Packet seeds, first grow in PC case

DumpsterKeeper said:

Don't be discouraged from using cfl. If you have the right setup and proper nutrition for the plants, you can produce plenty of high quality herb for yourself. I'll admit that HID lamps can produce larger denser buds per watt, but they're not practical for everyone's setup.

I like your setup. I've seen pc case grows before, but I like the idea of a server case. Don't be afraid to get creative with ways to add more lights. I ended up going from a power strip on the wall to hanging shop lamps from the walls and ceiling. Since your cubic feet space is linited to the cubic feet your case contains, this means you can really max out your lumens to footspace ratio if you use your head. Right now they're looking great.

What nutes will you be using? Do you know what strains they could possibly be?

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Hey dumpster! Thanks for encouraging. Maybe you could help me what the ideal nute mix is like. I mean how many percent of each nutrient it contains. Maybe I could find something similar to what you have been using.
As for what strains they are, I have no idea.

I forgot to mention at the beginning what size this growbox was. 19 cm x 43 cm x 64 cm, that means looking at it from the side its 7.5 inches deep, 17 inches wide, 25 inches tall.

What growing method would you use? Should I make a ScroG? Should I start to LST it around a bigger pot? Should I let it grow, because the case is tall enough? Pls help me decide!

i would definatley use some lst mate, ive done it with my bubblicious and seems to be workin great with the cfls. my only tip would be to keep adjusting the lst to keep the canopy as flat as humanly possibly so you can get it up close and make the most of what little light like me you have.

good luck, stay cool

When I got home I checked on the plants right away. The side and top of the case felt slightly hot to the touch, so I turned the fans on their maximum 12Vs.
Inside:
The soil felt pretty dry, I only fed them last time, 2 days passed since, so some good watering was necessary.
The middle plant is doing alright as always, her cotyledons are yellowish, I guess it's time for her to lose 'em. I decided to name her Emily.


The plant on the right is somewhat behind the middle one, from now on I'll call her Naomi.


And my dear handicapped third one is trying hard to catch up, but with only one and a half of cotyledons, her second set of leaves are somewhat missing.


Oh, and I checked on my "humidifier", and it's half empty, so I guess it has some sort of use.


I'll soon start to LST the healthy ones, before the stem gets too hard.

For veg you'll want something higher in nitrogen with smaller amounts of phosphorus and potassium. I use FoxFarm Grow Big in distilled water for veg. It's got the perfect N-P-k for new and experienced growers along with trace minerals that the plant also needs (boron, zinc, etc.). Anything with more nitrogen but still some p and k will do. Alaska fish emulsion is wack. 5-0-0 did nothing for me or my plants.

Does the server case have any fans on it? If so, will you be using any pf them for ventillation?

DumpsterKeeper said:

For veg you'll want something higher in nitrogen with smaller amounts of phosphorus and potassium. I use FoxFarm Grow Big in distilled water for veg. It's got the perfect N-P-k for new and experienced growers along with trace minerals that the plant also needs (boron, zinc, etc.). Anything with more nitrogen but still some p and k will do. Alaska fish emulsion is wack. 5-0-0 did nothing for me or my plants.

Does the server case have any fans on it? If so, will you be using any pf them for ventillation?

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I only have a 5-5-5 nute at home right now, what N-P-k does your veg nute have? [edit: I checked and its 6-4-4]
How much percent of the suggested amount should I use when I feed them? Start with 1/4th and increase when they get bigger?

The case has two pc fans on the top with adjustable voltage, cooling the case only when the lights are on.
The intake is passive, I let 2 rear expansion slots at the bottom uncovered.

repot and add compost to fill what you need and you should be fine for a while without nutes.
When you'll need nutes you'll be in full bloom and a dose of high P bat guano should solve the issue.
Water with tap water that sat in a bucket without a lid for 24 hours, or had been aerated for 4 hours using an air pump. I use my dog's water bowl when it needs changing.
I sometime aerate my dogs water too - he doesn't need that chlorine either.
If your water is not chemically treated you can use them off the tap.

You would need less than a tablespoon of guano for all your grow and a small bag of compost which is fairly cheap.

You would NOT need to PH you water or check for EC. You would also need to water less frequently as compost holds a lot of moisture.
You WOULD want to flush a week before harvest and hold on any guano you add for the last MONTH of growth.

Thats the organic way. You would probably yield a bit more with chemical fertilizers, but you would more than likely spend more money on nutes and surely if you'll buy a PH pen, pH down solution and all those other things.
If you only use minute (ASK before you use) amounts of guano you really don't need to mess with much about fertilizing your plants.

In either soil, soilless, chem or organic you would want to use the biggest pot you can, volume wise.


I'm currently growing in a mix of potting soil, activated char. (had a lot of leftovers), lots of composts and earthworm castings (another kind of compost, better but more expensive), a bit guano and I water it with dechlorinated water and the occasional compost tea (google AACT).
Check it out - https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=185590



I say the best way to manipulate your plants is a SCROG.
Set it LOW (10 cm tops above the final pots), put the lights at a proper distance (3" from the screen, considering 2" of buds will grow above the screen) and train them to the screen bi-daily during the stretching phase.

As these plants are all from bagseeds I still don't know what kind of strain they are. I noticed that Emily's and Naomi's leaves look differently, and Naomy has some brownish/purpleish colour on the newly formed leaves and on top of the stem.
What do you guys think? Well, maybe nothing, cuz you can't really see the colouring on the picture.

Emily:



Naomi:



By the way... thanks for all the advices, I'm considering the scrog, but I've seen some pretty good yielding LST'd plants on this forum, and that seems to be the more simple and clean solution.

LST is MUCH MUCH MUCH more work than SCROG. SCROG is like LST but you have a set bar to train your plants on rather than tying every branch on its own.

Your naomi looks like a VERY purple VERY VERY indica plant.
Your Emily looks MUCH more to the sativa side.

I would assume that Naomi would finish much quicker than Emily and that Emily would stretch much more during the flowering phase.
If emily continue growing such narrow leaves for another week I would consider flowering her right now before she becomes WAY too big for a PC grow to handle. I would also top her twice from the 4th node to the 3rd node (twice means doing it again from the shoots that come after the first topping).

In a PC case its MUCH easier to grow a indica or heavily indica dominant strain.

Lets see...

Today I made some custom airpots, kinda like the ones Hobbes made HERE


I transplanted the girls into these 7 liter pots, these should do, even if I have to move Emily out of the case later on. I planted them in some quality potting mix, and I also used some of the earthworm castings you suggested. After transplanting I watered them with some water I had sitting around for a couple of days.




Did I do everything right? (Exept for putting big f...ing pots into my server case?)

Still looks good to me man. But what do I know? lol

Water that sit for over 3 days can go stale. Sniff 'em out before using them.
Beside that - it looks great.
What potting mix did you use?

McFonz said:

Water that sit for over 3 days can go stale. Sniff 'em out before using them.
Beside that - it looks great.
What potting mix did you use?

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Potting mix:
Plagron Light-Mix 25 L
PH: 5,5-6,5
EC: 325-425

http://www.greenshorticulture.co.uk/Growing-Media-198/Premium-Soils-347/Plagron-Light-Mix-50L-789.aspx

I'll snap some photos of the girls once the light comes on, I need your help where to fim/top them.

That is a hella strange PC case. Can you take a photo with the PC case closed?

Sorry that I havent posted any pics, I topped both plants and started LST-ing them. I'll take some pictures tomorrow and we'll see how things went. I got a cheap thermometer (finally), and noticed that the temperatures were around 90 degrees, so I got the lights higher up (around the level of the vents) and raised the plants with the 3.5" racks I took out of the case when I stripped it. It kinda acts like an airfloor, I hope this helps to keep the temp low.

It looks like a good mix to start small plants in.
Their bat-mix looks pretty good.
But I couldn't get a breakdown of the ingredients.

You should top from the 5th node to the 3rd if the bottom leaves are healthy of to the 4th node if they aren't so healthy.

I think they're doing fine. What do ya think?

The soils top looks dry.

I like to use mulch on my pots - it keeps the top moist and space out watering.
I top my pots with canna coco, 1-2 inch layer.

Growing like you currently do deny the roots from getting to the top layer as they dry and die.

Thanks for the advice, I'll get some mulch tomorrow. This is exactly why I love this forum. (Y)

You really don't need much.
I use a strip of coco that cost me 6-7 bucks for all my pots and got half of it left.

Don't go overboard and buy a 70L bag of chips or something.