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Grow tents are the best way to have an indoor grow, whether you are growing cannabis or tomatoes. For this article, we will be focusing on growing cannabis at home. Grow tents offer many advantages to open-air growing. With a tent, you can easily control the temperature, light, humidity, and carbon dioxide levels, things just not really possible in an open-air grow. (Unless you have an entire room dedicated to growing, such as in commercial applications.)
Not only do grow tents provide a space to maintain the perfect conditions, they also have the added benefit of keeping what’s inside from escaping. If you have ever grown cannabis, you know exactly what I am talking about: the super funky odors that not only permeate your house, but most of the neighborhood as well. With a properly ventilated grow tent, your neighbors will be none the wiser of your ganja horticulture.
When you search for grow tents on the internet, you will get you quickly flooded with tons of different manufacturers, each with a number of options. How do you sort through all of the results so that you know they are getting the best grow tent for your budget? Well, trusted reviews like this one are a great place to start!
The Spider Farmer 3×3 grow tent
Spider Farmer has been manufacturing growing accessories since 2009. They opened up a 2700 square meter workshop in 2014 to exclusively make quality grow tents that are designed by their own team of experts. These experts listened to what the industry wanted and made sure that those wants were implemented in their designs.
The Construction
Spider Farmer grow tents are made of top-quality 1680D Oxford canvas, which is both tear proof and light proof. They then add a second layer of a special light-blocking material as an added level of protection.
The third layer of this sandwich is a layer of reflective Mylar that reflects 99% of all available light. This Mylar layer has a unique stone-like pattern that helps diffuse the light into multiple angles ensuring equal light coverage everywhere in your crop. This evenly reflected light can help improve the growth rate of your plants.
The frame of the Spider Farmer 3×3 grow tent is made of sturdy, enameled metal poles. The poles are almost an inch in diameter and are strong enough to hold a massive 140lbs. This is more than enough to support both the heaviest of lights and a massive high volume ventilation system to keep the proper airflow going.
Features
The tent has all the standard openings for ventilation and power cords, all with locking bungee style closures. The ports are all double layered, adding a second layer of protection against light and odor leakage. There are also 3 rectangular vents closer to the floor that are covered with a mesh layer and secured by canvas with heavy duty Velcro.
The zipper is super heavy duty and smooth as silk with extra large pull tabs. There’s a tie strap which helps secure the door in the open position for when you need to work inside. On the front door flap is a large viewing window. This window opening has a mesh layer as well and is also covered by a thick Velcro enabled canvas rectangle.
On the bottom of the tent lies a 3 x 3 mylar lined canvas catch basin. This is one of the most important pieces of the tent, as it collects any errant moisture that may drip off the plants or out of the base of your planting containers. This basin is removable for cleaning without having to tear down the entire tent.
Installation
The Spider Farmer 3×3 grow tent is pretty easy to put together and can typically be done in under 10 minutes. Although it is easier to assemble if you have an extra person helping you, it is not impossible to put this together solo. I was able to do this myself with no issue. The grow tent comes with a manual that has installation instructions, but I did not find them necessary.
The only thing I noticed that was odd during the assembly was in the attachment straps on the Mylar floor basin. The base is secured to the 4 poles at the bottom by means of a Velcro strap. Maybe it is just me looking at it wrong, but it appears that the straps were on backwards. I had to twist them to make them line up so they could connect properly.
The tent is meant to be used in conjunction with a 3×3 grow light like the SE3000. You can read our review of the SE3000 grow light here.
Inspection Time
Once I got the tent put together, I decided to do a light leak test. I went inside the tent and secured all of the drawstring openings, cinching them own fully. On the outside, I made sure that the four Velcro rectangle ports were completely pushed together.
My favorite way to test for light leaks involves no lights inside the tent at all. Instead, I put the tent in a brightly lit room, step inside, and have someone zipper me in. Granted, you can also reverse this process by installing your light, then turning off all the lights in your room and look for escaping light.
I like doing it from the inside for 2 reasons: #1 unless its night time, I do not have any room in my house that can achieve total darkness. #2, I just like sitting inside the tent for a bit looking for leaks. It’s kinda like being inside a sensory deprivation chamber.
Regardless of the method you choose, if you do happen to find a light leak it will most likely come from either one of the Velcro secured view/air-intake ports or from one of the ventilation/power entries. Both of those are easily rectified with a few adjustments. If you happen to find a pinhole in the canvas, there is a patch kit that can fix that in no time.
Warranty
Spider Farmer prides themselves in 100% SATISFACTION CUSTOMER SERVICE. If you are not 100% satisfied, just email them and they will ensure your absolute happiness! To be honest, outside of a damaged zipper or damage occurring during shipping, there’s not much to go wrong here. I foresee many years of happiness and bountiful harvests coming out of this tent.
Summary
This is one of the nicer grow tents that I have. The zippers are heavy duty and super smooth, and the oversized handles make zipping easy. Most of the nicer tents are all using the Oxford 1680D canvas, so it is good to see it here. The canvas is exceptionally strong and as long as you don’t go all Freddy Kruger with it, it will never rip.
Spider Farmer also offers different sizes of grow tents if the 3×3 is not the best for your situation. They offer sizes from a smaller 2x2x5 foot model all the way up to a huge 5×5 foot grow tent that is over 6 feet tall.
The 3×3 grow tent from Spider Farmer is a bargain at only $129 and is well worth every penny. If you are looking at setting up your first home grow, or just need to add a new tent to your inventory, take a look at the Spider Famer series of tents. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
I have this same tent. And also one of their grow lights. I grow 🔥 hit me up if u want some.
Thanks for the offer, but we have plenty 😉
I like their tents bc the cloth is way tougher than my old ones. They ripped so easy but this ones indestructible. I have not tried their lights tho.
Do they have a 5×5 tent? I have one now but its pretty old and ragged and im thinking about replacing it. Maybe a new light too depending on price.
Hello Jay, Spider farmer does have a 5×5 grow tent. You can find it here: https://www.spider-farmer.com/products/sf-150cm-x-150cm-x-200cm-indoor-grow-tent-hydroponic-home-plant-reflective-aluminum-oxford-cloth/