ghetto first pc case grow

[neo247]

well i live in florida so my room is always around 80ish degrees. depends..

i installed the new fan at 12 volts. its very hard to hear. soon i will use the following guide to lightproof and angle the fan in a way to blow across the entire box directly, not just across the bottom. it will also be good because i cannot have that fan all the way against the metal case. it makes a loud whiney noise. so i have some long screws to push the fan away from the case.
http://forum.grasscity.com/grow-roo...ep-light-proof-mounting-axial-box-pc-fan.html

i was worried that the seed shell would not pop off so i removed it myself, very gently. now it has direct light. the pics will show you that i cut pretty much all the fishing line. now the power strip is facing down but for now it will be fine. i have more important things to worry about like ventilation and light-proofing.
when i turn off the lights i am also going to unplug the 12volt fan for two reasons. one, the light will not be on so i dont need as much cooling. and two, i dont want ANY suspicious behavior(noises) while i am out today. i am working all day.

i will just continue to improve my setup. thanks for all your help guys. this grow will be updated all the time.

pics:

 

[ScrubNinja]

so here is an important question....

i have 1 intake(5V) 1 exhaust(5V)....so where would i put this new fan(12V)?? intake or exhaust? for now im going to just put it next to my other intake fan. untill someone tells me otherwise..

I think the best bet would be to use the 12v as exhaust and the 5v's as intakes. I'm not sure really. Might have to test it and see.

A decent computer store will have some fan controllers. The cheapest I've seen is ebay but expect what you pay for there. Several on this page of much better quality: http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=9_511 Check that it's suitable for your fans. Also, those prices on that page are in aussie dollars.

 

[Pyrosin]

you can even get a 4.5, 5.7, 7, 10, 12 volt ac adapter that will change at the flick of a switch, you can then run as many fans as you want in series at the same speed. they are bout 15-20 at radio shack. check your temps dude if you stress too much you can end up with hermies.

 

[neo247]

quick update before i go to work...

great news. that fan dropped my temps to under 90 degrees. once i actually have it secured with that pvc piping i bet it will be even better. AND when i raise the other two fans up to 9volts the temps should be perfect.

one light also helped too. the plant got its first real leaf set last night. i was so happy lol.

well ill be back later. peace

 

[zlock]

Congrats man! Its an exciting process, watching a seed turn into a plant, and even MORE exciting when you SMOKE it and look at old pics of when it was just a seedling!
What kind of soil are you using? How much water are you giving it?

 

[zlock]

oh and one more suggestion to consider some day when your bored and feeling the itch to work on the case; paint the inside walls with flat white spray paint. The cheap stuff from WalMart works fine, and I would say that its nicer than film... the film can rip, fall down, be hard to clean, etc., the paint stays where it is and is easy to wipe down if you need to.

Your current set up is very much like my own first set up, I don't mean to come across like i'm nagging you to change a whole bunch of stuff you don't need to, I'm just looking at it and thinking of all the stuff I'd have done differently if I were to start all over again.
I'm anxious as hell to see how this grow turns out! I'm sure you'll be happy no matter HOW it turns out. The amount you're going to learn will make it worth while even if you run into problems. You're off to a good start!

 

[neo247]

ya very exciting. im using this very rich potting soil by miracle grow. i use it on my outdoor plant that is preflowering now. it is my first grow. and it loves the soil. but it is probably a little too rich for a seedling but im sure it will be fine. i put my outdoor plant in that soil when it was like a foot tall.

this is how i water my outdoor plant...i water to moisten the soil. but not mud. then i check on it daily. if it looks or feels moist i leave it alone. if its dry on top i stick the tip of my finger in the soil. if wet underneath i usually leave it alone. if pretty dry i water. and that method is what i plan to do with my new grow. it works well on my outdoor plant. and i dont use any food or anything. just plain water.

i was considering white paint but i chose panda film so i can light seal it better. and it is very cheap. $1.50 for 1 foot. it is already 10feet wide. so i got 3'x10' for like $4.50 at the hydro store.

soon i gotta start working on a carbon filter. will a carbon filter completely filter all smell if its made well? and would putting a glass of vinegar or a tray of baking soda in the grow box help with odor?

dont worry about nagging me. it is all very helpful and when the time comes to upgrade my case im sure it will be alot better. and i will get a better case. cause the case im using now is horrible.

if something goes bad in this grow i will be disappointed but i wont quit. unless i get caught then i probably wouldnt be able to grow in a computer anymore lol. but i like to hope for the best and prepare for the worst. even if it turns out male thats alright. ill just plant another seed. plus sex will show soon.

thanks for the help guys. ill attach a pic i took on my camera phone of the sprout this morning. i couldnt attach but here is.

 

[neo247]

here is a pic i took of the sprout under the light. its about two and a half inches away.

question: do you think my plant will stretch? if it does, how can i fix it. i wanna maximize the plant's growing area.

third night under light =] i love waking up and seeing the new growth. i can already see the second leaf set coming in. when i wake up it will be big enough that you guys can see it clearly in pics.

 

[neo247]

anyone got an idea to mount the power supply?? if not ima use a bunch of fishing line again

 

[zlock]

Looking good!
If you're gonna use the MG potting soil, I would suggest mixing in some perlite up to as much as 50%/50%, this will loosen the soil up so the plants roots can breathe easier basically

As far as the plant stretching, i mean... its gonna grow, but keep the lights as close to the plant as you can WITHOUT burning the tops or causing the temps to be too high, and that will minimize the amount of space between nodes. Using the CD cases is a great idea (I do it too), you can raise or lower the plants by like a quarter of an inch at a time so the plant is getting the maximum amount of light all the time

 

[neo247]

*dont know how to delete a post*

 

[neo247]

ok thanks, i think they can breathe good. but i guess we will see.

hypothetical question...how would 48 hours of straight darkness every week effect the plant?

 

[ScrubNinja]

lol don't use fishing line bro! What sort of power supply are we talking about?

I think you'd just have a confused F'd up plant personally...I'm only guessing. Stretchy, pale, not many budsites. Possible hermaphroditism. Dunno. And that is before you even start flowering.

 

[neo247]

whats wrong with it? looks good to me. and i think ima have to use fishing line lol. it will be alright. it gets the job done and it can handle the heat of touching the light if i need to. its just a regular surge protector. there are no mounting holes on the back.

after fourth day of light....

edit: ok ninja i thought you were saying thats how my plant looks now. but i will see you were answering my question lol thanks. just curious.

 

[ScrubNinja]

Haha! Sorry man, I should have quoted. Your plant looks A-OK

I guess if fishing line works, it works. I would think insulated wire might be better but I'll stop nagging ya.

 

[neo247]

nooo nagging is okay. it will only help me. but insulated wire as in like regular wire that you strip down? possibly...but here are my concerns with that.

when i tie it down to the metal and just plain use of the wire, it will scrape off the insuation. could be a problem if it gets in the soil or something. even worse if it were to get into an open socket and start a fire somehow....man that is my biggest fear...


btw i got a 15volt adapter. ill be hooking it up later in a series to those two 5volt fans. so they will be running at 7.5volts now. when wired in a series the voltage splits in half. as opposed to how its wired now on one 5volt adapter.

we will see how that works out. my goal is to be able to use that second cfl again. and i wanna up it to 9 volts. but i cant find a 9volt or 18volt adapter.

hope that wasnt confusing lol

 

[neo247]

question about feeding.

i attached 3 pics. first two are this rose food stuff @ 8-12-4. i know for flowering the middle number is good to be higher. potassium i think. for bud production. can i use this with my plant? obviously when it gets bigger.

and the third pic is this other food i had laying around my house. there were no numbers or anything but i figured while i was there i would take a pic to see what anyone would have to say.

 

[neo247]

day 5 of light. one intake and one exhaust are now running at 7.5 volts each. the other intake is still at full speed @12volts. hopefully this drops the temps a little. i really couldnt tell a difference in speed though...

i made the wiring look a little cleaner. goodnight

 

[ScrubNinja]

Yeah I see what you mean about the wire, but it is designed with that sort of thing in mind. Like, in it's intended usage there's a lot at stake as you realise, if the insulation is compromised, so it is a bit tougher than the average plastic. But I'll leave that with you, it's not the end of the world or anything.

I was looking at the pics just now and thinking - this design is really the classic, simplest, hard to fuck up design ever, on the ventillation side. You should be able to get more than one bulb in there no problem even in a warm climate.

I thought I would check - do you have the pc in a closet or something like that? If it's in a corner of a room or something, have you tried angling a regular oscillating fan or something at it? Is there some other strange environmental factors going on outside the pc case?

And you know how you have intake holes for 2 x 80mm fans, well there is then that plastic cover on the very front of the pc - does that have enough holes to equal the 2 x 80mm's? All the ones I've seen suck up mostly thru a gap at the bottom which is easily widened. Maybe take the whole cover off and do a heat check?

 

[basscadet]

question about feeding.

i attached 3 pics. first two are this rose food stuff @ 8-12-4. i know for flowering the middle number is good to be higher. potassium i think. for bud production. can i use this with my plant? obviously when it gets bigger.

and the third pic is this other food i had laying around my house. there were no numbers or anything but i figured while i was there i would take a pic to see what anyone would have to say.

Hey neo, Things are looking good inside the case now, best to get the wiring sorted now, then no worries when the buds start popping all over the place.

With the nutes, does it say on the back what makes up the fertilizer. Usually there is a small chart that has things like total nitrogen, total potassium etc. That will tell you the NPK. Have a look for more nitrogen based nutes while your girl (fingers crossed) is still young. Nitrogen promotes root growth which will give you a higher yeild, use it up untill the first two weeks of flower then change to a higher potassium nute. Check out earth worm castings as well, it's the shit for sure!!

Are there holes in the bottom of the can?