1st Grow - Bagseed in FFOF in stealth pc case

What's up RIU? I decided to journal my first grow so I can keep track of my progress and/or failures. I built a homemade stealth pc growbox out of an old desktop pc that I had. I lined the interior with reflectix reflective material, 2 light sockets, 3 pc fans (intake, exhaust, movement), a diy carbon scrubber and a digital timer to run the 2 10W 6500k lumen CFL bulbs at 12/12 from seedling.
To start, i put about 5 bagseeds into a little tupperware pot filled with Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil. I watered it with tap water that was purified by a Brita filter, then boiled, then let sit out for 24 hours. I put the cover on top and put it in my drawer and after 7 days, 3 of the seeds popped out of the soil so I put the temporary growing medium into the pc growbox and turned that baby on.
I made 2 crucial mistakes here... 1. the lights were too hot and the fans didn't move enough air, so the temp in the growbox went up to 90 degrees and 2 of the 3 seedlings shriveled up and died. 2. the container was too far away from lights and the 1 surviving seedling stretched like 4 inches in one day.
After talking to some members of RIU I decided to transplant the seedling from its temporary home to a more suitable home and buried the long ass stem in the soil and left just the top inch above the soil.
To temporarily reduce the temperature in the box, I unscrewed one of the bulbs and the temps inside the growbox stayed stable at 75 degrees. My permanent fix will be to switch out the existing 5V DC adapter with a more powerful DC adapter that hopefully won't make the fans super loud but move enough air to keep the box cool.
Here are a few pictures that I took this morning that show what the seedling looked like when I opened the case for the first time in 24 hours. In the pictures, you can see that the container is on a stack of DVD's, but those weren't there for the first 24 hours. The container was sitting on the bottom of the box, about 12 inches from the light. Take a look at the incredible stretching woman. I haven't had a chance to take new pictures of the seedling in its new home yet, but when I open up the case tomorrow I will. Stay tuned. James L One.

That's what the hell is up! Will be be watching this for sure (I've recently made a pc case setup). One love

Update: Day 4 from seed. I transplanted my seedling from the small tupperware container into a 22 ounce plastic cup last night. When I checked on it this morning, it had grown into the light and had a slight burn on the tip of the leaf. I removed the Scarface VHS and this lowered the plant away from the light about 2 inches. I also put a plastic dome over the plant. I don't know why, but I've seen so many other people on here doing it that I figured I would give it a shot. If anyone knows why this is done, and how long I should keep the dome on, please let me know.
Here are some new pictures from this morning. Happy New Year!

Hi James, and thanks for checking out my grow journal.
The dome is used to keep the humidity high for young seedlings to help them transpire and keep them from drying up. This way humidity inside the dome is close to 100%. I'd suggest spraying the dome with some water to keep it moist and air it out every few hours to give your baby some fresh air.
Were you using 2x 10w cfl or was that a typo? 10w lights are nowhere strong enough to grow MJ but the light spectrum is ideal for vegetative state.

Addition: I kept my domes until the seedling couldn't fit in it anymore
Just as an experiment try removing the reflective material and use some plain white material to line the walls. I've had reflective materials all over my walls and that crap creates so many hotspots that the temps were soaring into 100's. Since I painted the walls white, the temps don't go above 82F. Just an idea that could work

The reason I am using the 10w cfl's is due to the amount of heat in the pc grow box. I originally had 3 pc fans powered by a 12v adapter and they were really loud, so i replaced it with a 5v adapter, which obviously isn't powerful enough. I have 2 more power adapters, 6.8v and 9v that I plan on testing out to see which one moves the most air without making a lot of noise. The problem is, I haven't had a chance to make the switch, so the temporary solution is to use 1 10w cfl bulb. My goal is to replace the 2 10w cfl's with 2 23w cfl's and have one of the stronger adapters in there to power the fans and keep the box cool without being too loud. Now if I can only get my wife out of the house for an hour so I can make the switch.

jameslone said:

The reason I am using the 10w cfl's is due to the amount of heat in the pc grow box. I originally had 3 pc fans powered by a 12v adapter and they were really loud, so i replaced it with a 5v adapter, which obviously isn't powerful enough. I have 2 more power adapters, 6.8v and 9v that I plan on testing out to see which one moves the most air without making a lot of noise. The problem is, I haven't had a chance to make the switch, so the temporary solution is to use 1 10w cfl bulb. My goal is to replace the 2 10w cfl's with 2 23w cfl's and have one of the stronger adapters in there to power the fans and keep the box cool without being too loud. Now if I can only get my wife out of the house for an hour so I can make the switch.

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Maybe you just need a new fan? I was originally using old computer fans with a 12v, but they were loud too. So I went to best buy and bought 3 new dynex 80mm fans. They run almost silently on a 12v. I'm in a similar grow, but I have about 160 watts instead of 10, and it still stays at fine temps. The new dynex fans are like $4 a piece I think. Maybe less.

Dominathan said:

Maybe you just need a new fan? I was originally using old computer fans with a 12v, but they were loud too. So I went to best buy and bought 3 new dynex 80mm fans. They run almost silently on a 12v. I'm in a similar grow, but I have about 160 watts instead of 10, and it still stays at fine temps. The new dynex fans are like $4 a piece I think. Maybe less.

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I'm going to try the other 2 adapters I have laying around. If that doesn't work I'll check out the new fans from Best Buy. I hope I don't have to replace the fans though, because if I do, I have to take apart the whole box to rewire and mount the new fans. That would suck!

Yea, but at least it won't cost you a lot too.

Update: Day 10. I guess everyone was right when they said that the 10W CFL's weren't enough light. It's been 6 days since the last set of pics and this thing hasn't grown for shit.
I checked the pH of my tap water and it is neutral (7.0) and I'm using Fox Farms Ocean Forest soil, which I've read is also supposed to be pH neutral.
When I checked the pH of my soil today, it was 3.5. What is causing the pH to drop from 7 to 3.5? Here are a few new pics from today.

Update: Day 11. My wife went out for the day so I finally had some time to make some much needed changes to my grow box. First I need to start by saying that I was wrong about my pH post. I was reading the meter wrong. My pH wasn't 3, it's actually 7, which is perfect. The first change that I made was transplanting the seedling from it's 22 oz plastic cup to it's permanent home, a 1 gallon flower pot with drainage holes. It's a good thing I did that because the soil in the bottom of the cup was soaked. There was no drainage in the plastic cup and I guess I over-watered and there was no place for that water to go. The second change I made was replacing the 5v DC adapter with a 9v DC adapter. This is moving a lot more air and should hopefully keep the temps in the box cooler. The best part is that the fans are still very quiet. The third, and most important change that I made was replacing the 2 10w cfl's with 2 23w cfl's. Hopefully I'll start to see some new growth now. Here are a few new pics from today, after the changes were made.

all three changes sound good, especially 1 & 3. drainage is essential, and the 23w cfl's are going to really help promote growth. do you know the color temperature of the bulbs? ideally, for veg, you want "cool" (5000K), or "daylight" (6500k). later on, for flowering, you'll want to change to "warm" (2700K) bulbs, and you'll probably want to increase wattage at that point. anyway, looking good so far, i'll bet you'll see a lot of new growth in next week.

homer371 said:

all three changes sound good, especially 1 & 3. drainage is essential, and the 23w cfl's are going to really help promote growth. do you know the color temperature of the bulbs? ideally, for veg, you want "cool" (5000K), or "daylight" (6500k). later on, for flowering, you'll want to change to "warm" (2700K) bulbs, and you'll probably want to increase wattage at that point. anyway, looking good so far, i'll bet you'll see a lot of new growth in next week.

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Yea, but I'd advise have a 2 to 1 ratio on the bulbs. If you that mean, at least. I've read some really successful grows that used one 2700k during veg along with all the 6500k's, and vice versa in flowering.

Dominathan said:

Yea, but I'd advise have a 2 to 1 ratio on the bulbs. If you that mean, at least. I've read some really successful grows that used one 2700k during veg along with all the 6500k's, and vice versa in flowering.

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yeah, i've heard that as well. basically you want "mostly" 6500k's during veg, and "mostly" 2700k's during flower.

The 2 bulbs are both 6500's. I will use 2 6500k 23w cfl's for veg and 2 2700k 23w cfl's for flower. I made the mistake of mounting 2 sockets in my grow box, rather than using a power strip.

jameslone said:

The 2 bulbs are both 6500's. I will use 2 6500k 23w cfl's for veg and 2 2700k 23w cfl's for flower. I made the mistake of mounting 2 sockets in my grow box, rather than using a power strip.

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You could still double your efficiency by using a "Y" splitter for a socket. I got mine at Lowes, for $2 a piece. Then you could have 3 6500ks, and 1 2700k. Check them out in my current grow, on my sig. Very similar.

It's been a while since I've updated my own grow journal, so here is a little update. I will try to post updates more often. I went through a period of about 2 weeks where there was no growth and I thought the plant was going to die and I was about to give up. But all of a sudden, this little girl (hopefully) is starting to take off. Since it has been in the Fox Farm Ocean Forest for over 30 days, I am going to add some nutes that I buy today. I plan on purchasing veg and flower nutes because I want this plant to grow big and strong.
Here are some updated pics from last night.

I am using a digital thermometer/humidity meter and when the lights are on (12/12) the humidity in the case goes below 20% and meter reads low.
I added a cup of water to the case hoping that would add moisture and increase the humidity in the case, but it hasn't.
How can I increase the humidity in my pc grow box?

are you doing 12 on / 12 off right now? because that's the schedule for flowering. if you want the plant to veg and get bigger before flowering, you'll want to change to 16 on / 8 off (or even more on, less off). as for humidity, the cup of water should help, maybe the humidity meter is not well calibrated (should come with instructions how to calibrate).

plant is looking nice and healthy though.

you brought that plant back very nicely congrats

It's been about 3 weeks since my last update and I am now happy to announce that my first attempt at growing has given me a healthy little girl.
I am thinking about switching from veg to flower soon because I am running out of growth height in my pc case. Take a look at my pics and let me know if it is too soon to make the switch.