[FidelCashflow]

Hi everyone.
After lurking and reading everything I could for about three years, I've finally decided to give it a shot. Everything is pretty simple, it's a PC case with 2x 26w CFL, and 2 unknown seeds from a stash of about 200 I've collected over the years, growing in hempy buckets.
It's been kind of a rough start; the soil I started the seeds in was way too strong, and it burned the bottom fan leaves right off of both plants and I'm still trying to nurse the burn out of the tips of the rest of the leaves. They are also showing signs of deficiencies as they went the first 10 days or so on 8.0+ pH tap water, and I'm sure I was locking something out. After receiving my nutrients, pH kit, and digital thermometer/hygrometer, I was able to switch to individual pots and flush them with neutral water for a few days. After that, I started feeding them twice a week at 1tsp/Gal of Fox Farms Grow Big and Big Bloom (about 1/2 the recommended strength on the bottles), and supplementing them with neutral tap water in between feedings. Temperature is also a problem, which is why I'm only using 2 26w CFLs when I have the space for 4. Even with a plexiglass shield between grow area and the lights, the grow area still hits 89*f with 3 bulbs on. I have two computer fans venting, and they move a lot of air, but summer in the northeast is hot, and the room that the cab is in reaches 80+ most days. I haven't installed a scrubber for the air, but they're starting to smell already so I'm sure I'll run into problems with that as well. The fans are all running off a PC power source, but that doesn't produce a lot of heat.

here's what they look like on day 23:


As you can see, the one on the right did NOT enjoy the transplant; I let them grow too long in the same pot and their roots were tangled, so I had to tear them apart, which stunted the growth further. She is recovering quickly though, and since she's showing some sativa pheno in her leaves I'm sure she'll stretch. The one on the left is looking rather indica heavy, and I'm pleased to have some variety in here, just to see how they both react to the conditions.
As I've said, this is my first attempt, so feel free to criticize/advise me if you notice anything.

[Bobbles]

Your plants look fine. Keep doing what you are doing now. Keep ph'ing that water and feeding lightly as you have been.

Id stick with the two bulbs rather than killing yourself trying to get temps down with the other bulb(s)...

8+ PH tap water will often lock out some nutrients but it sounds like you have it under control now by PH'ing your water.

They dont look too shabby for 23 days at all. Good luck.

[MrCopyZ]

I think having 1 intake and 1 exhaust would give you better air flower than 2 exhausts.

[FidelCashflow]

Well, everything I've read here says that passive intake is far more efficient and effective. Besides, airflow isn't really my problem, right now there's enough air moving through that I can see both plants fluttering slightly. My problem is that the whole cab is stuck in a closet in a room that often reaches ~80*f, and three 26w CFLs raises the temp 10*. The best I usually get with two lights is around 84*, which I'm not 100% comfortable with but they don't seem to hate it.

[JHerbz]

Its gonna get hotter when they get bigger and flower.
You need air blowing at the bulbs/tops of the plants so they dont fry in flower.
CFLs raise my box 7-10* at most but 1-2 inches from the lights its like atleast 3-4 degrees hotter then that, unless you have a fan blowing it cool.

[FidelCashflow]

they've been looking better every day now, here's what they looked like this afternoon

I think I'm gonna top the big one, as I plan to train it to maximize space, but I may let the smaller sativa do as it wishes. I'll switch to flowering light schedule once it recovers, I have no idea what these are going to do in terms of post-flip stretch, but the big one has put some impressive distance between her nodes over the past few days, so I should probably switch soon

[yesum]

Looks clean. You will get a lot more light if the bulbs are sideways to the plants and have a reflector. If nothing else some shiny stuff glued to the ceiling over the lights if they are fixed there.

Reflector being 1inch or less from light. A pc fan blowing over the canopy will keep temps down.

[MrCopyZ]

My PC is in an un air conditioned space that hasn't seen less than 80 degree temps in the last month.

With my design my temps yesterday at the hottest time of light period were.
84F @ intake
80F @ on plant leaves
90F @ Heat shield
93F @ Exhaust exit

I have managed to keep my plant actually 3-4 degrees F below ambient room temps when the lights are ON.

I use an infrared thermometer to take these measurements.

If you don't want to change your airflow. I would suggest a acrylic heat shield.

[HappySADhu]

in my pc veg cab i use 2 x 120mm fans

4x 23watt bulbs..

this is in my bedroom.. and gets super super hot !!

but they`ll be fine m8, u using any sort of CF ?

[FidelCashflow]

This is basically what the setup has been from the start, sorry, I should have opened with that. There are two exhaust fans. One is 120mm and is blowing at the height of the bulbs, the other is 110mm and is pulling from the grow area. The 40mm fan is blowing directly on the bulbs. The plexiglass shield sits about a half-inch below the bulbs, it's not taped in or sealed to the wall, I can pull it out like a shelf if I need to. The plants have been kept at roughly this distance from the bulbs for most of their lives, and are still standing on an old copy of the whole Lord of the Rings trilogy, so I have room to spare for now. The A/C in my house started working, so the room they're in has been in the low seventies, and the cab actually fell to 76 for a few hours while the lights were off, according to the 12-hour trend on my thermometer.

They got fed today, another half-strength dose. I'm gonna step it up to full strength gradually before I put them into bloom. I also topped the big one as you can see, and I plan on moving them into bigger containers as soon as I can find tubs of the right shape and size.