PcGrowBox setup - LED questions

Indoor Growing Lighting
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Hi all,

I’m totally new to all of this, but I’ve decided to try to make a DIY pc grow box. (mostly for the fun of it and also if it gets me something around 1ounce every 3months would be awesome)

I’ve got myself an Antec case
(like this one

but without the acrylic door) which has these dimensions: 20.6" x 8.1" x 18.6" (50.8cm x 20.31cm x 45.72cm)

As the space is pretty tight in there, I’m thinking to go with hydroponics and LEDs specially because of the heating aspect.
But the hard part is to know what to buy for such a small space (and also very tight budget :P).

The plan is to start with just one plant and eventually, if it goes ok, maybe try it with two (more than that seems irrealistic, right?).
I’m going with a small autoflowering strain (maybe Hindu Kush or Royal Dwarf) and using scrog and lst as needed.

I’m still trying to figure out the lights and after that i’ll start researching for the fans/carbon filter and after that the hydroponics and nuts part.
From what I’ve read, those chinese UFO’s aren’t recomended, right? Still, those prices are really interesting :stuck_out_tongue:
For such a small space (and only 1 or 2 plants), what wattage would you recomend?

I’ve done this selection so far… tips about these would be awesome :slight_smile:

(forgot to mention, since i’m in Europe, it helps if the items are shipped from the EU as I won’t have to pay for extra import taxes that way… which would be 30% on the price + shipping)

I was hopping to manage to get the lights for around 50eur/dollar, but i’m guessing i’ll have to spend a little more, no?
Right now i’m more inclined for the MarsHydro.

I’m also considering to add in a few led strips to the sides of the case, to make sure the stems get as much light as possible.
For that, i was looking for something like this:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/5pcs-Lot-0-5M-5W-LED-Grow-Light-Strips-DC12V-SMD5050-Indoor-Plants-Hydroponics-LED-Strip/32740678076.html?spm=2114.13010208.99999999.272.SsxCeU

The plan is to try to have it all controlled by a raspberrypi/arduino, to control the temperature, lights, fans and ph measurements. After all, it is a pc box :wink:

Any help would be much much appreciated :slight_smile:
Thanks

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@mrvaperino
Seems like an almost impossibly small space to grow in. One plant maybe - but two… mmm. Don’t see that happening. Even with LED your still going to have major, major temp and odor problems.

I think it’s a cool idea… just maybe a little unrealistic. There may be some other growers in the forum that know something about this - I don’t want to discourage you, I hope you can make it work. It’s just such a tiny space.

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This is the 2nd grow box CPU set-up I have seen and the other one did get 3 oz /plant. IDK how tall this joker’s are but Led should work awesome in it.

1 Like
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@Viktor7. Like I said, I hope it works. Lol. It’s just those dimensions are so tiny. Have any pictures of this growbox or it’s yield?

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and this other guy had great results with a case around the same dimensions as mine… although, with just one plant

there are lots of pc stealth grow cases journals on the interwebz :wink:

@Viktor7 thanks!! :slight_smile: the box is 50.6cm (20.6’') … very tight for getting everything inside, but lets see how it goes.

And what about the side led strip? you think it would make help or is it just useless if i go with the MarsHydro?

This will be like my side project for the next months… now that i got my light chosen (MarsHydro… and wish that it is a real one and not a fake… the price seems pretty low in comparison to other sellers)
Now i’ll start getting all the info for the fans and carbon filter… and possibly, try to get some kind of mesh to heat the base of the box. (i’m afraid the room will be too chill during winter… probably 5ºC-10ºC, no AC … but i’ll have to measure the temperature when i get the light)

If you guys have any tips for that, i would really appreciate :slight_smile:

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As a courtesy; To our friends in Australia, and New Zealand and countries over there; We allow sharing of links to AliExpress.

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Good idea (strips) I don’t think you could easily over indulge on equip. I would use strips but watch temps closely and look out for burn due to tight space and light heat. My closet depth is 19" so with​ 3 plants. It’s very trying. As a fast internists grower I’ve ran into all kinds of issues over a 3 yr trial and error. I got creative on this one. Never planned it just threw a bunch of junk together (watching too much “fat Albert” as a kid. I will put up my Frankenstein so you can get an idea of small space capability. Thanks. I try to give sound advice been farming (tractors) and growing vegatable gardens a long time. Indoors this seems more enjoyable.

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Frankenstein420 is the name of it.35.75" x20.75" x 61"
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No pictures but remember that it was on YouTube and the guys yield was about 3 oz. Really neat. His had working lights exterior ad hummed lie old school PC. But we knew why those guys were making the sound. I think he had CFL’s.

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@Viktor7. Very nice! I’ll definitely check it out. I’d love to be able to get away with something the size of a pc. lol.

You learn something new every day. Lol!
:+1::beer::smiley:

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@Viktor7 damn, that looks nice!
but Frankenstein is much taller than my pc :stuck_out_tongue: basically, 3 times taller
and twice as deep.
I will definitely have to lst and scrog the plant as much as i can… but if i get 1oz of it, it will be a victory for me heh

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I think you would be better off using a big trash can instead… :wink:

:v: :sunglasses:

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Hehe, probably true, but it would be weird to explain a trash bin inside the house with fans and lights running inside :stuck_out_tongue:

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@mrvaperino did you ever get this going