Born To Grow: Soil/ quality bag seed/ PC Micro Grow 2011

I'd Like to start off by smoking a nice spliff. I hope you're doing the same already or at least enticed to do so by reading this. It will help you relax so why not?

I know a guy who was going to trash some old PCs and I told him I'd take them for parts. I just got one of those flip video cameras so I decided to produce a series of videos showing how I built my PC grow box. I'll be uploading them on my YouTube channel as soon as I have all the footage edited and annotated.

For now I thought I should upload some photos and get some feedback on my build. Although I did put a lot of time and thought into this I ended up making a really simple mistake. I forgot to wire the timer inside the box. I kind of ran out of space anyway but now I"m stuck with the problem of the fans going off with the lights... No air circulation at night could cause mold or bacteria to form which is no good! (I might have a solution) Plus the entire point of my PC build was to be stealth and I don't know anyone else who has their computer plugged into a timer. Anyway here are some of the first pics I'm uploading for the world to see! This will be my third grow but first PC micro grow. Im excited ... sorry if you hate these smilies, I like using them.

...as you can see I have a little more work to do on the door. The computer case was originally one piece. I used a dremel to cut the panel off. I have a light trap built around two fans for the exhaust and two fans mounted to the front of the PC drawing in cool air. There is also one fan inside the case circulating air and drawing the heat away from the lights. Each is wired separately and has its own switch. To be more specific I wired two fans together for both the exhaust and intake so even though there is a total of 5 fans (probably overkill) there are only three switches. I decided to use this many fans because Im also using 5 CFL's which Im sure some of you will say is overkill... but I say the more light the better!! Still devising a plan for some kind of custom carbon filter. I'll add it when smell becomes a problem.

Having this many lights will also allow me to cover more of the light spectrum. Right now I have it set up to veg with (4) 23W 5000K @ 1500 lumens each and (1) 75W 6500K @ 1170 lumens. I know you're supposed to use 6500K lights to veg but my 5000K CFL's push out more lumens...maybe one of you advanced growers can tell me what I should do about that. I plan on keeping it mostly 6500K to 5000K for veg but I'm thinking about swapping out one of the 5000K for a 2700K...what do you growers think?

You might also be wondering why I choose to wire the fans the way I did... reason being I'm thinking about using CO2 and I would like to be able to regulate the temp and airflow as much as possible. I've been researching the amount of CO2 thats supposed to be in the air in order to be useful and so far a lot of people are saying in the neighborhood of 1000 - 1200 ppm. Im wondering if thats true and whats the best way to use CO2 in a micro grow like this? Please let me know if you have any information about it, preferable from personal experience...

I also attached a picture of the seeds Im germinating as of 4/13/2011. I have 5 different bag seeds, one of which is immature but I'm hoping it sprouts because the bud was a great medication. I have them in a small tupperware container between two layers of moist/wet napkin...light proofed the clear lid with a few layers of magazine and tape. Now the container is sitting inside my entertainment system on top of my cable box where it stays nice and warm from the heat of venting electronics.

I don't know what I'm going to do if they all sprout; I'm only going to attempt to grow one or two in the PC grow box at a time. I have a feeling I'm going to want to let them grow bigger so I've started drawing a plan for a small stealth closet grow which this may or may not turn into. I'll at least keep one plant in the PC start to finish for the sake of this thread. I plan on doing an LST grow or maybe some super cropping who knows. I'd like to try training it into a spiral to utilize as much horizontal grow space as possible and maximize my yield.

here are my SUGGESTIONS have your case only use outtake fans. intake fans restrict air flow and raise temps and are pointless. also having just a hole or tube for a intake means you can put a bug guard on it I used panty hose to prevent bugs and spider mites. and having a passive intake causes a negative air charge inside the case causing co2 to be sucked in. also most co2 set ups are a waste in pc growing and most pc growers just rely on the negative air charge from the passive intake to suck in fresh O2 and Co2 because the air is being exchanged so much compared to a sealed grow room the size of a bedroom of living room.

Another thing the 23w 6500k cfl's I use put out 1600 lumens so 100 more then your 23w 5000k's. a 4 pack of em at lowes is 10 bucks. I run 8 in my case for vegging. and your gonna want to re mount your lights to have the SIDE face the plant more light comes off the side of the bulb compared to the top.

also get your plant closer to the lights 10 inches is too far. I run my cfls about 1 to 3 inches away it will cause your plant to grow more squashed and bushy what you want in a pc grow. I just put stuff under my pots like 2x4's dvd cases to raise it up closer to the light so the more it grows I take a block or case out lowering it untill its not raised up by anything that way you don't have to re adjust your lights all the time.

other than that you have a pretty good start to a PC grow. a lot better than some of these guys trying to grow under a 7w 2700k bulb some people are not willing to put in the effort for a decent grow but your half way there.

Thanks for the tips tylekorn. I think I might take my intake fans out and use them in a small PC case I have so I can veg and flower at the same time. Also, I was planning on putting the plant(s) closer to the lights at first, I just wanted to show how much potential grow space I had in the picture I uploaded.

BTW 3/5 of my seeds are just starting to sprout...one is just opening up and the immature seed isn't looking so bright but Im going to let it germinate a little longer... I only started them two days ago

Turn those lights on their sides if you can.

Thanks Potty McPotPot lol. Nice name I wanted to turn them on the side but the CFL's don't all fit unless I use these orange extensions... which makes it hard to turn on the side. I'd have to really rip my box apart to move the power strip. I have it secured to the top pretty good because I didn't want it to fall onto my plants.

Im thinking I could shorten some extension cords and then wrap them around a stiff but flexible wire. Then rig a CFL to one end of each short extension and the other end to the wall of the case. This way I would be able to adjust the position of each light or set of lights... Its the only way I can think to do it without having to do a lot of reworking.

you can wire some sockets together and mount on something in a strip instead of having the width of the multi strip orange thing and plug in socket. it would just be the width of the socket. Shop Harbor Breeze Light Kit Socket at Lowes.com

True, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to do more wiring. I figured it would lower my chances of starting an electrical fire. I suppose I could do it anyway...would haven been cheaper. Something to think about...

True, but I was hoping I wouldn't have to do more wiring. I figured it would lower my chances of starting an electrical fire. I suppose I could do it anyway...would haven been cheaper. Something to think about...

there are guides in the lighting section on how to wire these sockets up. only way you could mount your lights side ways. if you do everything right you should have nothing to worry about.

let me know when you get those videos uploaded i have a couple pcs i dont use and i think im gonna try it sounds like fun just wouldn know where to start after gutting it.

let me know when you get those videos uploaded i have a couple pcs i dont use and i think im gonna try it sounds like fun just wouldn know where to start after gutting it.

Sure no problem

Getting my shit together for another trip to Lowe's...

Another thing the 23w 6500k cfl's I use put out 1600 lumens so 100 more then your 23w 5000k's. a 4 pack of em at Lowe's is 10 bucks. I run 8 in my case for vegging. and your gonna want to re mount your lights to have the SIDE face the plant more light comes off the side of the bulb compared to the top.

Just went to Lowe's and they didn't have a four pack of the lights I needed so I had to buy 4 individually...cost me 19 dollars! At least I have what I need now. Im going to put these four 23W 6500K cfl's in my box with one 23W 2700k for the veg. Im also going to have to leave the lights vertical for now. I cant see how remounting them sideways would make that much of a difference in this case. I have the reflective mylar on every surface including the top of the box so most of the light should be reflected back onto the plant(s) anyway.

My seeds are ready to go into my seed starting mix which I bought from the store. It's Hoffman brand seed starter and contains Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss, Vermiculite, Limestone and a wetting agent. Could someone please explain what the wetting agent might be? Id like to go organic with this grow and Im not so sure this qualifies but Im only using it for the seedlings. I have an organic mix for when the plant(s) go into bigger pots. Ill be posting some pics and a list of what Im thinking about using. I know organic can smell but I don't really care. Its a small grow and Im more concerned about the quality and taste of the final product. From what I hear organic soil growing produces the tastiest buds.

I'm having some problems with cooling. The temp in my case got up to 91F today. I did have 4 of my cfl's on but I decided to turn two off for now. The temp has dropped into the 80's now but the peat was quite warm. I hope I didn't cook my seedlings. Two out of 5 came up, 2 are still have yet the break the surface and the immature one I'm not sure about.

I took the top off of my mini greenhouse last night and the little pots with seedling mix almost dried out entirely. The small seedling thats still only showing the hypocotyl (embryonic stem) was flat/ bent over and the other seedling was doing fine already showing its first true leaf. I can also see the other two seedlings are just starting to poke through the soil as well. Still no signs from the immature seedling.

I took the top off of my mini greenhouse last night and the little pots with seedling mix almost dried out entirely. The small seedling thats still only showing the hypocotyl (embryonic stem) was flat/ bent over and the other seedling was doing fine already showing its first true leaf. I can also see the other two seedlings are just starting to poke through the soil as well. Still no signs from the immature seedling.

damn that sucks dude I had that happen to a plant I been vegging for two months. I checked on it before I went to sleep and I woke up the next morning check and it was all droopy had a few yellow leaves just over night. but its healthy right now. it was about a week ago.

post them vids!!

post them vids!!

Sorry I haven't done that yet. I'm in the process of changing some stuff around because I don't want to recommended doing some of the steps I did lol. I'm having heating issues with the case now. Ill kick it into gear and at least post the first one or two videos tonight after I do my taxes...yeah I waited until the day they are due... what a stoner move lol

Just got some train wreck and I'm about to get really medicated woot woot!

haha nice sounds good. ya im a procastinater too