NEW PC GROW CASE - 1st Time grower

Alright Im gonna run over to CVS and get some tweezers and try to get that casing off. It looks hella weak and frail tho. I dont have high hopes for that one.

On the second one the light may have been at a slight angle but not really. They are pretty much directly overhead. I directed it a little better and took the bag off, I cant wait to see what happens

Well the first one is out. I went and bought some tweezers and an LED flashlight and as soon as I touched the seed, the stem broke away from the seed case. Heres a pic. It appears to me that the casing didnt open up all the way and let the cotyledon out. I split the seed in half and its moist on the inside so it looks like it was ready to sprout, it just got its stem twisted and cut off before it could.

Could this be because of how the seed was placed in the soil? I put the tail side down in the dirt. After some reading, I came across info that said its better to put the tail pointing up so it goes up then down. Less stress on the plant. It makes sense to me, but so does tail pointing down so I dunno. Just tryin to make some sense of why it died I guess.

I'd like to chime in with some advice and what has worked well for me. I start by taking a clean shot glass and filling with distilled water and soaking the seeds overnight. The following day I remove the seeds and put it between some wet paper towels inside a tupperware container and then place on warm surface in a dark area. I then take some rapid rooter starter plugs and turn them upside down and cut a slit right down the middle of the plug. Once the seeds start to sprout I take the plug and spread open the slit and place the seed in. The entire starter plug fits perfectly inside the shot glass where it is kept moist. Within a day or two you should start seeing the seedling emerging from the slit. The seedling does not need any nutients at all for the first week and should be given only distilled water. After a few days you should see the first set of leaves appearing and roots developing. You can then place the shot glass containing the starter plug somewhere where it will receive indirect sunlight. After a couple of days of indirect sunlight they should be ready to go into your PC cab under the CFL's. Start with just a couple of bulbs and then add the remainder over the next few days.

After a week or so you can then transplant the entire starter plug into your final grow container full of Fox Farms soil. The soil should have enough nutrients for the first few weeks so do not feed your plant any fertilizers until at least the 3rd or 4th week.

One other thing, the size of your cabinet is still going to be problematic even if you plan on using LST to limit the height. If you are not growing an autoflower type of plant you should put them on a 12/12 light cycle using 2700k bulbs straight from seed because you want to limit the size by bypassing the veg period. Small grow areas like this are ideal for lowryer plants which typically remain between 12-18 inches tall.

Here is a pic of my PC grow case that I finished a few weeks ago. I am waiting to finish a larger grow before testing it out.

Sticky

Thanks a lot Sticky that helps a ton. The starter plugs sound like the way to go.

Ive got a couple of questions for ya if u dont mind.....

First off, what is the point of the indirect light before placing in the PC cabinet? I would think the more light on the sprout the better. And does that relate to where Im at now with my new seedling? Should i remove it from my cabinet and have it getting indirect for a few more days til it gets bigger/stronger?

When you say problematic, what exactly do you mean? Less yield? Harder to manage due to extra branches, height etc? All of the above?? I guess im tryin to decide whether to order some autoflower seeds from Attitude and wait a couple weeks for them to get here and start with those, or if the one seed I have now that has sprouted is worth messing with even under a 12/12. Obviously I dont wanna wait (haha) but I wanna be smart about this as well. I have 4 2700k 27w CFLs already that I can throw in there. Id have to finish up the lightproofing before that I guess. That def gives me more to think about. Thanks so much, this is exactly what im hoping to get out of this forum

well.. you could do what sticky said and put that seedling into 12/12 straight away while you wait for your seeds

Good thinkin Tatan

I have a little more lightproofing work to do to the case. WHile i figure this out, I have a couple more questions

Do I just throw it to 12 dark and switch the bulbs as soon as its a good time for my schedule (dark at night would be better for me)? I assume most of my work such as watering, scrogging, etc will occur during the plants daytime cycle, correct? And a totally undisturbed 12hrs of darkness??

Then when my new seeds arrive I can germinate them with the plugs and then throw them in at the start of one of the day cycles?

Im slowly figuring this out, THANKS A TON for the help!!

Heres a couple of Lowryder Auto strands I was looking at:

Lowryder #2: http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/lowryder-seeds/lowryder-2-feminized/prod_67.html
Lowryder diesel: http://www.cannabis-seeds-bank.co.uk/diesel-ryder-feminized/prod_1288.html

These should be better for my smaller case right?

Hey sticky, nice setup, just a quick thought though, maybe you should heat shrink the butt connectors to keep moisture out? I've been checking out lots of PC grows for my first try but I think I'm going to go a little bigger instead, depending where I move

Looks good though, can't wait to see what it produces

Once you start the 12 hour cicle its very important that the plants get absolutly no light durinf the 12 hours of darkness. Other than that you are fine.

The point of giving the plants indirect sunlight for a couple days is to allow them to start their fragile early development in an environment that is not too light intensive and is free from the increased temps that they will receive in your cabinet. You can certainly do it inside your box with one or two bulbs initially but I prefer to put them on a window ledge instead because there is there is more fresh air and no heat buildup that can cause them to dry out quickly during their most fragile time. After you see the first two or three sets of leaves you can then start blasting them with light and prepare to transplant into soil.

The reason I say the grow box size will be a problem is because you don't know what strain you are growing and it is very likely that the plant will outgrow your box within a few weeks. Unless you have somewhere to move the plant you'll end up either killing it or having to give it away. Even with a lowrider plant I think you are gonna find it hard to grow unless you have at least 8-12 inches of space from the top of your soil and are prepared to use a screen to limit your vertical growth.

Sticky

Thanks for clearing that up for me Sticky. So are there other autoflower strains ud recommend rather than the Lowryders? Id like to get some seeds ordered today if possible.

In all reality, I might have 8 inches from the top of the soil and I have a screen ready to use. I know its not optimum, but is it do-able?

these are not too bad man but its all down to space and what you can get to fit in there .

for the seeds use these discount codes
Enter code "420" for a 10% Rollitup discount. or RIU

Autoflowering dwarf

Lowryder/ak47 'easyryder'

this is the case i built

DOPE!! Thanks for the advice and hookup on the code!

What did u grow in that case, or have you yet?

Sup Cheef,

I hit you with a message concerning a possible case redesign after this plant is finished. That seedling is dead from its taproot frying, either it hit some denser nutes in that FFOF soil or the taproot dried out. If a seedlings taproot gets hit with anything, and I mean anything, she's dead jim. Shes dead.

What yer looking for in ventilation is hot air out the top, cool air in through the bottom at different places. Think of it as water, if water coming in and being sucked out would create a current that doesn't involve the whole case? Think of something else. How are your fans set up at the moment?

GrizzlyAdams said:

Sup Cheef,

I hit you with a message concerning a possible case redesign after this plant is finished. That seedling is dead from its taproot frying, either it hit some denser nutes in that FFOF soil or the taproot dried out. If a seedlings taproot gets hit with anything, and I mean anything, she's dead jim. Shes dead.

What yer looking for in ventilation is hot air out the top, cool air in through the bottom at different places. Think of it as water, if water coming in and being sucked out would create a current that doesn't involve the whole case? Think of something else. How are your fans set up at the moment?

Click to expand...

My soil was well watered so Im guessing that it nuted out in the soil. Lesson learned I guess. Ill use the plugs like suggested earlier.

I have 2 ~25 cfm intakes on the right side, one above the glass and one below it. There are 2 exhaust fans on the left side both ~75cfm. The intake/exhaust above the glass keeps the bulbs cooler Ive found.Ive got a good pic of it on the first post.

If i cop a taller box, would it make more sense to hang the lights and drop them to the plants, rather than stick it to the top of a 24" case?

Whatever gets them closer my friend. Every time you double the distance from your light source you cut your power by 25%. You have 104 watts, call it a hundo. Lets say your plants are 2 inches from the lights and you move them to 6 inches? you've cut your light intensity in half.

Only thing I could suggest for you on ventilation is bigger fans or more of them, your case is lookin good on lightproofing so idk if I'd do that. I'd probably drop a bulb first actually.

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Whats up peeps??

Heres some new pics after my box overhaul and countless discussions with the Grandmaster GrizzlyAdams. WAYYYYY more efficient design, plus I picked up a 24" box which gives me hella more headroom. I still have some lightproofing to do, but with the doors on it looks solid.

Heres a pic of my sprout. It has a brown spot starting on it. Not sure what thats all about. Any suggestions? Im guessing nute burn from the soil since I just threw them in the FFOF right out the gate. It really hasnt done shit the last 3 days but it has a new home now.

Speaking of new homes, I ordered some new seeds from Attitude today. I tried to buy some last night but their janky website wouldnt work. All is good now. Heres what I got:

[FONT=Tahoma, sans-serif]Order Inventory:
Product: Ceres Seeds Orange Bud Feminized

Product: Pick & Mix Seeds . DNA Genetics Kushberry Feminized

Product: UFO #2 DNA Genetics Sharksbreath

Product: UFO #1 DNA Rocklock Feminized

Im pretty sure I wore out GrizzlyAdams with questions about which strains to use, but the Orange Bud is what Imma go with. Im gonna sprout 5 and keep 1 to clone and finish the other 4. The last 2 UFOs are the free shit it comes with. Someone said the Sharksbreath was pretty legit.

Im gonna work on my flower box next week. Same setup as my veg box but just with different bulbs right?

Things are comin along!! Gettin PUMPED!! HOLLERRRRR!!!
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Lookin slick man, lights running with a temp of 77? Nice work, I think you have yourself a well functioning growbox.

Seedling hasn't moved in days? heh. Bad mojo duder. Can you try putting it under a naked CFL bulb rather than it coming through that glass? Its my only guess on a "maybe this is why" track.

If you keep seedlings that far from the lights they're going to stretch like crazy man. CFLs have like zero travel distance on their light intensity. Get your plants to the closest point possible. If your hand gets hot under the light, its too close. Remember you feel "warmth" between 70-100F, if your hand could take it, so can yer plants.

Yeah I got ya on the light distance, that was the same setup I had in my shorter case and I realize its not gonna be tall enough to get the plant up to the glass. Im workin on that right now. The last 4 days its been all the way to the top.

Alright, Ill lose the glass and see what that does for a couple days.

Heres a couple of pics with a bill in it to see the size: