lob's 70W hydroponic PC grow

lob19 · Mar 4, 2011

Hi all

First things first: English is not my primary language and as I often write while I'm high, some mistakes are bound to happen

I've been growing in a PC for about a year now and with my 4th round I decided to go hydro. It was a long road of constant upgrades to have my setup as it is now. Everything is in my albums and my growlog in Polish section if anyone is interested.

Basically it's a 66W of CFL's cooled with PC two fans and a 5L bubbler with an air pump. The pump and ventilation run 24/0 and the light cycle is set separately on a timer.

This is how it looks like (with air circulation scheme):

I have one ChemdogDD x BigBadJohn lady in my bigger closet and because she's very frosty I decide to go with those seeds again. Those are feminised.

This is how it looked like so far:

She sprouted on 02-16-2011

3rd day

~1st week

~2nd week

ROOT PORN

and how it looks today after i topped/FIMed her (I tried FIM but I'm not sure how it will turn out).

I'm using General Hydroponic Europe (GHE) nutrients, decided to go with the Lucas formula with a little modifications (I use some flora gro during early veg and some Advanced Nutrients PK 9/18 to change n-p-k relations. I also plan to use Rippen as well as root and bloom boosters (just ordered those booster today)

hope you'll like the show :artist:

peace

Arthur Dent. · Mar 4, 2011

DUDE, that looks awesome and I love the indications on the first pic, I'm watching, im sure good things from here will come?

Namaste :joint:

heady blunts · Mar 4, 2011

cool set up.

how noisy is it when it's all closed up?

btw your english is great.

Giddimani · Mar 4, 2011

Very nice man. Keep up the post coming.

lob19 · Mar 5, 2011

Thank's guys for kind words

I messed up big time today: When I woke up this morning I went to check how my little girl was doing and I saw this:

the pH went up to 7.5 or more causing nutrient lockout etc...

All because I've lost my pH down powder (it was probably thrown out by my mom, cause although she knows about my grow, she could have thought it was a bag of coke or some another shit, because it kinda looked like it. Also asking her if she had seen that bag would be a little awkward...).

Anyway: I've tried to lower the pH using Aspirin, but then I heard it causes plants to herm, so I used some lemon juice. It apparently wasn't a good idea. After about 18-20h the pH was roots became reddish-brow, reservoir looked like a bowl of soup the pump was covered in decomposing root tissue.... that was terrible.

I jumped into my car, went to the store for some fresh demineralized water and to look for some decent pH down. I got it in my favorite pet store where I buy my lights and other stuff... anyway:

I washed the whole tank with antiseptic liquid and left pump running in it as well. After flushing everything with pure water I've filled up the tank, lowered ph to about 5.5 (this shit is strong - 2 drops/5L lowered pH from 8 to 5.5 - I've wasted 5L of water first try :/ )

I hope she'll be fine. Too bad it happened right after topping her... stress

heady blunts said:
how noisy is it when it's all closed up?

I wouldn't call it a perfect stealth as well as I wouldn't sleep in one room with it

Still it's not bad, you can't really hear it during day time (traffic helps). The only problem is the pump and sound of air bubbles, fans are perfectly quiet.

peace

Sgt.Stedenko · Mar 5, 2011

Nice build. Too bad about the pH. Looks like the start of a Ca def. Hopefully, you get that sorted.

lob19 · Mar 8, 2011

3 days after the pH issue everything turned out fine I guess. I removed burned fan leaves letting side branches to develop. They've experienced only minor burns and are growing fine.

I've noticed some "freak" growth:

peace

lob19 · Mar 16, 2011

hi all!

everything is going fine, I've already flipped lights to 12/12. I keep her at around 350-400ppm with pH balancing at around 6 (+- 0.5)

this is how she looked 4 days ago just before changing the light period (26 days):

you can still see some "scars" on the older leaves, but I'm pretty sure she's fine now.

And this is how she looks like right now @ 30 days:

she's getting crazy! I remove leaves almost everyday to give more light to lower budsites. She doesn't seems to experience any discomfort from it.

cheers

heady blunts · Mar 16, 2011

looks like everything is hunky dory!

that is some well executed LST my friend.

Glaus · Mar 16, 2011

Nice recovery :good:

Looking awesome, great job on the LST!

:ying:

PureLife · Mar 16, 2011

Looking very nice... and your English is fine!

Sgt.Stedenko · Mar 16, 2011

Great recovery. The new growth looks nice and healthy.

Arthur Dent. · Mar 17, 2011

Dude, nice recovery, that lady is getting quite PHAT

Oh yeah Oh yeah, lots of bud sites, oh yeah, happy roots oh yeah. I am the coolaid man today.

Namaste

TB Gardens · Mar 17, 2011

hey very cool man =] new growth looks tittas, and the training is perfect! so symmetrical, it looks really good brother

SelfCatering · Mar 17, 2011

Hi There
Great liltle setup you got and the idea with antiseptic liquid was good thinkin..She looks healthy enough now.
I just popped some Chemdogd x BBJ af and was wondering when i saw you also are running it, that you might know What kind of genetics there is behind Big Bad John .
Good luck with the grow further on m8

lob19 · Mar 20, 2011

Thank's for good words, but the training has just began

She is a green monster now, almost doubeling in size every second day. I've installed a net on the reservoir to help mi with lst. I've seen someone from IC doing this about a year or so ago, props to you

I call it "reversed scrog" hehehe.

a little root porn

I've changed the air pump and it's much better, but a lot noisier now.

elemtee · Mar 21, 2011

clean setup and nice recovery. im tuned in.

Mr.Mantooth · Mar 24, 2011

Could you elaborate a little on your PC case build? Specs and Products you are using would be cool. Thank you sir.

lob19 · Apr 26, 2011

Hi everyone, sorry for not posting in a while.

I've been very busy with my outdoor (it's a beggining of a seazon over where I live so there's a lot of work to do). I've already planted 30+ plants and there are still more to go

I'll try to post some pics of my garden later some day.

Back to the PC. It has been a very busy, rapid-growth time for my lady and she is in 2nd-3rd week of flowering atm.
I've been gradually increasing the ppm level to about 700 today and changing the N-P-K ratios according to my formula based on GHE and Lucas formulas + some of my own stuff

@Mr.Mantooth: I don't really keep records of items I've bought/used during this project, and I also think that you wouldn't find same products in CA. I really mostly on household items or things I can buy in common shops. It's all DIY and stoned engineering

O.K, pics:

day 35