(low budget) PC Grow Case- Pics

Sup GC blades, Thought I post some picks of my new custom PC grow box converted from a used mid sized tower desktop completely stripped out.

Lining: is from a reflective car windshield shade (free(only like 2 bucks at walmart)

Airflow: is handled by the computer's original cpu and power supply fans, I wrapped the outflow fan in fabric softener for odor control (seems to be working good room smells like downy:)). I also have a hanging 60mm fan to circulate air better and also cool off the CFLs (free)

Lighting: is being handled by 2 6500 26watt and a 2700 24watt CFL ($15) plus 4 bucks for the light harnesses.

Power: This model will be using 3 outlets, one for the 3 fans powered by 12vdc transformer, one for my Y connector, and one for the horizontally mounted cfl. The man power source is taped to roof and ran through the back of the case. (free)

It only took me maybe 1:30 total to construct this simple grow box, What do the blades think will she grow?
Photos:

Edited by MyRightArm, 17 February 2010 - 08:17 AM.
Picture uploads

I think it will grow a really really short plant. You will have to employ every ScrOG, Topping, and Tieing technique known to stonerdom to make it worth it.

Otherwise it is actually a pretty tight, clean set up. If you are careful you might just grow some pot.

You need to change your setupa asap. I've been studying PC grows and if you go to Home Depot you can find for under 2 dollars a piece these screw in light socket to 2 prog plug adapters. Pop them directly to a 6 outlet adapter, you'll fit 3 lights to a strip usually. They go for about 7 bucks each at Home Depot.

I'm currently building my rig and I have the Y splitters for the lights and played around with all sorts of dummy rigged configs but at the end of the day when you are in a PC case it's all about tight spaces. Keep the lights as close to the top of the case as possible for even canopy lighting from start to finish. With any other method you'll be wasting viable space at the top of the pc case between the lights and case. In our grow method every inch is important, plus lining up the light's you'll see that you can fit 6 lights on 2 strips and only take up maybe 3.5 inches of height at the top of the case due to the thickness of the lights. Best of all even if your plants touch the cfl's it won't burn the plant like hid's would so you can grow comfortably close to the lights as you're running out of space towards the end of the cycle.

Enjoy.

Thanks, I plan on imploring the ScrOG as well as lst and topping and possibly root trimming. I have tried different light configurations; because of heat issues im not sure if i should use more then 3 cfls. I've read that you get the most light from the side of the cfls, which is one of the main reasons for them hanging that way, there is about 8 in'' between the floor and the light right now, removing the Y- connector and rearranging the lights vertically would give me and extra 1/2 in'' more clearance under the light but does not allow for growth in between the lights, if my theory is correct, if it does not grow in between light I will change them at a later date. Thanks for your recommendations blades.

8'' between the floor and the light?
what??so including the pot which lets say it would be max 2-3'' you planning to grow a 5'' plant?

wow and i thought my space was tight. my box is 17'' tall.and from the top of my pot(not the ground ) to the light is 10''.and im still worried ill have to throw it away because it will overgrow!

So I have redone the lighting scheme got a few more inches out of her. The temp was 100 degrees with all three lights on so I removed one. I can fit smaller light in there horizontally that would be even with the other 2 lights, hopefully the smaller bulb wont let off so so much heat.

Took some more pics:

Id suggest a Full Tower computer case. I might have one at my parents house empty that I would be willing to mail you. Just pay shipping costs. It is literaly twice the size of your pc case and will provide you with much much more lighiting room and growing space. And yes you will deff need to SCROG your wee ones. It will enable you to yeild twice as much as growing them upright. Only top them once in my opnion and have like 2in your case 3 maybe 4 in the bigger case, prob 4. Get back to me I'd love to help out. I'll actually split the shipping costs with you just to help you out. I dont assume it would be more than $5 out of your pocket. I'm willing to send it before having the $5 just to help get your shit underway. I'll ask my mom tomorrow if it's still in my closet, and if it is man its yours. Its in great condition and will suite your needs just fine. Ok Get back to me and I'll post soon. JW is this meant to be a stealt grow hidden from someone, and if so is it your landlord or parents, I can give you many tips for each situation. Good luck! Grow Smart!

PS: Check out RoadRunner strain. I have just grown the plant myself, cutting her in 2 days. Its a dwarf autoflowering strain. What this means it that it will not grow over 10'-12" and from seed is fully harvested in 90 days. I went 93 this time around and will be harvesting about a 2/8 to 3/8. I'll get you a picture the day we harvest the plant to show you. Heres a link to the Roadrunner strain sold at attitude seed bank. http://www.cannabis-.../prod_1313.html[/URL]They are one of the few sites thats are still willing to ship to america. They have stealth shipping methods where you will recieve clothing or a cd with the seeds within it. I highly suggest you check them out, chances are you will end up ordering from them someday.

Edited by HATEu4NOW, 19 January 2010 - 06:43 AM.

Thanks 4 the recommendations and the case offer but I think im try to get this one to work for now. plus we got plenty of 2nd hand shops around here ill get a larger case next time.

Now back to my problem

I seem to be having major temperature issues with the 3 cfl (total of 76W=W300) 97-100 degrees in there its like a oven:(. So i removed the 24w 2700 cfl, rearranged the intake fan (old cpu fan which is my strongest and also smallest fan) to the lowest possible position in my case, raised my internal fan up to push through the lights, also added a 75mm fan to the top to pull the hot air from the lights out the front of the case directly below that is another exhaust fan(100mm fan which is pretty week) removed the fabric soften sheets from covering the fan and stuffed them in the faceplate of the case. I still seem to be getting pretty high temps 87-90 with an external temp around 60-65(Is 60 65 a good night time temp?). Im thinking about opening up a passive intake below my 2nd exhaust fan behind the face plate. I also notice the exhaust flows better with the faceplate off but unfortunately im need to keep that on.


Any suggestions tips on lowering the internal temp in my box GC? to hot even for the spouts to grow I think i might have cooked having them in there for a whole day on a 20/4 cycle, i hope not I got 4 new seeds germinating Im going to plant all 4 this time instead of just the one so I'll have back ups.

Has anybody had any luck seeding in Miracle-Gro Organic Choice Potting Mix is this a good choice for that task, also mixed with organic terracycle PF 5-3-4 is that good?

Thanks

That potting soil isn't terrible for mature plants but it might be a little hot for seeds/clones.

If you're going to do a grow that small, expect to water a lot, and fight over growth. You could really use just 1 big CFL in the top of the case...that might spare you a couple inches, and that might be big later on.

If I were you I'd just get the seeds to sprout and go right to 12/12 and let them start flowering as soon as possible, under all white light, just to help with the height.

You can do some research on starting 12/12 from seeds/clones, it works for making a short plant with some bud on it, and that's about all you have room for.

I'd advise having some patience and running that case for a few days with a temp/humidity monitor in it just to be sure it's right before you put anything in there that's expected to stay alive.

I highly advise you to stay away from the Miracle Grow potting soils, they can deff be rough on plants. Ive had terrible experience with it when I first started. What I would suggest is first off getting smaller cfl's. Get 3 13w bulbs. I believe that is the wattage. Its the size under what you have. You will be able to touch these bulbs with you hands and not have it be too hot. This will significantly lower your temps and increase your grow are seeing as plants can pretty much rest up against these bulbs for a small amount of time.

Next germinate seeds and get dirt that has no nutes or peat or anything in it. Then mix 25/75 perlite/dirt and place your newly germinated seeds into small containers. I'm talking 2"x2" peat pot. Hyponex is a descent soil that you can sometime get at Walmart when it's in season or if they have any let over at this time. Your best bet is going to a local gardening center to pick up these supplies. It's not odd to come in the middle of winter to get 8 bags of frozen top soil from out back. Our gardening center says its a more popular item than you'd expect in the winter.

Next once your seedlings are showing signs of good growth and are well rooted in the 2x2 peep pot its time to transplant into a new soil mixture. This is about 7-10 days. What you will need is "Espoma Flower Tone" organic nutrients, Lime, Vermiculite. Mix 40/60 50/50 perlite/soil. For every 5gal of mixture add 1 cup of Lime, 2 cups of Vermiculite, and 3 cups Organic Nutes. This is a fail safe flowering mixture. For vegging you would just use plant tone instead of flower tone.

I'd also suggest that you get Brer Rabbit Mollasses from a grocery store and mix 1 teaspoon into 1gal of warm water. The warm water really helps you mix the mollasses in since it is a thick substance. Every 3 waterings use this water mixture and you will have slightly more dense buds.

It is extremely important for your water to be at a ph level of 6-6.3 for you plant to be able to absorb all nutes. To do this go to your local pet stores and get a ph testing kit and ph down. They amount of drops that you add to just plain tap water and mol water are different. So you will need to figure out how many to add to each.

I'd highly suggest you go straight into 12/12 cycle and get those babies producing some bud. Truly I feel this is a waste of your time seeing how small of a space you have to work with. GET A BIGGER CASE. You have like no time invested in this project as far as I can tell. So do it right or wait until you can do it right is what I say. But more power to ya. I'm totally here to help in any way. I'll get some pix of my setup to you soon. W/in 2 weeks.

Theres no reason that you cant have descent bud in 3 mo if you do what I have instructed. Happy growing!

Morning blades, I believe I solved the temp problem for now at least, I acomplished this by overhauling my air flow with two rear exhaust fans and two intake fans one on both ends of the case with custom vents funneling that cool fresh air into the chamber at its lowest point. Im now running manageable temps between 74 to 87 degrees. Only problem im having is now the bottom of my case is like at 62-73 causing the potted soil at on the floor of the case to remain cool, Thinking of removing one of the intake vent funnels. I also put my stirrer and lower exhaust fans on a toggle switch I macgyvered together, which is actually just the fan power leads hanging out of the back, now im able to manipulate the air flow a bit. These tweaks have allowed me to place the 3rd cfl back in the box, along with all the cables and power cords the case now only requires one power cord to be plugged in to power it(that's 3, 6 foot extension cords, 4 sets of fan wires, one 3 outlet power strip, and a phone charge and the temps are still no higher then 87), hope it doesn't blow up and catch fire lol.


Well, the first seed germ'd but got burn't up in the case (107 degrees)lol, got the temps down now and have placed two newly germ'd puppies back into the MGOPM grow medium, but before i did that I mixed the cup back into my larger soil mix and watered it then filled the cup back up, watered it at half full then the added the rest and topped of with water, (4 tbsp max) then I aerated the soil with a pen and a match stick steriliy placed a few drops of fresh urine(N) into one of the cups and topped with with a cap of eggshell springwater ive been using to water the soil, then I aerated it again and set it back in the chamber to warm while the seeds germinated on the dvr. The seeds have now been successfully placed into the grow medium covering half the seed topped with cellophane, and placed back into my grow chamber they have been chilling out now for less then 12 hours at about 77-84 degrees. I just read that I should mix my MGOPM grow medium with some perlite and pebbles to help drain, it is pretty warm and thick from all the water and heat. hopefully they will be ok as I poke the soil with this match stick for now until I trans pot in like 10 days.

I've taken a few cam phone pics of the overhauled case(still in progress) I'll be buying some foil tape and cleaning it up a bit so this is just the basic design i still have a little touching up to do here and there. You can also see my Srcog rack in there with adjustable sliding grill that is still a work in progress as well:smoking:. I am really learning alot, thanks again for the tips and information GC much love.

hahah dude this grow is going to be fuckin awesome!

Sub + rep!

One of your heat issues may actually be the type of reflector your using. It could be insulating the heat more than you would want.

I also understand how you fixed it with your fans and have it working better now...
But with that small of a case, the amount of fans you have should be overkill.

Though if you decide to stick with what you have. One thing that may help is to move 2 of your fans down towards the bottom and have them be your intake, drawing in cooler air. Then place your other fans at the top to act as your exhaust. This way they are pulling heat dirrectly from the lights as well as helping add to the flow of air.

Also at most with your current size if your looking to do a full grow in just that case, your going to be limiting yourself to 1 plant and I believe you need atleast 100w of cfls for 1 plant and +50 for each additional (if im correct) to grow properly which is going to shoot your temp up once again.

Atleast this is all just from I have been reading here and from my own homework on my build that Im working on.

"Look at all this room we have for activities.
We can do aerobics in here.
We can do step class"

Don't have too much room in that PC case if I do say so myself. I wouldn't expect more then 1/8th....

So I finally came to the realization that, that box is way to small, so I went to the second hand shop and got a larger one that came with a powerful exhaust fan(10 bucks). I then commenced to gutting out the old heap. The new case is much more roomier I have 4 cfls and one 5600k 1.5 watt 110lumen led bulb practically laying on top of the grow. There are 7 fans total in the box 4 exhaust(3 sm stacked) i left the large one where she was and put the smaller stacked fan set at the top of the case), then I have two stirrer fans one on either end blowing through the lights which are toggled so I can turn them off, final the intake placed near the very bottom.

The case is sitting comfortably right now at about 24-25 degrees C, (77 F), Before I achieved this feat I was having issues with the bottom of the case being cool to the touch making the cup and soil at the bottom cold, the cool intake air was basically blowing in through one end of the box and leaving directly out of the back, so I put a guard in front of the fan about 1in away so the cold fresh air is mostly drawn up with a 2in gap at the bottom of the guard as well. Pots are no longer cold when you touch them. With this modification the stirrers were causing excessive heat to be kicked up off the lights so I've turned them off I got to find a way to incorporate them back into the mix.

Anyway its not finished yet but I'll up a couple of pics I had to rush it because my old box was way to hot and the bottom way to cold causing my spouts to take forever to spout up, I believe they are at the ideal temps now around 25 c(77f)?

Smooth move for the case. Can't beat that.

I don't know if it's possible at this point, and I'm sure you've considered it, but you would get hella more room if your cfls were flat against the top.

Another option is white spray paint instead of a window reflector. A can of flat white is 96 cents at wal mart. I've been told it reflects decently and doesn't create hot spots

This grow is soo funky lol. I would have used one of those old towers from the 90s PC/servers, the ones that stood like 2 1/2' tall, or the old Server cases that where like 3ft tall. I used to go to computer repair classes with tons of old PC parts, cases, fans etc. Ancient Pentium and PII towers where HUGE!

Your going to need at least 3 feet including headspace for a plant to yeild anything good mate. That case seems way to small, unless just for seedlings (havent read thru posts).

So after all of that I was ready to just toss out those abused seeds but after further inspection they look to be doing just fine. I did go out and buy some seed starter mix and some jiffy pellets and some clay pots, lights and some surge protectors plus the 2500k 26watt cfls on sale only 99 cents. didn't matter much anyway because after I dropped my stuff off at the counter and went back for paper bowls. to create reflectors for my lights). I hit the register again he rang me up gave me the total(I put $100 on the counter) bagged everything up, ripped the bag, re bagged the he said; here, So I swiftly grabbed my bill back off the counter and said thanks then high tailed it out that bitch. Kinda of felt sorry for the guy, I thought twice and turned around b4 quickly coming to my senses and hitting the car speeding off. luckily it was a store I dont frequent often.

I set these seed in strait potting soil which seems to be slowing them down fighting through that thick clumpy mixture. My first planted seed has yet to show signs of even want to pop but it has made its was above ground (7 days), Im thinking about canning it but Its a bag seed from some killer. The last 3 I did are doing fairly well on a count that I made sure the soil was loose beforehand. I just finish ripping the membrane off a few. I got some seed starter mix, A couple of pots have been tipped over and lightly put back, seed to be unaffected, Im just going to wait and use it for the repot they look to be gaining toughness and strength in that thick soil we will see if they last.

Edited by MyRightArm, 25 January 2010 - 07:57 PM.

Thought Id put you blades on my new and improved organic grow medium, MGOPS, seed start starter mix every thing i need to air the soil out, I also mixed in some powdered egg shells along with that terracycle granulated plant food. I also soaked egg shells in tap water I preboiled to water my soil.

Check 'em out

FAIL! I'm just checking in every so often to see how epic this becomes.