Just finished building my case and am now running test runs to get a good idea of temperatures. It's a Diablotek Epic Mid-tower PC case that was picked up for 21$ off of tigerdirect. I stripped everything out of it and only left the outside frame. It's running four 120mm fans. The one fan in the front is the intake, and the 2 on the top and the fan in the rear are exhaust fans. It's lined with Reflectix insulation. It doesn't have to be sealed off or stealthy(at the moment) because it's in the indoor grow room while it's not being used. I'll also be able to control the room temperature to help the temperature inside the case. For lights I am running two 23w 2700k CFL bulbs and two 23w 6500k CFL bulbs. My first seed that I'm growing is a Sugar Mango Ryder and is currently germinating right now. I'll update this thread continuously with what soil I'm using, nutrients, and photos of my LST and SCROGG attempts. Here's some pics to get some discussion going! Timeline: 8/7/2012- Germinating started
Day 2 Seed has been germinating for ~48 hours now. The taproot has broke through, but just barely. Should be ready to plant tomorrow. Lighting will be 18/6 and the lights will be off from 1PM to 7PM(hottest parts of the day), since it's been 100+ for the past 4 days. I've been able to keep the temperature in the case at around 76f-78f while empty. The A/C in the room will be set at 77f so I don't think I'll have any problems with the temperature.
Good looking case! Subbed for the ride. Are those 23w bulbs you got going? Do you plan on growing just one plant? Were you going to LST or ScrOG it?
Thanks! Should be a fun ride at that! They are 23w bulbs and there are 4 of them. Only one plant at a time, and they're all autoflowers. I plan on doing lst. Something similar to what shug did. (search the micro grow forum for "shug" and it's the first one I think. It was an awesome read. The seed will be ready to plant tomorrow morning, I'll take pics when it's done.
Day 3: Taproot was huge! Got it planted now. Soil is Fox Farm Ocean Forest and the water is mixed with Super Thrive. Just going to monitor the temperatures and play the waiting game.
Im liking this, what are your plans if the plant starts to get really big and what are you doing about the smell assuming it stays a small size. what are the options for a small carbon filter i guess? thanks, subed
I'm hoping it doesn't get too big because I plan on LST'ing it. If it gets too big then I'll just pull it out and put it under a larger light in the grow room. Right now I don't need to worry about smell since the case is inside the indoor grow room while it's not being used. I'm not sure how well a carbon filter will work. I was reading another thread and a guy made his own using carbon filters, and I think within like the week they had already been used up and the smell came back. My work sells compost bucket carbon filters for 1.99 for like 2, so I could experiment with it on the cheap in the future or just use an ONA.
So the only problem I'm running into is my power strip and lights are drooping. The power strip is just too heavy for the tape and the insulation is pulling off because it's so heavy. I may have to get some smaller ones. I can only fit 3 bulbs on the smaller strips though, so maybe I'll buy two 4 plug strips and just sequence them.
Just get some cable ties and drill four holes * * [power Y Y Y Y board] * * and get some cable ties to hold it up. They are cheap and effective.. usually heat resistant and really handy around the rest of the home. PLUS you run the risk of the tapes glue melting. I'm fully thinking about getting a second hand case and trying one of these pc grows! They look like alot of pruning is involved.
Woah! Thanks for the suggestion. It never even crossed my mind to use zip-ties. Definitely going to try to get that done tomorrow. Thanks a bunch! I built my case only so I could be semi self sufficient. I already get my bud for free and it's amazing indoor, but it's been the same strain for the past 6+ months. So I'm mainly doing it so i can try other kinds of weed.
Addresses the power strip issue today and cleaned up the inside. Very happy now with it! I'm thinking I will need to raise the plant up a little since the lights don't droop down anymore.
Yeah get that baby as close to the light as you can ( I used DVD cases for mine). Also, you don't have any drainage on your cup I noticed, might want to snip a few slits on the bottom of the cup and get a drainage tray. Other than that everything looks great. Since you have your lights positioned that way you should get a long final pot and lst the crap out of it all the way across haha. Edit: damn I'm stoned. Didn't see the red tray it kind of blended in haha.
Haha, yeah! I put a bunch of good sized holes in the bottom, and also chopped the top of the cup off this morning. Felt like warm air was just gathering inside of the empty space of the cup. I picked up a 5? or 6? quart storage container. Going to wrap it with Duck tape or something to keep it light sealed. It seemed like it fit in there pretty well. I'll just have to make or find a tray for it since the lid won't fit in the case.
Day 6 This will probably the last post/photo until it goes into veg or if something happens. I have a feeling this will probably grow pretty well! Here's the last picture you guys will probably see until veg and I decide to transplant!
If you're going to use duck tape you need the reflective kind that looks like mylar, otherwise the light will go right through it and you'll have a whole world of problems. If you can't find reflective duck tape, do a few layers of black electrical tape then a layer of ducktape to finish it off. Or good quality spray paint works. Just sand the shit out of the outside of your container and then paint a few coats of black on there. But make SURE no paint gets anywhere on the inside on the container, could cause problems later down the line. Also, as far as your runoff tray goes i would go to your local gardening shop and look at the small moisture hoods. Do some measurements and if you see one that you could use as a tray grab it!
i have two that just sprouted, one didnt make it . started about the same time as yours but am using a smaller pc case. .will be following to see how our harvests compare.. what nutes are/will you be using?
[quote name='"grassy haze"'] If you're going to use duck tape you need the reflective kind that looks like mylar, otherwise the light will go right through it and you'll have a whole world of problems. If you can't find reflective duck tape, do a few layers of black aelectrical tape then a layer of ducktape to finish it off. Or good quality spray paint works. Just sand the shit out of the outside of your container and then paint a few coats of black on there. But make SURE no paint gets anywhere on the inside on the container, could cause problems later down the line. Also, as far as your runoff tray goes i would go to your local gardening shop and look at the small moisture hoods. Do some measurements and if you see one that you could use as a tray grab it![/quote] I have some of the Mylar tape left, but it's kind of pricey so maybe I will just paint it. I have tons of spray paint! I'll check out the shops for a moisture hood and see what I can find.
Day...9? I know I said I wasn't going to post until veg, but I don't really want this thread to die and lose everyone's interest! Here's a pic of the plant so far. Seems to be coming along pretty good! It's been getting dry quicker than I thought it would so I've been keeping the soil moist. I also put the fans onto 30 minute intervals during the lights out period. Temps got pretty low (65-68).