Aeroponic PC case scrog

[nnnnghhhhgnnngh]

VERY nice, best of luck with it!

 

[Aerohead]

Thanks for the replies, I can't wait until this thing goes into bloom....

 

[teerull]

now that is one of the cleanest pc-s ever! wish mine was anything like this!

can't wait to see them in flower!

peace,
T

 

[luv2garden]

By far the sickest PC grow box I've seen excellent professional build buddy!!
Karma is coming your way....I'm pulling up a chair

 

[luv2garden]

where did you get the 36w T5 fixture? and how long/wide is it?

Thanks!

 

[Aerohead]

That fixture is made by Current USA, it's 20" long and 5" wide. It uses 2X 18w T5-HO bulbs and seems to be perfect for rooting clones. It also fits perfectly on a standard jiffy greenhouse. Got it at my local fish store, $65 with the bulbs.

 

[Huggie bear]

I have been working on an off on the very same case! Picked it up at bestbuy when it was on clearance.
Mine will be powered by a 100 CMH if I ever get around to finishing it! I will be watching your thread very intently.
Perhaps you could explain what you have done for odor control?

And and a SWC set up

 

[Aerohead]

I have been working on an off on the very same case! Picked it up at bestbuy when it was on clearance.
Mine will be powered by a 100 CMH if I ever get around to finishing it! I will be watching your thread very intently.
Perhaps you could explain what you have done for odor control?

And and a SWC set up

Yes the Best Buy liquidation $59.99... Unbelievable bargain indeed, wish I bought 10 of them.

I will be more than happy to help you with your mods if needed. I was going to run a 150 CMH in my case originally until I discovered that the PL-L's fit perfectly. I am not suggesting you change your plan, I would love to see how a CMH would produce in one of these cases. I have used 250, and 400w cMH's before (not in a PC case) with great results. One advantage these cases have in addition to their huge size, is their full aluminum construction, The case is a huge heat sink in itself. I strongly suggest buying heat sink based glue (sold at Radio shack) and bond your reflector to the top of the case. This will remove more heat than the fans do. I am running 60 more watts than your plans and it is really easy to cool.

Regards to odor control, I use a different method than most, I use lots of ionization via Alpine living air machine. My PC box is in our spare room full of computer servers and guests don't enter that room. I have one of the older units that produces more than safe ozone levels (they don't sell that model anymore) and it gets turned off when I work in that room. I can tell you how to make a carbon scrubber for that box using the 80cfm blower fan I use for exhaust that will kill the odor but isn't stealth because it hangs off the back of the PC case. Anyway, let me know if you have any questions I may be able to help.

 

[D.I.trY]

I already had a workhorse 2 (only runs 1 bulb) left over from a fish tank light so I bought a fixture from HTG and gutted it. It worked out cheaper this way because I needed a reflector and nobody had a reasonable price on single stand alone reflectors. Was only $100 for ballast, 4 bulbs, and a reflector. If I was starting from scratch and wanted to run more than 2 tubes, I would get the Fulham workhorse 8.

Hi, did you see my thread on Pll reflectors and how I made mine?...http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=114922&highlight=pl-l+reflector
A flat top reflector is pretty innefficient. Lovely pc box. I have something similar, you make me want to put mine up too!

 

[Aerohead]

Yes I did see your thread, very nice reflector indeed. I was going to build one but space was an issue because I was going to have glass seperating it from the main bloom area. It wound up much easier to cool than expected and I no longer need the glass. I do plan to make a reflector such as yours one day soon (probably after this grow). Thank you for posting the excellent DIY thread!!

 

[Aerohead]

Got some root porn! I am waiting for a couple of the slower rooting clones to catch up to this one and it's veg time.

 

[BigBlack81]

Can you give me some info on the aero unit you got? It's not only small but it looks like it works boss. How you like it? Also, did you make it or buy it?

I'm thinking PC grows with some boss aeroponics in a small form would be nice.

 

[Aerohead]

Hey BigBlack, thanks for your interest in my project.. The aero machine is custom built to fit the PC case it's in. I have used almost every aeroponic system on the market, including several DIY home made units. The products from Aeroflo always worked best for me and I am quite partial to that company. Since they don't make a micro unit, I made my own modeled after their larger units. I built the res out of acrylic and the gutters, (holding the 2" net pots) are plastic cracker boxes (made to keep your Saltines fresh) from my local drug store. I used 1/4" fittings and tubing for installing R/O units sold at Home Depot. I didn't take pictures of the aero build but I would be happy to disclose exactly how I built my system if needed.

 

[nnnnghhhhgnnngh]

okay this is probably a stupid newb question but.. how will you get them out of those tiny net pots without damaging the roots?
or are you keeping the plants in the same pots for the duration?

 

[Aerohead]

They will stay in the 2" net pots for the duration of the grow. They will eventually push most of the clay pebbles out and destroy the pots but the pots are really only needed to get them going anyway. Most of the root growth and nutrient intake will happen in the gutters and the sump.

 

[nnnnghhhhgnnngh]

Ahh, got it, thanks.

 

[Aerohead]

Time for an update, They are oficially vegging, seems that one of the clones took off and left the others in the dust. I know I should really have the plants up close to the lights but a minor design flaw regarding the cords for the pump, and air feed aren't going to let me raise that res. It will increase my veg time a little and cause some stretch but once those buds rise through the screen they will be within 7 inches of the tubes and get lots of light. Next run I will rewire it to be more flexible. I also decided to add another 200gph pump mainly to raise the res temp, the jets spray much harder now too. The growth is beginning to get startling. There are 3 seedlings (white satin) that are 5 days from cracking open (one is a runt). Don't know what to do with them yet, probably remove them for a soil grow hidden in the garden. Anyway, here is some pics of how they are doing so far:

 

[D.I.trY]

looking good aero. Its just a matter of time now till they can see that light better and start exploding! I did the same thing and i cant move my res toward the lights. Of all of the design aspects i considered i just totaly forgot about such an important one. I have such little height from the res to the lights that I have been getting away with it though.
However I need glass below the bulbs because they have been burning my plants. I notice you have one fan blowing across the bulbs. How hot are to bulbs to touch? I cant hold my hand comfortably on them for longer than 2 seconds.

I have zero experience with aero growing, is it noisy when it sprays? and does it spray all the time?

 

[Aerohead]

Yes, I suppose it's pretty unreasonable to get everything perfect on the first build of a new project. I do have 1 fan blowing across the bulbs as well as a blower fan sucking air at the base of the bulb sockets where they get hottest. I can hold my hand on the bulbs as long as I want with exception to the first 4 inches from the socket. They generate most of their heat at the base so I put a major blower fan there to remove that heat. I originally had a piece of glass cut to seperate the bulbs from the bloom chamber but temps were no problem so i ditched the glass. I am sure I will have to keep the buds off of the bulbs if they get that high because even if I can hold my hand on them, they will still suck the moisture out of them and burn them.

As far as the aero goes, You can certainly hear it with everything else off but it's no match for the fans. You don't hear the pumps, but you hear the water jets hitting the plastic gutters. Kinda sounds like a drunk pissing on some plastic bottles...LOL I run the sprayers 24/7 because I have noticed better results this way.

 

[greengro]

Very tidy little set up there
And respect for going aero in such a small space, would love to hear some more details about the system.