PC grow, plant and case pic's

Hi, I started this grow in a bit of a rush, ordered my seed's and had them germing while i built my first case. I used 2 6400k 30w actual cfl's with a bag seed, and growth was slow, but as it was my first grow so i let it ride.

It is now 3 weeks in vegging and my second case. I have a 125w 6400k cfl and good cooling (intake low, two exhaust at the top and middle and a fan alongside the 125w cfl).

I made a bracket to hold another two bulbs (only one connected with holder in pics) the bracket stickes to the case using magnets, as well as the 125w cfl holder (magnets for the 125w bracket are from an old PC hard drive). I stuck magnets to the bulb cooling fan too so that i can change the bulb for a 2700k (flowering cfl)125w when i'm ready.

Here are the pics i have.

hers's some more pictures

Looking good mate.. Whats the idea behind the flap hanging over the bottom fan?

Are you planning on making it light proof or will it be in a really dark spot when you move to flowering? Very clean looking build.

The flap on the bottom fan is just to cut the light coming out of the front fan, it is lined with black tape as well as just behind the fan, nothing fancy just a little less light.

When i move to flowering i will have lights off at night time (about 8pm) shut curtains and put pantyhose/ tights cut up and on a frame over the back, this is so it will still vent the air freely but will cut alot of dim light. Thats hopefully what will happen.

the front vent is alright because the drainage tray blocks light to the plant underneath.

I don't want to put carbon scrubbers on the back because the restriction will cause my temps to soar.

The case doesn't have to be pitch black on lights out, what about plants on a roadside? car lights on them for a second or two every minute of the night and they do well. so a flash every now and then or a very dim glow is not going to interfere with their flowering cycle.

That is theory anyway, there is also light from the moon, so i think i will be alright but we will see about that.


Also in some of the pictures the leaves are curling up like a canoe. I noticed the leaves do this after i had a fan blowing on them for 24hrs, so obviously dry air blowing on them made them curl up and try to protect itself or release moisture from the stomatas. The problem is the other leaves on the new growth seem to be doing the same and the fan is not on the plant any more.

Thanks

Edited by Bigbudwizer, 19 June 2012 - 05:38 AM.

Yea, I also wonder if light leaks matter for the following reasons..


A plant needs to be pollinated to go seeded (hermie) not light leaks?

Plants deal with the moon nearly every night in their natural environment


So... light leaks really is just a matter of a dead give away of a grow space.. Yes/No?

I think that's got to be the main reason, surely the faint glow off of a tv screen or pc screen is not going to give the plant any usable light, i mean cfl's have to be within a few inch's to be of any use.

Hopefully it works out

Nice set up, are you planning to do anything about the smell?

I'm going to use the ona concentrate, water crystals, water, bucket and mini fan method. Smell isn't too important to be honest, me n my missis toke with our neighbours and we live right next to some woodland. Plus windows open alot.

Thanks for the comments, all critism welcome.

Anyone know about the curling leaf edges? Is it the fan that caused it?

I'm going to use the ona concentrate, water crystals, water, bucket and mini fan method. Smell isn't too important to be honest, me n my missis toke with our neighbours and we live right next to some woodland. Plus windows open alot.

Thanks for the comments, all critism welcome.

Anyone know about the curling leaf edges? Is it the fan that caused it?

Whats the temps in there? The curling is probably from too much heat from the lights.

Light on ranges from 74-81F about 22-29C light's off (night) about 66-69F/17-19C

Fan's are on constantly and my humidity only reaches 60% max. Three tumbler cups with tissue in them as a wick. One right under the fan and two behind inlet.

Edited by Bigbudwizer, 19 June 2012 - 11:47 AM.
Fucking iphone keypad :P

It might not be a bad idea to time your fans to your lights it'll save you a bit of energy and keep your plants a little warmer during lights out.

The flap on the bottom fan is just to cut the light coming out of the front fan, it is lined with black tape as well as just behind the fan, nothing fancy just a little less light.

When i move to flowering i will have lights off at night time (about 8pm) shut curtains and put pantyhose/ tights cut up and on a frame over the back, this is so it will still vent the air freely but will cut alot of dim light. Thats hopefully what will happen.

the front vent is alright because the drainage tray blocks light to the plant underneath.

I don't want to put carbon scrubbers on the back because the restriction will cause my temps to soar.

The case doesn't have to be pitch black on lights out, what about plants on a roadside? car lights on them for a second or two every minute of the night and they do well. so a flash every now and then or a very dim glow is not going to interfere with their flowering cycle.

That is theory anyway, there is also light from the moon, so i think i will be alright but we will see about that.


Also in some of the pictures the leaves are curling up like a canoe. I noticed the leaves do this after i had a fan blowing on them for 24hrs, so obviously dry air blowing on them made them curl up and try to protect itself or release moisture from the stomatas. The problem is the other leaves on the new growth seem to be doing the same and the fan is not on the plant any more.

Thanks

The flowering hormone is produced the whole life cycle of a plant, but it reacts badly with light. This means that when you switch to 12/12 lights the 12 hours of darkness will keep the flowering hormone in the plant high enough to start flowering. A outdoor cannabis strain should be able to flower under 0-1 lux. The moon is 0.27 lux on a clear night according to wikipedia, but i am guessing it depends a lot on where you are, it is often just rounded up to 1 lux.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The lux (symbol: lx) is the SI derived unit of illuminance or
illumination. It is equal to one lumen per square metre.

• sunlight on an average day ranges from 32 000 to 100 000 lux
• TV studios are lit at about 1 000 lux [i.e. 1000 lumens
per square metre]
• a bright office has about 400 lux of illumination
• At sunset and sunrise, ambient outdoor light is also about
400 lux (if the sky is clear).
• moonlight represents about 1 lux
• starlight measures a mere 0.00005 lux
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
a area with 1 lux of light might flower, it might not, but it will most certainly use longer time then 0 lux. The problem is that you most likely are not working with out door strains, but more likely some but raped 1000 generation indoor green house strain.

I have read about grows where some strains have flowered early, some late and some never inside the same aaaaaalmost dark flower room.

It might go ok, it might not. It all comes down to the genetics, and they can be quite different from plant to plant.

Edit: To sum it up, you gotta try first hand to know for sure

Edited by anon4life, 19 June 2012 - 04:30 PM.

Yea, I also wonder if light leaks matter for the following reasons..


A plant needs to be pollinated to go seeded (hermie) not light leaks?

Plants deal with the moon nearly every night in their natural environment


So... light leaks really is just a matter of a dead give away of a grow space.. Yes/No?

No. A plant does not need to be pollinated to be a hermi. A hermi is when the plant has both male and female parts (the nanners don't have to release pollen on buds to be considered a hemi).

And for the moon the post above explains it not a lot of light messes with the plant, but light leaks where 11am SUNLIGHT can get a plant that is suppose to be in the dark might flip it out. Example: You are sleeping in your room, a night light represents the moon. Its not too bright so you can sleep, now someone comes in and flips on the regular light switch, its a lot brighter than the nightlight and I am pretty sure you are pretty pissed off cuz you got woke up (basically my high explanation of what the plant feels when it experiences light leaks).

Thanks Anon4life, that is a great bit of information. Guess i'll have to see. My lights go out at 10pm and on at 4am for 18/6. I will have to figure out the best place to move the grow box and what hours i do 12/12. I will try and keep light leaks to a minimum but i don't want to restrict airflow.

Does that Lux data work with refraction? I can see a direct beam of light will play with the plant but what about being reflected by the mylar? Will that dull it down?

And do the hormones that make a plant flower pick up on just illumination or illumination and spectrum?

Thanks for the explanation Bwarren93, i get what you mean

Does that Lux data work with refraction? I can see a direct beam of light will play with the plant but what about being reflected by the mylar? Will that dull it down?

Seeing flat white paint reflects maybe 70-80% and some mylar 98% of what im assuming is lumen, and lux is lumen per square meter i would guess it reduce it some but little.

And do the hormones that make a plant flower pick up on just illumination or illumination and spectrum?

They pick up anything except green light, they reflect this light. This is why the plants are green and why some growers use green light to work with during night hours.

Ok then, good explanation. I will try and light proof it some more. The pc is in a dark corner of the room anyway so hopefully it will flower without any problem, and hopefully it's female

Thanks for the info. This site is really good for information. I have spent soo much time reading other people's journals and about cultivation. It's all a big learning process

Edited by Bigbudwizer, 20 June 2012 - 05:48 AM.

Ok, it's been a few days, not alot of growth because i topped it the other day, going to veg for a week or untill i see growth then put it into flower.

I have also sorted out the light proofing, there will be no light able to get into the box when lights off can't wait to flower.

Here's some pic's of the plant and of the case while running.

And here's some more pic's of the plant and case

Looking good mate, what are you on day 15 or so now? Very good growth happening. Glad to hear you have your flowering plan in place. It's certainly not necessary to light proof if you don't have to.