CFL PC Box Grow - any advice welcome!

chronic masterbaker

chronic masterbaker

Member
Hey all, thanks for stopping by:

This is my second time doing a grow in this PC box. The first time didn't go so well, but I wasn't the horticulturalist for that grow and so I can't speak to its failings.
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The PC I'm using is a hollowed out server case (so it's bigger than normal) and I sealed all the inside except for a passive intake by the bottom front and a rear active output, using a PC fan. Then I painted the entire inside flat white to reflect light.
I have three CFL's in there now, one large 6400K for vegging (hanging down the box) and two smaller 2700K up top that I will bring down for flowering.
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I originally had two seedlings in there, but the larger one died, and I suspect the cause was insufficient lighting close to it. Although I did crack its stem slightly whilst transplanting.....

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That's pretty much everything; the plant that began smaller is now responding very well to the veg light, and is making its first fan leaves. I do need some help identifying her to make sure she's a girl.
 
A

althor

Well-Known Member
Seriously, my advice is...

Work out an entirely new and different grow area.

There is a reason your first attempt didn't go so well and will probably end up the same for the 2nd attempt.

To come close to getting anything worthwhile from a PC grow, you need to be pretty damned good at training and growing.

Getting your bang for the buck out of a PC grow requires skill, something that a newb is in no way prepared for.

Of course, I tell people this all the time, they get upset because I tell them the truth. Then they try it out and see for themselves.
 
chronic masterbaker

chronic masterbaker

Member
Seriously, my advice is...

  • Work out an entirely new and different grow area.

    There is a reason your first attempt didn't go so well and will probably end up the same for the 2nd attempt.

    To come close to getting anything worthwhile from a PC grow, you need to be pretty damned good at training and growing.

    Getting your bang for the buck out of a PC grow requires skill, something that a newb is in no way prepared for.

    Of course, I tell people this all the time, they get upset because I tell them the truth. Then they try it out and see for themselves.​
Click to expand...
yeah well thanks for the tips man. seriously encouraging - a great first post on my thread.

I'm gonna keep trying anyway though.


although do let me know if you have any more-specific and possibly even helpful tips about the grow area. always nice to be welcomed!

PS the point of the big black shelf is for training.
 
Ogonzo

Ogonzo

Member
Hey man .. the set up looks solid! I'd change a couple of things - bring the lights closer, a couple of inches from the top of the plants, that will avoid stretch and allow the plants to get more light. With CFL, the light dissipates exponentially the further you get from the bulb. The other thing I'd change is to turn that 6400K light on it's side. CFLs emit more light from the sides than they do from the end. Get a small fan in there to blow across the girls, it will strengthen the stem.

I'm inclined to agree with althor, although PC grows are very cool and stealth (I'm currently on my first one), i'm starting to realize that a bigger stealth box is better. The PC will be great for veg or keeping a mother, but a bigger box would be better. Is that rack removable? you could LST and Scrog and potentially get a better grow.

What happened to the last grow?
 
emannn2010

emannn2010

Well-Known Member
hey chronic, nice little setup, I am in the process of my first pc grow in a smaller pc than you and I`m disagreeing with mr.doom n gloom, it can be a successful grow with returns that surprise. with a little research and help from ppl on this site you and your grow will be fine but be prepared to adapt. good luck and happy growing :-)
 
mewk69

mewk69

Active Member
Dude, don't be put off. There will always be someone saying "get a bigger grow box", "get better lights". I would say a PC grow is a pretty good place for a noob to start. There's very little outlay to begin with, it's reasonably stealthy, at least to an untrained eye. It's easy to chuck somewhere out of the way, should you have a trained eye on the premises. Plus there's a multitude of growers on here that're all doing pretty damn good with nothing more than a hollowed out PC and a couple cheapo CFLs brought from their local hardware store. The very fact that we're doing PC grows kinda states that we're not expecting 20oz from our plants, but rather somethin that'll save us a few bucks and keep us smilin on our sofas for a few weeks.

I'd recommend you have a scout around the board and see what's possible. It's worth subscribing to a few threads, and you'll find there's a mass of good faces out there, all willing to keep you positive.

A few recommended PC grows to keep you smilin.

Emannn's grow is going gorgeous, and proves you can grow something amazing from a 2litre pop bottle!
https://www.rollitup.org/stealth-micro-cab-growing/647267-white-widow-fem-cfl-micro.html

NH looks like he's nearing the end now, and has some lovely sticky to show for it:
https://www.rollitup.org/stealth-micro-cab-growing/649743-pc-grow-box-first-time.html

and Cuppa's PC looks more like a jungle in a case.
https://www.rollitup.org/stealth-micro-cab-growing/645953-n0tmycupofteas-pc-grow-g13-labs-5.html

Oh, and I'm doin okay too, and more than pleased with what I'm growing.
Considering everything so far has cost me less than $20.
 
mewk69

mewk69

Active Member
Rant over.

Some words of advice tho. I would rethink the scrog in a pc box, it was my initial thinking too, but it just proved to be almost unworkable. Reconsider LST before you start bending that girl around those fixed grills. Also it'll be hell on earth removing her from that.

Also, try and get that girl as close to the light as possible, within an inch or two, otherwise she's gonna streeeeetch. Just whack a couple books or dvds under the pot to bring her up a bit closer.

Finally, get a nice sized pot, something that'll maxamise as much of the floorspace as you can. I got one of those cheap plastic window boxes from the local DIY store. Cut it in half and slid one half into the other to shorten it, then took the rim off of it, and now I've got as much soil in there as possible. You're gonna need it in the long run, those roots get crazy.

Don't worry about figuring out if she's a girl or not, just do your best to keep her healthy. In time you'll post a pic, and before you know it, you'll have ten posts telling you if you've grown a girl. AND DO NOT OVER WATER. We all do in the early days. If you think you should water, then stick a finger in the soil, if it comes out dry, then you can water. Otherwise let her be. In my experience, weed does well when you let the soil go dry before you water again.

Otherwise, all looks good. The long journey begins. I'm subbed and will be followin along with ya!
 
emannn2010

emannn2010

Well-Known Member
ditto, ditto and ditto mewk69, who has flowered from seed and is getting amazing results. good luck and happy growing :-)
 
chronic masterbaker

chronic masterbaker

Member
Ogonzo said:
Hey man .. the set up looks solid! I'd change a couple of things - bring the lights closer, a couple of inches from the top of the plants, that will avoid stretch and allow the plants to get more light. With CFL, the light dissipates exponentially the further you get from the bulb. The other thing I'd change is to turn that 6400K light on it's side. CFLs emit more light from the sides than they do from the end. Get a small fan in there to blow across the girls, it will strengthen the stem.

I'm inclined to agree with althor, although PC grows are very cool and stealth (I'm currently on my first one), i'm starting to realize that a bigger stealth box is better. The PC will be great for veg or keeping a mother, but a bigger box would be better. Is that rack removable? you could LST and Scrog and potentially get a better grow.

What happened to the last grow?
Click to expand...
thanks for the interest man. the first one died I think because the lights were never low enough. my friend was actually in control of my box back then, soI am assuming user error. I'm just gonna use the black shelf as supports for string that I can use to tie down the plant as it grows; that is, instead of trying to 'weave' the plant as it grows.

and thanks for the tip on the CFL, Im gonna make an appoint to get an elbow for that hanging one so that I can have two lights, each at a better angle.
 
chronic masterbaker

chronic masterbaker

Member
mewk69 said:
Rant over.

Some words of advice tho. I would rethink the scrog in a pc box, it was my initial thinking too, but it just proved to be almost unworkable. Reconsider LST before you start bending that girl around those fixed grills. Also it'll be hell on earth removing her from that.

Also, try and get that girl as close to the light as possible, within an inch or two, otherwise she's gonna streeeeetch. Just whack a couple books or dvds under the pot to bring her up a bit closer.

Finally, get a nice sized pot, something that'll maxamise as much of the floorspace as you can. I got one of those cheap plastic window boxes from the local DIY store. Cut it in half and slid one half into the other to shorten it, then took the rim off of it, and now I've got as much soil in there as possible. You're gonna need it in the long run, those roots get crazy.

Don't worry about figuring out if she's a girl or not, just do your best to keep her healthy. In time you'll post a pic, and before you know it, you'll have ten posts telling you if you've grown a girl. AND DO NOT OVER WATER. We all do in the early days. If you think you should water, then stick a finger in the soil, if it comes out dry, then you can water. Otherwise let her be. In my experience, weed does well when you let the soil go dry before you water again.

Otherwise, all looks good. The long journey begins. I'm subbed and will be followin along with ya!
Click to expand...
thanks for the advice man! I plan on using the shelf just to tie down the stems, in lieu of trying to weave them through, which I agree would be a nightmare. that should work right? just to maximize the space of the box.

and good tip on the watering, I may have been going a little heavy then and will adjust accordingly. thanks.

I'll check out your grow real soon. thanks for the links to the other journals too
 
chronic masterbaker

chronic masterbaker

Member
emannn2010 said:
hey chronic, nice little setup, I am in the process of my first pc grow in a smaller pc than you and I`m disagreeing with mr.doom n gloom, it can be a successful grow with returns that surprise. with a little research and help from ppl on this site you and your grow will be fine but be prepared to adapt. good luck and happy growing :-)
Click to expand...
thanks alot eman! Im staying optimistic about it.
 
reku

reku

Active Member
Dude Mewk and Emann,Commander strax, Notmycupoftea all give VERY good advice I have seen all there grows and are solid each of them has helped me out a lot. I am doing a cab grow now thats probbly not much more space than your server case. I have worked on those some of the the old dell ones are huge. Your not gonna get a pound off that grow but I think you allready know that. If you have reasonable expectations then you will be happy I have seen guys pull 3 oz out of mini fridges that are just a bit more space than you have. Don't listen to the haters and good luck growing, there are lot of guys here willing to help you.


Oh I did'nt see any info of fans, temps,air flow what are you kickin?
 
chronic masterbaker

chronic masterbaker

Member
hey everyone, thanks for some great advice.
My main question right now is.....should I flip to flowering ?

I only have about 10 weeks anyway here so I think I need to soon. I just need to make a quick stop at a Home Depot or something and pick up some more lighting shit so I can be real flexible with the lights. Right now we got a chain exposing the side of the bulb to the plant.
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The only other thing I need to take care of is the fan filter situation. I think I'm going to drop by petco ands pick up some carbon filters. Or just activated carbon and make my own :hump:
 

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emannn2010

emannn2010

Well-Known Member
hey chronic, if you only have 10 weeks left at ur present location I would start flowering now, I know its a long time but hopefully u will have a few days to spare and not panicking if u leave her veg`ing much longer. keep up the good work..........good luck and happy growing :-)
 
kook420

kook420

Well-Known Member
interested in seeing the outcome of this!!! always think positive and just like they said adapt!!!
everything iv done so far has all been learning from all these kind folks above.
keep growing and the vibes flowin!!!! peacce!:)subbed
 
T

The BLaKsmith

Active Member
Looking good chronic! Just moved a seedling to my cab with a 125w, hoping to get a more permanent light fixture before the end of next week then I can move on to things like odor control. Keep us updated :)
 
mewk69

mewk69

Active Member
Dude... Just lookin at your pics... Are those bare wires you've got attached to the lights... Uh.. They look it to me... Please, at the very least, get a bit of electrical tape around those... You don't wanna be messin around in there with live wires lurking all over the place, not with humidity, watering and everything else.

Please, please tell me you've got that all under control now.
 
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