Pc case stealth grow: Planning, Build, and Grow journal

I've begun the process of researching and designing my own pc case grow and i would like to share with you the journal of it so you can follow along and gain from it as i might gain from your insight.

I'm keeping a subreddit going here
http://www.reddit.com/r/pccasemicrogrow/

I will be posting there quite often to update my thoughts and plans and eventually document the actual build/grow.

This thread will hopefully serve as an easy way for me to ask questions about my ideas and get input from many experienced sources so as to approach this operation as well educated as an inexperienced grower might hope to be.

I've adjusted the angle of the power strip. In doing so i've exposed more of the plant to the side of the bulb and made a more equidistant light source. This also means that most of the plant should be in an optimal 2-6" Range, 2" mostly just when the plant is at it's thickest i think.

http://imgur.com/a/MKebM#0

I've also been considering the reflective medium and i'm about 99% certain i will be going with the flat white paint method. This method would easily take up the least amount of space, and i believe that outweighs the marginal reflective benefit mylar would provide and negates the con of possible hotspots.

Looks nice, and although I haven't grown anything yet, looks like you have some good ideas to throw into the mix of the community as far as micro grows go, especially in PC cases. In your 3D rendering of your Case Machs, your LST fence looks like it has a lot to add to how LST is done in PC cases, and potentially other micro grows. The angle and bend in the fence itself could theoretically add to growth and yield potential.

All in all, coming from the perspective of somebody who follows and has literally no actual grow experience (only what I've seen in person through a friend who does) this looks pretty fucking promising.

It looks like you intend to have a carbon filter hooked up to that fan. From personal experience, that sized fan will not pull enough air with the carbon filter hooked up, let alone at any sort of angle. You have the carbon filter aiming straight down which means the air has to go around corners, which reduces the CFM even further.

Unless that rear fan port is dead center on the case, a 140mm would not fit in that rear position either, which still does not pull adequate CFM's to cool the case with a carbon filter hooked up.

You would probably have to run a 180mm fan for it to have effective CFM's with on a carbon filter. If you don't use that sized fan, you would need cool ambient air entering the case (probably lower than 65 degrees). The 140mm fan I have is rated for something like 125 CFM, and is loud as hell at 100% (it's a "silent" model). A 180mm will sound like a jet engine.


If those are 23/26 watt lights you will also need more than one fan for cooling.

I'm literally midway through completely re-rendering the screen. I don't like the limitation of the current one so i built a much closer to actuality screen from scratch and am getting some of the positioning done for the first angle pic. I've also had a new idea for how to maximize light potential during sapling using this system so i'll be adding some more pictures later probably as well. I'm truly sad that i've not had growing experience yet and it limits alot of my ideas due to unknowns. I'll be growing tomatoes as a first test plant literally just to test the setup and see where i could improve some before i move on to my real grow when i'm living in an apartment.

InCognition said:

It looks like you intend to have a carbon filter hooked up to that fan. From personal experience, that sized fan will not pull enough air with the carbon filter hooked up, let alone at any sort of angle. You have the carbon filter aiming straight down which means the air has to go around corners, which reduces the CFM even further.

Click to expand...

I was considering this potential problem and as of this moment i've not come up with a solution. I was hoping that the single exhaust fan would be powerful enough to breath through the filter, but i'm doubting it significantly now. I was considering making it a straight short filter (roughly 4-5" in length) that would connect to the back fan causing an updraft through the leaves and also across the bulbs before exiting through the filter. I'll see if i can't throw in a visualization of this idea really easily in one of my pics.

Mach 6-1 is up.

http://imgur.com/a/MKebM#0

I'm thinking of a way to raise the pots as a whole during the growing process and use only half of the mesh to start with, then add the second half once i've reduced the pots all the way to the base of the pc case, moving the mesh screen with it whenever needed.

Began revision of the air filter on the back. Filtration in such a small space may be an issue. Also, much space is wasted in the space left, which i think a second strip with a timer/ any other electric needs i might have would fill up nicely.

Hey try mounting the light strip outside the case and wiring the lights yourself. Saves space and makes it more custome to your needs. Also I would use as many fans as possible for exhaust and have as much passive intake as possible as well. I built one of these and the only issue is heat and I'm 95% sure its because I don't have good enough intake airflow. but they make carbon filter that's like a cloth almost, use that and chicken wire for a filter and since its like 1/4 in. Of fabric it should allow enough air to pass to cool the case.

I'm afraid that wiring the lights myself and mounting the strip outside the case compromises the stealth element of the build too much. There are two other fan grills on the back of the case, so i could have two 80mm fans there but i'm not sure exactly how i would do the filter then. Would i have to make two whole filters and have two straight airflows from front to rear or try to exhaust a column of air and make a filter that covers both exhaust fans?

I added a little idea that i've been mulling over to make a stable platform for suspending the plants and moving them away from the lights slowly.

http://imgur.com/a/MKebM#0

Picked up all the supplies to build my grow chamber this weekend and the rubbermaid container to build a 3 plant horizontal scrog. I have no intention of actually using the bud light box in any part of my process.

The supplies I found for the computer case and creating my movable rack were relatively difficult to find and i didn't get everything i wanted; No square pots in town, no decent thermometer/hydrometers and no decent ph meters. I've never been more dissapointed in a store than that gardening store. I also couldn't find a power strip that was really WELL suited to what i need it for so i had to make due.

Home Depot, Lowes, and a decently large gardening store had almost nothing for growing mediums but i was able to find a bag of perlite and a bag of coconut fiber growing medium to mix 50/50 for my medium. Also purchased enough generic vegetable nutrients to last the length of the tomato grow. My tomato seeds have been planted. Two different brands, both strains are inclined to indoor growing. By the time I have finished my case they should be sprouting.

I will try to take a lot of pictures and document the build at least a little bit.

Today I managed to start working on the case and the modifications i wanted to make to it. It was a little hard to because this case is absolutely gorgeous. As a computer person, I would buy this for a gaming rig or server any day. Absolutely 100% quality, even the screws came in seperate small labeled ziplocks inside of another small ziplock. I was impressed honestly. The case was really a little bit bigger in person than i had expected, relatively of course, and I was quite pleased.
The only real surprises for me was the pop up usb panel on top(that i'm going to hopefully wire into being a charge only usb port) and some foam sound dampening material that was taped to both side panels and the top of the case, but the adhesive easily removed in a whole strip attached to the foam after one or two tries.
I removed parts here and there by drilling through the rivets. I also used a dremel and a cutting attachment to make a few modifications.
Here is the album, and i've added detail to each description. http://imgur.com/a/Gze60
I will be working to hopefully finish it Sunday and will take more pictures and if all goes well have a ~finished product to show you.

Lookin good man!