PC Grow DWC:My First Grow

[PlantConiesseur]

Whoa straight up diped ur budds in water? ionno bout that mann!those buds look nice maybe i missed something while reading the lsat half of the thread?Either way awesome plants intresting curing method!

well hemp plants are wicked stringy and tall! the budds obviously yield little 2 no crystal but i have seen some hemp plants with what look like trichs kinda weird? but anyways were gonna have 2 see a pic of that baby lets see her!

 

[JlMH4LPERT]

So.... this guy has been "weeded" about 3 times and keeps coming back at my freinds house whose closest neighbor is like 3 miles away so... is it worth keeping alive?? Hemp or Bud?

(pistils have already begun to form so either is a fem or a hermie)

 

[Dwight Schroot]

Day 94, 73 Flower

Ok, took me awhile to get her settled and its still not in the greatest place, there's gonna be a few more moves. Got her home and woke up the next morning to my room STINKING so the current filtration is not doin the trick. Disconnected the intake fan to create some negative pressure so all air is filtered and not leaked out. Quite an improvement but still smells. Working on a new filter design, should have it installed tomorrow. As for Miss Sheila and little Jerry, most the buds weren't getting any light so I did a little LST and pruning. Now don't get scared by the pictures, they look like a tangled mess of death, but both plants are doing very well, looking and smelling very healthy.




sorry about the bad camera, I'll be picking up mine tonight along with some carbon and supplies to start the mods for the next grow.

 

[PlantConiesseur]

Hey bro! looks like a winner but you never know? wait and see if she puts off any type of odor mines are stil vegin and stink like hell!

 

[Dwight Schroot]

Ok, so this is odd, but the top buds are nearing the end, mostly orange pistils, buds halfway up are still white, and at the bottom NEW ones are forming.... instead of the original 2 harvests I think i might have to do 3? I'm starting to get curious if I could just keep harvesting a quarter-half ounce every month? I'm starting to get impatient because I want to redesign the case but I can't til this one is finished, already have plans drawn up lol. I'll get pictures up as soon as I get batteries. For now here's the case after the overhaul.

I'm also going to upgrade to a 50 or 75 watt HPS when I get the money. Would 50 watts be enough?

 

[Sammet]

Hey Dwight, long time no see! Been mostly Jim posting the updates - how's it going man? Your grow looks awesome. Your plan looks good too, I'm sure 50Watts would be enough but the most Watts you can get away with (and keep your case cool etc) is best, more Watts = better penetration to the lower parts of the plant.

I'm sure some of the micro experts on here can give you a proper answer - I'd try and put my 600W cooltube in there if I could

 

[Guest]

50 watts is most certainly enough in there, i get great growth with 46w in my pc, and as for the overhaul design: i totally dig it man i really like the exhaust system. i hope it all comes together for you

 

[Dwight Schroot]

Hey Sammet, it's gonna be mostly me from here on out, JlM saw out the first half and had to cut and run, literally, harvested half an had to move so I'm her foster parent.

Thanks rkrone, after JlM and I built it we both knew there were things we could have done better. My two goals are to maximize both stealth and yield and that design was the best I could come up with.
Since you're a PC grower maybe you know something about my budding situation. I know the CFL's don't really penetrate and that's why everything's uneven, but will the buds just keep coming in?

 

[Guest]

your cfls are doing more than you give them credit for, in such a small space like a pc all the light is hitting something and with all that lst you guys did it was mostly the plant. and imo your plant is doing excellent and the buds will keep coming as long as she thinks its still time to do so. however she will reach a point in flower when she starts to die off but thats a ways to go.

 

[Dwight Schroot]

Day 96: 75 flower

Day 96: 75 flower

Thanks rkrone, I guess I'm just gonna keep popping off the done buds and let the other ones mature, its working out to be pretty convenient.

Finally some pictures:

 

[Guest]

will all those buds be water cured as well DS?

 

[Sammet]

Hey Dwight, sounds like a good plan With HPS vs Fluoro there are both advantages and disadvantages - Fluoros are excellent for what you're doing, and they provide a good even spectrum so both types of chlorophyll will be working their socks off during both veg and flowering. They give off little heat (compared to hps) and they don't require a ballast. However, the intensity of the light that they produce is less than an HPS and so the lower leaves (whilst still getting lots of light from your setup) are recieving less light *note that this is not bad, it just means that they could recieve more.

HPS provides the intensity and in a small grow box like yours would ensure that all leaves are working to their full capacity to help make sugars for the plant - this leads to increased growth speed and size. The problems with HPS are - more expensive, produce more heat, have a large external ballast (which produces heat), they make noise when switching on (few clicks and hums) and they don't have an even spectrum like fluros. Ideally a MH bulb should be used for veg (cold) and HPS for flowering (warm) but most people (inc. me) use an HPS for the whole cycle.

In the end it comes down to what is most suitable for your setup/budget. Remember to KISS (keep it simple stupid)

 

[Dwight Schroot]

I may water cure a few buds but I'm gonna try and do an air/jar cure for the rest so I can see what these really taste like.

I think I'm going to stick with the floros for one more run to see how they work with the screen which will hopefully keep the penetration even. If I'm still not satisfied I'll go with the HPS and have to get really creative on how to cool the light and ballast because I want EVERYTHING inside the case. I'm still working on a way to actually incorporate a working computer too so it couldn't get any stealthier, that'll be way more of a challenge than the HPS.

 

[Guest]

its so weird you mentioned the working computer growbox...the other day i was all stoney and thought about a grow in a running pc. this is what i made of it.

need:
1 server tower, the bigger the better
1 mac mini computer-(doesnt come with a monitor which is why its good)
basic lighting components
basic exhaust components (one must consider cooling the other computer as well)
and one ingenious way to have it all wired snuggly and safely while making look like a regular pc



its pretty simple if you house a smaller self contained computer in anothers tower but when thinking about using a pc case and running an OS on said pc will be pretty difficult imo. i mean yeah you can run light etc. off a pc power supply, but can you run both. i would have to say no just in case the computer needed to draw full power, because this in turn would take from your lights and probably short out one or the other.

im just rambling but this was a conscious the other day.

 

[Dwight Schroot]

I never thought of a mini mac, but I have a desktop I built myself with a Mini-ITX motherboard which measures 6.7"x6.7" (motherboard that is, not the whole computer, that's about the size of a small dvd player) which could rest on the bottom of a case with no problem with its 70watt power supply and hard drive, also been looking at cases, and they make them for duplicating cds/dvds with like 15 drive bays that are even taller than mine (look about the same though) and you could probably even throw a cd/dvd drive in it and still have room. Take a look at directron.com, great site for computer parts, it would take probably about a $500 investment at least but it is possible. btw the case i was looking at also has 4 4"inch 12 volt fans... 15 dvd burners give off some serious heat so it comes prepared..


back panel could be cut out and is only 6" wide

 

[Guest]

so is this a serious consideration? because that would be the epitome of stealth if you pulled it off.

and that case w/ 15 drive bays is certainly large enough to possibly house all the computer specific components at the very bottom or very top and still have ample room to grow on top of or under it. in my visualization of this "pc" i for some reason see the motherboard etc. on the bottom underneath the grow but this could be hazardous if you were to run a dwc system in it. but at the top it might almost be better because heat rises blah blah blah.


im rambling again, i love growing so much that anything i look at is looked at as "hey, i think i could grow in there" and in most cases i probably could, but a working pc with a live plant inside would top them all.

 

[Dwight Schroot]

I am serious about it, but my current funds are very prohibitive of a $500+ project. Hopefully somewhere in the near future I'll be able to afford my media server/grow case.

 

[Dwight Schroot]

Little Jerry Trich shots... still crystal clear

 

[Guest]

its been a week, how is those popcorn nuggs lookin

 

[Dwight Schroot]

OK, sorry for the huge delay but I've been getting a bit sketched out security wise and the plant is STILL flowering. Taking absolutely forever. Finally starting to finish up though and I'm planning on harvesting in a few days.

I redid the case as per the diagram I posted before, except instead of just two CFLs in there I have the 2 CFLs and a 50 watt HPS, temps are high (mid 90s, but the plant doens't seem to mind) right now but once I put in the plexiglass it should be all good.

I'll have pictures up on harvest day on or around August 6th.

As for now, check out JlMH4LPERT's newest creation
http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?p=1179742#post1179742