PlantsAreNeat: My First Grow (micro)

Hey guys,

First post ever here to go along with my first grow ever. This site seems pretty helpful and over the past few weeks I have been absorbing tons of knowledge from all the different members here. However, I am still a growing nub and am going to ask for a couple pointers along the way in this thread, so thanks in advance to anyone that helps as it is much appreciated.

I am using a fairly large old PC tower, an older Dell XPS to be exact, roughly 22Hx20Lx9W. I have gutted it and lined the inside with a reflective car-window protector (as I read these seem to work well). I have 3 fans hooked up, 1 intake at the very bottom, and 2 at the top along the light level, one on each side. Each of these fans are running at a full 12V max for the best air movement throughout the case. At the very top of the case is my power strip where I plan to use 4 CFLs. I will post pics of the case for you guys tomorrow, but any thoughts or unforeseen issues that I should take into consideration with the actual construction of the case? All constructive criticism is welcomed.

As for seeds I have ordered 10 Feminized Critical Kush seeds from Attitude Seedbank and am REALLY praying they come, as they were not cheap lol. Other than that I am just hoping I don't mess this up to bad, because I sure would love a little bit of personal Kush to smoke on now and then, so here goes nothing.

I do however have one big question on an important aspect of my case...the CFLs. I need some big-time advice on this, any thought on this sort of setup?

Example: Is flowering with four 23-watt-1640 lumen 2700K bulbs even close to enough? Overkill? I am pretty lost here.

Thanks for any opinions and advice guys, and I will post some pics tomorrow of the case! Cya!

WELCOME!

I'm not too sure about the CFLs... from what I've seen four CFLs in a micro cabinet like yours should be enough, I think. Just make sure you have the proper spectrum of light. Warm white for flower and cool white for veg. Your set-up sounds pretty good... as far as I can tell you shouldn't run into any problems.

Personally, I bet you'll do a run or two in your PC case and then realize its too small for what you want... I knew someone who referred to a PC case as "plant jail"... have you looked at any grow tents? You could get a decent small one and just pile clothes and boxes around it for stealth.

Best of Luck to you and put up those pics!

realy use closet or a grow tent search on line there not that expencive because if you do and grows great the coloms wll be close to the size of you pc case

My avatar is a critical kush w cfls....I've grown 3......its an amazing strain...please don't try to grow it in a computer box...very bad idea...I know it looks cool on you tube n everything but why...why put all that time in a grow to yield a quarter oz?...10 grams tops.......hers one of my cfl set ups w critical kush flowering....n these were kept small w short veg time n traing

Hey thanks for the couple replies already guys! Now I know the PC case setup isn't ideal and isn't very big, but I really wanted to keep it nice and small with a plant or two at first to see if I am any good at this. If it goes well I do have a small closet I could devote to a full flowering room. Am I wrong in thinking that worst case scenario I could keep the PC case for Vegging at least?

I could also still use some help with the exact watts, lumens, and temperature of my CFLs. How many? How close to the plants? Cycle? Thanks in advance again!

Also, to thatboyis1....that is some serious looking critical kush man, if I produce something that looks half as good as that I would be happy lol.

It will b hard to grow healthy plants in a closed environment such as PC case...especially for a beginner....plants need space n plenty of room to breathe.... I think it would b easier to build urself a bigger bix if u insist on having ur plants boxed up....a closet would b best way to go

thatboyis1uvakind said:

It will b hard to grow healthy plants in a closed environment such as PC case...especially for a beginner....plants need space n plenty of room to breathe.... I think it would b easier to build urself a bigger bix if u insist on having ur plants boxed up....a closet would b best way to go

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What are your thoughts on using the PC case to Veg them to around 20 inches or so and then move them to a closet growtent-style setup?

If you can do that it will yield far more than it would in the PC case the whole way. Try and get 35 watt bulbs if you can that'll add almost 50 watts more if you run those rather than 23s. But the 23s should be alright. Depending on the size of plant you want you may be able to veg in the PC case. But if you want larger plants/ yields you could start seeds in the PC move to the closet continue veg for BLANK time then flip and have a clone or a seedling waiting in the PC.

technical dan said:

If you can do that it will yield far more than it would in the PC case the whole way. Try and get 35 watt bulbs if you can that'll add almost 50 watts more if you run those rather than 23s. But the 23s should be alright. Depending on the size of plant you want you may be able to veg in the PC case. But if you want larger plants/ yields you could start seeds in the PC move to the closet continue veg for BLANK time then flip and have a clone or a seedling waiting in the PC.

Click to expand...

The more I think about it the more I like the idea of using the PC case to Veg and invest in a midsize growtent for the closet to flower in. I really think the PC case is big enough to Veg them in almost until it's time to flower, but we'll see I guess.

Again, this is my first grow and want to see how it goes, so I am taking it as a learning experience along the way. I have seen some videos of really impressive PC grows start to finish, but if I have the bigger room to flower in, why not right? My thoughts are that it will go well and I will get greedy and want to move them into a bigger area anyways lol.

Thanks for all the thoughts! I'll post some pics of the case size today so you guys can see what I am working with.

You want like 100watts min of 6500k lights for veg and 100watts min of 2700k for flower

U won't get me to suggest the PC case for any stage of growth....its one thing growing plants indoors....its another thing growing plants indoors in a metal box....I would just go straight for the closet

newgrowr said:

You want like 100watts min of 6500k lights for veg and 100watts min of 2700k for flower

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Anyone have a link on a 35W bulb that is still really short? The reason I didn't buy a larger Watt bulb is because the power strip is mounted on the side of my PC case so the longer bulbs won't fit. However, if I decide to just use the PC case for just Veg, I could remount the power strip on the top of the case facing down and put a longer, more powerful bulb in. Hmmm.

So is the consensus that 92W total (4x23W 1640 lumen CFLs) is not going to be enough to get these Critical Kush babies up and running?

The right PC setup can yield, but it will take a few runs to get it dialed in. My reason for using one is complete stealth. I can easily pull an ounce or more, however I use a 40 watt homemade led light which is cooler and more efficient than cfl.

Controlling temps (enough airflow) with proper odor control (well designed scrubber) is the biggest challenge of a pc case.

PlantsAreNeat said:

Anyone have a link on a 35W bulb that is still really short? The reason I didn't buy a larger Watt bulb is because the power strip is mounted on the side of my PC case so the longer bulbs won't fit. However, if I decide to just use the PC case for just Veg, I could remount the power strip on the top of the case facing down and put a longer, more powerful bulb in. Hmmm.

So is the consensus that 92W total (4x23W 1640 lumen CFLs) is not going to be enough to get these Critical Kush babies up and running?

Click to expand...

With all that hanging from the ceiling of the case how much room for plants...calculate pot space too...so ur pot...height of plant...hangjng fixtures n bulbs....?????....not a lot a room for plant left

bassclef said:

The right PC setup can yield, but it will take a few runs to get it dialed in. My reason for using one is complete stealth. I can easily pull an ounce or more, however I use a 40 watt homemade led light which is cooler and more efficient than cfl.

Controlling temps (enough airflow) with proper odor control (well designed scrubber) is the biggest challenge of a pc case.

Click to expand...

I have 3 fans in the case total, 1 intake and 2 exit fans, all running at a full 12V. The intake is of course at the bottom and the 2 exit fans are right in line with the level of the CFLs. I guess I will have to monitor it really close right off the bat to see how hot it gets.

I would love to make that LED setup, and that is an awesome walkthrough, I am just not great with that kind of stuff lol so I am going to give the CFLs a run.

Just never mind....good luck

thatboyis1uvakind said:

Just never mind....good luck

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Not trying to offend my man, and I appreciate the input so thank you. Like I said, this is my first grow so I wanted to give the PC case a shot, but I am strongly considering going with the closet instead. I have a couple weeks to decide until my seeds get here I guess.

So let me ask you this if I go with the closet...go with an actual tent setup, or just repaint the closet flat white and hang a bunch of high end CFLs in there? The closet is 2'x4'x10' that I would have access to.

View attachment 2507821here are my set ups...4feet tall for both...one is 4 feet wide the other 3...and bout 3 feet deep....cfls from Lowes Walmart and home depot....

PlantsAreNeat said:

Not trying to offend my man, and I appreciate the input so thank you. Like I said, this is my first grow so I wanted to give the PC case a shot, but I am strongly considering going with the closet instead. I have a couple weeks to decide until my seeds get here I guess.

So let me ask you this if I go with the closet...go with an actual tent setup, or just repaint the closet flat white and hang a bunch of high end CFLs in there? The closet is 2'x4'x10' that I would have access to.

Click to expand...

U won't harvest enuf smoke out of a PC case to last from harvest to harvest...if ur growing to keep urself in smoke a PC case won't cut it....unless u don't smoke much...n I tried growing in a box...plants never stayed healthy

thatboyis1uvakind said:

View attachment 2507820View attachment 2507821here are my set ups...4feet tall for both...one is 4 feet wide the other 3...and bout 3 feet deep....cfls from Lowes Walmart and home depot....

Click to expand...

This is probably a stupid question lol but that is only one plant per pot right? Forgive my ignorance.

What do you do for ventilation? With my setup it would literally be a small closet with a door on it. Just put some small oscillating fans in there and I would be good or what?