What Do I Need in a Grow Tent?

The necessary components of a grow tent are the ability to keep out all light during the night cycle, portholes for wires, tubes and ventilation equipment and a sturdy frame for holding lights and other heavy pieces of equipment.

They also include the bonus benefit of being able to control, contain and eliminate odours, by using an added air carbon filter on the ventilation system being used.

So, for us to find you the absolute best cheap indoor grow tent, we looked for all of these qualities, and the best reviews, matched with the lowest prices.

What to Watch Out For

Cheaper generally means slightly lower quality, but when it comes to indoor grow tents, the price difference is usually a lot bigger than the difference in quality.

Some things you may need to settle for are zippers that are tough, but hard to zip and unzip, a thinner outer shell, which only really matters when you are putting it together or moving sharp objects near it, and the potential for pinholes where the seams are sewed together (easy fix for that in the next section).

Things You May Need

There is really only one thing you may need for a cheaper indoor grow tent that you would not need for the more expensive ones, and that is white duct tape.

This is really only one need for this, but you can use it for things when setting up your equipment afterward also.

After you set up your new cheap tent (see setup instructions here), the easiest way to detect any possible light leaks (I had one) is to climb inside the tent and have someone zip you in. The inside should be perfectly dark with lights on outside the tent. Ensure that all port closures are completely closed before starting this step.

Most of the tiny light leaks that could happen will be the sewn seam around the edges of the shell.

Located them and keep track of them. Have your partner let you out of the tent, and grab the white duct tape.

Cover any places that light was able to leak through that is not a zipper or access port with the duct tape.

Once you have covered any light leaks, get your partner to zip you back in and check it again.

The Tent We Chose

The tent we chose is used by a few different companies and branded by each.

VIVOSUN

is the most reputable at the best price in the USA, and we ordered the

Ohuhu

a version of the same tent, as it was cheaper in Canada.

For a complete setup instruction for this tent, see our Grow Tent Setup article. There are a few tips and tricks that aren’t included in the written instructions that come with the tent, along with pictures of each step.

Our Rating

This tent, including quality, value and customer satisfaction earned 4.7 / 5.0 stars from us. The few points that it did lose were listed above:

• The zipper is tough, but hard to zip and unzip
• There was one light leak in the seam above the front door, top left facing the front of the tent from outside

The reasons to buy this tent:

• Extremely easy to put together
• Quality frame
• Lots of access (3 sides zip open)
• Lots of equipment ports (2 x 4″, 2 x 6″, 1 x 8″), all with double cinched, sleeve ports
• 3 hanging bars and 2 straps included giving near unlimited equipment configuration
• Waterproof, removable floor tray for easy cleanup between crops

There are a few slight differences between the VIVOSUN and the Ohuhu, such as a “tool bag” (mesh net on the inner wall of the tent), a mesh window (possible point of a light leak) and the placement of the portholes. In Canada, at the time of purchase, there was a 23% price difference, but in the USA, the price is much closer, making the VIVOSUN the recommendation for our American readers.