PC Grow/Hydro/CFL Open to suggestions!!

Using Foxfarm liquid nutrients(bigbloom/growbig). Making sure ph is at most 6. Yes I placed a laptop cooler on the top, using it to suck some of the hot air out at the top of the case. The silver rectangular object inside is a carbon scrubber, powered by a wall wart. I have a timer for my CFL and carbon scrubber, on for 18 hours and off for 6. Constantly worrying about house fires.
The CFL i'm using is: link
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Philips-60W-Equivalent-Soft-White-2700K-T2-Spiral-CFL-Light-Bulb-8-Pack-E-171780/203320818
I'm definitely a noob when it comes to growing so I'm all ears!!

I don't grow in hydro but it looks like light is being able to penetrate into the water that's below your seed because the lid doesn't cover the container completely. That could hurt you in the long run because that will allow for algae to grow which is harmful to the root system. You could cover up the cracks with tin foil for a temporary solution but may want to think about a more permanent solution.
You may also want to get a thermometer and hygrometer, small areas can get pretty hot even with a few CFLs.
If everything is wired correctly and as long as water doesn't come in contact with the electrical you shouldn't have to worry about a fire starting.
Hope this helps, good luck and happy growing

bryleetch said:

I don't grow in hydro but it looks like light is being able to penetrate into the water that's below your seed because the lid doesn't cover the container completely. That could hurt you in the long run because that will allow for algae to grow which is harmful to the root system. You could cover up the cracks with tin foil for a temporary solution but may want to think about a more permanent solution.
You may also want to get a thermometer and hygrometer, small areas can get pretty hot even with a few CFLs.
If everything is wired correctly and as long as water doesn't come in contact with the electrical you shouldn't have to worry about a fire starting.
Hope this helps, good luck and happy growing

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Thanks so much for the feedback, going to find a new container for the plant ASAP.

Glad I could help. When I was considering hydroponics, I was looking at shoe box containers that you can get from any walmart type store. Basically just tiny plastic bins, they come in all different sizes so one of those might be perfect if you could find one that'll fit your case and isn't clear. Just an idea

Updated water reservoir. Couldn't find any of the shoe box containers in my house, but hopefully this should work fine.

Looks much better, hope your little one sprouts soon!

bryleetch said:

Looks much better, hope your little one sprouts soon!

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Thanks! I looked at your grow journal, should I put netting over top of my plant when it gets bigger?

Up to you, its called "scrog" short for "screen of green". It just helps get a shorter bushier plant with an even canopy which is good for grows with limited space like ours. This is my first time using this method but people swear by it to help get better yields.

Definitely will throw something together in the basement.
Thanks for all the information.

Hey man, I've pulled a few harvests from my pc box now and I can assure you that the most important factor when growing in a pc box is your lighting. It needs to be as close as possible and oriented properly, which for cfls means sideways (more light shining off the sides). I would also recommend getting a few more lights, I personally had 4x23W CFL lights in my pc box all oriented horizontally. Before I get my next grow going I am also planning on making some reflectors out of aluminum cans to put over the cfls, which will increase the total lighting in my box by about 25% surprisingly.

With that 60 watt light vertically you will only really get about 10-15 watts of effective lighting, on its side you will get closer to 25-30 w, and on its side with can reflectors you can get up to 45-50 watts of effective lighting. So if you were able to get a couple of those in there on its side you could increase the lighting in your case dramatically!

The sooner you get more light in there the faster and better your plants will grow!

Will watch this thread, happy growing brudda

Di Freal said:

Hey man, I've pulled a few harvests from my pc box now and I can assure you that the most important factor when growing in a pc box is your lighting. It needs to be as close as possible and oriented properly, which for cfls means sideways (more light shining off the sides). I would also recommend getting a few more lights, I personally had 4x23W CFL lights in my pc box all oriented horizontally. Before I get my next grow going I am also planning on making some reflectors out of aluminum cans to put over the cfls, which will increase the total lighting in my box by about 25% surprisingly.

With that 60 watt light vertically you will only really get about 10-15 watts of effective lighting, on its side you will get closer to 25-30 w, and on its side with can reflectors you can get up to 45-50 watts of effective lighting. So if you were able to get a couple of those in there on its side you could increase the lighting in your case dramatically!

The sooner you get more light in there the faster and better your plants will grow!

Will watch this thread, happy growing brudda

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Thanks for the reply! I will definitely start working on a reflector tonight. And do you recommend any bulb socket swivels so I can position the bulb sideways?

My setup is more simple than that even, well it was I just gutted my pc to restore it. I am planning on starting a new thread when i get around to building it, I just use some simple outlet to light socket adapters (These) they run about $2 each and you can find em at most big hardware stores or order them online. I have those plugged into a normal power strip that I had zip tied to the side of the case, no fancy swivelling needed haha.

One thing to note is that I bought some 40 watt bulbs but they wouldnt fit sideways in my case so you might actually need to downgrade your lights depending on the width of your case but like I said before it WILL increase the effective lighting if you are able to pull it off.

Di Freal said:

My setup is more simple than that even, well it was I just gutted my pc to restore it. I am planning on starting a new thread when i get around to building it, I just use some simple outlet to light socket adapters (These) they run about $2 each and you can find em at most big hardware stores or order them online. I have those plugged into a normal power strip that I had zip tied to the side of the case, no fancy swivelling needed haha.

One thing to note is that I bought some 40 watt bulbs but they wouldnt fit sideways in my case so you might actually need to downgrade your lights depending on the width of your case but like I said before it WILL increase the effective lighting if you are able to pull it off.

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i put a new power strip in, giving myself more room to horizontally put the bulbs. Along with the 2700k bulb, I placed a 6400k beside it. After that I'll make 2 reflectors, and a net to keep the green from getting to tall.

I will post pictures when im finished!

Nicely done man, your case is coming along.

2 more questions that should be able to fine tune your case a little bit more:
1) do you know what strain you have got in there?
2) is the fan blocked on the other side wherever the carbon filter isnt? the reason here is that if the fan doesnt HAVE to pull air through the carbon filter it will pull most of it from just inside the case elsewhere (path of least resistance) which means that essentially your carbon filter is just wasting space unfortunately.

Something to note here is that I never had a carbon filter on my pc box, grew OG kush and didnt really have smell problems. towards then end it definitely smelled like weed when i would first enter the room but nothing more than like an open jar of bud or a bong sitting out. Then if I opened my window it would go away quickly, however when I opened the case it was extremely pungent. So unless you need to have no smell whatsoever you will get more grow space.

Also you can probably raise your plant up a good 3/4 inches for now using dvds or cds or something which will increase its growth rate (more light). Make sure you don't put it too close though cause you can burn a lil plant real easy. Once it gets to around its 3rd set of leaves the you will want it as close as possible without burning.

This is my first pc grow about 2 weeks after i raised it closer to the lights:

It was a bit of a hassle retraining it everyday but when i put the seedling in at the beginning it was flat on the bottom of the case,10 days later there was hardly any growth. Then i raised my plants up and about 10 days later it went from a seedling to the picture above.

Updated the setup. Had to change the container the water sat in. Hung the carbon scrubber at the top of the case, out of the way, and off until it starts smelling. I also wired the fan to a wall wart, to simply increase the speed it had before. I will end up covering the fan so foliage doesn't get caught inside. Also I raised the hydro container 3" higher for more light penetration, may even raise it higher. Last thing to do is make a SCOG. Strain is Cherry Grapefruit (Kera).

Thank you all for the suggestions, without you I would be in bad shape.

No problem dawg, your setup is lookin sweet!! Ive never seen a pc box hydro grow so im excited to see how this goes. Im almost done refurbishing my PC grow box and have some rooted clones I will be getting in there tomorrow probably then I can share some pics of my setup.

Never heard of that strain you're working with do you know what the parent strains are by chance?

The fruity Cherry Grapefruit is 40% Sativa and 60% Indica. This unique plant is a mix between the legendary White Widow, Chemdawg, OG Kush and Sour Diesel. It’s got the best qualities of all these plants. So it comes as no surprise that the Cherry Grapefruit is very popular in Canada and the United States. It probably won’t take much longer before the Cherry Grapefruit has conquered the whole world. Medically, the Cherry Grapefruit is known for being a muscle relaxer and a painkiller.
^^Origin^^
Can't wait to see yours homie!