Dragon311
Well-Known Member
Grow setup:
PC case W-17" x H-20.5" - D-7.5"
3x 120mm PC Fans and 2x 80mm PC Fans (2x 120s are intake, 120 & 80 outtake, and 80 for circulation)
D-I-Y Carbon filter mounted on the 120mm outtake fan
Coco coir brick + perlite (90/10 mix) with a layer of perlite on the bottom for better drainage
64oz (8 cups) tupperware container
House-Garden nutrient Coco A +B
Nirvana Blue Mystic feminized named Madeline (from seed)
Vegetative lights: 3x 23w CFLs (5k temp 1600 lumens each) Lumens are NOT cumulative people!
Flowering lights: 1x 55w CFL and 1x 42w CFL (2.7k temp 3850 and 2800 lumens respectively)
Ok now that we have the basic info out of the way, let's get down to business and share some information!
The background: This is my first attempt at a grow. I've wanted to do one for some time, but never really got around to it until about 2 months ago now. Being a virgin grower I wanted to go small and just learn about the process. I decided to go with hand watering so I get a better feel for what the plant wanted as it grew. So far so good I think! Since I wanted to use this grow as a learning experience I started with things I already had on hand to start.
I gutted an old PC tower case I had used several builds ago. I drilled out anything that was riveted and was left with just the shell. I lined the case with a plastic tarp that is white on one side (thanks for that suggestion hydro store guy!) I used zip ties to secure the fans to the case, and wire nuts to connect all the power leads. I drilled a couple of holes on the top and used a combination of screws, nuts, and heavy-duty velcro to mount a power strip from the top of the case.
I rinsed the coco coir with tap water several times thru, but in hindsight I made two mistakes here. I should've rinsed it a couple more times and I should've altered the pH of the water for the rinse. As a side note, my tap water comes out at about 7.3 pH.
I germinated the seed in the medium in the pot I planned to use for the entire grow. It spouted in about 5 days. When starting out I used tap water I had let sit out for 24-48 hours. I was using a liquid pH kit in the beginning, and I wasn't reading it correctly. After I got a digital pH meter (should be a must buy for anyone, really) I found out that the tap water that had sat out for a couple days was reading a pH of 8+! So my early girl had been shocked and looked a little sickly.
I started feeding her a weak nutrient solution about 2 weeks after she sprouted. (1/2 ml A+B/each in 500ml bottles of RO'd drinking water with nothing added for taste pH'd to 5.
She bounced back well after I started feeding her at the correct pH.
There was some algae that formed in the container, but it doesn't seem to have affected it, as far as I can tell. I think it grew because my medium was staying damp longer than I wanted it to in the beginning. I wrapped tape around the tupperware to keep light from destroying the root system, but left a small patch uncovered so I could see how the roots developed.
I had some temperature issues for a short time when I added the carbon filter. It had restricted airflow more than I anticipated and temperatures went from being in the low 80s to the low-to-mid 90s for a couple days. I ending up tweaking the fan setup and got temps back down into the high 70s.
I'm using some stripped down cat5 wires to train my girl. I just cut slits into the lip of the container, and used them to hold the wires in place to help my lady get the most out of the small space the PC case offers. I'm not going crazy with the LST, just getting her main stalk to grow horizontally and maximize the space I have.
I flipped the lights to 12/12 for flowering on 11/2/12. At this time I was up to 1ml A+B each nutrient solution maintaining the 5.8pH with each watering. The pics I'm posting are from day 21 of flowering, and I'm happy with the results so far! I wanted to see what others think, and what advice anyone might have going forward. I'm planing on letting her flower for 9 weeks, so up to Christmas or later if necessary.
So here's the eye candy! Let me know what you think!
PC case W-17" x H-20.5" - D-7.5"
3x 120mm PC Fans and 2x 80mm PC Fans (2x 120s are intake, 120 & 80 outtake, and 80 for circulation)
D-I-Y Carbon filter mounted on the 120mm outtake fan
Coco coir brick + perlite (90/10 mix) with a layer of perlite on the bottom for better drainage
64oz (8 cups) tupperware container
House-Garden nutrient Coco A +B
Nirvana Blue Mystic feminized named Madeline (from seed)
Vegetative lights: 3x 23w CFLs (5k temp 1600 lumens each) Lumens are NOT cumulative people!
Flowering lights: 1x 55w CFL and 1x 42w CFL (2.7k temp 3850 and 2800 lumens respectively)
Ok now that we have the basic info out of the way, let's get down to business and share some information!
The background: This is my first attempt at a grow. I've wanted to do one for some time, but never really got around to it until about 2 months ago now. Being a virgin grower I wanted to go small and just learn about the process. I decided to go with hand watering so I get a better feel for what the plant wanted as it grew. So far so good I think! Since I wanted to use this grow as a learning experience I started with things I already had on hand to start.
I gutted an old PC tower case I had used several builds ago. I drilled out anything that was riveted and was left with just the shell. I lined the case with a plastic tarp that is white on one side (thanks for that suggestion hydro store guy!) I used zip ties to secure the fans to the case, and wire nuts to connect all the power leads. I drilled a couple of holes on the top and used a combination of screws, nuts, and heavy-duty velcro to mount a power strip from the top of the case.
I rinsed the coco coir with tap water several times thru, but in hindsight I made two mistakes here. I should've rinsed it a couple more times and I should've altered the pH of the water for the rinse. As a side note, my tap water comes out at about 7.3 pH.
I germinated the seed in the medium in the pot I planned to use for the entire grow. It spouted in about 5 days. When starting out I used tap water I had let sit out for 24-48 hours. I was using a liquid pH kit in the beginning, and I wasn't reading it correctly. After I got a digital pH meter (should be a must buy for anyone, really) I found out that the tap water that had sat out for a couple days was reading a pH of 8+! So my early girl had been shocked and looked a little sickly.
I started feeding her a weak nutrient solution about 2 weeks after she sprouted. (1/2 ml A+B/each in 500ml bottles of RO'd drinking water with nothing added for taste pH'd to 5.
She bounced back well after I started feeding her at the correct pH.There was some algae that formed in the container, but it doesn't seem to have affected it, as far as I can tell. I think it grew because my medium was staying damp longer than I wanted it to in the beginning. I wrapped tape around the tupperware to keep light from destroying the root system, but left a small patch uncovered so I could see how the roots developed.
I had some temperature issues for a short time when I added the carbon filter. It had restricted airflow more than I anticipated and temperatures went from being in the low 80s to the low-to-mid 90s for a couple days. I ending up tweaking the fan setup and got temps back down into the high 70s.
I'm using some stripped down cat5 wires to train my girl. I just cut slits into the lip of the container, and used them to hold the wires in place to help my lady get the most out of the small space the PC case offers. I'm not going crazy with the LST, just getting her main stalk to grow horizontally and maximize the space I have.
I flipped the lights to 12/12 for flowering on 11/2/12. At this time I was up to 1ml A+B each nutrient solution maintaining the 5.8pH with each watering. The pics I'm posting are from day 21 of flowering, and I'm happy with the results so far! I wanted to see what others think, and what advice anyone might have going forward. I'm planing on letting her flower for 9 weeks, so up to Christmas or later if necessary.
So here's the eye candy! Let me know what you think!
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