Grandma's Secret Garden 5.0-4 Plant Hydroponics Grow Box

Let’s start with what I got...The boxThe LEDA Cracked reservoirOnly 3 bottles of nutrientsNo CO bagsFirst the box...The fans were not placed as in the picture. One up top one down low. Nothing semitrical at all. As if they just threw them in. No intake as in the pictures either. Pictures show a strip across the bottom for intake. There will be some serious tweaking to this thing to get it right.I agree with other reviews about failure to control smells thru the so called carbon filters.Buyer Beware!!!Not worth the $1000 and can’t do near what it claims.Pay attention to the pictures because you don’t get what’s in these pictures. In fact a lot of things in the pictures are missing.Starting with the box. The pictures show 2 fans up top with a strip cut across the back bottom. My box has 2 fans and no strip. One fan up top and one fan down low.One picture shows CO bags and 2 additional bottles of nutrients. I got nothing.As for what’s inside. First the reservoir is a 3-4 gal at best. You can only grow 1 small plant in a res that size. The air pump and stone are sub par and will barely airate 1 gallon let alone 2-3.The so called fan system with charcoal filter are 2 computer fans with a piece of filter over the intake.And best of all the light. A Mars rated at no more than 100watts.A cloner box at best or 1-2 auto or 1 short cycle strain and still not before some serious modificationsUPDATE!!!I guess it’s worth stating. Even after my bad review, I was issued a refund. You would expect as much but is not always the case.Thank you...

I had really high hopes for this box but am finding it quite challenging to use. The biggest issue I have is air flow. With the door closed and the lights on it will not stay cool. Temps in the box soar to 90 degrees plus. When the lights are off temp is less of a problem. I called tech support about the temp issue and was advised to BUY an additional fan and point it towards the exhaust fan in the upper left of the box. I'm skeptical about this solution as I think it will only recirculate the warm air in the box. I do have a small desk fan that I can place in there to try and help the exhaust fan. So I will see how that plays out. In my opinion I would have to keep my house at about 50 to 55 degrees for the box to stay cool with the door closed and lights on. So for those of us who have to grow in our living space, that's not practical. Even though I'm using my box in a spare room I can adjust the temp in that room only so much. The best I can do is about 75 degrees. But that is too warm. You will struggle trying to keep the water/solution under 70 degrees. I still haven’t gotten that figured out yet. Water/solution temps above 70 degrees will interfere with the plant's ability to absorb nutrients. Plus you risk root rot. I wish I had a basement as I'm sure this would help greatly. The air pump is kind of noisy as it rattles against the box. I fixed that by attaching foam strips to the back of the air pump and remounting. I would also advise keeping an eye on your roots. Some of the longer roots are getting sucked into the water pump. I may have to abandon the hydroponic aspect of this box and convert to soil. The plants in the box are struggling due to the higher temps.I strongly advise inspecting the box thoroughly. The folks who assemble these boxes are not carpenters. I had to place extra screws in some places to tighten things up. Plus there are some light leaks. But I was easily able to address that. The latches that keep the box closed are cheap quality. About once a week I have to squeeze the metal loops back together because they keep spreading out. I myself am not a carpenter either but if you are, you can build your own box and buy the individual parts for about less than half the price. For $1000 I was expecting better quality. But I figure with the cost of bud north of $300/oz, if I can get about 4 ozs plus I will have made my investment back. They say you can get 2-3 pounds of dried plant material from the box. I find that overly optimistic unless they're counting leaf and stem. I don't see how you're going to get 2-3 pounds of bud.I am limited in the space I have to grow. This box seemed to be a great option for limited space. If I had more space I would have gone with a tent instead. I also recommend germinating your seeds in water. Once the seed case cracks open and the tap root shows then put the seeds in the starter plugs under a light and wait for the seeds to sprout. Then place them in the box. I'm only at 3 weeks into the grow process. I will update this review when I get further into the process. On a positive note they do answer the phone when you call. Which is rare these days. Most times you get voice mail. I am feeling some buyers remorse because this is not quite the "turn key" product they advertise. But if I can get several ozs out of the thing on my first grow, I will feel better about the purchase. Believe me I truly want this thing to work well and be productive.BTW I bought mine directly from their website. I have tried to leave a review on their website but they keep deleting it. They have lost a potential lifetime customer as I was looking to use them for all my future growing needs.

This is nothing more than a very over priced, and quite crappy starter kit. For the same money you can put togeather a much nicer set up right here on Amazon.