NerdGrower ||*Micro/Stealth PC-Growbox Log

Since its an autoflower i think the stretching wont be that big of a problem, i'm going with 3 2700 and 1 6200 right from the start, need to focus on flowering because of the short growtime.

The last thorn in my side is the mounting of the lights, I can't find any of those wallplug to socket adapters so I'll have to improvise.

So I've had some decent ideas these last days and I want to make sure I share them with everyone here, spread the knowledge.

Since my growcase HAS to be 100% stealthy I've been thinking about various methods to increase the believability.

One thing that can compromise security is the power input, just putting a cable trough a hole seems a bit dodge right? How great would it be if I could just power it with a PC cable and still maintain the practicality of a normal power brick. So I've been brainstorming and mucking about with the power supply that came with the case, and these are my results.

So I screwed open the PSU (Don't try this at home kids =D certified nerd at work) and removed all the insides, then took it apart so I'm left only with the back plate, where the PSU cable goes in.

Ignore the 2 plugs, old computers had that... Will only be needing one here.
The one I need to use is actualy the one on the left, and it's even grounded! Which is always a bonus.

Now the plan is to cut off the plug from the power brick and wire it to the inside of the gutted PSU, that way when I plug in my 'Power supply' I'm actualy just powering my powerbrick inside with fans and lights! Seems like a good idea, I have already verified that the plug still works (almost blew up my apartment in the proces but oh well ). When it's wired up I'll glue the back of the PSU in place so it looks exactly like theres a normal PSU there. And since the PSU is gutted I can use the supplied fan hole to fit my exhaust fan, this also has a hidden advantage. When you look into a PSU fan it's all black right? Yeah it is, and guess what's also black.... Activated carbon. This way my carbon filter will be unvisible, when they see the black trough the fan they will assume it's the inside of the PSU.

So, that was a mouthfull But I really think I'm onto some nice designs here, just wanna make sure I share the love.

On another note, I ordered my seeds. Changed last minute, went for a sweet cheese auto, got 3 of em. They say it's a forgiving strain for beginners so I went for those.

That's all for now, stay tuned for more.

Hey man, great idea!!

Also, I always wanted to try the sweet cheese, make sure you keep notes on dates and stuff, keep us informed on everything!

Cheers!!

Yeah I'll be paying close attention to how it behaves

Went to the shops today, came back with pretty much everything except pots, soil and a thermometer.

The lamps I went for are 3x 25/110W 2700K and 1 25/110W 4000K, they didn't have full 6000K spectrum, but that won't be a problem I suppose, seeing I'm only using one...

I also have the mounting system for the lamps/power brick drawn out in my head now, shizz gonna be customizable and adjustable! Looking forward to getting down to it.

Also I had a closer look at the soil in the shop, it says it has a 'Ph Range' of 5-6.5 ... not quite sure what that means, does that mean I can push it up to 6.5 with my waterings?

Hmm.. I'm quite confident that you can change your soil's pH to whatever you want, if you change your water's pH levels!
Maybe you should ask someone in the store cos' soil is just as important as your lights!!

Cheers!!

If you're sticking seedlings in that soil you want to water with a higher pH. Take this with a grain of salt but I water at 7.2 pH on my fresh mix mg potting/perlite/peat moss. The mg potting and peat moss make for a pretty hot acidic mix. The first few waterings of high pH water give your girls the chance to use the nutes in the soil. You can run your water at a proper pH off the bat but you will find the pH in your run off is much lower then the water you're adding in. This will contribute to nute lockout and in young plants will look like nute deficiencies.

thx for the info Spanky, Maybe I can water the seedlings with bottled water? they seem to have a higher Ph, round 7-7.50

That would be a fine start but keep in mind those bottled waters drop a lot of the trace minerals like calcium and magnesium so you don't want to really entirely on that.

Spanky's Monkey said:

That would be a fine start but keep in mind those bottled waters drop a lot of the trace minerals like calcium and magnesium so you don't want to really entirely on that.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up, I'll just have to get one of those soil Ph meters, not that expensive and more useful then a liquid Ph meter imo.

On a side note, today I get my dremel! So we'll be gutting the thing completely and hopefully already covering it with mylar, if we have enough time.

I'll keep you posted!

Status update!

Turns out they made pretty sturdy PCs back in 1987 all the parts are welded together and drilling out rivets is useless... Sooo I had to cut it all off with the dremel.
This took a looooong time but I finished it now. Next up is the PSU, it's welded too so I'll have to cut it aswell, gonna take some time but oh well, it's gonna be worth it.

I've already covered the top and one door in mylar, I'll take some pictures later.

Also, what's the best way to store seeds? I have 3 in a little plastic tube, where do I put it to keep them safe?

I keep mine in a mini-ziplock bag with a silica bag in it so they last longer.

Enissophobic said:

I keep mine in a mini-ziplock bag with a silica bag in it so they last longer.

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That's a good idea! thx

Sooo case progress update!

PSU is done and it's looking great! Back panel is now Mylar'd. The back exhaust fan is also wired and attached, need to find 2 more fans, one to blow over the lamps towards the exhaust an one to gently blow on the plant, so I'll be looking for low rpm fans for this, shouldn't be too hard to find. Last pic is a raw sketch of the planned airflow.

pics:



To do list:
- Find 2 more fans and hook em up to a 5v phone charger, for lower rpm.
- Glue some stuff to the front and back to cover up holes on the outside.
- Mylar the remaining surfaces.
- Wire the power brick to the inside of the PSU.
- Figure out a way to mount the power brick and lamps.
- Cover up small light/smell leaks with reflective tape.
- Go to the store and get some pots/soil.
- Grow some sensi!

I'll be continuing the build on monday but I will be reading the thread and responding, so fire away those questions/suggestions!

Peace

Don't make assumptions about pH!

We used Jiffy Pellets to start two seeds after soaking in paper towels. I read a week later that Jiffy pellets tend to be somewhat alkaline. Our well water is also alkaline at 8+ pH. I wanted to adjust the water's pH. My wife said we'd be fine. Our two seedlings sprouted but they weren't happy. We placed the Jiffy pellets into larger containers with Fox Farms OF soil a coupla days later. One of the seedlings stalled for almost a week with the first true leaves held together like praying hands. We made up a gallon of water adjusted down to about 6.2 and gave the plants a mild flush. Not a deluge, just enough to get a few tablespoons of effluent from each. We measured the effluent. One read 6.8 pH, the other 7.1.

A day later the seedling that had stalled finally unfurled. Its first true leaves looked a little yellowish with green veins. It's been a day now since it unfolded and it's looking better each time I visit.

We're using an EcoTestr pH2. It's important to have some fresh buffer for calibration. You could do 3-point cal but I think single point is probably sufficient.

We used some fancy pH down product but there are cheaper alternatives.

Mellodrama said:

Don't make assumptions about pH!

We used Jiffy Pellets to start two seeds after soaking in paper towels. I read a week later that Jiffy pellets tend to be somewhat alkaline. Our well water is also alkaline at 8+ pH. I wanted to adjust the water's pH. My wife said we'd be fine. Our two seedlings sprouted but they weren't happy. We placed the Jiffy pellets into larger containers with Fox Farms OF soil a coupla days later. One of the seedlings stalled for almost a week with the first true leaves held together like praying hands. We made up a gallon of water adjusted down to about 6.2 and gave the plants a mild flush. Not a deluge, just enough to get a few tablespoons of effluent from each. We measured the effluent. One read 6.8 pH, the other 7.1.

A day later the seedling that had stalled finally unfurled. Its first true leaves looked a little yellowish with green veins. It's been a day now since it unfolded and it's looking better each time I visit.

We're using an EcoTestr pH2. It's important to have some fresh buffer for calibration. You could do 3-point cal but I think single point is probably sufficient.

We used some fancy pH down product but there are cheaper alternatives.

Click to expand...

how much would a decent water ph meter go for? not exactly bursting of cash right now... And for the soaking in towels, is that in cold/lukewarm/hot water? and how long in the tissue untill they sprout? And just place 'em in a dark place right?
Just don't wanna ruin any seeds...

So today I went to the garden store and I got a pot that fits perfectly, a drain off tray, some universal soil and some flowering nutes!

Now since I'm clueless about nutes/soil I'm just going to drop 2 pics here of the stuff that I got and wait for someone smarter than me to tell me what to do =D

Is the soil by itself sufficiënt for seedling grow? When and how much should I start adding nutes? I've still got some time until I finish the case and the seeds germinate so shoot me some info here =D. Thanks!

pics:

before I post, why is the forum so dead? :c not a single post in 4 days... nothing happening on other threads as well everybody on vacation or what?

So my case is finished (pics will follow in next post), I finished it yesterday and ran it overnight to see where the temps would go.

After 1 night of running the temps are stable at a nice 24 °C, which should be fine. Hygrometer says 40, that's fine as well for as far as I know.

I also put my seed between some moist paper towels between 2 plates in my closet, been there for about 12 hours so far, no germination yet, will be checking it again in another 10 hours or so when I return from classes, hope it germinated by then. I also put a bucket outside to catch rain water, hope that fills up a bit so I can water my seedling.

So hopefully someone will reply about the soil before I do something stupid...

Cheers

I would cut the soil with perlite or some kind of drainage aid, at the very least. At lot of times potting soil has a small amount of perlite added but it is usually not quite enough. You want good drainage so you don't get pests or rotting roots. I would start with something like 75% potting soil : 25% perlite or pumice, rock chips, rice hulls...anything you can find.

This also helps with cutting down the nutrients that are available to plants immediately. Too much causes burning......Don't water too much either, damping off is common problem from too much watering. Seedlings don't need a ton of water, go with an easy touch....

Plain water for at least the 1st few weeks will be sufficient, then if it starts show deficiency i.e. slight yellowing in the tips, you can the add 1/3 to 1/4 the normal recommended dose of nutrients. Then build to the normal dose. [Although some plants may require more N in flower than in veg, keep this in mind. Not just K.]

Watering with rain water is recommended! {I catch as much as I can as this is my rainy season and we average 70+cm's during this time. }

Warm them on your router or modem, just be sure not to cover vents of course. Trust me this method works in as little as 6 hours.

Thx for the info guys, great info abiqua, will come in handy =D

And the router idea is brilliant as well, will put it on there if it hasn't sprouted when I get back home! ^^

Greetz

O I've put them on the router and they feel warm to the touch already! =D Hope it sprouts soon.

I got a bag of perlite-ish pellets that help drainage, I also got some Jiffy pots to make the transition to the full pot a bit easier on the plant. So I guess I don't need to put perlite in the jiffy pots for the seedling? And how do I use the perlite, just mix it in? Or like make a layer or something?

Thanks! =D