Beginner Setting up a Grow Room - Advice?

by Mike
(UK)

I just read the page My Most Successful Hydroponic System- missing info. Really, really good article! I want to get involved and try and get something growing. I was thinking about using this tent? Just wanted to know if that was the kind of tent to use for a beginner?

Thanks, Mike

Answer: Mike- the kind of tent you refer to is basically a "dark room". With a little work you could set up a completely dark area yourself without having to purchase a tent. The only reason you need a completely dark area is for when you force flowering.

Before you can ever think about flowering your plants, you need to grow them up nice and healthy first. The four most important things you need to know in order to do this are: correct lighting, temperature control, how to maintain your nutrient solution properly, and proper air circulation.

It takes a lot of time and preparation before you are ready to think about forcing flowering. My recommendation to you would be to learn about lights and buy your lights first. Than, when your lights are hooked up and you have a thermometer in the garden area, you will realize how hot it gets under those lights! Especially when you try to put them in a small, enclosed space.

A little more research and you will learn what you need to do to control your temperature (so it won't kill your plants). By that time you will not only own a light, but also a centrifugal fan or a high power squirrel cage fan. Only after you have good lighting and proper temperature control would I suggest that you add any plants to the space.

If you are determined, this could all be done in two days or so. If money is tight or you are not so determined, it could take you a lot longer. With proper lighting and good temperature control, the next thing most likely to kill your plants is feeding them wrong. It is a big risk putting plants in your garden without knowing anything about how to manage your nutrient solution properly.

Before you put any plants in your garden, learn the basics about maintaining a hydroponic nutrient solution. Learn what nutrient solution strength your plants prefer. Write out a feeding plan showing what nutrient strength you are going to feed each week....and what formula you are going to use for veg as opposed to flowering. Finally, before you get any plants, you should buy your nutrients....as well as the equipment you will need to manage the nutrient solution (a pH test kit, pH UP solution, pH DOWN solution, and a TDS meter or EC meter).

Without these things, getting plants would be setting yourself up for failure (unless you've already got 5 or 10 years experience gardening indoors with hydroponics). NOW go ahead and fill your garden space with plants. I don't know how long it will take you to get to this point, but having just put the plants in your garden you will still be a month or two away from needing that "dark room" tent.

You see, having a dark room to force flowering is an important part of the process....but at the same time it is only one little part of the process. Each part is equally important, and each part holds a key to your success (or the seeds of your failure). If you make it to the point where you have all this necessary equipment and your garden is full of plants that are not dying, than go ahead and start thinking about that tent.

Of course, the tent is expensive. By the time you get to that point, you may just want to put some black plastic over your windows and a towel under the door to make the room light-proof. There are many cheap ways of making an area completely dark (which is really the only advantage this tent brings to the table).

Buying one, in my opinion, will not be the key to your success and would be a waste of money that could be spent on other things....for example a good light, a good exhaust fan, or a TDS meter (things that WILL be very important to your success). I hope this puts everything into perspective and gives you a clear idea of what you need to do to have good results....I wouldn't want it any other way!