PC Case Grow | 40W DIY LED | Budget | First Grow | LST

Discussion in 'Micro Grows' started by dutch smoker, Jun 21, 2017.

  1. #1 dutch smoker, Jun 21, 2017
    Objective
    In this grow report I will show you my first cannabis grow. I’m a (poor ;) ) college student and wanted to try and grow with limited space. I thus decided to go with a micro grow with one plant in a pc case. I wanted to do a small scale grow, that would not be detected by anyone in my room, would give me a decent harvest, and didn’t cost a lot. Obviously all factors are working against each other and will make my (first) grow somewhat challenging.

    Factors
    1. General parts:
    a. Seeds:     RoyalQueen Quick One x 1
    b. Soil: Biobizz All-Mix
    c. Container: A regular plastic container, 4 Liters.
    d. Nutrients: Bcuzz soil nutrition A and B
    e. Reflective material:
    f. Case:     A second hand ATX case that was then stripped from the inside and duct taped to make it light, and smell proof.
    g. Carbon filter: DIY, with a pc computer fan. Didn't turn out to be very effective.

    2. Lighting:

    Intro to lightin
    From my background with electronics and my love for LED’s I immediately jumped to LED grow lights. Now, they seemed quite expensive so I figured I would build it myself. I found some 10W LED Grow Light Chips that seemed good. Reviews of cannabis grows were almost nowhere to be found on the internet. So I decided to give it a shot

    The LED Setup
    The LED’s need several things to work properly, a heatsink/cooler, a voltage or current regulator, and a power supply. For a cooler I used two old GPU heatsinks with fan, and two new ones (4x10W total). A voltage or current regulator is necessary because when the chip is simply connected to a 12V power supply it will pull more current than it can handle which will cause it to heat up or even blow up. I used one current and voltage regulator powering two LED’s and fans, and two voltage regulators each powering an LED and fan.

    Current regulator vs voltage regulator – preventing heat buildups and fires
    A current regulator is preferred. It will prevent excess current coming. In other words you will never be able to give it enough electricity to blow it up. A voltage regulator will do this too, but if any external factor changes (like temperature) resistance will change, and thus current draw. This means a voltage only regulator is not fully controlled and could still blow up.
    The LED’s are connected to the heatsink using thermal paste and several zip ties (I had no power tools available) .

    Power supply – getting 220V to the desired (+more safe) 12V
    Now in order to select a power supply we need to know how much current each component pulls. The LED’s are rated at 900mA, the fans I approximate with 100mA, making 1A of current per LED. I used 4 LED’s and would thus need a 12V 4A power supply. However to be on the safe side (do this), and counter the lost energy of the current/voltage regulator, I would select one with 1.5x as much power. To my 3A 12V supply I connected two LED’s, their fans, and two case fans. To my 5A supply I connected two LED’s.

    3. The Grow Itself

    I started the grow with the knowledge I only had 75 days from seed to harvest as my semester would be ending. This explains the choice of strain.

    I decided to go with a 24/0 lighting schedule, these LED’s are running the entire time. One reason for this was that I couldn’t find compelling evidence that another light schedule should be better. A more important reason for me was that this was a budget build and I did not feel like buying an adapter for in the 220V socket à this would have created another problem as my in/out take fans and carbon filter would turn off, but obviously these need to run 24/7.

    With the space I was dealing with heavy LST seemed appropriate. I used some gardening wire which is basically a bendable metal wire. It worked out quite well and I ended up with two main colas.

    Total costs:
    10 - case
    7 - carbon
    6.8 - LED
    13.5 - Seed
    5 - Soil
    2 - container
    12.50 - nutrients
    3 - reflective
    0 - 1 pwr supply
    6 - 5A 12V supply
    0 - 2 Fans
    2 - Fan
    3 - voltage regulator
    1 - usb extension
    3 - mounting (dut tape, zip ties)
    15 - electricity
    total cost: 89,8 euro
    wanted harvest: 8,9 grams dry --> all costs would be covered


    Pictures:
    Early days:
    The case itself
    The four LED's


    Issues:
    1.     Initial overwatering
    2. I wondering when I should start LSTing. I started very early
    3. Week 4-5: nutrient of soil ran out. Plant showed signes of nutrient deficiency so I bought some nutrients.
    4. Hanging of LED’s --> they fell on my plants
    5. Plants growing too large, too close to the LED’s. The colas are getting light burn :/

    For next time:
    1.     The placement of the LED’s was my biggest issue. Without any power tools it promised to be very hard to attach them properly. Next time I will arrange power tools, perhaps instead of multiple heatsinks use one, and create some sort of system with some ropes that you can easily lower and raise it.
    2. Nutrients. In this grow I only used basic nutrients, no root stimulator, bloom fertilizer …
    3. LST plants more so they don't grow too close to the light


    The last few pictures are current picture of day 67 from seed. I'm afraid im forced to do an early harvest. I will now flush it for another week, then harvest and dry it for a week.

    Let me know what you guys think of my grow up till now?
    Keep in mind it is my first.

    Cheers,
     
    • Like Like x 3
  2. #2 Mali, Jun 21, 2017
    How much did you end up harvesting from your plant? It's looks pretty good and your setup is cool
     
  3. #3 dutch smoker, Jun 21, 2017
    I didn't harvest it yet. I will flush it for 1 week now, and then harvest it.
     
    • Like Like x 1
  4. #4 whackybaccy, Jun 22, 2017
    Great effort for your first attempt. You seemed to have learnt much as you identified some of your errors yourself. Your next will be even better.
     
  5. #5 dutch smoker, Jun 22, 2017
    Yeah thanks, im hoping to get some nice bud off of it.
    Do you have any reccomendations regarding the pre-harvest and dry method?

    I only have 1 will till harvest and will flush that week.
    Then i thought a 24 H dark period followed by harvest (although its still unclear to me what the dark period does)
    For drying I have 1 week again. I was planning on hanging my buds in my pc grow case (lights off), ventilation on, and scatter some rice on the bottom of the case to keep humidity down.

    Do you think thats a decent plan?
    Any suggestions would be more than welcome.
     
  6. #6 OldPothead, Jun 22, 2017
    I'm impressed. Nice job!
     
  7. #7 dutch smoker, Jun 25, 2017
    Okay update here,
    In four days I'll harvest my plants.
    I took a small side bud off so I can smoke it while I trim etc.

    Oh yeah, also I got a "new" phone so better pictures now!!!! (first I had a 60$ chinese phone :love-mj2: )
    Here is some picture of some of the buds today:

    Here is the sample bud I took:

    I'm currently drying the bud in a microwave thingie (like a bowl for food, im not actually putting it in the microwave). I put some rice on the buttom and paper towels on the side and have it hanging in there. I hope its dry in four days for the harvest.

    Cheers, Lars


    ohyeah also,
    What would you suggest me to do with the leave trimming?
    I really like kief, is it possible to get it somehow?

    Laters,
    Lars
     
  8. #8 dutch smoker, Jun 28, 2017
    Harvest day today.
    The buds weighed around 50 grams
    Will they be able to dry in 1 week?

    Cheers, Lars

    Pics:
     
    • Like Like x 1
  9. #9 chainmaker, Jun 29, 2017
    Nice buds.
     
  10. #10 dutch smoker, Jun 29, 2017
    Thanks man,
    Although it seems to me they are very fluffy and not dense at all.
    Wonder if it had anything to do with the wattage or LED's

    The test sample turned out pretty well. I dried it for 4 days, in air and rice. The smoke was not too harsh compared to what im used to, but the taste was lacking a bit. Expecting it to get better over time ofcourse

    Cheers
     
  11. #11 dutch smoker, Jun 29, 2017
    Makking some weed-chocolate milk with some of the trimmings at the moment
     
  12. #12 dutch smoker, Jul 1, 2017
    Update:
    They have now dried for four days.
    I think most buds need a bit longer
    They now weight 22 grams total.

    A smaller bud seems dry so I'll test some it

    Here is the bud im about to smoke:

    Some more pictures:
     
    • Like Like x 1
  13. #13 dutch smoker, Jul 4, 2017
    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
    Hey guys,
    Starting the cure on my buds today.
    Here is some pictures of the finished/harvested bud.
    I have a total of 11.62 grams +/- 1.5 grams I already smoked.


    0.83 g very fluffy bud
    3.74 g small peaces of fluffy bud
    3.55 g large peaces of fluffy bud -
    3.5 g dense bud

    Some closups:


    My nicest bud from the main cola --> seems to have a normal weed density



    Here a small weight/size (density) comparison of some buds
    Two buds: left is fluffly, right is dense

    So we see that the bud of the main cola is amost 1.5 times as dense.

    Cheers guys,
    Lars
     

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