PC Grow DWC:My First Grow

[JlMH4LPERT]

I found an old server in a PC warehouse so me and Dwight Schroot set out into making it into a PC Grower for a lil' hobby.

The case is equipped with 2X24w CFL's (100w equiv). The case came with a power supply which took up too much room so with a little help of a grinder we were able to remove the power supply's faceplate, re-mount the cooling fan then soldered a power strip onto where the power supply used to be(incoming electrical wires left dangling after cutting open the the power supply, so its running on AC power still). Computer fans were used with a universal AC to DC adapter (which acts as a dimmer switch for our fans).

We chose Deep water culture because of its reduced harvesting time and because a plant that grows in a bubbling bucket can be quite fascinating! My walmart made bucket consists just some plastic containers that stacked well and using a soldering iron and all my patience I poked holes out of the bottom of a tupperware container to make a basket. A quiet running air pump pumps air to a 4" airator in the bottom of our pot. Our pot is filled with distilled water only (for first time we didnt want to have to bother with ph) and we mix in General Hydroponics Flora series nutrients.

The lights will be running 24/7 until about 3 weeks into the plants vegetative stage, then we added 2 seedlings into the mix which we will flower from the day they sprout.

Heres a quick pic of our PC Grower and a horrible pic of the Nutes courtesy of Dwight Schroot

 

[Guest]

just as a word to the wise, DWC does not cut down on flower times or speed up harvest, those are strain dependent. it does however, allow for very rapid growth and increased yields.


everything else sounds great, and you gotta get some pics up in here and the PC Case Growers Club the link is in my sig

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

thanks rkrone, also sorry its taking so long either dwight or myself plan on uploading better pics of the case as soon as he charges his camera, ill be sure to post on PC Growers as soon as we do.

 

[Guest]

cool and like i told dwight, we will be waiting



oh, another thing i thought of is that the distilled water still might not be at the best ph for hydro, even though everything looks good you still need to invest in a cheap ph test kit with some up and down fluid. its a must for hydro. and i was also wondering what your res temps are at and if you are using hydroguard or any other res additive to protect your roots?

 

[Sammet]

lol I love these little pc grows, what strain is it? just bagseed?




Dwight: There’s nothing on my horizon except everything. Everything is on my horizon.

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

Week 01 baby nuts...

Week 01 baby nuts...

We acquired our seed in a bag of decent pot (not white widow but they were what was available).

The seed was then germintaed in a glass of water for a couple of days before if began to crack and once we saw the the root poking we soaked up some of our rockwool and planted the seed root down.

The seed sat in the rockwool in a warm dark place for about 36 hours before we realized that the sprout was already standing up and has a yellowish color to it, so we moved the small rockwool cube into a hydroponics bucket filled with hydroton, and with the air pump turned on allowed the water to touch the tip of the rockwool.

Day 01 ====================================================================================================================

During the seedlings first few days we let the rockwool touch the tip of the weak nutrient solution.

Day 02 ====================================================================================================================
No pics today, in fact we should have left the case closed but instead were opening it ever hour just being nosy.. no water was added and the plants first 2 serated leaves were now visible.

Day 03 ====================================================================================================================

No water is added, Rockwool continues to touch aerated water supply and is soaking wet. The plant is now standing at full mast leaning towards the CFL, her height about 2.” Serated leaves have grown significantly showing more definition with a nice shiny green color. Half way through today the plant was raised to be closer to the CFL to keep the plant shorter.

Day 04 ====================================================================================================================
Not much to say, no pictures again. The plant wasnt watered because the rockwool was still drenched we decided to let the water drain out a little.

Day 05 ====================================================================================================================
No pictures again. The rockwool is finally beginning to dry off a little so its safe to say that the water is barely touching the bottom of the basket. A new set of leaves have sprouted on the top.

Day 06 ====================================================================================================================
The third set of leaves to grow in are 3 pointed serated leaves, which is exciting for me as a first timer because it looks more like a pot leaf. Enough water is added to the plant today so that the basket is still touching the surface of the water.

Day 07 ====================================================================================================================

Today is the first day roots can be seen sticking out the bottom of our basket. Trace amounts of water are added but water level is kept below the basket as to not drench the rockwool.

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

rkrone - Don't exactly know the res temp but its in the case which is staying in the 70s so I doubt it's much lower. No additives but our roots are all perfectly white and healthy, no dark parts anywhere. As for pH, we know its important but are poor/haven't gotten around to a pH meter. Hopefully getting a ppm meter as well. thanks for the help.

Sammet -Just bagseed out of a random decent bag I had.

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

Week 02

Week 02

Day 08 ====================================================================================================================

The new sprouts are 5 pointed leaves which is the most exciting news to announce. New sprouts are seen for the first time where the stem of the leaves meet the main stem of the plant. Roots that can be seen under the basket are not only growing longer but have begun to branch out themselves and are lookinh bright white and heathly.

Day 09 ====================================================================================================================

The 4th set of sprouts appear on top of the plant. Height of the plant has not changed much considering all the plants growth, each set of leaves are about a 1/4 of an inch away from each other.

Day 10 ====================================================================================================================

New nutrient solution is prepared later in the day, the old solution from the planter discarded. A small canopy has sprung up underneath the top canopy of the plant.

Day 11 ====================================================================================================================

Plant responded to its new nutrient and streched out horizontally, unfortunately I can't say the same for its height beacuse the plant still remains short.

Day 12 ====================================================================================================================

Slowly the plant is being weaned to a more powerful nutrient solution. By day 14 it will be on aggressive growth nutrients. The stem of the plant, more noticeable today than the past few days has really bulked up. Growth on the top continues but the height remains the same.

Day 13 ====================================================================================================================
No picturets today. Plant was exposed to conditions warmer than 100 degrees causing the plant to wilt. To reverse this effect we are keeping the plant well hydrated and the case humid. Underneath the top layer of leaves the smaller growth has turned in to their own branches which now have several sprouts of their own.

Day 14 ====================================================================================================================

The plants leaves are now coarse to the touch and moist paper towels are placed underneath the plant for humidity, we really need a spray bottle.

 

[Black Ra1n]

Nice little grow, good luck man.

B/R

 

[Guest]

you should not worry about too low temps but too high temps.
best temp for hydro res is between 62-67, this is because as temps continually stay in the 70's this allows for root rot to start. regarded as a dreaded problem among all of us here, you dont want the rot, believe me. my temps sat in the 70's for a few weeks and then i saw the color change from white to brown and immediately started using ice bottles and hydroguard. i understand the scales are completely different and it might not affect your grow, but please keep an eye on the color of those roots for the sake of your own hard work.

 

[Dwight Schroot]

Never knew that. We'll definately keep an eye out for it. Thanks

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

Days 15,16,17,18 and 19!

Days 15,16,17,18 and 19!

Day 15 ====================================================================================================================

Plant seems to have regained its moisture but some of the bottom leaves are beginning to turn in spots. On top the 2 new sprouts are starting to look like the familiar leaf. In-between the two top leaves the sprouts have sprung up showing a light brown color, but the plant is hydrated.

Day 16 ====================================================================================================================
No pictures for today. Leaves that were touching last night now have risen
so that they suspend about a quarter of an inch of the lower leaves. 2 germinated seeds were added to the computer case which we will sprout then immdiatley flower with the now 16 day old plant, because we wanted to leave the big plant alone - this being our first grow, not to mention see 12/12 from a seed work for ourselves.

Day 17 ====================================================================================================================

Growth from underneath the canopy has begun to grow inbetween the top leaves of the plant. (which isnt too clear in our pictures) The new growth is lighter (yellowish) green and literally sprung up from out of nowhere. As for the sprouts nothing above the rockwool can be seen yet.

Day 18 ====================================================================================================================

The second pic here is a picture of some of those new leaves that have sprung up underneath the canopy near the stem, pretty quickly too. This new growth in addition to the leaves on the top of the plant continue to grow, but the height stays the same, the only time the plant grows is with each set of leaves and each is literally piled one on top of another. No progress seen in the rockwool with the newly planted seeds.

Day 19 ====================================================================================================================

Plant continues its bushy growth as the undercanopy pushes through the top layer of leaves. The seeds in the rockwool have sprouted and aare looking to both be healthy.

And now this post is up to date!

The plan now is to get the seedlings up and healthy and before their roots reach the water revert our nutrients back to the weak nutrient solution so the seedlings dont get nute burn. Begin 12/12, and then make the transition to flowering nutes once our seedlings appear as if they can take it...

Does this seem conceivable? Has anyone tried 12/12 amongst seedlings and 3 week old plants? Any feedback would be great thanks for those who have been helpful so far.

 

[Guest]

do you know what the humidity is in there?


and your seedlings will get nute burn even with a very small dose of nutes, when they sprout fill your res with just plain ph'ed water, this will allow your small seedlings to grow and this will cause the larger plant to use some of those lower, droopy leaves for energy. this will turn them a pale yellow, but not to worry as your seedlings grow and have a couple of internodes you can give the nutes back at approx 1/8-1/4 strength depending on the nute itself

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

For humidity all we have been doing is misting the plant and the interior of the case with a spray bottle, ever since the leaves went dry when the plant was exposed to the warm temperatures, we have been doing this to ensure that is it is nice and moist inside, due to space constraints we opted out of putting a cup of water inside the case, does the spray bottle about 3 times a day cover what the plant needs?

 

[Guest]

you should really get a thermometer/hygrometer combo from wal-mart, i know your funds are limited but they are only like $5 USD.

you should not have to mist it 3x a day, i doubt the RH in the room with your PC is that bone dry, and your plant should be uptaking water through the roots not the foliage(this can cause spotting on the leaves due to light burns)


mj is exteremly resilient and adaptive, im sure she will be fine without the mistings, and when you say "the leaves went dry", i dont really understand what you mean. mj leaves, as well as most other plants leaves are supposed to be dry to the touch. so your drooping leaves could be coming from all the extra moisture you are forcing on her.


and finally if there is one piece of advice that every new grower should have its this: There is such a thing as loving your plants too much.
i.e. watering all the time, misting all the time, and giving too much nutes in order to speed up growth.

im not downing your guys style at all, actually i really like the dwc pc case, just giving you some support and advice.

 

[Sammet]

and finally if there is one piece of advice that every new grower should have its this: There is such a thing as loving your plants too much.
i.e. watering all the time, misting all the time, and giving too much nutes in order to speed up growth.

great advice, deffo something I'm guilty of

 

[Guest]

i think we all over-loved are babies at some point, i know i did

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

haha rkrone you couldnt be more right. I think my own plant is sick of me, thanks for the advice i have a thermometer that was only 2 bucks and is for a fistank, im thinking of taking your advice, getting the $5 one that will measure the humidity and moving my fishtank one to the bucket so i can get water temp readings (dont you love when you can add something important to ur grow thats really cheap?)

day 20 pics soon to come...

 

[Dwight Schroot]

what we mean by the leaves drying out was after our heat wave of 100+ degrees, for at least a few days after until we started misting, the leaves went from being soft and plyable to being almost like paper or cardboard and were just as stiff. Misting frequently fixed that pretty quickly, but we may be overdoing it now.

I never thought of the spots being from light burn. I guess the water bubbles sitting on the leaves act like a magnifying glass?

anyway, she's doing really well right now so I think we should be set for awhile

 

[Sammet]

I never thought of the spots being from light burn. I guess the water bubbles sitting on the leaves act like a magnifying glass?

Correctamundo. I looking forward to see how this turns out, your girl looks like a winner to me.