Last Updated on April 20, 2022 by Gary Stephen
The Cannabis plant is a highly versatile plant. It can grow anywhere you want, be it a small place like a simple closet or a big area like a full-scale grow room. Nonetheless, whatever the grow tent sizes you choose it may be, you still have to consider the appropriate number of plants it can accommodate.
In this article, we will help you figure out which tent size is more suitable for you. You can measure according to the number of plants you wish to grow. Furthermore, we will also discuss the considering factors involved in the process. Let’s get started, shall we?
Importance of Determining the Right Grow Tent Sizes
Before anything else, you must understand why it is important to figure out the appropriate size for you. It’s for one obvious reason; miscalculating the capacity of your tent will affect the quality and yield of your harvest.
Having an undersized grow tent increases the risk of overheating the plants. Moreover, the overcrowding of a grow room will lead to a low and poor quality yield. Now, wouldn’t that be such a waste of time, effort, and resources?
Space Requirements
Getting the right grow tent sizes is simply not enough. You also have to prep the area so that you can create a more conducive environment for your cultivars to grow in. Whether you have a small 2×2 tent or an enormously-sized grow tent, the following factors are essential for every space.
1. Sufficient space for plant growth determines the right grow tent sizes
Good planning is one of the key elements for successful cultivation. This means foreseeing the needs of your plants is not only for the time being, but also for the following weeks to come up until it reaches full maturity.
Therefore, space is among the major considerations. You have to make sure that the height and width of the area for each cultivar are enough for it to grow on every side. You need an appropriate estimation to determine how many plants your space will be able to accommodate without causing overcrowding or wastage of space.
2. Cleanliness.
Like any space, it is also necessary to keep your grow tent clean at all times. Purifying the air, draining the water, and preventing outside contaminants from penetrating the room. These are a few among the tasks that are fundamental in promoting the health of your cultivars.
3. Proper ventilation.
Every grow space needs good ventilation, especially if it’s closed tight. The appropriate exchange of air to and fro the room helps to keep the plants oxygenated in a proper way. In the same manner, as we humans likewise need it too. Depending on your location, space may need the use of an air conditioning unit or a heater. This is to help regulate the temperature and humidity at an adequate level.
Suitable Number of Plants According to Grow Tent Sizes
Now, we have already established the requirements for an ideal growing space. We will now try to determine how many plants a specific tent size can accommodate. Technically, there are a lot of considering factors to determine how many plants are enough for a certain size of the structure.
1. Growth style.
The growth style usually refers to the plant training method you use. Usually, it could be either of the following:
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Low-Stress Training (LST)
– Sea Of Green (SOG)
This Low-Stress Training (LST) method targets to provide the plant ample amounts of light. This will help to induce flowering within an earlier time frame. Enforcing the cultivar to hasten its development is likely to create a green canopy. Thus, the term sea of green. As a rule of thumb, see to it to divide at least 1 square foot per plant. This to make sure that light gets an even distribution throughout the top layer.
| No. of Plants | Density of Plant | Size of Tent | Our Top Pick |
| 1 to 2 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 1.3 ft x 1.3 ft | TopoLite 16x16x48 |
| 4 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 2 ft | Vivosun 24x24x48 |
| 6 to 8 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 4 ft | CoolGrows 48x24x60 |
| 9 to 10 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 3 ft x 4 ft | TopoGrow 2in1 48x36x72 |
| 15 to 16 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 4 ft | CoolGrows 48x48x80 |
| 20 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 5 ft x 5 ft | Zazzy 60x60x78 |
| 30 plants | 1 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 8 ft | Opulent Systems 96x48x80 |
– Screen Of Green (ScrOG)
The Screen of Green, in short ScrOG, is another LST method. It utilizes plenty of lights to speed up growth. At the same time, it also particularly uses a screen on top of the canopy of the plant. The screen serves as a guide to which the branches conform to get the most exposure from the light.
Considering that the cultivar grows more likely in a horizontal direction, it’s expected to consume more space. In this case, it requires a density of at least 4 square feet per plant or tantamounts to 0.25 plant /ft2.
| No. of Plants | Density of Plant | Size of Tent | Our Top Pick |
| 1 plant | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 2 ft | CoolGrows 24x24x48 |
| 2 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 4 ft | Vivosun 48x24x60 |
| 4 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 4 ft | TopoLite 48x48x80 |
| 6 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 5 ft x 5 ft | TopoLite 60x60x80 |
| 8 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 8 ft | CoolGrows 48x96x80 |
| 9 to 10 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 5 ft x 9 ft | Gorilla 5x9x6 |
| 15 to 16 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 8 ft x 8 ft | TopoLite 96x96x80 |
| 20 plants | 0.25 plant / sq. ft. | 10 ft x 10 ft | Oppolite 120x120x78 |
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High-Stress Training (HST)
– Topping & Fimming
On the high-stress training method, topping and fimming are the most common among the techniques. Both of these involve deliberate pruning off some parts of the plant. Nonetheless, the same with LSTs, the goal here still is to promote better exposure of the plants to light.
Fundamentally, there’s a difference between the two. Topping uses actual cutting off the top of the plants, usually between the nodes. On the contrary, fimming is a technique that imposes the removal of new growths. Thus, refraining to cause damage to the areas between the nodes.
– Guideline Table
As for its plant density, topping and fimming fall somewhere between the ratio of SOG and ScrOG. It can accommodate 0.75 plant per square foot or equal to 1.5 ft per plant.
| No. of Plants | Density of Plant | Size of Tent | Our Top Pick |
| 1 to 2 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 1.3 ft x 1.3 ft | Hydro Crunch 16x16x48 |
| 4 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 2 ft | Opulent Systems 24x24x48 |
| 6 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 4 ft | CoolGrows 24x48x60 |
| 8 to 9 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 3 ft | Vivosun 2in1 48x36x72 |
| 10 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 4 ft | CoolGrows 48x48x80 |
| 15 to 16 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 5 ft x 5 ft | TopoLite 60x60x80 |
| 20 plants | 0.75 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 8 ft | GA Grow Tent 94x48x80 |
– Super Cropping Training
Super cropping is another HST technique used by growers. Thankfully for cannabis plants, it responds well with trauma. In this type of method, the bud-bearing branch gets snapped on purpose and bent to a 90-degree angle. This is to enforce the hormone to move back towards the lower branches. Thus, further promoting its growth.
Since the branches got contorted, it would need enough spacing so as not to go against other branches. When it comes to density, super cropping would need an area of at least 2 square feet per plant, or equal to 0.5 plant per ft.
| No. of Plants | Density of Plant | Size of Tent | Our Top Pick |
| 1 to 2 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 2 ft x 2 ft | CoolGrows 24x24x48 |
| 4 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 2 ft | LA Garden 48x24x60 |
| 6 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 3 ft | Vivosun 2in1 48x36x72 |
| 8 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 4 ft | TopoLite 48x48x80 |
| 9 to 10 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 5 ft x 5 ft | TopoLite 60x60x80 |
| 15 to 16 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 4 ft x 8 ft | GA Grow Tent 94x48x80 |
| 20 plants | 0.5 plant / sq. ft. | 5 ft x 9 ft | Gorilla Grow Tent 60x108x83 |
2. Lighting Conditions.
Now, this is actually kind of a broad topic to discuss. But, for this write-up, let us try to keep it brief and easier to comprehend. The main goal here is to provide the plants with enough amount of light as even as possible. Too few lights installed will not be enough to cover every corner of the plant. Whereas, with too many will tend to overheat the space.
There are a lot of factors that come into play when selecting the right light for your grow tent. Primarily it includes considerations such as the wattage requirements, the type of bulb used, the size, and shape of the reflector. As well as your desired light footprint among many others.
– Guideline Table
For example, a 2×2 grow tent would likely need either a 200-watt LED or a 250-watt HPS bulb. This is to fully distribute a significant amount of light across the entire space. The guideline here shows the estimated coverage of various types of light based on the recommended grow tent sizes.
| Type of Grow Light | Area Coverage | Our Top Picks |
| 250 Watt HPS | 2×2 | Eye Hortilux 250W Super HPS |
| 400 Watt HPS | 2×4 | Apollo Horticulture GLBHPS400 |
| 600 Watt HPS | 3×3 | iPower GLBULBH600x2 |
| 1,000 Watt HPS | 4×4 | Vivosun Hydroponic 2-Pack 1000W HPS |
| 1,000 Watt Double-Ended HPS | 5×5 | XAMT Bulb 1000W Double-Ended HPS |
| 315 Watt CMH | 3×3 | Protopia CMH Grow Light Bulb 315W |
| 630 Watt CMH | 4×4 | TopoLight CMH 630W Grow Light Kit |
| 200 Watt LED | 2×2 | Olafus 200W LED Grow Light Bulb |
| 400 Watt LED | 3×4 | Tonpvou 400W LED Plant Grow Light |
| 600 Watt LED | 4×4 | VIPARSPECTRA UL Certified 600W LED Grow Light |
3. Container Size.
Cannabis plants have long and circuitous roots. Thus, it is necessary for them to be contained in pots. They have to be large enough to allow them to fully develop rather than get restricted.
These pots come in varying sizes between 1 gallon up to as much as 15 gallons. Although the 3-gallon size is what is most commonly used by many growers. Technically, the bigger the pots, the more floor area will get occupied. Hence, you have to find the right balance between container size and the amount of space for plant growth.
Here are some of our recommendations:
JERIA 12-Pack 1 Gallon Grow Bags
VIVOSUN 5-Pack 3 Gallon Grow Bags
Gardzen 10-Pack 5 Gallon Grow Bags
247Garden 5-Pack 10 Gallon Grow Bags
VIPARSPECTRA 6-Pack 15 Gallon Grow bags
4. Expected Plant Yield.
In terms of expectations, this is subjective. It depends on the intended purpose of the growers themselves. Most growers would consider a good 10-ounce or a 0.625-pound yield achievable from a 2×2 tent size. Besides, if you are still a newbie, it is always good to set a more forgiving target. Since there will be plenty of elements affecting the yield of a plant.
Generally, there are aspects such as the genetic strain of the plant, the training method used, the lighting condition, proper nutrition, general handling, and more. These factors each play a role in the production of a good quality yield. For beginners, give time to familiarize and experiment on the right approach for each aspect. Then, see how they go along with your process.
Question: can I put a grow tent outside?
Growing tents aren’t only for indoors. If you want to place your grow tent outdoors, it is important to remember to use a high-quality tent that will be able to withstand the elements of nature. Make sure that the tent is shut securely, and regularly check for insects that might be able to get to your plants, such as ladybugs or grasshoppers. Lastly, make sure that your tent is on a solid foundation and secured tightly. You wouldn’t want a strong wind blowing it away you excellent crop.
Final Thoughts
So there you go, we have presented various aspects such as the grow style, lighting conditions, container size, and yield expectations. Every one bears its own impact on the cultivars growth and development. Thus, it is very important to carefully take note of each aspect. This is to create the most suitable and healthy environment for your Cannabis to grow in. Thus, to determine the ideal sizes of the grow tent.
