistant to tears. 

The thickness of a grow tent’s outer canvas will be listed as a “D” rating. Grow tents can range from 200D to 1500D+, with higher numbers indicating a thicker, sturdier fabric. 

Frame Weight Capacity

Most Grow tent frames are made of interlocking hollow steel tubes which are designed to both support the fabric shell and provide places to hang equipment such as lights, ducts, and fans. The higher the listed weight capacity, the more items can be safely hung from the frame.

Except for very small tents such as 2×2, you will want a frame that can hold at least 100 lbs. Fixtures for grow lights can get surprisingly heavy, and if you mount more weight than the tent can support, you risk the structure collapsing onto your plants.

Doors and Windows

Most grow tents will have zippered doors to access the inside of the tent. Since the door is one of the most common spots for air leaks, be sure to select a tent that has quality zippers that pull up and down easily. For larger tents, try to select a model with a zipper on the inside as well as the outside, as this will allow you to close the door behind you while you are inside.

Some grow tents may also have clear plastic windows. These can be a convenient way to look in on your plants without opening the door and disturbing their air. However, some grow tents designed for plants other than cannabis may have excessively large windows that decrease the efficiency of your grow bulbs by allowing light to escape.

Ventilation and Cord Ports

All grow tents will have some configuration of ventilation and cord ports. Typically, a tent will have round ports in the top and bottom corners to run ducting and cords out of, as well as longer, narrower vents in the bottom to allow for passive air intake. 

Many tents will have features that allow the unused ports to be closed off, such as cords that can be pulled taut to close the port. These cords can also be used to get a tighter seal around ducts or other electrical cords you are running out of the tent.

Extras

A wide variety of extra features can be added onto a grow tent to accommodate more specific needs. These include two chambered tents, height extenders, shelving units, flood trays, trellis netting, and various other modifications that can make growing cannabis easier and more streamlined.

What is a Perpetual Grow Tent?

A perpetual grow tent is a system designed for continual cannabis production. This can be achieved by using two separate tents in the same room, or by using a multi chambered grow tent. Vegetative plants will be kept in one tent/chamber, and flowering plants will be kept in the other. 

Because vegetative and flowering plants have different light and humidity requirements, the two types must be kept in separate tents with independently controlled humidity, temperature, and lighting schedules. While multi-chambered grow tents are larger and more expensive, the ability to grow both life stages of cannabis plants at the same time will dramatically reduce your time between harvests.

Best Grow Tents for Growing Cannabis Indoors

Below, you will find an overview of some of the best cannabis grow tent brands on the market. After a brief description of each company, you will see a list of pros and cons of each tent to help you select the best grow tent for your unique circumstances.

Before moving on to this list, you may find it helpful to determine your budget and size constraints, as well as any other specific parameters a tent needs to meet. For instance, some growers may place a high priority on scent proofing, while others may be more concerned with having a very sturdy frame that can withstand the weight of their heavy halogen fixtures.

Mars Hydro Grow Tent

Mars Hydro offers a large selection of grow tent sizes, ranging from 2×2 to 8×8. The tents are made of a 1680D synthetic canvas with diamond mylar interior, and they come with a mylar lined drip tray for the base of the tent. The tents have tool free metal frames with weight capacities ranging from 88 to 220 lbs depending on tent size.

Pros

  • These tents are made of a very durable material, with 1680D being the most durable canvas option on the market.
  • The tents have dual cinching duct ports and mylar screens over the vents, which help prevent air escape.
  • Mars Hydro also has three dual chamber grow tent options ranging in size from 3×2 to 5×4.

Cons

  • The hollow frame is less sturdy than some other brands, and the tool free construction can feel unstable at times

Spider Farmer Grow Tent

Spider farmer offers 9 different sizes of grow tent, ranging from 2×2 to 5×10. The tents are made of 1680D oxford canvas with a diamond mylar coating on the inside. The tents have tool free metal frames with a 140-220 lb weight capacity depending on the size of tent.

Pros

  • These tents are made of a very durable material, with 1680D being the most durable canvas option on the market.
  • The steel frame is thicker than average and feels sturdy
  • The tent is almost completely airtight and leaks little to no light or scent

Cons

  • All tent models are very similar except for size. Spider farmer does not offer dual chamber tents, extra windows, etc

Gorilla Grow Tent

Gorilla Grow tents, produced by grow strong industries, come in a large range of sizes from the small 2×2.5 to the massive 10×20 tent. The tents are made of 1680D canvas on the outside and diamond mylar on the inside with interlocking steel frames.

Pros

  • These tents are made of a very durable material, with 1680D being the most durable canvas option on the market.
  • Gorilla grow tents offers a line of tent height extenders to increase the height of any of their standard tents
  • Many of the tent options come with 2+ doors, making accessing your plants from different angles more convenient

Cons

  • Weight capacity is not listed for each tent
  • They do not offer any dual chamber grow tents, or kits to segregate off parts of their giant tents. 
  • These tents are some of the most expensive on the market, although most buyers agree this price comes with an increase in quality over cheaper brands

Vivosun Grow Tent

Vivosun offers a wide variety of grow tents, with sizes ranging from 2×2 to 10×10 for classic tents and from 3×2 to 9×5 for dual chambered tents. The tents feature 600D oxford nylon exteriors and mylar coated interiors

Pros

  • Vivosun offers many tent layout options, including dual chamber tents as well as tents with vaulted ceilings designed to fit bulky lighting fixtures.
  • Vivosun tents are more affordable than many other brands, with many classic size options available for under $150

Cons

  • With 600D canvas and a less reflective type of mylar, the quality of materials in this tent is lower than other options on this list
  • No frame weight capacity is listed for the tents on their website, and the type of metal used for the frame is also not specified.
  • Some users report that the area around the zipper door develops snags or small holes after repeated use

AC Infinity Grow Tent

AC infinity offers a line of Cloudlab grow tents in sizes ranging from 2×2 to 10×10, as well as several dual chamber options. Their tents feature extremely durable 2000D canvas and a diamond mylar coated interior, and come with a mylar coated drip tray.

Pros

  • With a 2000D canvas exterior, this brand has the highest durability rating on this list. Its diamond mylar coating is also among the most reflective options on the market.
  • AC infinity offers a range of mounting bars and plates to increase weight capacity and offer more locations to mount equipment in your tent
  • AC infinity offers a two year warranty on its tents, and their customer service is reasonably responsive

Cons

  • The doors and zippers are less durable than some other brands, and can develop snags and light leaks over time.

Secret Jardin Grow Tent

Secret Jardin offers tents ranging in size from 2 square feet to 200 square feet. They offer a line of ‘essential’ grow tents which are basic tent covers and frames, as well as a ‘pre-equipped’ line that comes with a variety of accessories for mounting equipment and a net for training your cannabis plants. Tents come in 210D, 600D, or 900D thicknesses with a mylar interior and steel frame.

Pros

  • The wide range of tent options makes this brand highly adaptable to home grower’s needs. Their essential line tents can all be assembled vertically or horizontally, while their pre equipped line comes with an impressive array of equipment to help you adapt the tent to your specific needs.
  • Secret jardin has two sizes of dual chamber tent available in its pre equipped category
  • Secret jardin also sells a huge line of accessories to further customize your tent. 

Cons

  • Their tents range in thickness from 210D to 900D, with 210D tents being at high risk of failure from tears. 
  • The metal frame is less stable than some other options
  • Tents can not be purchased directly from secret jardin’s website

Best 4×4 Grow Tents

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Best 2×4 Grow Tents

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Summary

Grow tents are an invaluable tool for growing cannabis indoors. Cannabis grown in a tent will be larger and healthier while also using light, heat, and humidity resources more efficiently.

While a large variety of companies sell grow tents that could be used for cannabis, it is important to look at features such as durability, lightfastness, price point, sizing options, and any other parameters that are important to you before making a final choice. Some of the more reputable sellers of grow tents include Mars Hydro, Spider Farmer, Gorilla Grow Tents, Vivosun, AC Infinity, and Secret jardin.

Rocky Horton Avatar

Rocky Horton

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Rocky Horton is an experienced cannabis grower and the founder of IndoGrow. The IndoGrow editorial team has over four decades of combined growing experience. Learn more.