Best Small Grow Tent And Mini Tents
A small grow tent is for growers who don’t have a ton of feet to work and need to narrow down their growing area. But, still want to protect their crop and ensure a good yield. I’ve reviewed the best small grow tents so you find the right option for your needs.
One of the smallest footprints with vertical space and high quality materials.
An excellent all-around choice. Tall to handle mature plants. Great value for your money.
Lesser known name but top notch. Goes to great lengths to warranty a high quality grow tent.
The best rated out of the cheapest small grow tents on the market.
Small Grow Tent Reviews
Here I've reviewed the top small grow tents on the market. You’re sure to find the perfect one for your specific needs.
One of the smallest footprints grow tents with plenty of cubic feet for your plants.
You can place it in a small area and use vertical space to your advantage.
The steel frame with metal interlocking connectors allow for an easier installation.
And along with the steel corners it gives this grow tent a sturdy frame, and long term usability.
Made of high quality materials, with 600D tear-proof canvas, and 99% light reflective Mylar interior.
It also comes with a removable waterproof floor tray for easy cleaning. And a viewing window so you can check on your plants without disturbing them.
Pros
- D-shaped door gives easy front access.
- Cinching duct ports keep an airtight seal.
- Customer service is quick to respond to problems.
Cons
- The zippers have a bit of a reputation for catching after some use.
An excellent all-around choice. It's tall enough to handle mature plants, but its footprint allows you to fit it nearly anywhere.
It's great value for your money.
The high quality of the materials, the tear-proof canvas, and metal poles, speak to the craftsmanship of the Vivosun grow tent.
Frame bars are impressively strong. It will handle virtually all the indoor accessories you can think of.
The high quality of the materials, from the zippers, to the double stitching throughout will ensure you’ll have this tent for a long time.
Pros
- Metal poles lock together easy.
- High-quality SBS zippers.
- Ventilation openings allow for dual pull strings so you get a good seal.
- Responsive customer service.
Cons
- Tough to see through the viewing window due to distortion.
Despite the lesser known name, this grow tent quality is top notch.
Goes to great lengths to ensure there's no light leakage, with an extra-thick canvas and 100% reflective Mylar.
The frame and poles are solid and prevent fiddling, while also allowing for greater weight for hanging lights and other accessories.
This grow tent comes with a pretty lengthy warranty.
Pros
- 100% reflective silver PET Mylar.
- Sturdy and durable.
- SGS Approved (Eco-friendly)
Cons
- Zippers might get stuck. Tho they're easy to fix with wax.
This model is the best rated out of the cheapest small grow tent on the market.
With 48" in height is one of the tallest small grow tents in this round up.
Small footprint and taller height is the only remarkable feature.
But, it's the cheapest. At least the interior comes with light-reflective Mylar.
Pros
- The footprint is narrow, while the unit is taller and gives headroom for plants.
Cons
- Not the best quality.
- Zippers aren’t completely light proof.
Mini Grow Tent Reviews
Mini grow tents are perfect for growing and taking care of seedlings and clones. Although in some of them you'd be able to fully grow really small plants.
Here are my best mini grow tent reviews:
The TopoLite has a super-small footprint so it doesn’t take up much floor space, while still allowing for quality crops.
In fact, it's the best rated mini grow tent on the market right now.
It’s tall enough (four feet) to handle more mature plants. While the small footprint means it can fit in closets and other small spaces.
TopoLite 16x16x48" is perfect if you’re aiming for a single plant grow tent, this might be your best choice.
Pros
- The door opens wide for easy access.
- Heavy-duty zippers.
- Metal frame makes it sturdy for hanging lights and accessories.
Cons
- Metal frame, but corners are plastic.
- Vent configuration may not work for all setups.
This Vivosun's grow tent offers 11.3 cubic feet of growing space.
Made with high quality materials. The frame, canvas and zippers speak to the craftsmanship of Vivosun grow tents.
Dual ventilation allows for active or passive air intake, with dual cinching sealing around your fans seamlessly.
The zippers in this small grow tent are all metal, and made in a comfortable size for an easy grip. Constructed to withstand heavy usage and to avoid light leaks.
VIVOSUN 30x18x36" frame bars are more than capable of handling all the grow tent accessories that you need.
Pros
- Metal poles lock together easy.
- High-quality SBS zippers.
- Ventilation openings allow for dual pull strings so you get a good seal.
- Responsive customer service.
Cons
- Tough to see through the viewing window due to distortion.
Yield Lab grow tents offer this high-quality construction.
This quality grow tent is perfect for starter trays, seedlings and clones.
Created with durability as a priority, the steel pole connectors will keep your grow tent sturdy, even at such small size. Reflective mylar, which is also waterproof.
Yield Lab 32x32x24" comes with viewing windows with velcro, and sturdy Oxford cloth tearaway covers. Allow you to monitor growth with minimal interruption.
Pros
- Smallest grow tent avaiable.
- High quality materials inside and out.
- Built to last.
Cons
- Some users complain of quality control.
CoolGrows’ mini grow tent offers 12 cubic feet of growing space.
It’s not the smallest tent available, but is of good quality. And the compact size won’t become an eyesore inside your house.
Double stitching helps avoid light leaks. While dual-cinching duct ports let you block light and air from escaping.
CoolGrows 24x24x36" comes with plenty of ventilation ports and mesh intakes, so you can customize your airflow.
It's versatile enough so you can grow as much as possible in a smaller space.
Pros
- All components are steel for better stability.
- Customer service is responsive to issues.
- Has a removable floor tray for water protection.
Cons
- Corners aren’t reinforced.
- No center hanging bar reinforcement for lights/fans.
Why Use Small Grow Tents
On top of the optimized growing space, a small grow tent has these advantages:
- They're much more affordable than their bigger variants.
- Small tents are easier to hide and conceal.
- The smaller crop size helps keeping odors under control[2].
- Small tents retain heat better.
- 🚫 If state laws aren't your friends, a smaller grow size usually means a lesser penalty.
These small tents are able to grow cannabis plants from seed-to-harvest.
Although you will need to grow an Indica strain, and train your plants to grow short, while taking advantage of the available horizontal space.
Why Use Mini Grow Tents
Mini grow tents are used mostly for germination, growing seedlings and clones. Since most of these sizes can't handle a flowering cannabis plant.
Plants are more vulnerable during this first stages. So it's even more important that you can control the growing environment.
Mini grow tents are great at this.
You'd be interested in a mini grow tent if you seriously care about the health of your younger cannabis plants.
Or if you wanted to start a new grow[3], while you have other more mature plants in a bigger tent.
How To Choose The Right Grow Tent Size
Trying to figure out the right grow tent size can be difficult, especially if you're new.
But worry not, here's what you need to know to make the right choice:
- First take into account the size of your accessories.
I'm talking about your whole grow tent setup. The grow lights, fans, ducting and whatever else you may have. (You'll do yourself a favor if you keep this to a minimum). - Now add up the containers for the plants.
Consider using hydroponics instead of soil, as it takes up less space overall. - And a few extra inches to keep your grow light at a safe distance from your plants.
The remaining space is what's left for your cannabis plants to grow and develop buds.
This information might not seem like much, but it actually gives you a pretty good idea of what the expected yield might be, for each grow tent.
The rest is up to the height. And your preferred cannabis growing technique.
The Height Of Your Grow Tent
The height will be the most impactful aspect in small and mini grow tents.
If you don't have problems with how tall the tent is, go directly for the tallest one. As more space equals more yield always.
If you need to keep it short tho, you can make use of these common growing techniques, that guarantee the best possible yields.
Sea Of Green (SOG) is the most common growing technique for small tents.
This allows for lots of small plants to mature as fast as possible, while using the whole grow space.
As a rule of thumb, you can have from 4 to 9 cannabis plants per 4 square feet[4].
Screen Of Green (ScrOG) is another technique you can try.
Using ScroG you can grow one big plant, instead of many smaller ones.
And with the use of a trellis net (see the image above), bend it's branches as they grow, to keep the plant short and wide, covering as much space as possible[5].
Features To Look For In Small And Mini Grow Tents
Here are the key features that you want to look for, when shopping for a small or mini grow tent.
Luckily, most grow tents in this round-up include some or all of these features.
- Affordable.
Some small grow tents are quite affordable without giving up quality. Make sure to compare between them. - Ease of use and setup.
Setting up a grow tent can be really simple, or a bit frustrating, depending on the manufacturer.
If this is important to you look for steel frames and interlocking mechanisms. - Zippers.
The zipper quality can make or break your growing experience. Aim high when possible. The best ones are heavy-duty metal zippers. - Light leaks.
If discretion is a priority, look for a quality grow tent to avoid light leaks from stitching and openings.
In case you're looking at extra discretion, I have also reviewed the best grow cabinets. - Easy-Access Doors.
Access is crucial in a small grow tent. Ducking over or reaching in a small window isn’t the best.
Look for grow tents with wide openings, D-shaped doors, or all-round detachment. - Ventilation ports and intakes.
Having enough duct ports and air intakes for your specific situation is essential, especially in small and mini grow tents.
Humidity might be a problem in such small spaces, having a grow tent ventilation setup is crucial. - Height. More space equals more yield, as we've already seen.
What’s The Best Way To Use Small Tents
Most growers opt to use a small tent indoors. They’re portable, don’t take up much space, and allow you to create the perfect environment for growing.
And there’s no denying that a 2×2 grow tent fits well in small spaces.
You can also use multiple smaller tents to separate your grows[6]. It might make sense to stagger your planting, for example, and house the younger plants separately from mature ones.
I like to separate the mature plants since the younger ones favor higher humidity.
That way, the mature plants get the drier environment they need to thrive.
Of course, you can also adjust the temperatures separately for each growing phase.
Small vs. Large Grow Tents
You made it all the way down here, so I'm going to assume you have doubts about the size of the grow tent you want to get.
Simply put, larger grow tents are much much better because you can grow exponentially more plants.
Yet, a small grow tent can be beneficial to your growing process in certain conditions.
So, how to choose?
The grow tent you choose must ultimately accommodate the amount of cannabis plants you’re going to grow.
By this I mean, you don't want to grow two small plants on a 4x4 grow tent. Since the tent is meant for so much more canopy, you'd be wasting resources all over the place.
Go back to the grow tent size chapter, and figure out how many plants you'd like to grow. So you can figure out if you need a large, small, or mini grow tent.
If you're unsure about these options, read my comprehensive guide about Grow Tent Types, where you'll learn the pros and cons of all the different types of grow tents.
Final Thoughts
The ideal small grow tent has tons of features and a sturdy build to handle all your growing accessories.
To that end, the Vivosun 36x20x62" is an excellent all-around choice, while also an affordable option.
VIVOSUN is an excellent all-around choice. It's tall enough to handle mature plants, but its footprint allows you to fit it nearly anywhere.
It’s also cheap.
