SWC Micro Grow

[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/hydroponi...-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.