What you'll need

Starting from nothing? This page is a shopping guide for a first grow space that works well with GrowRig. You don’t need everything at once — start with the essentials and add automation later.

GrowRig manages the environment (temperature, humidity, airflow, light timing). Choosing seeds, growing medium, and nutrients is up to you — see the note at the bottom.

1. The tent (your grow space)

A grow tent is a light-proof, reflective enclosure. Pick a size for how many plants you want and the space you have:

Tent size	Good for	Typical footprint
2’×2’ (60×60 cm)	1 plant, learning the ropes	Closet / small room corner
2’×4’ (120×60 cm)	2–4 plants	Along a wall
4’×4’ (120×120 cm)	4+ plants	Dedicated space

Any sturdy tent works. GrowRig has profiles for common brands — Mars Hydro, VIVOSUN, Spider Farmer, and AC Infinity — so their dimensions are known automatically. Browse them under Supported devices → Grow tents, or pick “Other” and enter your size by hand.

2. Airflow (the most important part)

Good air exchange controls heat and humidity and keeps plants healthy. You need:

An exhaust fan + carbon filter — an inline duct fan pulls air out through a carbon filter (which also controls odor). Size the duct to your tent:
- 2’×2’ → 4‑inch · 2’×4’ → 4–6‑inch · 4’×4’ → 6‑inch
A circulation fan — a small clip-on or PC fan to keep air moving gently inside the tent so it doesn’t stratify.

AC Infinity CLOUDLINE inline fans are a popular, GrowRig-friendly choice, and quiet PWM PC fans work great for circulation. See Supported devices → Fans.

3. Light

An LED grow light is efficient and runs cooler than older lamps. Match wattage to tent size (roughly 2’×2’ → ~100–150 W, 2’×4’ → ~200–300 W, 4’×4’ → ~400–500 W of actual draw). GrowRig handles the on/off schedule; see Supported devices → Lights.

4. Sensors (so GrowRig can see)

At minimum you need a temperature & humidity sensor placed at canopy height — this is the reading GrowRig controls against. A small Bluetooth sensor like the Xiaomi LYWSD03MMC is inexpensive and well supported. A CO₂ sensor is a nice later upgrade. Browse Supported devices → Sensors.

5. Power control (switching equipment)

A smart plug lets GrowRig switch equipment on and off — and energy-monitoring plugs like the TP‑Link Tapo P110 also tell you how much power your light or fan is really using. See Supported devices → Smart plugs.

6. A controller (for smooth automation — optional at first)

To vary fan speed smoothly (instead of just on/off), GrowRig uses a small Grow Controller — an ESP32 board running open ESPHome firmware that drives PWM fans and reads sensors, with safe local fallback. You can start without one and add it when you want finer control — see Add a Grow Controller and Supported devices → Controllers.

7. The computer that runs it (your Hub)

GrowRig runs on a small always-on computer in your home — the Hub — which hosts Home Assistant, Grow Core, the Grow App, and your data, all locally. You have three ways to get one, from most turnkey to most hands-on:

Buy a GrowRig Hub — our ready-made Hub, unboxed and running (planned).
Build a DIY Hub — flash our image onto a Home Assistant Green, a Raspberry Pi 4+ with 2 GB+ RAM, or a spare mini PC.
Use your own Home Assistant — already run HAOS? Just add the Grow Core add-on.

Setting it up walks through all three. You don’t need to decide now — the gear above is the same regardless of which Hub you land on.

Optionally, a spare Wi‑Fi router can act as a Grow Gateway, putting your grow devices on their own isolated network. This is an advanced step you can add later.

Starter setups

Two ways to begin, depending on your budget and appetite for tinkering:

	Essentials kit	Recommended kit
Tent	2’×2’	2’×4’ or 4’×4’
Exhaust	4“ inline fan + carbon filter	Variable-speed inline fan + filter
Circulation	1 clip/PC fan	1–2 PC fans
Light	LED matched to tent	LED matched to tent
Sensor	Temp/humidity (Bluetooth)	Temp/humidity + CO₂
Power	1 energy-monitoring smart plug	Smart plug(s)
Automation	On/off via smart plug	Grow Controller for smooth fan speed
Hub	DIY Hub (Raspberry Pi / mini PC) or your own HA	GrowRig Hub or DIY Hub, plus a Grow Gateway

Once your gear arrives, head to Setting it up.