Grow Tents

Grow tents give you a sealed, lightproof, reflective box you can control completely - and they go up in an afternoon without touching the building you're in. We stock 184 of them, from 40 x 40cm propagation boxes to 9 x 4.5m commercial rooms, across Bud Box, AC Infinity, Secret Jardin, Green-Qube, HomeBox, HydroLab and Gorilla. This page covers the two questions people actually ask before buying: what size do I need, and will the frame hold my kit.

What size grow tent do you need?

Work backwards from the footprint, not the plant count. A tent's job is to hold a light's usable spread, so the size you need is decided by the light you intend to run and the space you can give it. These are the pairings we sell most often:

Plant counts assume a normal vegetative period. Fewer, larger plants or a shorter veg will shift those numbers either way. Height matters as much as footprint - allow for the tent, the light's hanging distance and pot height, which is why most 120 x 120cm tents come in both 200cm and 220cm versions.

Grow tent sizes we stock

Browse by the space you have:

• Small grow tents - 40 x 40cm up to 90cm wide, for cuttings, mothers and single plants
• Grow tents 100-200cm wide - the standard home sizes, including 100 x 100 and 120 x 120
• Grow tents 201-300cm wide - two-fixture tents and small rooms
• Massive grow tents - 300cm and up, including Bud Box Pro at 4.5 x 9m
• Tall grow tents - 220cm and up, for HPS hanging distance and long veg
• Roof and loft tents - around 180cm for sloped and low ceilings
• Propagation tents - short, shallow tents for propagation benches
• Budget grow tents - complete tents under £150

How much weight can a grow tent hold?

This is the question that decides whether a tent lasts. Once it's running you'll have a light, a carbon filter and an extraction fan hanging from the top bars - comfortably 30-50kg in a mid-size tent, and the filter alone can be 15kg on a 6in. A frame that isn't rated for it bows in the middle, and the corner connectors are usually what goes first.

Almost no retailer publishes these figures. Here are the manufacturer-stated hanging capacities for the tents we stock, taken from each brand's own specifications:

These are the manufacturers' own numbers rather than figures we've measured, so treat them as a guide to how each brand builds rather than a tested limit. As a rule, work out what you're actually hanging - light plus filter plus fan - and leave decent headroom above it.

Does pole thickness matter?

Less than people assume, and it depends entirely on tent size. Pole diameter across our range runs from 16mm to 30mm, and the honest answer is that it matters more the bigger the tent gets.

In a 60 x 60cm tent you're hanging one small LED and a 4in filter. 16mm poles handle that without complaint, and paying for a heavier frame buys you nothing. At 2.4m and up you may be carrying multiple fixtures and an 8in filter, and that's where the step up to 22mm or 25mm earns its money - it's the main structural difference between Bud Box Lite and Pro at the same footprint. If you're buying big and intend to load it, check the pole gauge before the price.

Grow tents for lofts, cupboards and low ceilings

Standard tents are 200cm tall, which rules them out of most lofts and a lot of spare rooms once you account for the light's hanging distance. Two ways around it:

• Roof and loft grow tents - around 180cm tall, with clearance for a sloped ceiling. Bud Box Pro ROOF and Green-Qube's Roof Qube both sit here.
• HydroLab - narrow 60cm-deep tents that fit against a wall or in an alcove where a square tent won't go.

Worth measuring your actual usable height before ordering, including any joists.

Which grow tent brand should you buy?

Complete kits or build your own?

A complete grow tent kit bundles the tent, light, fan, filter and ducting at a lower combined price, and everything is sized to work together - the sensible route for a first grow. See LED tent kits and HPS tent kits for the two main options.

Building your own costs more but lets you pick each component. If you're going that way, tent kit builder parts and grow room building accessories cover the hangers, ducting, clips and tape, and reflective sheeting handles rooms you're lining rather than tenting.

Grow tent FAQs

What size grow tent do I need for 4 plants?
A 100 x 100cm tent suits four plants with a short veg, and 120 x 120cm gives them room to fill out properly. Go by the light footprint rather than the plant count - four plants under a 300W LED want roughly a square metre.

How much weight can a grow tent frame hold?
It varies from around 36kg on a small propagator frame to 113kg on an AC Infinity Cloudlab, according to manufacturer figures. A typical mid-size setup - LED, 6in fan and carbon filter - is 30-50kg, so most mid-range tents cope. Check the rating before hanging multiple fixtures.

Do I need a grow tent kit or can I buy the parts separately?
Either works. A kit is cheaper and everything matches; buying separately costs more but lets you choose each component. Kits are the better first purchase.

What's the difference between white and silver tent lining?
Silver mylar reflects more light overall. White diffuses it more evenly and runs slightly cooler, which suits smaller tents where hotspots are a problem. See white-lined grow tents for the white-lined range.

Will a grow tent fit in a loft?
A standard 200cm tent usually won't once you allow for hanging distance. Roof and loft tents at around 180cm are made for it - see Roof and loft grow tents.

Why buy grow tents from The Hydro Bros?

We're a physical shop in Croydon, so the tents on this page are ones we handle, build and sell over the counter as well as online. We stock the full size range rather than a token few, ship discreetly across the UK and Europe, and have excellent customer reviews on Trustpilot. If you're not sure what fits your space, tell us the room dimensions and what you're hanging and we'll spec it.

Written by The Hydro Bros team, Croydon. Capacity figures are manufacturer-stated and correct at the time of writing.