Picking a Grow Tent for DWC

If you have been reading through my website you know I am a fan of the rigid structure a plywood grow box provides. For many building a semi-permanent structure is simply not an option.

Grow tents do have their advantages:

They are cheaper
Quicker to setup
Much easier to take down
Do not require painting
Can be sanitized

The main things to look for when buying a tent are quality zippers, thick material that can withstand cleaning and a sturdy frame. Vivosun tents use 600D fabric which I have found to be very sturdy. Their tents are well constructed and provide a large amount of access with zippers that go all the way around.

240 Watt Tents

3'x4' (72" height)

The Vivosun 2-in-1 3’x’4 is a one of my favourite tents. The flowering footprint is 3’x3′ resulting in 9 sq/ft. The veg room is still the same 1’x4′ dimensions.

DWC Recommendations:

240W LED Board for Flower portion (27 watts/sq ft)
2x 4’x1 LED Veg Panel OR 8x 4′ LED light strips for Veg
6″ 442 CFM Exhaust Fan
2x 6″ Clip-on Oscillating Fans
15 – 20 Gallon DWC Water Reservoir
15L/min Air pump
DIY Cloner for DWC
Yield 250 – 380g (8-12 oz) per cycle
Continuous Growth – up to 2 kg per year

2'x4' (60" height)

The Vivosun 2’x4′ is an ideal size for the rectangular nature of DWC Water Reservoirs and the 240W Printed LED board. If a square setup works better for you the Vivosun 3’x’3 will work fine as well.

DWC Recommendations:

240W LED Board (30 watts/ sq ft)
6″ 442 CFM Exhaust Fan
1x 6″ Clip-on Oscillating Fans
15 – 20 Gallon DWC Water Reservoir
15L/min Air pump
Yield 250- 380g (8 – 12 oz) per cycle
3-4 Cycles per year (up to 1 kg annually)

480 Watt Tents

5'x4' (80" height)

The Vivosun 2-in-1 4’x5′ is my favourite tent and I have helped a number of friends set one up. Having the veg compartments is essential in Canada where we do not have legal access to clones and seeds are prohibitively expensive. This tent is essentially a 4’x4′ with a 1’x4′ veg room on the side, this is very similar to the plywood grow box that I have.

DWC Recommendations:

480W LED Board for Flower portion (30watts/ sq ft)
2x 4’x1 LED Veg Panel OR 8x 4′ LED light strips for Veg
6″ 442 CFM Exhaust Fan
3x 6″ Clip-on Oscillating Fans
20 – 40 Gallon DWC Water Reservoir
60L/min Air Pump or 2x 15L/min Air pump (much quieter)
DIY Cloner for DWC
Yield 350-750g per cycle
Continuous Growth – up to 3.8 kg per year

4'x4' (80" height)

The Vivosun 4’x4′ is very similar to the 2-in-1 4’x5′ except obviously without the veg room. If you have steady access to clones or want to grow autoflowers this is a great option. I typically don’t recommend autoflowers with DWC. Due to the explosive growth rate in DWC you are likely to outgrow your tent since you have little to no control over when the plant flowers

DWC Recommendations:

480W LED Board (30watts/ sq ft)
6″ 442 CFM Exhaust Fan
2x 6″ Clip-on Oscillating Fans
20 – 40 Gallon DWC Water Reservoir
60L/min Air Pump or 2x 15L/min Air pump (much quieter)
DIY Cloner for DWC
Yield 350-750g per cycle
3-4 Cycles per year (up to 2kg annually)

You may notice that I recommend the same size exhaust fan for all tents. My reasoning is that when using a thermocontroller to control exhaust it is always better to have excess exhaust capabilities. It only takes one heatwave to ruin an entire grow (ask me how I know).

240 Watt Tents

3'x4' (72" height)

2'x4' (60" height)

480 Watt Tents

5'x4' (80" height)

4'x4' (80" height)

The Doctor’s Guide