Hey guys, I am currently working on setting up my first outdoor grow, but I am also trying to plan out a tent setup to run an indoor grow in the next couple of months. I used to grow quite a bit indoor, and I always lived in a climate that was less extreme in terms of heat.
In the past, I did not have to work very hard to maintain my temps in my indoor grows so this is something that I am unsure how to best attack.
My tent setup would HAVE to be set up in my garage. That is simply my only option to run an indoor grow with my current home setup and kids. I plan to run a 48”x24”x60” (maybe larger if I can get away with it) tent in my garage, venting/exhausting outside of the garage.
I live in an extremely hot climate that regularly sees triple digits (Fahrenheit) during the summers. If I were to run my tent in the garage, the ambient temps in my garage would likely be in the neighborhood of 90 degrees Fahrenheit (or more). I am just not sure I would have the cool air I need outside of the tent in order to cool it without some sort of supplemental solution.
Cooling the inside of a tent is easy provided you have cool, usable air outside to draw from, but I would not have that in my scenario.
You would have to cool it down, usually a tent is a good +10°F than the surrounding ambient temperature. Maybe @oleskool830 has some tips for ya. I know he grows in a shed in the Texas heat.
Yeah I figured as much. I am trying to figure out if I am going to have to cool the whole garage or if I will be able to run something IN the tent. Electricity is pretty expensive in my area so that is also a consideration for me.
What do you think the slab temperature might be? The green bits will handle higher temps (so long as they have water to sweat) so long as the roots are cooler. Also, any chance of getting the garage roof insulated?
Good question. I have a laser thermometer that I could use to figure that out but I am not sure yet. I know it stays noticeably cooler than the ambient temperature but I would have to take some readings when it gets hot out. The slab my tent would be on is a raised/thicker slab than the main garage floor surface so it would likely stay even cooler.
I can look into potentially adding more insulation as a measure to help out which would be good all around.
Possibly. I pay quite a bit to cool my house in the summers to where I would have to calculate out how much it would be to run a small unit inside the tent.
I wonder what kind of unit I would be able to run inside the tent. It probably wouldn’t need to be very large at all.
Yeah theres all sorts of units that would work well in a tent that size. They vent out just like your exhaust fan will. I think you can get one for less than $400, probably a lot less. Idk I never bought them but seen them work well in larger rooms
Greetings @Zenki. Like @ReikoX said, I’ve struggled to grow in South Texas for some years now. I’m in an old converted free standing garage and grow in tents. At first it was just frustrating and miserable. Plants died, I sweated and had shitty outcomes. There are several things that made a difference. I have cool tubes on my lights. Lights are only on at night. I use forced intake. Two rotating 12”
Fans in the tent. I did some insulating in the walls and sealed all the cracks and holes. Insulation had a big impact on the heat.
I have a couple of rotating “pole fans” in the Shed that keep air moving and an exhaust fan in one gable to extract heat. I have tried a lot of things with limited success. I’ve put misters on rotating fans in the shed to try and lower the ambient temps…no good and makes a mess. I came up with a contraption made from an ice chest and fans to try and pump cold air in the tent…no good. The damn thing caused light leaks and hermed the entire tent.!
I also paid $300 one summer for a portable AC unit. I thought that would be the answer for sure. Brought temps down about 6 degrees and cost a fortune to run it. No good.
These plants of ours are pretty sturdy. I’ve survived 90 degrees inside the tent for days. In late July-August there is not a lot you can do but hope for rainy days. This year with the few improvements I feed my plants at lights on and when I’m done I close up the Shitkicker Shed tight and don’t open the door until next feeding time. Of course there are a plethora of fans keeping the air moving in the shed but so far this year it’s good. Seems easier to trap cool air in rather than blowing hot air out. Oh and my exhaust fan in the tent runs constantly. Lol. Good luck to you brother. Much love…
Wow this is really appreciated! I have tried a few of these methods to cool my garage in the summers to work on cars more comfortably. For the most part, they did not help much at all.
I have tried building a DIY swamp cooler much like yours, worked a bit but not worth it.
I have tried running portable AC’s and much like you said, those things get expensive QUICK when they are running all day.
What would you say had the BIGGEST impact of everything you did? Insulating the garage?
Mine is pretty insulated already but I am not sure if adding more up top might help.
It’s hard out here for us triple digit growers lol
Insulation and you have to vent all exhaust out of your garage to the outdoors if possible. The cool tubes are a necessity. Get that hot air out. Keep me posted on how it goes bro! Stop by my Shitkicker Shed and witness my suffering in Texas summers.
Peace…
I struggle every summer with the heat. I grow in the garage and the temps are regularly in the low 30’s C, 90’s F. Making sure that there is plenty of water for drinking and high humidity also helps.
This summer I faired well, since going to the mini SIP pots, as they drink as much as they want and local humidity was always over 80 per cent.
I also generally use the lights in the coolest parts of the nights, which helps a lot. I can also switch of a light or 2 if needed.
From what I see everyone is looking into the cooling down of your area which is good for sure but make sure you aren’t producing any extra heat with your lights so leds all the way probably. Also if your floor is cold during the summer you may actually be able to make a fan blow over it to circulate the colder air. If you have a cellar or cold room or lower down point I would test the areas and pull air from the coldest place just to make it easier on whatever cooling system you have. Cold air in, hot air out insulate the grow area…
