PC-GROWBOX, 70w CMH, stealth, Big Duch Bud fem reg.

[StrangeVisitor]

Hi!
Here’s a short report on the current project.
The strain is Big Dutch Bud (Big Bud X Afghani; sativa 50%, indica 50%).
The seed has gone into the soil somewhere in the middle of November 2015.
Three days under 24/0, then switched to 18/6 for a month for vegetation.
Starting with week 5 the light period has been shortening for 45 min every day until reaching 12/12.
Now it’s the end of the 4-th week of bloom.

Here come some photos.

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Top view.

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Side view.

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Some burned leafs and the main cola. Have lowered it into the canopy after getting the burn.

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The canopy under the light.

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How this PC is filled. The amount of light the 70w cmh lamp emittes make it seem the plant to be much less dense than indeed.

 

[StrangeVisitor]

An update from my little private garden in a regular middle-tower PC case )).

Things are going not bad but far from being fine. There are some more leafs burned and hit by necrosis. It looks like nutrients deficiency but I'm not 100% sure after burning the previous plant in the middle of bloom. Maybe I'll feed a bit of 4-7-7 + micro nutes next watering.

This are some of the top buds on the side of the canopy.

Maybe I'll start removing some of the fan leafs to let some light down to these budsites beneath the canopy.

The main stem on week 7. It didn't change much since taking that picture.

The plant is loosing leafs gradually. Here's how they look after falling away.

More updates in a week or sooner if there would be something worth posting.

Thanks for stopping by! ))

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Hey!
A lot of interesting topics at the micro-grow forum last week!

News on the Big Dutch Bud in a 70w CMH mid-tower growbox.

It’s the end of week 5 into bloom.

Things seem to go allright. The plant now needs a bit less water – I haven’t been watering her for 3 days and she looked thirsty in the beginning of day 4th since last watering. Earlier she had to be watered every second day.

The odor isn’t strong and I can feel the smell (nice, btw) well only when opening the box. The filter now works better but restricts the airflow more – it has been refilled with a fresh charcoal of a smaller fraction. Removes odor better but the temperature delta has risen to about 7*C together with a heat-throwing HID light.

The growth has now stopped completely. Have trained her a bit to lover the center of the canopy from the light. The box is filled very well, the best one in this growbox. I guess a full-spectrum CMH light is getting the job done.

The plant is losing one to few leaves almost every other day, mostly from beneath the canopy. Some leaves on the top of the canopy are losing their green too, but most are OK.

Fed her with 50% (5ml/1l) of Pokon 4-7-7 + microelements last watering. Previously I gave her 30% twice – in the 1st week of bloom and in the beginning of the 4th week.

The previous plant has been overfed with fertilizers and got severe burns. At this point of time it was transplanted into a new soil which didn’t help much though. Very happy to see a healthy plant, you know ))).

Too many words, too little photos.

This is how she looks when I open the growbox – it is a few minutes into the 12-hours light period.
The lamp starts faster than a same power HSP – it takes only 30, maybe 40 seconds to reach the maximum brightness.

Bottle for watering has a pipe – comes in handy watering a heavily LST-trained plant in a micro setup.

Here’s a strange bud. It is one from the first “floor” – one of the first two side-colas. Her sister is one of best colas in the canopy, but this one did not to develop. If I remember right – she was covered by a leaf during the second week vegetation and since then failed to reach the light. I’m not sure though, interesting anyway. Cut her off as there’s no sense to leave it.

There are some thin treads like this one on the plant. Removing them every other day.

This is how the taken of branch and leafs that fall off look.

A few budshots next post.

 

[StrangeVisitor]

What we all like the most besides growing? ))

Bud.

Buds.

The more buds – the merrier ))).

Now, after I told you the news and shown photos - I'll go and take care of her, water and everything. And if you ask me if I am happy I've started growing - I'll answer "Damn it yes!"

 

[yesum]

Michael Dell would be proud! You really maxed out the space in there with all the training. 70 watts is a lot in a pc case but you seem to have it figured out. Look forward to harvest pics.

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Another week passed and now it’s the end of week 6 into flowering. It should be ready for harvest in about 3 weeks. The light/darkness regime is 11:45/12:15 due a cheap mechanical timer that doesn’t allow a precise control. Decided to shorten the day a bit to be sure it will finish to flower in the time period the breeder says (9-10 weeks).

Yesum, thank you! That’s my fifth grow only and I feel like I’m just lucky that things happened to be going more or less smooth. Learning a lot from the people here.
That Dell box just happened to stand there for safety reasons )). 70w HID lamp is throwing heat as hell and the air filter restricts the airflow so much that the air-change ratio isn’t enough to remove much heat. Plus, the intake of the filter is not on the top of the box. I hope that a new filter design will fix the problem with a big temperature delta (now 7*C) and I’ll get rid of that huge bathroom ventilator in the grow-chamber!

I haven’t mentioned the growing medium – it is palm soil with a part of perlite and vermiculite. The volume is 1.5l (0.4gal) and I had to add some soil after the first 5 weeks – the level of soil has fallen after a number of watering. I use jar-cured tap water, not filtered. A liquid pH test shows it’s pH around 7.5-8.0. Previously I used to add some vinegar to lover it to 6.5-7.0, but after two unsuccessful grows I decided to try plain water again. Strange enough such high pH of water doesn’t make much problems.
Using a fresh soil mix for each new grow.

Not many changes but there are some. Buds are growing bigger and denser, the main cola and a few of the strongest side-colas started to flower like the second stage – having new flowers on the bud (haven’t seen that before with my own eyes). Purchased a magnifying glass and now it became easy to make a check – most of the drops of tar on the leaves are clear and very few are milky.
The plant is showing a combined deficiency and I decided to feed here another last time ))) – gave her 40% mix of Pokon for cactuses (NPK 4-7-7 + microelements). It’s not the best choice but it seems to be working. In future I’ll certainly consider a more advanced technic of feeding a plant.

Here are some pics – they say more than I can.

Wish everybody happy grows!

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Week 7 flowering.

Things seem to slow down. The usual routine is to open the box, see that the plant looks like you've left her yesterday, check the buds, the stems and the leafs to see if there are any changes, close the box and wait tomorrow.

A week ago started to take away leafs that block light. On the recent photos you can see that that canopy is not that full with leafs as before.
Today managed to get some good light and a camera and took a top-view photo so you can see the structure a little bit.
Buds are swelling gradually. Magnifying glass check shows that she's far from being ready for harvest yet - clear drops of tar, few are milky.
Due to having less leafs she requires less water - have to water her once in three days.
Temps inside keep around 25-28*C.

It is possible to smell some odor in the apartment when coming from outside, but it's very light and in a minute you already do not feel it. Anyway, this filter design is shit. Can't wait the harvest time to get it fixed. The change to the growbox is quite serious and can take up to a week of rebuilding. Want to get rid of that timer on the left side too, so I'll need to shut the box down anyway.

Photos!

Happy grows gentleman!

 

[Boomerr]

Great work!!
Keep watching

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Friends,
there's something I noticed on the plant yesterday that I don't know how to qualify.

This is the main cola and there some stains (or plaque) on a few leafs.
On of them is greenish but not like a normal leaf - it's more like mold or something between green gray and blue in color.

Here are macro of the problem area:

.

Other colas are OK.

Would appreciate any input on this matter.

Boomerr, thanks for stopping by!

 

[blynx]

Are these the colas closest to the light?

Looks like what happens from the light being a bit too intense for the plant.

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Hi blynx,

Thanks a lot for your respond!

The injured cola is one of the closest to the bulb. But there is another cola sitting right under the light and it is not hurt. Maybe the leafs on the top of that bud are a bit more light-green than on the top of others, but nothing close to the injury of the hurt cola.

Here's a picture that shows the two colas closest to the light - the injured (main cola) is on the left side and the non injured is on the right side.

This is the light burn almost no doubt, but why did it happen not on the cola closest to the light? My guess is that the main cola that has a series of new flowers (visible well in the previous post) doesn't get sufficient water nutrition when the soil in the pot dryes out. Correct me if I'm wrong.
The cola that is not light-burned despite being closer to the light is on the 4-th "floor" of the plant if I found the stem right )).

Anyway, this plaques do not spread, other buds are OK, so all I have to is a deep breath and patience.

 

[grouchy]

Are you planning on keeping the cmh after the rebuild? A couple white leds with a dimmable driver would do very well in your pc imo. More even spread, easier heat management, and the ability to adjust the light intensity could all be gained.

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Week 8 into flowering.

Buds are swelling but you can say that only comparing photos with a week difference.
Trichomes finally start to get milky – very happy about that.

The light burn posted earlier does not spread and I make sure the plant always have water – do not let the soil to dry out completely. It also helps to keep odor under control.

Have got a thermohygrometer in the box. The Rx level in the apartment is around 30% (way too dry) in the grow-chamber it varies from 40 to 50% depending on watering. Temperature 26-30*C with ambient 21-23*C.

Grouchy, hey! Welcome and thanks for stopping by. Have been watching your threads - you have great results and a well done box.

I’m very interested in LED’s and even have some of them (7 watters, mr16 socket) in a new larger project. But for now I’m very impressed by the CMH technology and the lamp together with the ballast has been already purchased, you know. The budged of the new built has got a bit over planned so not having spare dime for experiments right now, unfortunately. So, the current growbox after rebuild and the new box will both have a cmh as a main source of light. Though, the future projects will possibly have LEDs. Thank you for sharing your ideas, anyway!

Some photos from the inside. BTW, I do nothing with the photos, but cropping if needed. The colors are natural, the white balance is auto.

1. View from outside.

It seems that there still some space to grow up and closer to light, but indeed there's no space to grow up because: a) the floor of the PC is lower than the "step" for the door locks (it's a pc, yeah) and to take the pot out you need to lift it ~2cm up, so the buds touch the glass; b) light it pretty intensive even while the lamp is behind a glass and 2+ inches away from the plant.

2. The main cola. It has small branches growing from out the bud's body.

3. One of the side-colas.

4. Another side-cola, one of the furthers for the light.

5. Small budsites deep beneath the canopy. They are getting some light after the trimming in the canopy.

Thinking of keeping them for a few weeks after cutting the main crop.

Happy grows brothers and sisters!

 

[ReikoX]

Almost there. The results look great so far!
Vibes++

 

[StrangeVisitor]

Hey!

Have exemined the lady today and found amber trichomes.
Strangely enough there are way more amber on the shaded and outside buds than in the middle under the light. In the center of the canopy I could hardly find some amber trichomes.

In two days it will be 8 full weeks into bloom.

Here's some macro shots - what do you think guys, is it early/time/late to harvest? Should I give her another week? I really got lost here.
This is a 50/50 sativa/indica Big Dutch Bud strain and I'd like to receive a bit more high rather than stone effect.

ReikoX, thanks! I do appreciate your watching.

 

[HuffnPufferfish]

how does the rest of the plant look, you can reduce the hours or light/hanging light higher to stop new hairs

 

[_WeeDude_]

Interesting thread, I'm in! You're doing amazing so far on that tiny space considering the 70 watts. I think you did'nt mention it before, what's your air-filtering setup?

For me, I would harvest the buds with mostly amber trichomes in the next few days and wait for the ones in the middle to ripen, unless of course you're looking for a lighter high.

Good luck for the final days!

 

[StrangeVisitor]

WeeDude, welcome!
Thanx for checking in!

This grow went quite lucky from the very beginning. I’m trying not to disturb what is working well, you know.

For me, I would harvest the buds with mostly amber trichomes in the next few days and wait for the ones in the middle to ripen, unless of course you're looking for a lighter high.

Good point! I’ve taken a few small samples from three different buds in the center of the canopy yesterday, will check them pretty soon. Will probably take a few samples on the side colas too.

The air filtering unit, ha-ha, is made of a 100mm bathroom axial vent (14w 220AC, underpowered by a few capacitors) and a piece of tubing filled with fine charcoal about 35mm thick (1.3 inches). That laaarge white thing standing on the floor of the growing chamber in the right side you can find in the last photo of the starting message.
A fine metal net is used to keep and cover the charcoal. The scrubbed air is pulled through the charcoal on the top and exhausts beneath the floor - there's an exhaust hole cut in the base of the case. Not a best solution but I don’t want to bother redoing it during the grow.

I’m not happy at all with how it works – restricts airflow too much and doesn’t scrub air well enough as to me. After the harvest I’ll measure carefully how much air it pumps every minute/second to have some numbers to go with.

A new filter has been designed and is being tested at the moment. If everything works fine it will be introduced for this pc grow box for the next cycle. The new filter is powered by a blower fan not axial one and keeps up to 1 liter of charcoal which sounds amazing to me.

 

[StrangeVisitor]

how does the rest of the plant look, you can reduce the hours or light/hanging light higher to stop new hairs

Stop new hairs?
This may sound newb but as I know reducing hours of light will force the plant to complete flowering sooner.
Have I got lost here?

 

[_WeeDude_]

A new filter has been designed and is being tested at the moment. If everything works fine it will be introduced for this pc grow box for the next cycle. The new filter is powered by a blower fan not axial one and keeps up to 1 liter of charcoal which sounds amazing to me.

I'd love to see that new filter, would you mind posting a picture of it?