I’m very satisfied with my Mars Hydro 2x4
Mine is over a year old now and still in great shape.
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so you see light leaking out of the tent when you turn on the sun inside
but I have to ask if you are in the tent zipped up how much light do you see leaking in?
I have never grown in a tent I have only done two flower runs at the end of last outdoors
season
with the lights on in the 4 by 8 I used which was a very cheap one you could see light leaking
out and I had 1200 watts of HIDs in it
but I did stand inside the tent with the lights on outside the tent and what I saw was of no real
concern as if my genetics hermi in the light I saw
then I was growing the wrong beans
just my view point and two cents 
be safe and plant seeds
Dequilo
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Yeah I had the wife “zip” me up in the Vivosun tent and I could see light all around the zipper, and all of the seams.
Thanks for all the info folks. I have some research to do. When I decided on getting another tent, I thought of trying the Mars, but looking at the reviews on Amazon, all of the bad reviews are in 2020 and 2021. It seems they changed in quality over the last year or so. One reviewer had three of them and each had gone down in quality.
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I once saw someone use a can of Flex Seal to cover light leaks in a cheap tent. Dunno if that will help or not… Good luck with the search!!!
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Yeah, I think I’ll just cover the seams with some gorilla tape and maybe put some strips of heavy black plastic over the zippers. The room I’m setting the tents up in is rather dark anyways, so I should be able to deal with it. I ordered a Mars to see how it looks. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll grow herbs in it and order one of the more expensive ones to flower my weed in.
The one I have now has a 150 watt LED in it and there is no heat at all from it. I’ll be running a 315 CMH in the Mars for flowering. Hoping it won’t produce too much heat. I’m just wanting to make some seeds and grow enough weed for myself and my son. I hardly smoke at all anymore, I just love growing the stuff lol…
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All my tents seem to have small issues with the zippers but I’m yet to have any issues with them.
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I’ve always been curious about how much light leaks affect the plants. I know people who really don’t worry about it at all and they grow some good weed. And I know others who say the tiniest light leak can cause hermies. Hoo nose… lol…
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I do my best to keep the leaks to a minimum but I’ve found it pretty much impossible to keep it 100% leak proof. I’m sure you’ll be fine with covering what you can.
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I got a Mars hydro 4x4 last year and love it so far
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Build one, Poly + 2x4’s.
I’m convinced all tents are eventually prone to light leaks. I’ve gone through multiple different ones. They always end up leaking somewhere.
I’ve talked to people with Gorilla Tents who claim the same. (Plus for that price you can build out an entire room!)
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I had a $60 no name 3x3 from ebay that worked great, good zipper, no pinholes until my cats discovered it, but it doesn’t matter what brand it is or how much you paid for it, nothing is cat proof.
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Not sure if it’s the best, but it works pretty good.
If I had room, I’d have two.
But, I have this as a second tent and love the separate compartments.
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I have tried Homebox , secret jardin, mamoth, superbox mylar, and agrow tent. I had a couple more budget ones, and cant remember their names. Not all my tents were the same size.
Some of the budget ones were okay in a pinch, but it is always nice to feel a good quality tent when you are messing around, especially if you need a bit more privacy. The cheaper ones have light shining right through the pinholes in the fabric, even if they are lined with some kind of reflective film.
Homebox was the first one I ever bought, and it was the second best of all the ones I have had. It was very affordable, and made with decent fabric, and reflective material, and okay zippers. The design is good so you dont have those stupid rounded curved doors to inhibit your movement, only 90 degree angles.
The highest quality build was the agrow tent made by a Canadian company. I am not sure they are still making them anymore, but you can still buy them from some retailers. The fabric is very thick, and very high quality, the best I’ve seen on any tent. The metal bars feel like heavy steel, the best and are also the strongest I have seen. It came with an irrigation system for growing vertically, where you can just hook in rockwool slabs, and it came with a long cooltube, with sockets on both ends, that is meant to go vertically in the tent. I didn’t use the irrigation system, or the cooltube in these tents, but they were very affordable, and the right dimension that I was looking for(that was a bit difficult for me to find). Hope this helps.
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From what I understand a light leak will just cause a herm to show itself. It won’t turn a super stable genetic into a herm. It goes to show that good genetics go a long way.
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i have two of the 2 in 1 vivosuns, got both at same time, there the 5x 4 model, both leak bad, one leaks right thru the canvas where you open it to get into the 1 x4 part with the problems i have had i wont be buying anymore vivosun
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You could always buy a black out curtain and throw it over the tent. Not ideal but it’ll work
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I got my gorilla lite 4x2 a few years back and ran it for a few years straight with 0 issues. With the option to add a foot or more of height and the weight the bars can hold theres really no beating it . Secret jardin would be a close 2nd
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I got the Mars Hydro tent in today, already setup. So far is seems a little better than the Vivosun. The zipper works a lot smoother. I haven’t checked for light leaks yet, but I already know how I’ll solve that.
my 5 x 5 LA garden is on its last legs, going to be between Gorilla and Ac infinity i think for a replacement
If you have the extra money, go for the gorilla. If not, the ac infinity are pretty good. The height extension is a great option.
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