SWC Micro Grow

[khyberkitsune]

Member for years, finally deciding to post, with a starting project - a converted A/V Workstation case (larger than your typical PC case) into a growing box.

It takes up just over one square foot of floor space, and I have about 1.5 cubic feet of growing space inside. I am using a 6-quart container modified into an SWC container for two plants. For ventilation, I have a 120mm computer fan powered by a 12VDC wall-wart from some random electronic equipment. I am using an over-sized air pump and air stone for the setup - I want to try to maximize yield and eliminate all possible limiting factors. For lighting, I will be using a 50w tri-band LED panel of my own design (I've been making these for horticultural companies for a while, now) and will attempt to get more than 50g of TOTAL USABLE PRODUCT (some people don't count sugar leaf, I do as it's certainly smokeable and contains a higher ratio of trichome/leaf matter) from my setup.

I will be using a combination of several nutrients. General Hydroponics' 3-part Flora series, with Diamond Nectar, and then Grotek's Pro Silicate and Botanicare's CalMag. I will be keeping my pH around 5.5-6.0. My strain is Hindu Skunk, the clones are already developing roots in their starter tanks. I do have other plants gong, but those will be under a different journal. Currently, the clones are rooting/vegging under 20w of LED lighting. 70% blue, 30% red. This helps keep internode spacing tight while it develops, while still allowing for enough red light to keep other regular processes going. Kinda like a stasis light more than a veg light.

50w of pure plant-usable light in one square foot of space, I wonder if that's actually overkill?

[catlova]

Subscribed! I am going to be starting my first grow coming up soon. Do you have any previous experience doing micro grows? I dont understand how a plant can grow in such a small place.

Thanks for any tips and good luck! :)

[khyberkitsune]

Subscribed! I am going to be starting my first grow coming up soon. Do you have any previous experience doing micro grows? I dont understand how a plant can grow in such a small place.

Thanks for any tips and good luck! :)

I have much experience with micro grows. The trick is learning how to train a plant so that it fills a small area, either through LST or through pruning/trimming. If you watch this whole grow I will be demonstrating this as I'm fitting two plants into that tiny space :)

My lights just need to hurry up and arrive. I'm getting antsy and people wanting to buy my lights are getting antsy. Ditto my investors!

[catlova]

That is good news to hear you are experienced. There is not a whole lot of info I could find about micro growing. I am going to attempt my first using some Feminized Sour Diesel.

I did some research and saw on youtube a guy had success growing White Widow in a pc case using:

2 weeks veg
8 weeks flower
1 week dry

Does those times seem to be pretty close to what you use?

[khyberkitsune]

That is good news to hear you are experienced. There is not a whole lot of info I could find about micro growing. I am going to attempt my first using some Feminized Sour Diesel.

I did some research and saw on youtube a guy had success growing White Widow in a pc case using:

2 weeks veg
8 weeks flower
1 week dry

Does those times seem to be pretty close to what you use?

8 weeks for white widow in flowering? Way too premature IMHO. Otherwise, I would have about that period of time for my grow, yes. I couldn't see myself trimming/training for more than two weeks in this case, and I wouldn't use a strain with a long flowering period. 1 week for drying is about right, maybe a week and a half depending upon humidity at the time.

[stra8outtaWeed]

use some bushmaster to keep the girls from stretching...and it will help your yield:thumbsup:

[catlova]

use some bushmaster to keep the girls from stretching...and it will help your yield:thumbsup:

I will be doing a soil grow, not hydro. Will Bushmaster still work for me?

[khyberkitsune]

I will be doing a soil grow, not hydro. Will Bushmaster still work for me?

With the exception of ammonia/urea based nitrogen sources (ie not fixed in a nitrate format) nutes are nutes and should work in any system.

I've used GH in soil grows with great results.

[stra8outtaWeed]

I will be doing a soil grow, not hydro. Will Bushmaster still work for me?

absolutely...it is good stuff:thumbsup:

[khyberkitsune]

absolutely...it is good stuff:thumbsup:

So I see, now that I have read up on this, sounds like good stuff for vert growers, for sure, and might do the trick with my PC case grow, though I think I'll be able to just suffice with an LST since 50w of purely usable plant light in a square foot is quite intense. That is pretty much unheard of, at least at sea level. From top of SWC reservoir to the bottom of the LED panel will be about ten inches, so it's going to get intense irradiation all the way through.

[Weezard]

1.5 cf, 50Watts!
Let the light bleaching begin. ;)

Actually, you may be OK with 1 W., emitters.

That would not float with the bigger emitters.
[attachment=o238934]
This occurs at about 5".

And anything over about 91K. Lux, will halt growth.
This should be a very informative experiment.:cool:

Aloha,
Weezard

[khyberkitsune]

1.5 cf, 50Watts!
Let the light bleaching begin. ;)

Actually, you may be OK with 1 W., emitters.

That would not float with the bigger emitters.
[attachment=o238934]
This occurs at about 5".

And anything over about 91K. Lux, will halt growth.
This should be a very informative experiment.:cool:

Aloha,
Weezard


Yea, 50w for 1.5cuft of space inside of a hair over a square foot of floor space. 50w of pure usable power. Actually I think the 50w rating includes the cooling system, so most likely the panel itself is pulling about 45w, just under a watt per diode.

These panels just need to hurry up!

[catlova]

khyberkitsune, is that mylar you have lined on the inside of your pc case? If so, where did you get it? I have looked at all the major stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc) and cannot find it anywhere.

[LOC NAR on probation]

khyberkitsune, is that mylar you have lined on the inside of your pc case? If so, where did you get it? I have looked at all the major stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc) and cannot find it anywhere.

good mylar only comes from hydro stores or so I found. if you want a cheap sub then go to walmart to the camping section and get some space blankets. They are thin mylar but works very well.

[catlova]

good mylar only comes from hydro stores or so I found. if you want a cheap sub then go to walmart to the camping section and get some space blankets. They are thin mylar but works very well.

Thanks for the tip :thumbsup:

[khyberkitsune]

khyberkitsune, is that mylar you have lined on the inside of your pc case? If so, where did you get it? I have looked at all the major stores (Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc) and cannot find it anywhere.

I'm using Chromalux paper, bought from Michaels arts/hobby stores. Easier to use, quite high reflectivity index, cut cut panels and glue in, less chances of creasing stuff and having ill-lined enclosures.

[khyberkitsune]

Update time. Panels still have yet to arrive, so I'm just watching these girls do their thing.
The Krusty Bucket is rolling along nicely.
The moms are coming along as well.
The two destined for the PC case are starting to take off a bit now that they've established a good root system.
And the runt is starting to produce stuff up top.

[khyberkitsune]

Manufacturer snag, lights delayed. :(

Plants are starting to get large.

[khyberkitsune]

Praying my lights arrive by next Friday. Plants are looking nice but the roots are almost touching the bottom of the tank. I may have to re-cut clones and get those rooted if these get too much larger.

[khyberkitsune]

Customs and what not delaying my lights. These plants are almost too big and I'll have to cut clones off of them if I have to wait another week.

[khyberkitsune]

Update on these plants while I wait for the lights to arrive.

The front right one is not very large, about 85mm tall. The back left one is about 200mm tall, almost too big as-is to put into the case without maybe starting the training now.

[khyberkitsune]

That's all I need to say!

Here we go!

[khyberkitsune]

It has only been two days since I've transplanted into the SWC system. The roots were fairly localized beforehand, all knotted up due to the roiling water of the DWC buckets. The newest growth is EVERYWHERE, looks like maybe 7 inches of root growth for each plant since then, judging from the white vs brown roots.

Both plants sitting happy and pretty at 120mm, I forgot to take measurements when I first tossed them in but the growth for two days is QUITE apparent. They won't be 120mm for long, though - I plan on topping these babies soon and training the lower branches.

[khyberkitsune]

April 2 - new picture. I put a piece of black felt behind the plants this time so the reflective paper wouldn't artificially increase the apparent density of the plant and so you could get an actual idea of growth performance. I'll be following this method from now on for my pictures in this case.

[khyberkitsune]

175mm average.

DENSE undergrowth.

Average internode spacing - 8 millimeters.

[khyberkitsune]

Quick and dirty 6-day (4 frame) animation of the progress.

[stra8outtaWeed]

thats cool..nice show! :thumbsup:

[khyberkitsune]

I made an animated GIF showing the first week in the system!

I think from now on I'll just do daily pics, and update weekly with an animation. In the meantime, I'll post updates every two days as promised, but maybe with pics, or without if not much else to really show.

I am planning on cutting the tops off and making them clones. I don't know if I'm going to do it tonight, or tomorrow. Probably tonight, as I'm sure I'll get bored enough waiting. for stuff to happen. As it is, the bottom growth is getting fairly thick and starting to be crowded out by the top sections, so it's time to lop it off and train, within 24 hours.

[khyberkitsune]

I lopped em off like I said I would. I also raised the box up to discover that today the pump decides to not work after getting it to work by sucking on the exhaust valve. So I hooked it up to the final remaining valve on my large air compressor, and I had to extend the tubing, so I used a t-joint and a clogged airstone to serve as an extender!

[stra8outtaWeed]

so its all your fault...your time lapse photography got n us all in trouble....hahahha....now us LED growers are found out...that was funny!

nice grow bud...keep it up :thumbsup:

[demoreal]

What day are you now?
I noticed you are using diamond nectar. I am using that too. Do you have any idea why General Hydroponics only recommends it threw transition. This is apparent on there feed chart.
I wonder why they don't use it all the way threw flowering...

[khyberkitsune]

What day are you now?
I noticed you are using diamond nectar. I am using that too. Do you have any idea why General Hydroponics only recommends it threw transition. This is apparent on there feed chart.
I wonder why they don't use it all the way threw flowering...

Day 9.

I don't know why they only say to use it during transitioning, because the humic acids help majorly throughout the entire grow.

I don't follow the feed chart anyways.

[ForgetClassC]

What type of light is that 50w? I really like it, seems like that on one plant would be work, just wondering what type, price, make and such it is. Seems like a little UFO.

-C

[khyberkitsune]

What type of light is that 50w? I really like it, seems like that on one plant would be work, just wondering what type, price, make and such it is. Seems like a little UFO.

-C

It's a micro-ufo. :) Just a bit larger than a compact disc, about 2.5" thick.

Working on making a much slimmer design.

[demoreal]

khyberkitsune, do you know where I can buy LED diodes?
I would like to start building my own lights.
Thanks

[ForgetClassC]

It's a micro-ufo. :) Just a bit larger than a compact disc, about 2.5" thick.

Working on making a much slimmer design.

Any idea where we can get one? And the price? Or is that just you and your working on it?

-C

[demoreal]

I wrote to GH and asked them why they stop using it after veg. Here is what they said:

"The Diamond Nectar aids in nutrient absorption and mobilization. In vegetative
growth, that means a healthier plant with access to more nutrition. A side effect
of this is a decreased length of your vegetative growth phase, which is why we don't
recommend it in flowering, as it will affect the way the plants feed and possibly
not allow full maturation."
Makes sense!!! Similar to one of the reasons organics tastes so good. Takes longer, giving the chemicals in the plant time to do there thing... Growing is all a patience game...

[khyberkitsune]

khyberkitsune, do you know where I can buy LED diodes?
I would like to start building my own lights.
Thanks

Mouser.com, Cree.com, Luxim.com.

Bear in mind it's much harder to build yourself and it is a steep learning curve when it comes to soldering surface-mount diodes, which are the only ones really powerful enough for the job - it's just not the same, you can't use a soldering iron, you have to use a reflux oven or a heat gun.

[khyberkitsune]

Any idea where we can get one? And the price? Or is that just you and your working on it?

-C

You can find them all over the net. Just be aware most of them are using the NASA-spec blend of light and so you'll probably need to add more blue to get great results.

[khyberkitsune]

Week 2, day 3!

Dropped the reservoir back down to encourage plant stretch. It's REALLY thick in there. Hopefully by the end of this week phase it will have branched out some!

[khyberkitsune]

Week 2 day 5

Trucking along, nice and bushy.

Two more days until the end of the week! Then it's time to flower and train a bit more!

[khyberkitsune]

Quick and dirty 5-day animation of week 2, still got 2 days to go.

[khyberkitsune]

So week 2 has finished and it is now time to move to 12/12.

Here's the final updated animation for the full week - looking nice and bushy!

[SmokeMyPiece]

cool .gif :thumbsup:

looks like theyll be some fat plants

[khyberkitsune]

Tied her down last night, changed the cycle, and here we go with the first picture of the week!

[khyberkitsune]

Week 3 day 2

[khyberkitsune]

Week 3 day 4! So fat I'm starting to worry, and they're not even through the first week of 12/12 yet! I might actually have to remove one of these plants and just let one take up the entire case!

[wolfgar]

well not the worst problem to have i was studying the picture to try and suggest some LST or something but there really isnt much unfilled space i wonder if there is a easy way you could recess the light or the pots to make a little extra room and widen the light pattern? either way nice grow so far. the slide show you are doing is nice.:thumbsup:

[khyberkitsune]

well not the worst problem to have i was studying the picture to try and suggest some LST or something but there really isnt much unfilled space i wonder if there is a easy way you could recess the light or the pots to make a little extra room and widen the light pattern? either way nice grow so far. the slide show you are doing is nice.:thumbsup:

I've looked, I've drawn up ideas, I've done AutoCAD renderings, I can't find a single way to really do much better other than simply bending and supercropping these things as their training, and rotating them to keep them somewhat in line.

I'm going to be getting fat yield, though, no doubt.

[wolfgar]

auto CAD?
oooo... Computer Animated Dank

[khyberkitsune]

Week 3 day 6!

So much foliage. I think it is almost time I started trimming the fan leaf tips a bit to allow for a tiny bit more penetration.

[khyberkitsune]

End of week 3. First week of 12/12 finished!

Have an animation.

[demoreal]

It's so hard to keep things in check with a grow so small. You think it will make it through stretch without exploding the CPU?
Watching this grow is making me want to start a micro grow. Actually I think I will this summer!
Your grow is coming nice!!!

[khyberkitsune]

It's so hard to keep things in check with a grow so small. You think it will make it through stretch without exploding the CPU?
Watching this grow is making me want to start a micro grow. Actually I think I will this summer!
Your grow is coming nice!!!

If I continue my two week long supercropping/training it should be able to hold, JUST BARELY. The way it's looking I might have to literally cut a hole in my case and just set the LED panel on top shining through the hole for the headroom.

It has certainly become a bit of a challenge. It's drinking about a gallon of nutrients every 4 days.

[khyberkitsune]

Update for 4/20, of course!

I'm still worried, they're getting larger and STILL DENSER every night. I've got some horizontal room left to go but the vertical space is suddenly at a MASSIVE premium. I am SERIOUSLY considering the original idea to buy a metal-cutting bit and actually set the panel on top of the PC case to have the extra vertical height needed to finish, because that's how hardcore the growth is compared to a PC grow with CFL, and I'm training it hardcore with every single node being pinched and bent if possible. Bear in mind this is an older A/V workstation case, it is larger than a typical ATX case.

[khyberkitsune]

Pistils are showing!

[khyberkitsune]

Yea, I know I was lax on an update - was out of town for the weekend.

Came back, thinned out the PC case some. There was some dead stuff that had been choked out by the thickness of the plant, and I cut away the bottom branches that were going to be far too small to produce anything worthwhile.

[wolfgar]

looking good:thumbsup:

i was looking at the pic and it struck me that if u took some opaque material (cardboard or something) and covered it in reflective material then used it to make a floor across the whole box just above planter u might be able to increase the light efficiency a bit. good idea? :stoned:

[khyberkitsune]

looking good:thumbsup:

i was looking at the pic and it struck me that if u took some opaque material (cardboard or something) and covered it in reflective material then used it to make a floor across the whole box just above planter u might be able to increase the light efficiency a bit. good idea? :stoned:

Not really, as there's rarely any chlorophyll on the undersides of the leaf. Best lighting is top and sides.

I'm actually still somewhat worried. I don't think I'm going to be able to get the yield I'm looking for because I just don't have the space, but we'll see.

[jtsik330]

What if you get a smaller res. It looks like that ma get you another 1 to 2 inches.

[khyberkitsune]

What if you get a smaller res. It looks like that ma get you another 1 to 2 inches.

Sadly this is the smallest thing I could find for a reservoir. I could maybe get another inch but the net pots themselves would be almost touching the bottom of the reservoir.

I think the next try I'm just gonna get a bigger PC case or ask some company to custom-make one for me.

[khyberkitsune]

So my panels are so powerful I'm getting light bleaching on the leaves closest to the light.

Otherwise, buds popping everywhere! Sorry I'm not doing the animations any longer, it's just too much hassle and I've been so busy with designing new things (working on super-charged induction lighting now) that I just haven't had the time to do it.

[stra8outtaWeed]

ouch....i think you may be out growing and and over lighting that box!! :cool:

[GP73LPC]

cool, hope they stop stretching soon :thumbsup:

[khyberkitsune]

ouch....i think you may be out growing and and over lighting that box!! :cool:

This is exactly what I'm afraid of. looks like 50w pure power in just barely over one square foot of space is just too much. I might suffer on yield because of the sudden lack of room.

[khyberkitsune]

Sorry for lack of updates, I had a huge paypal issue I needed to sort out and so I've been way busy trying to keep them from carrying out their normal scam by showing them evidence.

Anyways, I've been getting wonderful budsite production. They are a bit too numerous to count, but each one at the top is about the size of my index fingertip, and fairly dense-looking even though it is small.

We're just a couple of days into week 4 of 12/12. It's about time for that boost in production.

[SmokeMyPiece]

Buds are comin in nice man.
Just an idea for some xtra height, i used the little plastic cups for jello shots as net pots. Cut holes and used half a peat pot, or perlite as a medium.

[khyberkitsune]

Hmm, if I can get a reservoir that shallow then I might try that. Though I think my next run in the case is going to be in a taller and wider case for the best use of the light.

[khyberkitsune]

So I learned something today, and I should have thought about it well in advance.

Any light your plants do not use is reflected. Any light that is reflected eventually dissipates in the for of heat, thermodynamics comes into play.

Why do I say this?

Well, even with a second fan really pulling air through the PC case and plant thinning, I'm starting to hit temps of near-90. That poses a problem.

I'm definitely going to need to make a larger case for the next 50w grow. This is too small of a case for this much power and even though I've got nice frosty buds starting to show up, there are not enough for my liking. I really screwed up thinking this would pack the power in, I totally neglected to think of this like a basic solar-energy system - solar panels heat up from reflected light that they cannot absorb, leaves should act the same way. Even with airflow, the plant itself is getting hot, which is why I've got the burning even from a couple inches from the panel. Oh well, I've learned my lesson this time and next time I'll definitely keep this in mind.

[khyberkitsune]

Sorry again for lack updates. I've been doing tons of other stuff and by the time I'm done I'm too pooped to get online.

Anyways, top and side shots for you! This is week 6 day 6, almost 4 full weeks of 12/12 completed.

Still worried about burning though I was able to drop the plants down a bit and I haven't seen new burning appear. I know I'm going to not yield much because of all the problems that started, but I'll get some nice nugs without a doubt!

[khyberkitsune]

Just too much light burning happening. I also removed the 120w panel from over the two bigger buckets down below, and put in the 50w panel that was in the PC case. The plants that were in the case are now with the Krusty and DWC buckets under 100w total of LED. The case needs a serious redesign to see the yield I'm expecting from LED, there is just not enough airflow, and there needed to be better sealing on top of that.

I will continue to chronicle here, but no longer is this truly a 50w grow. In fact, though I have two 50w panels, they're spread out more to hang over the larger plants, so at best I could maybe consider this a 30w LED grow.

But seriously, 50w LED was way too much for 1.25 square foot of space. I won't make that mistake again.

[demoreal]

Do you think it was to much light since it was in such a closed in area? Not enough air flow. Or it is just to much light. I use over 100 watts of HPS per square foot and I did not get any burning. Maybe a little, but only towards the end of the grow.
I don't know. I have never used LED's.
Your two grows are looking good.

[khyberkitsune]

Do you think it was to much light since it was in such a closed in area? Not enough air flow. Or it is just to much light. I use over 100 watts of HPS per square foot and I did not get any burning. Maybe a little, but only towards the end of the grow.
I don't know. I have never used LED's.
Your two grows are looking good.

When it comes to light and plants, things act a bit differently. Plants have some unusual properties that makes light interact in different ways, not unlike how some metamaterials act. I had good airflow, however I don't think it was the issue though more was likely needed. The problem I had was I was simply pushing too much power in such a tiny case. As light hits a plant, most of it is never absorbed, it's either reflected off or radiates back off the plant as heat. What I'm betting on was the plant itself was getting too hot from the bombardment of pure usable power it couldn't absorb and thus it turned itself into a krispy kritter.

These things happen. I was so busy focusing on one thing I totally neglected my favorite scientific laws of thermodynamics and as a result, you see the suffering I had to go through.

[AnonTom]

could you possibly poast the build specs on your hydroponic PC xD... Im new to growing and this seems like a really stealthy grow build.

[AnonTom]

could you possibly post the build specs on your hydroponic PC xD... Im new to growing and this seems like a really stealthy grow build.

[khyberkitsune]

could you possibly poast the build specs on your hydroponic PC xD... Im new to growing and this seems like a really stealthy grow build.

Sure, but I'll tell you right now that in the box, 50w of LED was TOO MUCH.

The case is 16" tall, 23" long, 8.5" wide. I used a single 120mm fan for airflow. The inside of the case was lined with carefully-cut chromalux paper (available at Michael's) and all the cracks I could find were sealed with either electrical tape or sticky tack (Michael's, Home Depot, etc.) I also used a thin piece of black felt to help block out light from the fan port, and to act as a dust/dirt filter. No carbon filtration was used in this box. The 50w panel is my own company's panel.

I'd really recommend a box with about double the width and another 8 inches of vertical height. The footprint of my case was just over 1.25 square feet, with usable space equaling about 1.5 cubic feet, and 50w LED was just too much light. It was fine and dandy at first, but after 3-4 weeks the burn started up when the plants got about 2 inches from the light.

[khyberkitsune]

I am consolidating the rest of this grow with the Krusty Bucket journal kept here: http://boards.cannabis.com/hydroponics/181776-krusty-bucket-led-grow.html

This grow got too out of control. Too small of a space, too much light.

[GP73LPC]

too bad the PC case SWC didn't work out, but that's tough to pull off in an area that small...

[AnonTom]

Sure, but I'll tell you right now that in the box, 50w of LED was TOO MUCH.

The case is 16" tall, 23" long, 8.5" wide. I used a single 120mm fan for airflow. The inside of the case was lined with carefully-cut chromalux paper (available at Michael's) and all the cracks I could find were sealed with either electrical tape or sticky tack (Michael's, Home Depot, etc.) I also used a thin piece of black felt to help block out light from the fan port, and to act as a dust/dirt filter. No carbon filtration was used in this box. The 50w panel is my own company's panel.

I'd really recommend a box with about double the width and another 8 inches of vertical height. The footprint of my case was just over 1.25 square feet, with usable space equaling about 1.5 cubic feet, and 50w LED was just too much light. It was fine and dandy at first, but after 3-4 weeks the burn started up when the plants got about 2 inches from the light.

I have a regular PC case that I'm planning on using, at this point its trail and error and I do not plan on using any high quality strains on my first shot.

1.Im using a 100w light with plenty of tin foil, that way the plant will get plenty of light.
2.I have an air pump in the water, because I remember reading some where that it would help :-/
3.I have two fans built in for plenty of ventilation
4.I need to find some nutrients from walmart or something that will work
5.Im using gravel for my growing medium.. I never really got much direction in that one, its hard to find good suggestions

Let me know if I'm doing this at least half right, Im not going to even germinate the seeds until I know the environment is the best it can be.
Perhaps if the grow box is not large enough I can transplant the plant to a outdoor grow location.

[khyberkitsune]

I have a regular PC case that I'm planning on using, at this point its trail and error and I do not plan on using any high quality strains on my first shot.

1.Im using a 100w light with plenty of tin foil, that way the plant will get plenty of light.
2.I have an air pump in the water, because I remember reading some where that it would help :-/
3.I have two fans built in for plenty of ventilation
4.I need to find some nutrients from walmart or something that will work
5.Im using gravel for my growing medium.. I never really got much direction in that one, its hard to find good suggestions

Let me know if I'm doing this at least half right, Im not going to even germinate the seeds until I know the environment is the best it can be.
Perhaps if the grow box is not large enough I can transplant the plant to a outdoor grow location.

Get rid of the 100w incandescent, or you're going to have MAJOR heat issues regardless.
I would recommend redoing the foil job. That's a little too crinkled and will diffuse the light too much. Also, with all of that crinkling, there's tons of insulating airspace - you want as little of this as possible to help keep temperatures consistent with your airflow.
Good job with two fans, especially if they're 80mm. I used a single 120mm.
For hydro, if you have no hydro shop, Florikan Dynamite from Walmart of Home Depot or Lowes will do the trick. Grind it up into dust and use about a teaspoon per gallon to start off.
Gravel works, just as long as your chosen medium can remain as pH inert as possible and allow for the roots to get a stable grip on the medium and hold itself upright. Make sure your net pot has enough holes to allow for roots to come out and flow into the tank.
And yes, air pump in the nutrient reservoir. Oxygen is very important for root and plant health, and dissolved oxygen levels in the reservoir must be kept up or else you'll drown the plant or invite a pythium infection to come by and wipe out your plant.

[cigarettes42]

1.Im using a 100w light with plenty of tin foil, that way the plant will get plenty of light.


lmao!! you cant grow jack with that bulb. light bulbs have no useful energy output for growing anything. that micro case is just a reading room/heater for your plant. i bet if you put an egg in there you will get a chicken, then after it will cook it for you with all the tin foil. look into buying a cfl and replace the household lightbulb.

[khyberkitsune]

lmao!! you cant grow jack with that bulb. light bulbs have no useful energy output for growing anything. that micro case is just a reading room/heater for your plant. i bet if you put an egg in there you will get a chicken, then after it will cook it for you with all the tin foil. look into buying a cfl and replace the household lightbulb.

Well, not entirely. The incandescent would work, but given the output spectrum (with a typical peak hitting around 630nm,) the typical tungsten-filament lamp would be more usable during flowering than during vegetative phases, and the relatively low radiometric output levels of the proper wavelengths would cause stretching or fluffier buds.

Really I'd look into targeted-spectrum CCFL lighting for the case. It's low-heat, high-output, and they do make it in basic dual-band (but since a CCFL is a fluorescent tube, there's plenty of trace peaks across the entire visible range) so I'd be willing to bet it could be done much better than a CFL. Might be a little costly but I'm not entirely sure about that either. I've been dying to build one using the new CCFL tech.

[cigarettes42]

Well, not entirely. The incandescent would work, but given the output spectrum (with a typical peak hitting around 630nm,) the typical tungsten-filament lamp would be more usable during flowering than during vegetative phases, and the relatively low radiometric output levels of the proper wavelengths would cause stretching or fluffier buds.

Really I'd look into targeted-spectrum CCFL lighting for the case. It's low-heat, high-output, and they do make it in basic dual-band (but since a CCFL is a fluorescent tube, there's plenty of trace peaks across the entire visible range) so I'd be willing to bet it could be done much better than a CFL. Might be a little costly but I'm not entirely sure about that either. I've been dying to build one using the new CCFL tech.

exactly. useless energy

[AnonTom]

Thanks guys, and yes I do live in a 20 mile radios of a gardening shop, but I seriously doubt they have hydroponic materials... Out here Hydroponics=weed, so businesses stray away from that growing method. I think ill just wait until next pay check and invest in aero garden or something, that would be best for a noob like myself xD

[khyberkitsune]

Thanks guys, and yes I do live in a 20 mile radios of a gardening shop, but I seriously doubt they have hydroponic materials... Out here Hydroponics=weed, so businesses stray away from that growing method. I think ill just wait until next pay check and invest in aero garden or something, that would be best for a noob like myself xD

I'm no AeroGarden fan, having seen many grows just go totally wrong shortly after the system fails.

It'd be easier to DIY. Rig some stuff if you have to, but it shouldn't be that hard to get some mini-plumbing to build your own sprayer system for aero.

[infinitylimit]

I was reading your grow journal and was impressed up to the point where things went a bit off. You mentioned you were getting near 90 degree temperatures, it might actually work with a 50w if you added C02 with a simple DIY yeast version.

At 90 degrees you can increase the amount of CO2 the plant will want to use and you get that special zone of increased growth and safety because the plants will be expiring at 8x the normal evaporation rate thus staying cool.

In larger grow rooms this requires a decent amount of equipment to pull off but in these small PC case grows it makes sense that something like a small yeast bottle and release should increase the CO2 in the confined space quickly and effectively making it worth it. I mention yeast because it cheap but a CO2 bottle or anything else would also work.

[khyberkitsune]

I was reading your grow journal and was impressed up to the point where things went a bit off. You mentioned you were getting near 90 degree temperatures, it might actually work with a 50w if you added C02 with a simple DIY yeast version.

At 90 degrees you can increase the amount of CO2 the plant will want to use and you get that special zone of increased growth and safety because the plants will be expiring at 8x the normal evaporation rate thus staying cool.

In larger grow rooms this requires a decent amount of equipment to pull off but in these small PC case grows it makes sense that something like a small yeast bottle and release should increase the CO2 in the confined space quickly and effectively making it worth it. I mention yeast because it cheap but a CO2 bottle or anything else would also work.

It wasn't the temps causing the issue. Everything was fine until I ran out of circulation capacity due to the canopy. At that point, the light hitting the leaves was just causing excess heat build-up in the tissues themselves because there was inadequate airflow to move cooler air in to keep the plants cool. Totally crispy plant.

If you follow my new journal in I think my bottom link in my sig, you'll see much better results.

Soon I will build a new case grow, with better ventilation. But right now, I just got my new NFT system (minus hydro fittings) and I need to get that set up. Only took FOUR MONTHS to get here!

[smokealot123]

lmao!! you cant grow jack with that bulb. light bulbs have no useful energy output for growing anything. that micro case is just a reading room/heater for your plant. i bet if you put an egg in there you will get a chicken, then after it will cook it for you with all the tin foil. look into buying a cfl and replace the household lightbulb.

yes you can i saw it before myself.. went to pick up some bud one day and the dude had a plant about 2 feet tall and it looked healthy and from what i could tell it was just about to bud.. it was under a normal light bulb 100 watt and it was grown from seed i was told under that bulb only:p never said it was a good idea, just correcting you because you said that this light will not grow anything, and it clearly does.. no grow cabnet or tent or anything was used either.. was simply on a bar stool and the light clamped on the table:)

[Indagrojeff]

Just a quick note of interest. Incandescent lights actually have decent spectral characteristic, especially for flowering. The only real issue with them is efficiency, which is pretty bad. Obviously for real grows with real power consumption, this would not be acceptable.

Peace to all.

[SmokeMyPiece]

yes you can i saw it before myself.. went to pick up some bud one day and the dude had a plant about 2 feet tall and it looked healthy and from what i could tell it was just about to bud.. it was under a normal light bulb 100 watt and it was grown from seed i was told under that bulb only:p never said it was a good idea, just correcting you because you said that this light will not grow anything, and it clearly does.. no grow cabnet or tent or anything was used either.. was simply on a bar stool and the light clamped on the table:)

- Ive seen this before.. one grown with the incandescent 100w bulb inside the kitchen fixture, with the plant on the kitchen table.. had to do a double take when i saw it..
- He assured me 'itl bud, itl bud'.. didnt have the heart to tell him, since it was on its 3rd month now w/o a single pistil.
- Sure itl veg (barely), but will not produce ANY BUD :thumbsup:



Just a quick note of interest. Incandescent lights actually have decent spectral characteristic, especially for flowering. The only real issue with them is efficiency, which is pretty bad. Obviously for real grows with real power consumption, this would not be acceptable.

Peace to all.

- This has already been addressed....


exactly. useless energy