Grow Tent, Need Advice

[Peter.Constantine325]

So I got my grow tent setup from Amazon today and set it up, except for the ducting and carbon filter. I was told I don’t really need the carbon filter, because that’s for smelly plants like marijuana. But I had the thought that perhaps it could help me avoid an infestation? Do bugs have a sense of smell?

And I did set it up correctly, right? It’s smaller than I imagined, so I perhaps should have gone with a 4x2x5 instead of the 2x2x4. I was planning on getting four regular sized pre-bonsai for this tent, but now I am not so sure. I will have to wait until Friday to get my ficus salicaria willow leaf to really judge. I think I should have just gone with their shohin selection instead. I still might actually, and just give this pre bonsai coming in the mail to someone interested.

I also noticed the fan is really big and kind of in the way. Is there a way to position it that I’m just not seeing? it really just needs to provide air flow in the tent, right? Can I position it above the light, and face it at the light? I don’t know. I can’t go without it, because it will help keep the trees healthy. Right? But then again, don’t many people have indoor tropical bonsai on their windowsills with the windows closed during the winter?

The light seems very professionally made, especially compared to other cheaper grow lights I’ve bought before.

Overall? I’m pretty satisfied with what I got. Even if I only end up having two pre bonsai to grow.

 

[hemmy]

But I had the thought that perhaps it could help me avoid an infestation? Do bugs have a sense of smell?

The insects are likely coming indoors when you bring the plants in or I guess coming off your houseplants. I doubt anything gets into the tent once it’s set up. Wash the trees down with insecticidal soap and then you just have to worry about any gnats or that hatch from the soil.

I also noticed the fan is really big and kind of in the way. Is there a way to position it that I’m just not seeing? it really just needs to provide air flow in the tent, right? Can I position it above the light, and face it at the light?

It just clips to any frame bar right? If you aren’t using an inline duct fan then I would put the fan pointing out the duct opening to blow the rising hot air out and then you should have a lower vent to let in air. The driver will put out heat that will need to be vented if you have that tent in an indoor heated space.

 

[RJG2]

If you have a place to attach it, you can also put the fan outside the tent and pull the air out, then you can raise the light and get more vertical space if needed.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

The carbon filter is usually mounted on the air duct going outwards, and insects have a hard time flying against such force.

If you pull the air out, especially in tents, you might squish it due to the vacuum the fan makes. If the inlet closes off for some reason.

Fans that need to push through carbon filters are usually stronger than what you'd actually need for ventilation. Most run of the mill bathroom fans (20-40 usd?) can work just as well, and since you wouldn't need the carbon filter anyway, I'd remove it.

 

[TCEvan]

To free up space, put the fan on the top of the tent on the outside, connect one end a 4" or 6" (whichever it takes) flexible ducting to the inlet side of the fan, and the other end of the ducting to the highest circular opening on the tent.

Then open up the lowest opening in the tent (opposite corner of the top opening is best). Air will flow into that low opening, up the tent and out the duct opening, all powered by the fan outside the tent. It will provide much better airflow, and help cool the light, a lot more efficiently than the setup you have now.

 

[Peter.Constantine325]

The insects are likely coming indoors when you bring the plants in or I guess coming off your houseplants. I doubt anything gets into the tent once it’s set up. Wash the trees down with insecticidal soap and then you just have to worry about any gnats or that hatch from the soil.


It just clips to any frame bar right? If you aren’t using an inline duct fan then I would put the fan pointing out the duct opening to blow the rising hot air out and then you should have a lower vent to let in air. The driver will put out heat that will need to be vented if you have that tent in an indoor heated space.

I have an inline fan. What’s it for? To push hot air out of the tent, right? I think I’ll just have three trees in there. So I suppose I’m fine where the fan is at now.

 

[Peter.Constantine325]

If you have a place to attach it, you can also put the fan outside the tent and pull the air out, then you can raise the light and get more vertical space if needed.

Doesn’t my inline fan pull the air out?

 

[MHBonsai]

Grow Tent for Tropicals - setup guide

Setting up a grow tent can be daunting to get started. I've been pretty successful with mine for the past several years, so I thought I'd put together a quick guide on what works for me. I grow orchids, tropicals, and several 'houseplants'/kusamono successfully. I assemble it typically in...

www.bonsainut.com

This is my setup. I’d recommend turning it horizontal.

 

[MHBonsai]

View attachment 508229

So I got my grow tent setup from Amazon today and set it up, except for the ducting and carbon filter. I was told I don’t really need the carbon filter, because that’s for smelly plants like marijuana. But I had the thought that perhaps it could help me avoid an infestation? Do bugs have a sense of smell?

And I did set it up correctly, right? It’s smaller than I imagined, so I perhaps should have gone with a 4x2x5 instead of the 2x2x4. I was planning on getting four regular sized pre-bonsai for this tent, but now I am not so sure. I will have to wait until Friday to get my ficus salicaria willow leaf to really judge. I think I should have just gone with their shohin selection instead. I still might actually, and just give this pre bonsai coming in the mail to someone interested.

I also noticed the fan is really big and kind of in the way. Is there a way to position it that I’m just not seeing? it really just needs to provide air flow in the tent, right? Can I position it above the light, and face it at the light? I don’t know. I can’t go without it, because it will help keep the trees healthy. Right? But then again, don’t many people have indoor tropical bonsai on their windowsills with the windows closed during the winter?

The light seems very professionally made, especially compared to other cheaper grow lights I’ve bought before.

Overall? I’m pretty satisfied with what I got. Even if I only end up having two pre bonsai to grow.

I have found that air movement inside my tent is not critical. Lower air movement tends to bring higher humidity which is great for tropicals.

Is this going to stay in your house? Does it have a way to control the temperature?

Something to consider is water management, and how you plan to water the trees. Standing water in the bottom of the tent is not ideal. I have mine set up to drain out one corner and it works pretty well.

 

[MHBonsai]

Also… Pests will always be a thing if you don’t have any predators. I don’t shy away from using chemicals when I’m first putting them in for the winter to help control. Scale tend to be the hardest thing to control. Thankfully they are pretty easy to squish by hand and control with neem oil.

 

[keithl]

Also… Pests will always be a thing if you don’t have any predators. I don’t shy away from using chemicals when I’m first putting them in for the winter to help control. Scale tend to be the hardest thing to control. Thankfully they are pretty easy to squish by hand and control with neem oil.

Agreed on the scale problems indoors. You have to be really vigilant as it spreads quickly and they multiply so fast. I was not nearly on top of it enough last winter and ended up with a small serissa (8 inch pot, probably 12 inch tall tree) with over 500 scale bugs by spring. I should have just tossed it in the garbage, but I painstakingly picked them off one by one. Then another species of scale that came in on my buttonwood spread to a bunch of schefflera cuttings, a Brazilian rain tree (scale all died on this tree by spring), a very minor spread to a couple ficuses, and then a major infestation on a pomegranate cutting I was experimenting with overwintering in the tent. The cutting fruited in there and basically there wasnt a spot on the golf ball sized fruit that didnt have scale on it. Interestingly there was no scale on any leaves, just on the woody parts of the trunk and the fruit.

 

[BrianBay9]

I have found that air movement inside my tent is not critical. Lower air movement tends to bring higher humidity which is great for tropicals.

I found the opposite. Without a fan initially I was growing a great crop of fungus. Cleaned everything again, added a fan and no problem.

Yes there's no getting around some pests. Plan on a mid-winter shower for your trees and pick the scale whenever you find it. I also routinely used adhesive pest strips to keep the little flying things under control.

 

[GSCarlson]

I have the same grow tent, for about a year now. I removed the bulky fan and put a small fan in the back corner to move the air around. I was misting my plants and got some black mold growing on some leafs. So I stopped doing that. Just watering my plants normally provides plenty of moisture.

 

[Peter.Constantine325]

I have the same grow tent, for about a year now. I removed the bulky fan and put a small fan in the back corner to move the air around. I was misting my plants and got some black mold growing on some leafs. So I stopped doing that. Just watering my plants normally provides plenty of moisture.

View attachment 508318

Good to know. Thank you.

 

[Peter.Constantine325]

I found the opposite. Without a fan initially I was growing a great crop of fungus. Cleaned everything again, added a fan and no problem.

Yes there's no getting around some pests. Plan on a mid-winter shower for your trees and pick the scale whenever you find it. I also routinely used adhesive pest strips to keep the little flying things under control.

I plan on wiping down the tent once a week with anti-bacterial sanitizer, and I have some neem oil for bugs. I’ll probably get something stronger just in case.

 

[Peter.Constantine325]

I have the same grow tent, for about a year now. I removed the bulky fan and put a small fan in the back corner to move the air around. I was misting my plants and got some black mold growing on some leafs. So I stopped doing that. Just watering my plants normally provides plenty of moisture.

View attachment 508318

Your light seems pretty high up. I was planning on putting mine sixteen to fourteen inches above the canopy. Will that be unnecessary?

 

[GSCarlson]

I put my lights as high as they would go. With such a small space, and all the reflective surfaces, I figured there wasn’t much benefit to hanging low.

 

[BrianBay9]

There's no way you can give them too much light in that setting. I'd put the lights as close to the trees as possible without actually contacting the leaves.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Best of luck to you. I wouldn't own a tropical if I had to have a grow tent. Just would not. I've seen so many leave the hobby over winter horror issues.

I prefer Jerry Meislik 's concept... of what I call, open air for my own trees.

That said...best of luck to you. I prefer...enjoying seeing my trees. Lol

 

[Peter.Constantine325]

Best of luck to you. I wouldn't own a tropical if I had to have a grow tent. Just would not. I've seen so many leave the hobby over winter horror issues.

I prefer Jerry Meislik 's concept... of what I call, open air for my own trees.

That said...best of luck to you. I prefer...enjoying seeing my trees. Lol
View attachment 508328

How often do you actually look at your trees though? This reminds me of when a Protestant pastor tried making a point that there’s no bibles in Catholic pews. The only problem is that even at her Church, with bibles in the pews, nobody actually uses them. I’ll see my trees three or so times every day. What’s important is that I enjoy the hobby, bonsai gardening. Plus there’s the whole concept of controlling nature in bonsai. A grow tent is the ultimate way of doing that. The very idea of having a grow tent, a dedicated space to gardening, is appealing to me.

I don’t know. Just seemed like a moot point for you to make. Like you’re picking on me. But I could be wrong. The only advantage you have is being able to decorate your home, being able to leave them in those same spots. But even I can be Japanese in that sense in that I can buy some bonsai stands, and set my trees on them for visitors to see. Then put them back after they visit.