My First Grow, PC Case, CFL, Northern Lights

[Jizmatica]

Hi everybody, over easter i decided to get my arse in to gear and get cracking with me PC case for a grow box, so i took apart a computer and stripped it (makes sense so far)

i then used an emergency blacket i had laying around and used that as my reflective surface, 2 light fittings with 2 CFLs, attaced to a peice of wood and tied down where the CD drive used to be.

i then ripped apart the power supply box so it was empty apart from the fan which i connected to a variable DC plug charger thingy.

i then got a few seeds off a freind
1 x Northern lights
2 x Thia super skunk
which are all being germinated now

Now for some pics

This is just my entire setup, really sorry for crap quality, pics where taken with a £10 webcam from morrisons.

a nice pic of my northern light seed just sticking a little root out on the left hand side

WHOH major bad pic quality, i have my grow PC a little test grow with some house plants i am also growing just to make sure everything was ready for when i little baby girls (hopefully) are born.

if there is anything u want to know about my set up please feel free to ask, and constructive comments would be great, only thing is im to a budget (student) so please keep that in mind

 

[Jizmatica]

slight update, my northern light seed got a root tip of about quarter of an inch long, so i put it in some soil (still in the dark), until ir sprouts its first leaves.

please tell me if im doing anything wrong, it is my first grow after all

peace out

 

[KolorBlind]

slight update, my northern light seed got a root tip of about quarter of an inch long, so i put it in some soil (still in the dark), until ir sprouts its first leaves.

please tell me if im doing anything wrong, it is my first grow after all

peace out

Hi Jizmatica, things look pretty good so far from what I can see. Better pic quality would be real nice but if its not doable then low res is better than no pics at all

I plan on starting a PC case as soon as my babies are big enough to give me some clones. I will attempt a 12/12 from clone with a 70W HPS I think. CFLs are for sure the way to go in a PC case, especially if you are on a budget. Not to mention the heat issues arent as severe.

My #1 bit of advice to give you as someone who has already screwe up once is this: Soak your soil or whatever you are planting in real good with room temp water, plant your seed and do NOT water for 2, preferably 3 days. I made the mistake of watering again right after they sprouted on my first grow and they got stunted BAD! On my current grow I waited 3 days and by the time I watered the plants were as big as my 1st try at 3 weeks, and only after 3 days in the from seed!! Over watering is easily the most common first time mistake, only water the plants when the soil is dry 2-3 inches down. You can also see how long it takes for your plants to start to wilt without water, and water them 1 day sooner than that.

Hope this helped, good luck with the grow!! And welcome to RIU!
KB

 

[Jizmatica]

nice to have you aboard kolorblind, yea i know about not watering them (i learnt that from your thread lol) will hopefully be getting a new camera in the next week or so. i have 2 21w bulbs heat is no issue at all i will add a third in a bit which will bring my total lumens up to 3000 (i have been told this is a ideal amount)

UPDATE
northern lights seeds has not got a root of about 1 and 1/2 inches long my thai super skunk has only just started to poke out its roots, not going to put them in soil yet.

i expect my northern light to have sprouted in the next couple of days then i will get some more pics

 

[Jizmatica]

Good news, my northern light has sprouted, so this is day 1 all lookin good so far

still no advance on new camera, thats prolly y no one is watching

 

[Jizmatica]

UPDATE

NL - Day 3
Thai Super Skunk - Day 2

my thai supers sprouted yesterday, but i left them in the dark so they shot straight up and are now bigger than my NL :O
they are under the lights now.

My NL now has a new set of leaves but my pre leaves are a little yellow, dont know if that is anything to be worried about. i dont use nutes and they are a good 6 inches away from the lights, but i did put it quite close to the lights when if first sprouted then i decided to move it down. could that explain it, if my thai supers dont turn yellow then it was because it was too close to the lights to start.

i am now moving the NL close to the lights now i have a new set of leaves (which are a lovely deep green colour) because i dont want to to start streching for light

 

[ElephantRider]

Dude.. I'm dying to see how your TSS does, since I have some freebies. I hear these plants are capable of 15+ feet, so I'm real curious to see how they roll in a pc case. Keep that TSS CLOSE to the light so it stunts. Just my $0.02.

Good work, bro.

 

[neMMMM]

Hey idk if your TSS will not fit in there man, that thing stretched and gets HUGE as ive seen on other grows. I also talked to someone that grew a couple and said that hes never growing TSS again because of the size and low yield he had, but he said it did have some nice smoke out of it.

 

[ElephantRider]

My NL now has a new set of leaves but my pre leaves are a little yellow, dont know if that is anything to be worried about. i dont use nutes and they are a good 6 inches away from the lights, but i did put it quite close to the lights when if first sprouted then i decided to move it down. could that explain it, if my thai supers dont turn yellow then it was because it was too close to the lights to start

The pre-leaves always shrivel and turn yellow. It's like a yolk sac.. that's all they have for nutes at the start of life. When they shrivel, it's the plant's way of telling you that it's getting hungry. Get ready for nutes. Personally, I'd recommend FoxFarm, as they're organic and they have a very easy to follow schedule. Careful not to burn, though. What kind of soil do you have?

The yellowing shouldn't have anything to do with light distance. I'd still put your supers closer than the NL, though. Use CD cases or books to stack them up or something. Closer they are, the less likely they are to reach for that light, which is what you want with a mammoth plant like that. I'm not entirely sure you'll be able to stunt it enough, but I'm praying you can.

 

[Jizmatica]

Dude.. I'm dying to see how your TSS does, since I have some freebies. I hear these plants are capable of 15+ feet, so I'm real curious to see how they roll in a pc case. Keep that TSS CLOSE to the light so it stunts. Just my $0.02.

Good work, bro.

my TSS where freebies aswell, dint really research the strain, i just wacked it in there as was really shocked to come back after about 6 hours and they have flew up.

would i be able to leave the TSS in a small pot to make it rootbound, wont that practically stop it growing when it gets too big

Thanks all on tips on my pre leaves and i only have some cheap compost, i will be getting some new soil later this week.

 

[Jizmatica]

just some fresh pics

NL day 3 is first pic and the TSS is at day 2 and they are both the same time hight.

i have also changed the way i add pics hope this doesn't annoy anyone who is paying attention

 

[ElephantRider]

Cheap compost is fabulous! MUCH better than garbage chemical soil. At a bare minimum, go with Miracle Grow Organic Choice. Fox Farm preferred, if you can get it from the hydro store or whatever. From my perspective, it's better to go w/ organic soil, as they're going to be fairly nute-less, relying on you to supply the nutes. Use a chem soil w/ "plant food" or what not and it's like Russian Roulette, as far as nutes go.

Regarding the TSS, leave it in a 16 oz. cup like mine, is what I'd do. Some say rootbound is horrible, but I really think that depends on genetics. Hopefully, the TSS will respond properly, instead of killing itself over it. As far as strain research, I read on mine a bit while they were on the way. It supposedly sucks ass to grow, but the buds are reportedly very nice. Very smooth smoke.. Chocolate Thai x Super Skunk is the genetics, if I'm not mistaken. Sounds reeeeally nice, to me. I've only had Skunk #1 a couple times, since Diesels replaced Skunks around here very quickly. Never had SS, though.. and I've never had a chocolate strain ever. I'm watching your grow intently, since I don't know anyone growing heavily sativa genes in a pc.

 

[Jizmatica]

well it could be fun finding out if it will work or not, if puch comes to shove and its far to big for the box there is a chznce i could set up an emergency grow room, bigger than a pc box (about 2-3 ft high) but im not planning to set that up till september.

 

[neMMMM]

hey sorry if my post seemed negative/nasty before, as i just re-read it it kinda sounds like that but not meant at all. Just trying to warn you that it will get big.

I also got a couple of TSS for free, but havent germ'd em. The way i would probably go about this is by fimming and possibly an lst, and not letting it get too big in veg state. Then i would flip the lights, and hope it doesnt get too big

 

[Jizmatica]

hey sorry if my post seemed negative/nasty before, as i just re-read it it kinda sounds like that but not meant at all. Just trying to warn you that it will get big.

I also got a couple of TSS for free, but havent germ'd em. The way i would probably go about this is by fimming and possibly an lst, and not letting it get too big in veg state. Then i would flip the lights, and hope it doesnt get too big

yea this is fine ^^ not mean at all lol. yea i know im a little worried about the TSS now, i am planning on using LST anyways, but its gonna be hard to fit it in there even if i do use the LST method.

i took a little peek earlier and its now about 1cm taller than my NL

NL is 2.5 cm tall
TSS is 3.5 cm tall

i will have a look at these sizes in 12 hours time and it should give you an idea of how quick it is growing and just how tall it is going to be

and you have to remember th NL is a day older than the TSS

BAD TIMES

thats in for now, my bed time

 

[joesmama]

yea this is fine ^^ not mean at all lol. yea i know im a little worried about the TSS now, i am planning on using LST anyways, but its gonna be hard to fit it in there even if i do use the LST method.

i took a little peek earlier and its now about 1cm taller than my NL

NL is 2.5 cm tall
TSS is 3.5 cm tall

i will have a look at these sizes in 12 hours time and it should give you an idea of how quick it is growing and just how tall it is going to be

and you have to remember th NL is a day older than the TSS

BAD TIMES

thats in for now, my bed time

good luck with that grow. nl in a pc case you are doomed to fail.

 

[ElephantRider]

Either one is large for a pc case, true. I've got some faith, though.

 

[Jizmatica]

after these comments, i will do everyting in my power to prove you all wrong.

and thanks for the faith ER, im sure we can stick it to them

i will post the new sizes when i get beck from uni

 

[Jizmatica]

The new sizes of the plants after 12 hours of light

TSS - 5cm tall
NL - 3cm tall

not to bad, i not that bothered about the TSS its the NL im after. The NL has started to sprout its 3rd set of leaves and my TSS is on its second.

 

[ElephantRider]

OK.. you got that TSS REAL close to the lights? Mine were stunted when their leaves were about 1-2" from the veg. lights. Also, fwiw, I am pretty sure I have a heavy indica strain in my case, too. I suspect (with good reason) that my bagseed is either Sour or NYC Diesel. At minimum, it's 50% Sativa. And now, it's flowering, so we're in the same boat. It's more likely that it's Sour Diesel, which means it's probably 90% Sativa. YIKES!

So.. here's what Ima do for us.. I'm planning on putting in some time today surfing bonsai stunting techniques to see if there's something that can help us.