Grow Room Tent time

[MesaBoogie]

Looking for some opinions on a decent grow tent (3x3). Checking out all the usual suspects on Amazon.ca (spider farmer, Mars, AcInfinity, vivosun, and so on) Like my previous one I'm guessing I'm going to have to deal with some light leaks. What I'm really worried about is the zippers. I almost went nuts fighting with the zippers on my last tent. Anyone getting 1 year + out of any of these brands ?

Thanks.

 

[TrichomeAssassin]

I'm guessing I'm going to have to deal with some light leaks.

Are you growing photoperiod plants?

I'm currently in a Covert 4x4 tent. Decent tent. I've had many tents and the low end will be of cheap quality.

 

[MesaBoogie]

Normally I grow auto's but I'm going to play around with some photo's this time. I was looking at some gorilla tents but I just can't justify the price tag. Think going with an amazon special is going to set myself up for hermies maybe ?

 

[Atulip]

I've grown photos in the cheapest ebay tents I could find without hermies or light related issues, but I have had the zipper give out on two of them. I also have an AC infinity and it's a very nice tent. Thick metal poles, thick canvas, good zippers, a nice middle ground price point between gorilla and cheap tents.

 

[St. Tom]

I have a cheap ebay 4x4 that's zips are on its last legs but I also have a lighthouse max and this is super quality 76x76x180 and no light leak and the zips are very good quality and as soon as i need to take the 4x4 down for anything im going with 1 of these as a replacement

 

[MesaBoogie]

Hey guys appreciate the feedback. It's good to see you all again, I stopped growing for a time. I checked out the lighthouse and covert tents and they are not available locally or online in Canada. @Atulip the AC Infinity you mention was at the top of my list. I noticed it was a bit more expensive than the mars and spider farmer but at a price point I can go with for better quality. I noticed a lot of complaints about light leaks (on all amazon tents really). I've never done photo's in a tent, do you think those pinholes are anything to worry about ? Or just tape em up and forget them ?

 

[Atulip]

I've always just slapped a little duct tape if I see light poking through and they're fine. There's usually not much light outside of the grow tents to get in anyway.

 

[WildBill]

Ya get what ya pay for!
My Gorilla 4x4 is a very good tent and WELL designed.The materials are better than my two Mars tent, a very good zipper name one. The Gorilla has a better design with better key design points. Tent penetrations for venting and electrical have more and better options. Gorilla has bigger tooth zippers that coud let a tiny bit of light in, but they put a flap there with Velcro to cover it.

You can still "manage" to grow fine with a cheaper tent for sure. You just may have to find less convenient ways of achieving that.

 

[MesaBoogie]

Ya get what ya pay for!
My Gorilla 4x4 is a very good tent and WELL designed.The materials are better than my two Mars tent, a very good zipper name one. The Gorilla has a better design with better key design points. Tent penetrations for venting and electrical have more and better options. Gorilla has bigger tooth zippers that coud let a tiny bit of light in, but they put a flap there with Velcro to cover it.

You can still "manage" to grow fine with a cheaper tent for sure. You just may have to find less convenient ways of achieving that.

Yea I figured the gorilla would be the way to go but I can't really justify 2x the price. Weed is so cheap here in Canada that it's almost cheaper to just buy weed than it is to grow for how much we smoke. If I could tell myself that I will still be growing 3+ years from now than I would pull the trigger on it . I grew with a cheap tent b4, but the zippers got to be a real piss off after 6 months and I just left the tent mostly open. How long have your mars tents lasted ya ?

 

[DCLXVI]

I have 3 of the Mars tents. The zippers have held up well for me. At least 2 years on one of them and a full year plus on the 4x4. There are some areas where you can see how they hit certain price points but I've been happy with them. I was actually surprised that the zippers held up as well as they do with being opened at least once a day if not twice. I do tend to keep the zips in the same area and only open a little bit. The oldest tent, 2+ years, has some stiching pulling out around the zips but a touch of superglue and some tape stops that.

I definitely used aluminum backed foil tape on the inside and gorilla waterproof tape on the outside in a few spots. You can see some wear after a couple years but really for the price I think they are very good.

I do have a smal gorilla clone tent, which I don't know what I was thinking with that purchase, and the materials and zippers are clearly a different grade and major upgrade. However, the 20'x18" clone tent from Gorilla costs what the 4'x2' from Mars does.

Oh! I almost forgot. I did the old people trick of rubbing a candle on the zipper teeth to help wax it so it slides easier. Left over habit from the crap uncoated metal zippers of the 70s and 80s. It may have helped their longevity on the tents.