How much yield?

Hi, everybody! I'm Dr. Nick!

I'm new to the site, but not new to cannabis. My funds have been limited lately and honestly I'm tired of buying crap bud, so I've decided to start growing myself. I mostly want to do this because of the challenge (I want to grow some good grass here) and it's really only for my personal use and friends. I'm not looking to grow enough to sell or anything.

On to the meat:

I want to grow inside, probably in a closet. I am designing my own grow case as I plan on doing a completely contained setup that will have CO2 purging, hydroponic, HID lights, etc. It's going to be a really nice setup and I'm designing and building it myself.

I'm looking to get about 1/4oz per month for my own personal use. I'd like to get an extra 1/8oz to give to friends. So my demands are not that high at all.

I'm trying to do this in the smallest space possible, I'm thinking no more than 2cu/ft enclosure and the plants would be able to top out at 20" ideally. Since I am building my own enclosure I can design it however I need/want. I need it to be very discreet, so I was thinking a computer case design. I don't want to get off topic here now though.

What I'd like to know from you knowledgeable folks is how many plants I would need and how much space would I need for them to yield what I want? Basically 1/2oz per month. If I grew 2 healthy plants that were 18 to 20" tall with full lower and upper canopy sections (I plan on doing a good light setup here, no worries), how big would my harvest be?

I saw this plug-n-play computer case on a website that was a hydroponic enclosure for 2 plants that could go up to 18" tall. The website says the annual "plant" yield is 2lbs. Now if that is all bud, that would be like 2.5oz per month... Or basically if you harvest every 2mo, you'd get roughly 5oz. Am I right on that? If so, then 2 healthy full plants should be plenty for me.

Thanks for the help guys!

This depends on too many things to be able to guess. Look up some of the strains on the seed sites and see what their published yield rates are. That is what is possible in perfect conditions. A computer case grow box would not be optimum, so subtract some for that. Deduct another percentage for being a new grower since like all of us, you will make mistakes as you learn. Multiply that amount by how much money you want to throw into this project and multiply again by the square root of the time you are willing to put into reading and experimenting as you grow. Deduct 20% for every person you tell about your project. This will be your yield. Somewhere between zero and optimum. It's pretty hard to judge just what that number is until we can see just how green that thumb of yours is.

Emmie

I spent 8hrs in just the past 2 days researching and that was spent pretty much on lighting solutions. I'm not planning on doing this for another month or two, so I plan to really take my time. I know that the PC case grow box isn't ideal, which is why I plan to make my own grow box and therefor I can make it look like pretty much whatever.

Thanks for pointing me in the direction of the seed information to find yields. I'm sure I'll be posting on here a lot and when I do my project I'll log it on here.

LOL! Emmie is an economics major....can you tell? Can you write that up as a formula, Em??? Maybe we can get them to sticky it and point all "what will my yield be" questions to it...your getting close to that AWESOME level girl! Soon we'll be calling her Awesome Em!

Wassup Dr. Nick! You probably want something slightly bigger than a PC case...if your going to build it yourself there are lot's of cool newer materials to use to do this with...wander around a big box store like sLowe's or Home DePot and look at the reflecting foam board, and foil tape to build an insulated box with, whatever size you finally come up with...say you get a 250w HID (HPS? MH? Or both switchable would be ideal) Pick the light and make sure you can vent the heat good, and go from there...depending on the light configuration, you can get a pretty good idea what size you'll need to grow a couple of nice sized plants, (2-2 or 3 footers should do nicely) which should be enough for what you desire for a stash. An old Fridge might be good if your looking for total camo...tho a bit harder to convert, it's insulated well and nobody pays much attention to an old fridge sitting around...the reflecting foam board they have out now, makes me want to build a new room, even tho I have no need for it! LOL! Very easy to work with!

I was thinking about using this server case, Maxtop CSF-1630B

D X W X H 25" x 17" x 20.8"

That would give me 1 sq/ft per plant, assuming I grew 2 plants. I can make the hydro system so that it sits below the floor of the case (Like a sink basin), so the plants will be able to grow to 18" or maybe even 20".

I'd make the top of the case removable for ease of harvest/trimming.

IF I had enough lighting, would I be able to get 3 plants rocking in that case?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FlyingSteve

I was thinking about using this server case, Maxtop CSF-1630B

D X W X H 25" x 17" x 20.8"

That would give me 1 sq/ft per plant, assuming I grew 2 plants. I can make the hydro system so that it sits below the floor of the case (Like a sink basin), so the plants will be able to grow to 18" or maybe even 20".

I'd make the top of the case removable for ease of harvest/trimming.

IF I had enough lighting, would I be able to get 3 plants rocking in that case?

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Not to scare you or anything FS, but I have one plant here growing under florescents that is roughly 1 square meter in size. Growing in a small space like a computer case is going to be a challenge as to not let them get too big. One big plant like mine... out of the question. Two half its size, maybe... but watch out for the CSFPCP (Cannabis Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Plants, a very scary group of nomadic gypsy growers who have no sense of humor about those who torture plants).

Your goal in that box would be to veg for a very short time and get about half the available size, and then flip to flowering lights very early. I can see how it could be done... just don't much see the point other than the ability to say that you did it, sort of like the harvest in party cups in that picture earlier. It would have to be considered a challenge. If I had to do it though, I would go for a sea of green in there and put in about 3 small clones (known females) and veg them to half the distance to the burn point on your light... and then I would go for flowering with the 12/12 light schedule immediately after they reached that height. They will bush out a bit in flower and will certainly be impressive considering their home life... but as I said earlier... certainly not optimum conditions. You might be able to get an ounce or two with each crop though if you are real good. We will all be pulling for you as you try it!

Do some looking around in the forum and you will find that you are not the first person to decide that a few plants were way more interesting than functional hard drives and motherboards. I will bet that you can learn some tips from those who have gone down this strange path before you. :thumbsup:

Emmie

Well, that's a pretty big PC case, I guess...if your dead set on using a PC case, it's better than an old AT case, I suppose...I guess you can make anything work if you have to. There are better, cheaper, easier ways tho...anyway, Good Luck!

Those were my thoughts exactly, Emilya. Grow to half the size and then flower like crazy. But I'm thinking now that maybe I should just do a sea of green to get a real nice female plant and then just plant that by itself in the PC case. It would have TONS of room to spread out then and the only restraint would be the vertical height. That full size server case has 42" of surface area to work with.

My true problem here is that I'm in an attic bedroom. I could use the crawl spaces, in fact, there is one crawl space which you can only access through my closet that would be sooooooo perfect for growing in because no one would ever know. I could EASILY put whatever size case I wanted in there, but the crawl spaces get to be insanely hot during the summer and cold in the winter. The one crawl space actually has an electric vent fan which comes on when humidity levels get too high (we had an issue with water damage). That would be another great place to grow because of the ventilation, but once again, on an 80F+ day those crawl spaces get to be probably 120 to 130F.

My thoughts to fix the heat problem would be to make a very small refrigeration cooling system from a mini-fridge compressor (I know HVAC and can do this no problem) and use it to cool water which would go through a small heat exchanger in the case and blow "cool" air out to keep the case temps no higher than 90F (I would set everything up on a thermostat even). I'd have to insulate the hell out of the case to make this efficient thought. Might not be too bad though because at night the crawl spaces cool off relatively quickly. During the winter it would be easy to keep the case warm. It's easy to make heat, difficult to remove it. Being a nerd, I love the idea of making all this high-tech crap, but it's really not a practical idea for my first time growing and to do it for 2 little plants.

Oh, I definitely want to do a CO2 system; it's one of the reasons why I want to make a sealed grow case. What does the plant need air-wise to grow? If I need to grow in a crawl space and use a cooling system then I will want to keep the grow case sealed up as good as possible... Is this possible by using a CO2 purge system, or are there other gases that the plant needs to inhale? I know that plants need nitrogen, but I assume they get that from the soil or in my case, hydroponic nutrition. Basically, what is the need for outside air to circulate into the grow space if I have a CO2 system, and the humidity and temperature controlled from within the grow case?

To sum it up:
If I want to grow big, then I need to grow in a crawl space. That introduces all sorts of cooling/heating issues ($$ electric bill, want to stay discreet lol). If I can get enough product from one large plant in that big ass PC case, then I can keep this in my room and the ambient temps won't be an issue, nor would ventilation. I basically am copying the way a lab would grow a plant; in as perfect of an environment as possible. But that means crap if I won't really get enough usable product, might as well not even do this then.

Thanks guys :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by FlyingSteve

Those were my thoughts exactly, Emilya. Grow to half the size and then flower like crazy. But I'm thinking now that maybe I should just do a sea of green to get a real nice female plant and then just plant that by itself in the PC case. It would have TONS of room to spread out then and the only restraint would be the vertical height. That full size server case has 42" of surface area to work with.

My true problem here is that I'm in an attic bedroom. I could use the crawl spaces, in fact, there is one crawl space which you can only access through my closet that would be sooooooo perfect for growing in, space wise. I could EASILY put whatever size case I wanted in there, but the crawl spaces get to be insanely hot during the summer and insanely cold in the winter. The one crawl space actually has an electric vent fan which comes on when humidity levels get too high. That would be another great place to grow because of the ventilation, but once again, on an 80F+ those crawl spaces get to be probably 120 to 130F.

My thoughts to fix the heat problem would be to make a very small refrigeration cooling system from a mini-fridge compressor (I know HVAC and can do this no problem) and use it to cool water which would go through a small heat exchanger in the case and blow "cool" air out to keep the case temps no higher than 90F (I would set everything up on a thermostat even). I'd have to insulate the hell out of the case to make this efficient thought. Might not be too bad though because at night the crawl spaces cool off relatively quickly. During the winter it would be easy to keep the case warm. It's easy to make heat, difficult to remove it.

Oh, one question which I think I know the answer too but... I definitely want to do a CO2 system; it's one of the reasons why I want to make a sealed grow case. What does the plant need air-wise to grow? If I need to grow in a crawl space and use a cooling system then I will want to keep the grow case sealed up as good as possible... Is this possible by using a CO2 purge system, or are there other gases that the plant needs to breathe in? I know that plants need nitrogen, but I assume they get that from the soil or in my case, hydroponic nutrition. Basically, what is the need for outside air to circulate into the grow space if I have a CO2 system?

To sum it up:
If I want to grow big, then I need to grow in a crawl space. That introduces all sorts of cooling/heating issues ($$ electric bill, want to stay discreet lol). If I can get enough product from one large plant in that big ass PC case, then I can keep this in my room and the ambient temps won't be an issue, nor would ventilation. I basically am copying the way a lab would grow a plant; in as perfect of an environment as possible. But that means crap if I won't really get enough usable product, might as well not even do this then.

Thanks guys :)

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DANGER WILL ROBINSON... DANGER! DANGER!
After your last post I really have to advise you against trying this. I didn't realize that you needed to stay clandestine within your own house as we were chatting above. First of all, this operation is going to smell more strongly than you can imagine. Without active filtering... good active filtering, the smell will go throughout the entire house.

But the house and your need to be secretive within it is the big issue. You can not grow in a house where the owner of the house is unaware of your activities. If you cause a fire, or drive all the oxygen out of the house with your co2 unit and hurt someone, that would make them innocent victims and you a criminal. Don't do it! If you get caught, the homeowner is responsible. Are they willing to go to jail for you? If this is not your family home, but a dorm type situation, the situation is even worse. If you get caught, you risk everything and so does anyone around you.

So sadly, until I know that I am not doing harm by offering you advice, I can only advise you not to attempt this project. It sounds too dangerous.

:(
Emmie

The CO2 system is small, only 40oz of compressed CO2 at most. Small case that is sealed well doesn't need a large CO2 tank. The CO2 would also be used for an automatic fire suppression system which would also trigger a master electric switch for the grow case.

It needs to stay clandestine from outsiders, friends and the girlfriend lol. I guess the biggest thing to be worried about is the smell, as you mentioned, Emilya. Is it really that difficult to neutralize the odor from 1 plant? I know of this one company that makes compact CFLs which have a coating on the glass which neutralizes odors. I was thinking of using that inside the case as a supplemental grow light and also use a carbon filtration system.

I've thought of all safety issues and I assure you I will not burn the house down lol. My biggest drive to do this is to make something that is just way out there and works really well... I guess I could do that with a tomato plant, but you can't smoke tomatoes lol.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by emilya

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Not to scare you or anything FS, but I have one plant here growing under florescents that is roughly 1 square meter in size.

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Yep Emmie loves the big ones.:computerlove1: