Regular grower trying micro for fun.

Chem&M · Jan 20, 2010

Hey everyone! I'm new to the micro scene and after a lot of reading I decided to start a thread about it to show my trials and errors, and hopefully get some pointers from you pros.

I've done a lot of reading by ScrubNinja and Aero, plus a few others I forget of the top of my head. You guys really inspiried me and I think it'll be cool to see the difference between micro and regular. I figure heat is going to be an issue.

From what I read in the rules, I can not post pics until I have 50 posts. True? If so, my point for starting this now was to get a few under my belt by hopefully conversing with a few of you guys.

Currently, I'm running a regular grow with an Afghanica variety that I took some clones of. I'm on a bit of a time schedule since I'm moving in 100 days, so clones were the only way to go this time.

Given my job, my other grow, and the other plants I grow, I didn't have time to build a case, so I low-balled an ebay dude and got one coming to spruce up a little.

The listing said Aeroponic and it has the chamber and net pots, but I didn't see a rez though I did see a pump. Here is an exact quote from the listing:

"The grow chamberis custom made to fit inside the PC case while maximizing space. Utilizing a deep well system to provide nutrients and oxygen in the roots, this chamber will grow plants fast. The chamber features a bubble median to supply a continous supply of oxygen to the roots. The four chambers accommodate industry standard 2" net pots."

So while it says aero, it sounds like a recirculating DWC. What do you guys think?

It is in a standard large HP tower and has intake, ehaust and 3X 26 watt CFL's for a total of 300 watts. That is 5250 Lumens with a temp of 3500K.

From my reading it seems this may be too much heat. I was also thinking of making a barrier between the light and clones.

I figure worst case scenario I can take out the areo unit and make a rez. I also have FF nutes and GH 3 part.

Any thoughts or advice would be great and I would love to start getting pics of this thing up, and maybe a few of some things I have in flower.

This should be an adventure! :smokeit:

Chem&M · Jan 20, 2010

Also, I have no straight hydro experience, just soil and coco.

ScrubNinja · Jan 20, 2010

Wishing you a lotta luck on this

So while it says aero, it sounds like a recirculating DWC. What do you guys think?

Yeah it sounds like dwc to me, although I don't see that it's recirculating. The pump would be an air pump for the bubbles, I would think?

and 3X 26 watt CFL's for a total of 300 watts.

That's 78 watts - shouldn't be a big deal to cool.

I notice a lot of people include pics as attachments, does that work for you? When you go to post, click "go advanced" if you see it, and look for the "manage attachments" button. There are also sites like tinypic dot com where you can upload pics without an account, although you would be wise not to post pics of weed on there. Empty grow boxes aren't illegal though. Otherwise just hotlink the pics from the ebay ad. Best 'o luck!

Chem&M · Jan 20, 2010

ScrubNinja said:
Wishing you a lotta luck on this

Yeah it sounds like dwc to me, although I don't see that it's recirculating. The pump would be an air pump for the bubbles, I would think?

That's 78 watts - shouldn't be a big deal to cool.

Otherwise just hotlink the pics from the ebay ad. Best 'o luck!

Thanks SN! Here is a pic thru link. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280450283509&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT
You can't see the second fan, but it'll give you an idea of what I'm working with.

Thanks on the wattage too. I always think in equivalents.

grow1620 · Jan 20, 2010

hmm looks like a nice setup. Seems theres no sprayers otherwise ther would be a water pump included. I would assume ther's a bubble wand or long airstone runnign the length of it and the bubbles spray the roots in a sort of ghetto aeroponics way. Seems the size of the "rez" in that tube would have to be refilled everyday if you packed alot of plants/roots in it. I think it would work ok will smaller plants but if you plan on vegging alot and really packing the buds in there I'd suggest going with a larger rez. You could also rig up a larger thin rez under it, something flat that wouldn't take up headroom. But if you went through the trouble to do that you might as well just build a new rez out of a rubbermaid or something.

To me it just sounds/looks like bubbleponics, I think it was Thundurkel that tried to grow and flower a few plants in a small bubbleponic setup and it gave him some problems in the end...can't remember exactly why, maybe the roots got tangled or something.

I thought you could post pics before you had 50. I coulda swore I posted a pic before I hit 50 and there was a pic limit of 100 pics, but maybe that was when I was between 50-100 posts, and the pic limit moved up at 100 posts. Try up loading them to your gallery and see.

Chem&M · Jan 21, 2010

grow1620 said:
hmm looks like a nice setup. Seems theres no sprayers otherwise ther would be a water pump included. I would assume ther's a bubble wand or long airstone runnign the length of it and the bubbles spray the roots in a sort of ghetto aeroponics way. Seems the size of the "rez" in that tube would have to be refilled everyday if you packed alot of plants/roots in it. I think it would work ok will smaller plants but if you plan on vegging alot and really packing the buds in there I'd suggest going with a larger rez. You could also rig up a larger thin rez under it, something flat that wouldn't take up headroom. But if you went through the trouble to do that you might as well just build a new rez out of a rubbermaid or something.

To me it just sounds/looks like bubbleponics, I think it was Thundurkel that tried to grow and flower a few plants in a small bubbleponic setup and it gave him some problems in the end...can't remember exactly why, maybe the roots got tangled or something.

I thought you could post pics before you had 50. I coulda swore I posted a pic before I hit 50 and there was a pic limit of 100 pics, but maybe that was when I was between 50-100 posts, and the pic limit moved up at 100 posts. Try up loading them to your gallery and see.

Here are the clones I have going right now and one from the mother plants. It was 3 days into 12/12 when I decided to clone instead of use seed based on my time table. They have been there almost a week. No drooping, but no roots. Used Botanicare's Power Clone this go round.

The original thought was maybe 2 plants tops in the system and building a rez. I could also link it to the outside, but that wouldn't really make it stealth and I want to play inside the stealth micro realm.

I'm not too worried about yield. I have a regular grow in flower now and this is just to play around if you will. That's a large part of why I'm posting this here.

When the actual case shows up in the next couple of days I would like to decide quickly if I'm going to build one or let it ride.

I do have a few great W. Widow seeds that are low-yeild, but high quality. If they are flipped in veg week 2 they will stay small, but I don't have that extra 5 weeks. If the clones don't work, I'll just run 1 or 2 from seed.

4 chambers is overkill in that set-up IMO. No room.

ScrubNinja · Jan 21, 2010

Yeah I agree it's overkill. It seems wierd (to me) that people grow micro, but then want to micro-ize it even further by cramming multiple plants in. Hey I saw you ask about carbon in another thread - I used "finishing carbon" from a home brew place. It's worked flawlessly and I'm nearly at the end of the second run through it.

Edit: and if you're really really stuck, kitty litter crystals will cover you for a while, but probably not all the way. I had my landlord 2 metres from my grow when it was 2 weeks into flower with only kitty litter - it works - just.

Chem&M · Jan 21, 2010

Thanks SN. I never would have thought carbon was so hard to find. I was sure an auto store would have it. I'll have to check with the guys at the hydro shop. I could just put it in my flowering room, but I want it to be self-contained.

My clones still haven't shown any roots, but it's still early. At least they are standing tall.

Right now the mothers are about 1.5 weeks into flower and I'm still trying to sex them. I'm sure one is male (it's growing largest) but it's still a bit early. Will get some pics up today. Also gotta post about some great "Crystal Chunk" I just got. In 15 years I've never seen anything quite like this.

I asked Aero to check in here about building a rez possibly, but I can't PM yet. I may just keep it as a two chamber unit and add a small rez.

grow1620 · Jan 21, 2010

Boleman has a thread you might like .

Aerohead · Jan 22, 2010

The sellers add was a bit misleading but you still got a good deal on the rig, it looks nice and clean and all you have to do is come up with a better dwc unit.

The current DWC unit you have looks like it will hold very little water so it will be a very busy system to maintain to harvest.

The challenge with hydro in a PC is holding enough water without losing headroom for the grow.
The best solution for your rig would be to build a custom sump that consumes the whole floor of the PC so you can get 1.5 gallons or more of water in there without making it taller.
Don't worry about the lack of hydro experience as I believe DWC is easier than soil or coco because you get immediate results to PH and nute changes. This also means you also get immediate results from problems with PH and nutes so check the system often while learning. The more water you have in the system, the more stable it will be so try to get as much water in there as you can.

If you don't have the time to build a custom sump, just find a container that holds more water than the one you have and grow a single plant since you are using clones. I would also upgrade the air pump and use bubble wands, not stones, the more air that passes through the water the better, too much is never enough.

Good luck, looks like it's going to be a fun grow, if you have any more specific questions, I'll be happy to help out....

Chem&M · Jan 22, 2010

Thanks so much Aero! I was just coming to check on this.

I should have the time to build some type of container. I can pick up some extra air pumps/wands as well.

One thing I was thinking about was the statement on the ebay add that says "it (the pump) comes on when the system is on and turns off when the system is off." I'm no hydro expert, but don't you want the air pump on all the times so the roots have maximum oxygen? I would think they still need it during lights off, right? I've never had to ask these questions with my previous mediums.

I am definitely only going to grow a single plant in here. Bad news on the clones too. I just sex'd my other grow today and all but 2 were males! Good grief. Anyway, that knocked out a large number of clones. I took more clones from the ones that had more growth, which turns out ( duh.) they were the males. Shoulda known. I didn't label the clones either. I was in a rush since the idea occurred to do this grow the day after I went into flower and I was going against the clock for lights out.

My solution is to grow a single CH9 Double X Female. Given it's skunky nature it should be pretty easy to keep smaller. It's the only way to assure guaranteed success while maintaining my time frame. I have more of those beans, so I figured I could spare one for the cause. Starting germ now.

Sorry. I should have been more prepared, but to the best of my understanding, things move a little more quickly in straight hydro too. I may be wrong.

fatigues · Jan 22, 2010

Awesome! I consider myself a "regular grower" as well - but that's precisely the point. Regular growing can be...regular. Regular can be boring, and start to drift over into "work". Work? That's doesn't sound like too much fun to me.

Whereas microgrowing? Well it emphasizes the hobby aspects of growing. And a Hobby is mostly what I want growing to be to me. And that's FUN, damn it.

I mean, where else on ICM do you see somebody's grow marked up with Stargates and cats with frikkin LASERS coming out of their eyes but here in the Microsection?

Micro is FUN! And having too much FUN is a hard thing to do.

Welcome aboard!

Chem&M · Jan 23, 2010

So, I felt bad for not updating this. I really thought the unit would be here by now, and I plan on building a larger rez as soon as it gets here.

The clones are rooting and I'm going to sex them to see if I can salvage something there while I wait for the Double X to pop.

Here are a few pics of the 2 moms until it gets here or there are more developments.

As soon as I pull them out of their room, my cats rush over to the skunky/coffee scent. Coincidentally, this cat is named "Buddy".

The first 2 are the same plant and the second are the other.

b00m · Jan 23, 2010

Chem&M said:
Thanks SN. I never would have thought carbon was so hard to find.

Hi Ya Chem&M :wave:

welcome to the micro section, about the carbon, go to your local pet/aquarium store and ask for some Activated Carbon granules(which are used in fish tank filters) they will have it.
Good Luck with the grow.

Peace and Gardening.
:rtfo:

Chem&M · Jan 23, 2010

b00m said:
Hi Ya Chem&M welcome to the micro section, about the carbon, go to your local pet/aquarium store and ask for some Activated Carbon granules(which are used in fish tank filters) they will have it.
Good Luck with the grow.

Peace and Gardening.

Thanks Boom. I have to go to get a couple pumps, so that works great. You just saved me a ton of time.

The clones are starting to get really yellow on the lower fan leaves and I can see roots forming, but not out of the rockwool yet. I always get really freaked out when that happens. I'm a perfectionist and I like things perfect. I'll probably make a bubble one after I move. I actually hope I can find a good male in these clones. This Afghani is great from branching/FIM/top techs and would be a great cross with a taller Sativa.

Chem&M · Jan 23, 2010

Hey guys. So I was at Lowes today, and even though the tower hasn't arrived yet (damn parcel post!) I went and got some stuff to make the rez/pump/whatever.

Here are the products I got and I think the long green one will work the best, but it's hard not knowing exact dimensions. It's an HP if that matters.

My thought is that I can secure the top to the green container and either use it as a new chamber, or build the rez. I think that this container is larger than the one it's equipt with. It should be pretty easy to fix 2 small net cups in there.

Here were the other 2 containers I got as back ups. They were smaller and clear, so I wanted to try the green first.

Here is the pump I bought and I got 3/8 inch black tubing as well.

It should work fine for this purpose. I think.

Lastly, here is a LST screen I found that I hope works.

Basically, I need you all to help me here. I don't know what the best course of action to take here is. I have the equiptment, but whats the best way to utilize it?

I have been reading "New School Indoor Marijuana Cultivation" and while that is awesome large scale, it doesn't really translate here.

Please advise, and also, boycott Starbucks for their anti- Cannabis funding.

The day I let the tobacco, caffeine, alcohol, pharma and gun industires tell me what's good for me, the world will collapse on itself. Good grief.

Chem&M · Jan 23, 2010

BTW, what's the average case size? Ballpark.

grow1620 · Jan 23, 2010

I'd say about 16x7x16... some HP's are a little wider though like 8 or 8 1/2.

Chem&M · Jan 24, 2010

grow1620 said:
I'd say about 16x7x16... some HP's are a little wider though like 8 or 8 1/2.

Wow. That's less than I expected. I was hoping for at least 18" of height.

That green case with the lid on would be at 5" where the net pots would sit and that's only 11" of height. No wonder micros are so tough!

ScrubNinja · Jan 24, 2010

Chem&M said:
Basically, I need you all to help me here. I don't know what the best course of action to take here is. I have the equiptment, but whats the best way to utilize it?

I would probably wait for the case to turn up before sinking your teeth right in, bro. Study how they've attempted to run things, and see how you can improve, and see if your containers actually fit. Have you perused Boleman's guide to making an acrylic res? That would get you the very maximum space/size, and that's what it's all about really. The green container is good but the sides are sloped so it's not ideal in terms of using the space efficiently. I don't do DWC though so I'll leave it at that!

The 3 towers sitting around here measure 14, 16, and 17 inches high. (I'm growing in the 14"er)

Regular grower trying micro for fun.

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