Grow Room Rate my pc-case grow project for LR#1 or LR#2

[Gabro]

Ok, so I been gutting and painting my old pc. With the help of a driller I took off the thrash that usually stays in, so you can assemble circuits. Then, I got a regular "wall" paint, sort of water based, which was a terrible choice cos it won't stick properly to the metallic surface... But since it was leftovers, its great! so far... zero investiment!

So this is how it is now:



So.... First trouble started already:

The seeds, which are supposed to be arriving by mail... simply are delaying as fuck, or already got caught by them feds.

After a lil talk with a good m8, he's given me 4x Jet 47 (reg) (flashseeds) which had been keeped stored for a long long time.... and I am so hopefull that it will sprout! It has to, else imma have to photo... and I really want to go auto!

Jet 47>>> ( http://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Jet_47/Flash_Seeds/ )

For Being a cross of LR#2 X (White Widow x AK 47)

I think Jet 47 will turn out like a GREAT option if it ever sprout from the seeds... I like Lowryder's speed and vigor mixed with sativas euphoric high, and branching.... WW and AK are sort of legendary, overrated, maybe, but great mixed of indica/sativa. So I guess that its gotta achieve some branching, and nice nuggz. I am very hopefull about it!

(I just hope it provides me with two kind of phenos: Indica dominant and Sativa dominant, so I can have daytime smoke and night time)

But then, Imma tell you what... the pc-case size is only 40cm long x 40cm tall x 15cm wide... and my pot which is a 2L icecream container, is already 12cm tall... so the growing area itself is VERY SMALL.... So I pretty much have accepted the challenge already, which is going to be training my jet47, else, it wont fit in under no circunstance.

I think I might be going insane for trying it in such a small space, cos Seedfinder says it grows from 60cm to 110 cm. That's quite something.

So I just don't know....

Hopefully my wife has allowed me to make a SoG in the other room, which will sooner or later be occupied by my baby who is supposed to be born by April (2k15). So I won't push a SoG/SCRoG there for too long, but might harvest once, or twice... the thing is that I gotta fix it all priorizing mobility and low cost. So I won't invest much in lamps nor exaustion.

This is a future project, and I am only speaking about it now cos I know you guys can always enlighten my mind with your knowledge. Plus, I feel very confortable in here. I respect each of you guys for being here, exchanging precious info, schooling eachother, learning. It's Unique.

Focusing back to the pc case:
I still gotta add my light fixture, which I have no idea about how to perform... Been considering to build a hood outta pvc pipes... but the design is only in my mind, and still... I'd need a Saw... and I aint got many tools.

That's why I am taking so long to accomplish with this pc-case... I need either to purchase stuff or get it borrowed from someone.

About the lamps... well... being low wattage would be cool, but It's gonna be harder to add 6 e-27 sockets inside of it... so I changed my mind and I will be using bigger bulbs... like 42W.
So Instead of using 6 x 25W for 9k lm by the cost of 150W I might use 4 x 42W for 10.3k lm, for 168W consumption. A fair Offer, I think.



Now I gotta learn how to turn on the pc fans doing the active intake and active outtake, cos these 42W lamps sure bring some heat... :/

I have nearly zero electrician skills... but I think I can perform such with some sort of old mobile phone charger... cos the fans only need 12v, thats so little... I just gotta find out how to split the energy to the pc-fan's 3 pin plug.

Imma google that right now.


Thanks for stopping by, giving your opinions... and once again, forgive my terrible punctuation and dislexic writting.

I love you AFN!

 

[Gabro]

OK, good... Let's start!

First of All I'd like to welcome all of you to this discusion, everyone shall speak. Actually advices are always accepted.

I'm sorry for making ya'll crazy with the passed posts. What happens is that overseas (I'm talking bout here, Brazil) we're all crazy potheads and the government doesn't recognize cannabis as medicine, yet. So I'd like to apologize if I've been a moron refering as a pothead, instead of Heavy Hitter... I just wanted to point out some things before this project begins.

I'm in Brazil, somehow near the coast, so it winds a lot... Days are amazingly warm, Nights are windy and pretty wet (cos of the sea's "evaporation"). And It doesn't rain very often. When it rains, it rains quite well.

I am surrounded by ortodox religious neighbours, very curious people... who probably would report me to the cops doubtlessly if they ever believed I am growing my own medicine.

So the whole thing is still demonized, a lot, around here.

My Yard outdoor needs way more vegetation in order to ever consider a stealthy lowryder here or there... So I gotta keep it inside for safety issues.

I intend to master the MICRO-grow experience with PC-cases... This one is a Small one... aproximatelly 40x40x20 (free space, inside).

Let's start with the pictures, cos I got TONS of updates, so let's see the computer:

View attachment 394476

So It leaks lights from all over, uses inexpensive material.... and the Noise... uhh... that noise.


XD It isn't stealth at all! On my second pc-case, might I try using a bigger cpu, and silent fans.

This growlog will be marked by it's cheap cost and low investment.
This is my thermometer:
View attachment 394477


So... I been running the system since yesterday, testing Temps... without the fans on, with the fans on, then I decided to EXCHANGE the exaustion's Fan...

At first I painted it all with Plain white, and fixed an out-take form an old Intel Processor (Pentium 4)... And from 34°C it cooled down to 32°C, but still the pc was getting damn warm...and I knew I had to change things...


I were using a regular 5v phone charger to power it up, so I had a Loss in performance... (bwahaha I love that hot-glue pistol!)

By the way... I wanted to make it correctly, went to da store, bought a proper POWER suply, white paint, wires, and got my hands to work on it!

Here you can see the active intake, and the Active out-take... in the newly (repainted) case... aahha that was before I decided to change the exaust fan for a regular (generic) pc-fan (AKAZA brand). It ended up being the noisiest option, but MAN, it cools things!

I also re-made the electric fixtures, cos I didn't want anything "risky" turned on... 24/7... you know! I can't risk my wife for so little!

Bwahaha and cos I got ZERO skills with wires... it took me quite a while to develop such easy thing....

Notice that the old fixture is a wire, a lamp and the cheapest (most dangerous piece of thing) connector... wrapped in Auto-Fusion 3m tape (model 23). Wow, don't use that!

XD It just Can't be fucking safe! atleast I wasn't feeling confortable with it!

So... this is it. My lowbudget didn't allow me to pimp it hard yet... so I'm running "near"70W CFL, in a Dual Spectrum. As Easy as:

1x 42W 6500k + 1x 25W 2700k = 67W AHAHAHHA SO DAMN LITTLE! (YET)


The seedlins in the picture are from random photoperiod strains... I used them as Test to check out the performance of the growcase... to measure temps, and everything.


Here goes a closer look of the inner part of it. I managed to use a bigger fan just to move the air inside of it, also pushing the heat to the other fan.


Before ya'll start saying "It's so little amount of LUX that the seedlins are stretching as hell" you gotta know they have been outdoor for some while, in a constant move, searching for a good spot. So poor them, they didn't have light "properly" till they met this pc-case... the cloudy days haven't helped them!

So... everything is Up, the case seems right... except for my poor layout of wires all over...



I didn't really PLAN having 70W in this computer case... I'm just broken and I'm using the lamps I have around.

Might I change the 25W 2700k for a 42W, doubling the outcome of Lumens... But first I gotta get a ladder so I can exchange the kitchen's lamp!

(ROFL!)




Haters, bring it on!


SO I STARTED MY SEEDS! 3x Reg Lowryder #1 ... deepened them in a glass of water for nearly 24H, then I planted them in yogurt "pots". with a nest of cotton, to hold some humidity...



Then, I covered them with a little more dirt. (bwahaha my soil is actually dirt, only... massive amounts of clay, which holds some humidity as well... (I just hope they don't "rot"!)

Temperatures been constant... 27°C~28°C. Tomorrow I'll try to measure it during the day to report.... I hope they don't take too long to sprout.


What do you guys think?

 

[derek420colorado]

Nice job getting everything set up and ready, and yes AFN is amazing! I would say that given your limited amount of space you should def learn everything you can about LSTing as I believe it will come in handy. I would start to LST them from the VERY begining(like after the first 2 sets of leaves) this should give you a good control over the height of your plants from a very early age. Also as stated aove I think in that space your container size is of paramount importance. If it were me I would use small styrofoam cups or solo cups(check out the solo grow cup competion and see some of the amazing results people got from solo grows)

I am subbed in on this one and can't wait to see you get up and started.

PS believe me I feel your pain when it comes to the seed thing(just check out my current grow in my sig) hopefully they will arrive because the stress of not knowing succccks. Sending good vibes and great grow Karma your way!

 

[Gabro]

(I forgot to mention)
This is what turns on the three pc fans:



I GOTTA admit... without a "power converter" like these... I don't think this "project" would work.

My temperature tests before it... and after changed DRASTICALLY. So if there's already a lesson it would be:
Spare fucking 15$ (costed me nearly that) and purchase the proper 12v Font.

____________________________________________________________________________________________


I wonder: When should I transplant them to their final pot? (which are the 2L White Icecream boxes, where the seedlings are on, in order to reach the proper proximity to the lights).




Before you guys complain about "corrupted" images... I noticed atleast one of them is screwed... like with a big grey rectangle on it.

It's my mobile phone trolling us.

If all the pictures are screwed... let me know and I will try to upload them properly. (I use 3g, so it sux... i cant check it all perfectly, you know... aint no broadband connection)

 

[derek420colorado]

The pictures are fine, at least I can see them good. The first thing I would say is to remove the clay mud from the yogurt cups asap! The seeds are not getting any oxygen and they might suffocate. The first pictures you had everything looked good you just needed to put plastic kitchen wrap over the containers to keep the humidty in.

Since it looks like they have only been in there for a little bit I would dig in VERY VERY carefully and retrive the seeds, see if there is a little white taproot coming out of any of them if so just remove the mud and dig a little hole in your soil place the seed in it with the root facing down and cover with dirt. Then plastic wrap the container so it is air tight.

If there is not a little white root coming out of the shell I would use the paper towel method of germination(it is what I have used for over 10 years with a 98% succsess rate and lots of people here on AFN use it)

Take a paper towel and fold it in half, place the seeds into the folded paper towel. Wet the paper towel just enough were it soaks in the water NOT DRIPPING WET(very important) place the seeds and damp paper towel into a zip lock baggie or another air tight container. In 12 or so hours the seeds will start to germinate and crack their shells producing a white taproot. Once this is an inch or so long place directly into your soil about half an inch down and cover with dirt. Then plastic wrap the container(this step is not required but some people do it), you want the soil about as damp as the paper towel. In 24-48 hours the seed should be popping above the surface of the soil at this point remove the plastic wrap.

I hope this helps, and this is not saying that you are doing anything wrong or that what you are doing will not work. I just think that most here on AFN would say your chances of sucsessful germination are greatly diminished by covering them up with that mud. Sending mad grow and germination karma your way my friend keep at it you got this!

 

[Gabro]

Aahahahaha I understand... what happened is that my paper towel was over, latenight, and I had to do something! :S

I went to check them right now, it's just a thin layer of dirt... I think and I want to believe that a seedling can erupt there... (as long as it doesn't dry too much).

I'm already scared that they may dry during the time I work.

Just worried, but it's ok... I'll be fixing a proper soil mixture soon.

Thank you so much for your advice, bro!

___________________________________________________________________

So, might it improve like this: ?



So worried with them... I just wan't them to sprout beautifully... and I'm aware that it can take like 5 days or something... one of the seeds had the taproot showing when I sowed in the yogurt pot... but it was like barelly 1mm root... it was like indicating it was going to start, if you know what i'm sayin.


The older seedlings (Random Photoperiod Strains) were moved to a bigger container, still, mini... cos I can't allow them to grow like full power... so that's how it's gonna be... LST + supercropping all the way, wishing that they don't rootbond and die.

in theory sounds so good!



I'll be uploading more pictures with future updates...

 

[Gabro]

Day 03

There aren't many updates to be done, cos it's on germination phase.

So Imma enjoy the fact that I'm stoned, and super creative and start talking about it:

The day was warm... I think I noticed 33~34°C (max) inside the pc, the plants were inside their plastic bags "dome" thingy. So i think they didn't suffer much (with loss of humidity).

I've asked my wife to check them while I been to work, she said they keeped moist good, and it sure did, cos when I arrived at home I checked it again and well... earth was slightly sticky to the finger, slightly wet.

Now I've opened the bags to let humidity go, temps are stable at 30°C. I
just don't want to raise humidity too much, so I let the whole thing breath you know... I think It shoundn't stay soaked and domed for too long, and I want to believe that if overwatering eventually happens, might I lower "damage" letting it breath and dry from times to times... As soon as I notice that the Earth's surface is getting "drier" I'll soak my fingers in a glass of water and drop it nearby the seed's area.

Today I been cleaning the surface around the spot where I remember having sown my seeds.
By cleaning, i mean I did remove little rocks and dirt particles that are "bigger" and could end up blocking the seedlin's way making it harder for them lowryder's cotyledons to sprout.

see what I'm talkin about? :






I'm pretty aware that my media is the most common dirt I could possibly find around. In fact it was Poorly scrapped from the floor and
I'm quite sure that plants (overall) don't require too much. They will grow inside a fend in the paviment... between bricks.
So they sure will grow good in a pot being well fed, so I have that optimistic view over things. I'd love to have rockwool or any other media, but you just don't usually find this sort of stuff easily, and I'm not feeling like going to online growshops and ordering. So I lay low.

I just can't see myself going to the specified store, crazy on nutes and everything ... Veg, Bloom... I'll do an organic schedule and stay cool.

I have nothing against chemical nutes, but from what I see in online forums, people are too worried about nutes, brands and schedules... and... in my point of view they are forgetting HOW TO raise their plants, instead, they learn HOW TO USE X BRAND raising a plant and this is just too artificial. Im sorry.

I'm no "crazy vegan", "hare kryshna" nor anything... and I actually respect the geeks behind their glasses (just stereotyping, but not trying to be pejorative at all), crazy for info, PH, EC, osmosed water... REALLY PRO, but wow... I admire people who can achieve pleasure doing such.

I just think it's about time people stop focusing on "Fox Farm X", "Bloom Y" as a mathematical equation and focus on the simplicity of things. Of course, if you're running high voltage lamps, exaustion system and the whole a big ass growroom, than you sure want to harvest as much as you can... per each cent invested. It's fair... but me, I'm not as greedy. I do this for "fun". So I can be in peace with my mind, knowing im supporting no drug dealing, nor violence.

For now I'll be testing "REAL life", poor crops, dwarv strain... Whenever I get tired of that, might I start pimping my plants differently. I just hope I don't become an alien too.

Cos sometimes you open a growlog, great, it's the strain you're looking for! But as soon as the topic begins... it's another language. You might even close the tab, cos you won't learn crap bout raising a plant... Also you shouldn't fall in love with the budshots of a strain grown in Aeroponics, DWC...

I'm not being a "nazi" about ya'll, I'm just more interested in real life, also I'd like to suply newbies like me with the necessary info about how it REALLY is to grow the classic Lowryder. Practically, with no misteries, no secret potions, no challenge, no big deal.

For I don't need the dankiest nuggs... Even though I'd sure apreciate it.

AHAHAHA hate me not! I'm not trying to be intolerant at all. I'm just speaking with open heart... and I just hope noone feels hurt when I might have called ppl "Alien". But yeah, all that branding around threads grinds my gears.

And before people start telling me to go to the "organic" sector, I'm aware it exists. I noticed there's a search engine around.

I'm probably just mad cos my internet sucks and I failed when trying to find lowryders grown naturally. And I'm probably just hungry.

Aw god... so... BACK to where I'm suposed to describe my grow... Horticulture is all about care, atention... and as I was saying: I cleaned path for the seeds to come, very carefully so I don't accidentally "touch" the seedling, which could result in damage.

Suddenly I noticed... A SEEDLING COMING OUT OF THE EATH!? (I didn't "open it", I believe water itself opened a way in the earth, making it easier for the seedling to come.... ANYWAYS, Omagad!







)) That seedling made me so happy that I went after worms castlins. Is this the proper name? "Hummus"...

Bought 1 kg of it... even cared about translating the producer's recomendations. Of course you can never use too much of it... but it's always nice to save some for future maintenances.



I'll be working on my soil mix by the following days...But the Hummus itself is of great help already... since tends to neutralize PH (bring to neuter), in a certain analogy it can be direcly related to nutrients absortion.



So... I guess Imma dome my girls back, and have some rest. Im just exausted.

Again, didn't mean to ofend anyone... I'm just being grumpy cos I'm tired and also cos I have a painful wound on my hand.

Any comment is welcome. Even "USE TIGER BLOOM!" or "YEAH, FOX TRIO IS GREAT!" XD

 

[Gabro]

Still day 30... I woke up... went to see my girls. Temps been around 34°C... I believe this is already cooler, since its "late afternoon". What I mean is that earlier it could possibly have reached higher values... such as 35°C EASILY, I guess.

Opening the pc case from its side (front fans still on), cools down temperatures 2°C pretty quickly, but... with has cost of having that light leak... which isn't really pleasant to the eyes.
But could still be a manouver to cool the whole thing.

My plastic bag's dome work great, I'm now using it's end in a way the condensed vapours end up dripping back to the seed's area. Not so hi-tech, but pretty usefull:




)) Only the brown container has to sprout... cos the other white yogurt pot is sprouting too!





YEY!

So... that's it... only one seed is late.... and it isn't bad, necessarily.

I think that the pc case is small already so with two pots it might be good already, it sure could fit three... but it would be "FULL".

So this is how it is:

Haven't happened much, over here...



I'm just hopping the 3rd seed comes, cos I want to select phenos and stuff, and with three samples it is already little.

I want to achieve a nice F1's. and keep selecting further generations.


Well... I gotta go cos I got lots of work to do tonight.


______________________________________________________________

Any Micro grower around?

Any rate, observation, advice, comment is welcome.

 

[Dazed]

Still day 30... I woke up... went to see my girls. Temps been around 34°C... I believe this is already cooler, since its "late afternoon". What I mean is that earlier it could possibly have reached higher values... such as 35°C EASILY, I guess.

Opening the pc case from its side (front fans still on), cools down temperatures 2°C pretty quickly, but... with has cost of having that light leak... which isn't really pleasant to the eyes.
But could still be a manouver to cool the whole thing.

My plastic bag's dome work great, I'm now using it's end in a way the condensed vapours end up dripping back to the seed's area. Not so hi-tech, but pretty usefull:

View attachment 394978


)) Only the brown container has to sprout... cos the other white yogurt pot is sprouting too!

View attachment 394979



YEY!

So... that's it... only one seed is late.... and it isn't bad, necessarily.

I think that the pc case is small already so with two pots it might be good already, it sure could fit three... but it would be "FULL".

So this is how it is:

Haven't happened much, over here...

View attachment 394980

I'm just hopping the 3rd seed comes, cos I want to select phenos and stuff, and with three samples it is already little.

I want to achieve a nice F1's. and keep selecting further generations.


Well... I gotta go cos I got lots of work to do tonight.


______________________________________________________________

Any Micro grower around?

Any rate, observation, advice, comment is welcome.

Hey bro looking good. I love pc case/stealth grows. 34 is warm bro, you are going to have problems when in flower at those temps. You need to get that air out. I would look at bolting on another fan for the out take, those pc fans can be screwed together to double it up, that would help get the hot air out of there.

 

[Gabro]

Damn bro... its peaking 35 degrees when its warm...
Imma try to move it to the other room so i can open the case.

With the computer open it drops temps from 2 to 3 degrees quite fast.

I think i can maybe keep it at 30... 31.

At night maybe 28~29 degrees.

I thought it was allright since im used to the tropical high temperatures.

I just hope it doest reach 40 degrees.... else yes... its too warm.

Thats why ive increased the distancy from the light fixture.

Thank you so much for your feedback!

)))))