Hi everyone! 
I'll be keeping a log of my first grow in this thread, and hope to help other people learn from my mistakes and hopefully get some advice if I run into trouble. I'll hope to be uploading pics at least once a week. First off I think I'll go through my basic setup in detail, since I'm sure some of you guys are interested (others may want to skip all the details for pics).
I've been testing and modifying my PC during the last three months and have actually started a few chile seedlings in there. I originally wanted to have a super stealth PC, but after hooking up my fans I realized it would be too loud to have in plain sight. I then moved it into my closet and I do have some light leaks around the side door.
My goal: I'll be more than happy with 10 grams of dry bud, but I'm mainly doing this to learn and gain experience. I hope to be chopping down the girls in early march.
Growbox: PC case (HxLxW=50cm x 40cm x 21cm). The case has been gutted out and lined with an emergency blanket and aluminum foil tape. There is one cord running in from the back.
Ventilation: I have a 120mm Silverstone fm121 exhausting hot air at the top back of the box. I have another fm121 in he box that i can move around freely. I also have two random old fans, a 92mm and a 80mm, hooked up behind the light sockets providing air circulation for my CFLs. The intake is passive and about 120mm, so 1:1 ratio with exhaust size (optimal would be 2:1, but I don't have the tools to make the mods to the case). If I do get sudden temp problems I have a quick backup plan: in the front of the case where the CD trays would pop out, the whole front comes off doubling my intake area.
I have an adjustable power transformer that is currently set at 12volts. The Silverstones are specced to run at 13.2volts, but I don't want to fry the smaller fans and I honestly don't need the power. The Silverstones are hooked up to a panel on the front of the case with two knobs to adjust the rpm individually.
Lighting: 3x23 watt spiral cfl's @ 2700K + 1x20w mini spiral cfl @ 3000K. The height of the lighting is not adjustable, so I will be lifting my pots. I also have a 21watt LED grow light which screws into a normal socket I might use as additional lighting for flowering, but I don't seem to have enough space for it
Odor control: I'm really concerned about odors and I don't want to have my neighbor's and guests find out about my grow. At first I designed a small DIY activated carbon scrubber and made a quick prototype, but I had trouble getting a good seal between the scrubber and my exhaust fan and while testing it I found that it wasn't odor proof.
I eventually ditched the DIY scrubber when I came across a cheap commercial one. The brand is Le Filtre and I got a really good deal for it. It's rated at 400m3/h which is way oversized for my needs, but it gets the job done and my exhaust fan has no problem pushing air through it. I've silicone glued a 125mm wall mount to the back of my PC to attach my ducting. The filter is attached to 50cm of insulated ducting, so I can hide the filter in my closet between some boxes. The insulated ducting and filter actually ended up muffling the sound of the exhaust fan really well.
Strain: I have chosen to go with auto's, and am hoping to finish in about 8-9weeks. The strains I'm running are crosses: lowryder#2 x lowryder#2 (LR2) + lowryder#2 x auto lemon skunk (ALSK)
Growing medium and pot sizes: I will be growing in one liter juice cartons. In the bottom of the cartons I have 3dl of clay pebbles. Above is a mix of pre-ferted soil from the local super market and clay pebbles. The carton's will have small holes in the bottom and they will be placed in a tray that i will utilize for watering. It's supposed to be sort of a "passive hydro". I will only water the soil from above once I start the final flush.
Nutrients: I will use some supermarket grow nutrient (NPK=5-1-7) and BioBizz Bloom. I also have some seaweed extract. I will start giving my plants small doses of grow nutes during week two, and start adding bloom once they start showing sex.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that's it. Lets get started with my diary! I'm sorry I don't have pics of the first two weeks
Jan 2. 3xLR2 seeds and 3xALSK seeds are placed in a water cups.
Jan 3. three ALSKs and two LR2s have sunk. All seeds are placed between wet paper towels.
Jan 5. Only one LR2 has not grown a small taproot
Jan 6. All seeds are finally placed into peat pellets and covered with party cups. They now enter the PC growbox and lights are switched on.
Jan 7. All three ALSKs have emerged above soil and are transplanted into the milk cartons
Jan 8. Two LR2s emerge as well and are transplanted. I check on the last LR2 and find out it only has a tiny taproot.
Jan 9. - Jan 13. The ALSKs seem to be growing significantly faster than the LR2s. I ditch the LR2 with the tiny taproot after two days of waiting, since it hasn't really made any progress. I end putting too much water into the tray and the soil becomes super damp so I drain the tray and wait for the soil to dry.
Jan 14. - Jan 17. The soil has dried and I give my plants a small dose of nutes with their water. Everything looks fine. The ALSKs seem bigger and the biggest one is starting to smell already so I hook up the carbon filter.
Jan 18. I f*ck up and end up breaking both Silverstone fans. The smell is starting to get stronger in the PC with a slight smell passing the carbon filter. I check my ducting and find a small leak, which I fix. I also decide to stack my two Silverstone fans to get more static pressure using silicone glue. Apparently the glue hasn't dried up, they fall apart and somehow both fans end up with a missing blade :S I hook up a less powerful 120mm fan I have lying around for exhaust. I take one 23watt CFL out to lower temps and end up removing the front CD tray to give me more airflow. To replace the missing CFL I hook up my 21watt LED light outside the PC. Check out the pics, it's pretty ghetto
Jan 19. I've ordered two new Silverstone fans and it looks like they won't make it before the weekend. The smell is getting stronger in the cab and there seems to be a slight "sweet" smell lingering in the closet. I think there might be a problem with not sufficient airflow going through the scrubber. The instruction manual that came with the scrubber suggests not running it with a fan under 100m3/h or else it won't be fully effective. I think my replacement fan isn't powerful enough, but I hope to get that fixed once I get it replaced.
The leaves also look like they are kind of turning down, which I read might be a problem with over watering. I'll see how that develops. They also seem to like the LED, since one of them is starting to grow towards it…
Anyway here's some pics. Sorry for the quality. A leant my dslr to a relative so I'm stuck with the crappy camera on my phone. I also blurred out stuff to keep me safe. LR2'S are on the left and ALSK's on the right
I'll be keeping a log of my first grow in this thread, and hope to help other people learn from my mistakes and hopefully get some advice if I run into trouble. I'll hope to be uploading pics at least once a week. First off I think I'll go through my basic setup in detail, since I'm sure some of you guys are interested (others may want to skip all the details for pics).
I've been testing and modifying my PC during the last three months and have actually started a few chile seedlings in there. I originally wanted to have a super stealth PC, but after hooking up my fans I realized it would be too loud to have in plain sight. I then moved it into my closet and I do have some light leaks around the side door.
My goal: I'll be more than happy with 10 grams of dry bud, but I'm mainly doing this to learn and gain experience. I hope to be chopping down the girls in early march.
Growbox: PC case (HxLxW=50cm x 40cm x 21cm). The case has been gutted out and lined with an emergency blanket and aluminum foil tape. There is one cord running in from the back.
Ventilation: I have a 120mm Silverstone fm121 exhausting hot air at the top back of the box. I have another fm121 in he box that i can move around freely. I also have two random old fans, a 92mm and a 80mm, hooked up behind the light sockets providing air circulation for my CFLs. The intake is passive and about 120mm, so 1:1 ratio with exhaust size (optimal would be 2:1, but I don't have the tools to make the mods to the case). If I do get sudden temp problems I have a quick backup plan: in the front of the case where the CD trays would pop out, the whole front comes off doubling my intake area.
I have an adjustable power transformer that is currently set at 12volts. The Silverstones are specced to run at 13.2volts, but I don't want to fry the smaller fans and I honestly don't need the power. The Silverstones are hooked up to a panel on the front of the case with two knobs to adjust the rpm individually.
Lighting: 3x23 watt spiral cfl's @ 2700K + 1x20w mini spiral cfl @ 3000K. The height of the lighting is not adjustable, so I will be lifting my pots. I also have a 21watt LED grow light which screws into a normal socket I might use as additional lighting for flowering, but I don't seem to have enough space for it
Odor control: I'm really concerned about odors and I don't want to have my neighbor's and guests find out about my grow. At first I designed a small DIY activated carbon scrubber and made a quick prototype, but I had trouble getting a good seal between the scrubber and my exhaust fan and while testing it I found that it wasn't odor proof.
I eventually ditched the DIY scrubber when I came across a cheap commercial one. The brand is Le Filtre and I got a really good deal for it. It's rated at 400m3/h which is way oversized for my needs, but it gets the job done and my exhaust fan has no problem pushing air through it. I've silicone glued a 125mm wall mount to the back of my PC to attach my ducting. The filter is attached to 50cm of insulated ducting, so I can hide the filter in my closet between some boxes. The insulated ducting and filter actually ended up muffling the sound of the exhaust fan really well.
Strain: I have chosen to go with auto's, and am hoping to finish in about 8-9weeks. The strains I'm running are crosses: lowryder#2 x lowryder#2 (LR2) + lowryder#2 x auto lemon skunk (ALSK)
Growing medium and pot sizes: I will be growing in one liter juice cartons. In the bottom of the cartons I have 3dl of clay pebbles. Above is a mix of pre-ferted soil from the local super market and clay pebbles. The carton's will have small holes in the bottom and they will be placed in a tray that i will utilize for watering. It's supposed to be sort of a "passive hydro". I will only water the soil from above once I start the final flush.
Nutrients: I will use some supermarket grow nutrient (NPK=5-1-7) and BioBizz Bloom. I also have some seaweed extract. I will start giving my plants small doses of grow nutes during week two, and start adding bloom once they start showing sex.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I think that's it. Lets get started with my diary! I'm sorry I don't have pics of the first two weeks
Jan 2. 3xLR2 seeds and 3xALSK seeds are placed in a water cups.
Jan 3. three ALSKs and two LR2s have sunk. All seeds are placed between wet paper towels.
Jan 5. Only one LR2 has not grown a small taproot
Jan 6. All seeds are finally placed into peat pellets and covered with party cups. They now enter the PC growbox and lights are switched on.
Jan 7. All three ALSKs have emerged above soil and are transplanted into the milk cartons
Jan 8. Two LR2s emerge as well and are transplanted. I check on the last LR2 and find out it only has a tiny taproot.
Jan 9. - Jan 13. The ALSKs seem to be growing significantly faster than the LR2s. I ditch the LR2 with the tiny taproot after two days of waiting, since it hasn't really made any progress. I end putting too much water into the tray and the soil becomes super damp so I drain the tray and wait for the soil to dry.
Jan 14. - Jan 17. The soil has dried and I give my plants a small dose of nutes with their water. Everything looks fine. The ALSKs seem bigger and the biggest one is starting to smell already so I hook up the carbon filter.
Jan 18. I f*ck up and end up breaking both Silverstone fans. The smell is starting to get stronger in the PC with a slight smell passing the carbon filter. I check my ducting and find a small leak, which I fix. I also decide to stack my two Silverstone fans to get more static pressure using silicone glue. Apparently the glue hasn't dried up, they fall apart and somehow both fans end up with a missing blade :S I hook up a less powerful 120mm fan I have lying around for exhaust. I take one 23watt CFL out to lower temps and end up removing the front CD tray to give me more airflow. To replace the missing CFL I hook up my 21watt LED light outside the PC. Check out the pics, it's pretty ghetto
Jan 19. I've ordered two new Silverstone fans and it looks like they won't make it before the weekend. The smell is getting stronger in the cab and there seems to be a slight "sweet" smell lingering in the closet. I think there might be a problem with not sufficient airflow going through the scrubber. The instruction manual that came with the scrubber suggests not running it with a fan under 100m3/h or else it won't be fully effective. I think my replacement fan isn't powerful enough, but I hope to get that fixed once I get it replaced.
The leaves also look like they are kind of turning down, which I read might be a problem with over watering. I'll see how that develops. They also seem to like the LED, since one of them is starting to grow towards it…
Anyway here's some pics. Sorry for the quality. A leant my dslr to a relative so I'm stuck with the crappy camera on my phone. I also blurred out stuff to keep me safe. LR2'S are on the left and ALSK's on the right
