# ideas for a tent



## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Nov 26, 2011)

im new enough to growing right now ive got a small cabinet with individual t5s going but id like to buy something bigger/better so im thinking of getting a 600watt sonlight hps/mh dimmable ballast so i can go down to 250 or 400 for veg with the MH bulb and up for flower  with the hps. would this be too much for a tent *SilverBox Grow Tent 1,4 Mq - 120x120x200cm* also are these a decent brand. ive only started searching around and wont be buying till Christmas or thereabouts so i have some time to decide anyway.

i already have a 6" inline fan+filter for outtake and was going to get a  cooltube for the light to help with heat also a small osci fan. 

what else would you add etc?
money isnt a huge problem but id like to keep it simple enough,


----------



## The Hemp Goddess (Nov 26, 2011)

A 120 cm tent will put you right about 5000 lumens per sq ft with a 600W.  I have to say that I personally have not found much difference between different brands of ballasts.  For a space that size, I would get a large air cooled reflector rather than a cooltube.  I far prefer T5s to MH for vegging.  Why not keep your small cab with the T5s for vegging and use the new tent for flowering?  I really really like having separate vegging and flowering spaces.  My veg space is only 2 x 6, but it supplies a 3 x 6.5 flowering pace just fine.  I like to be able to put a new plant into flowering every 10-14 days so I can harvest a plant every 10-14 days.  Sometimes life interferes or a plant takes longer or shorter than anticipated, but I can stay fairly close to that.


----------



## Locked (Nov 26, 2011)

I suck at math but isn't that a lil smaller then a 4x4x6.5? If so that is what I use for flower....A 600w HPS, like THG said puts you right at the min 5000 lumens a sqr foot but I can say from experience that it is actually a lil under lit. The outer edges of the tent don't really get enough light. I run a 600w and a 400w in that space for flower. For veg it wld be more then enough but a 4x4x6.5 veg tent is not something I need or want.  A 600w in an air cooled reflector wld work as long as you don't put too many plants in the tent and keep them towards the center. jmo


----------



## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Nov 26, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> A 120 cm tent will put you right about 5000 lumens per sq ft with a 600W.  I have to say that I personally have not found much difference between different brands of ballasts.  For a space that size, I would get a large air cooled reflector rather than a cooltube.  I far prefer T5s to MH for vegging.  Why not keep your small cab with the T5s for vegging and use the new tent for flowering?  I really really like having separate vegging and flowering spaces.  My veg space is only 2 x 6, but it supplies a 3 x 6.5 flowering pace just fine.  I like to be able to put a new plant into flowering every 10-14 days so I can harvest a plant every 10-14 days.  Sometimes life interferes or a plant takes longer or shorter than anticipated, but I can stay fairly close to that.



hey THG i was thinking of using that cab for veg though it is very small. i would like separate veg and flower, might try that but id still buy a MH bulb just to have etc. i like the ballast being able to support both.

5000 lumens is about right yeh? i have had decent results with the t5s/cfls but i did find some buds werent dense enough, im happy enough getting a smaller tent to increase the ratio if needed but no bigger lights just for electrical costs.

 is there a problem with dimmable ballasts? it was only a  little extra so id just like to have some options.

ill look into a cooled reflector cheers for the advice assumed cooltube were best along those lines.


----------



## JustAnotherAntMarching (Nov 26, 2011)

I wouldnt buy a dimmable...   why spent more $ for less light??  

Id put the $ you save towards a better hood or other equipment/nutes needed...


----------



## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Nov 26, 2011)

Hamster Lewis said:
			
		

> I suck at math but isn't that a lil smaller then a 4x4x6.5? If so that is what I use for flower....A 600w HPS, like THG said puts you right at the min 5000 lumens a sqr foot but I can say from experience that it is actually a lil under lit. The outer edges of the tent don't really get enough light. I run a 600w and a 400w in that space for flower. For veg it wld be more then enough but a 4x4x6.5 veg tent is not something I need or want.  A 600w in an air cooled reflector wld work as long as you don't put too many plants in the tent and keep them towards the center. jmo




hey, yeh i think its just under 4 foot so youd recommend a smaller tent/more light? im not needing a huge amount to be grown at any time anyway just a few decent plants. i have ten24watt t5s i could use as side lighting etc to bump it up a bit, other than that smaller tent im assuming


----------



## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Nov 26, 2011)

JustAnotherAntMarching said:
			
		

> I wouldnt buy a dimmable...   why spent more $ for less light??
> 
> Id put the $ you save towards a better hood or other equipment/nutes needed...



hey, it was only 40 extra, i just see it that i may need to use it for veg and save some cash that way and the extra to buy it isnt really big for me. 
im happy getting that and a good hood  aslong as theres no flaw in dimmable ones anyway.


----------



## Hushpuppy (Nov 26, 2011)

There should be no problems with the dimmable ballasts. It is easy to make them dimmable because they are electronic and easy to manipulate the outputs. That is why the dimmable units are only a few bucks more. 

If you have the room for the 4ft tent then stay with that. You will not regret having more room for flowering. If you had not already bought the one light I would recommend buying two of them at 400w (or you can get another 600) and set them opposing each other so that the plants get light from 2 different angles. This helps to allow better penetration down into the plants as they grow and get bushy. 

I personally don't like the hoods as much as I like the cool tubes because the hoods have a light footprint that gets narrow as the hood is lowered. Also you can't get 2 enclosed hoods in a 4x4 tent. The cool tubes are smaller so can fit 2 in the tent, and the footprint is adjustable and wider. Just my opinion though,


----------



## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Nov 27, 2011)

im not sure if i will have room for that tent so i might get the one down from that 100x100x180, and a hood/cooltube with the 600watt. thatd bring me upto 10000 lumens(?) 

id prefer not to buy two lights unless i could find a good deal though im only starting to think about stuff so ill check out both options.
ill get reading


----------



## Markers (Dec 3, 2011)

I have a dimmable ballast. It comes in handy to control heat. Also it allows me to introduce more light to young plants gradually.


----------

