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Many commercial sites out there sell those turnkey PC grow systems for as much as $599.99. I have always thought that these prices are rather ridiculous. The people selling these units are probably investing $124.99 building each system and taking in $450.00 in profit. People are buying them so it’s definitely not a bad business model.

Just take a look at the PC Planter System system below:

The components are simple. PC Computer Case for $29.99, one 50 watt incandescent grow light bulb for $3.95, reflective insulating material $5.95, mini ozone purifier $15.00, housing material for lighting and wiring $20.00, mini two plant hydro resevoir tray system $34.99, humidity & temperature monitor $25.00, computer case fans $5.00, and light timer $7.99. Making the grand total for building this system around $128.00 which is around my original estimate above. So rather than buy one of these over priced systems, why not build your own?

You could do it for far less than $128.00 and have similar results. Let’s try to build a system for under $20.00.

It’s fairly easy to find a really old computer case that someone does not want for free. I had no trouble finding one. After removing a few screws and a few other modifications I had a perfect start for a grow box. I then picked up some styrofoam insulation which I used to line the box on all 4 sides. I also picked up a cheap extension cord, a lamptimer, and a light bulb socket plug adapter which allows me to plug the light bulb directly into the extension cord. I cut a small hole in the top for ventilation. Within 20 minutes my system was practically completed.

I added a regular incandescent light bulb that I obtained from an old lamp to add additional light and some heat to the inside of the grow box. This will improve the results since plants respond so well to a slightly warmer environment. I added a small glass of water to add a slight level of humidity to the inside of the case which the heat from the traditional light bulb would slowly cause to evaporate.

The completed grow system is shown below.

Using this system I was able to get good results, probably not much different than what I would see using the $599.99 system at the top of this post. The biggest difference is that my system uses potting soil and their system is totally hydroponic. However, I was able to get good results and saw my plant flower in around a week. It was a strawberry plant of course.

The break down of the total cost to build this system is shown below.  If you do not count the materials that can easily be found for free, such as the old PC case and the lamp then your costs will be around $19.75!