Product Review  |  HydroHut™

By John Berends

The HydroHut™ is marketed as an “instant indoor greenhouse”. The huts consist of an easy to assemble frame and a tent like covering designed to fit the frame and the model tested for this article was the HydroHut™ Kindergarden. The assembly instructions and pictures were easy to follow and the hut was constructed in a half hour. HydroHut™ is not a turnkey grow system. The huts are designed to be customized with growing components of the gardener’s choice. This may be a drawback for novice indoor gardeners, but the companies that sell these units can offer expert advice on available choices for outfitting them with hydroponics units, lighting and ventilation. There is also no reason that they cannot be used with conventional soil based containers.

One of the nicest features of this product is the ease with which growing components can be added. The Huts come standard with real metal duct flanges. Each HydroHut™ Deluxe comes with 2 metal duct flanges, one for intake air and one for exhaust. Optional dual flanges are available. It is evident that much thought went into designing the units so that ample access ports are available for electrical and hoses, as well as ventilation ducting and fans. Because of the open metal frame on the inside lights and other components can be easily mounted.

Sizes Available:
HydroHut™ Mini: 39" x 39" x 6.5' tall
HydroHut™ Kindergarden: 4'7" x 2'3" x 6.5' tall
HydroHut™ Original: 54.5" x 54.5" x 7' tall
Deluxe HydroHut™: 52" x 104" x 7' tall
HydroHut™ 2 x 4: 4'7" x 2'3" x 6.5' tall

Material/Quality
The HydroHut™ is constructed of high quality material. The frame is made from 16mm steel tube with steel rod corner stabilization bars, steel rod ceiling grid, steel fan brackets, and plastic tube connectors. The exhaust fan and charcoal filter bracket are constructed of steel rod with adjustable nylon straps to fasten-in the filter and fan. The grow tent is made from thick black canvass with a thermally adhered layer of thick white plastic on the inside. The fabric/plastic combination is light-tight and water-proof. The zippers used are heavy duty with oversized teeth for solid gripping. The tent comes with a double floor to protect against flooding. The floor seams are all adhered together using heat to make a water-tight joint. The following are major design features:

• 16mm steel tube frame with a steel ceiling grid and steel corner stabilization bars
• Metal intake and exhaust flanges
• Intake and exhaust vents along with passive cooling vents all along the side bottoms
• Interior fan bracket for circulation fan
• Fully coverable access holes to bring out all electrical connections with no light escaping
• Sturdy plastic fasteners to keep doors open when working inside the HydroHut™
• Double waterproof floor tightly fastened to all tent poles through metal grommets
• Color coded directions for easy setup
• 2 larger sizes to accommodate the serious gardening enthusiast

The HydroHut™ is certainly a viable alternative for a small to medium size indoor greenhouse. It is designed to keep water and light in and to be easily ventilated to control the interior environment. Fresh or conditioned air can be vented into the grow room and exhaust vented out. One draw back, may be that there is no viewing window incorporated so the only way to see inside is to open the access zipper. This may be seen as an advantage for some gardeners looking to have a discrete, self contained grow room. Information about HydroHut™ can be found at the company’s web site at www.hydrohuts.com GG

John Berends is a free-lance writer and the owner of Greenhouse and Garden Supply. John can be contacted at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and you can visit his website at http://greenhouseandgardensupply.com .