Hi everyone! I am new here. I have been lurking on several forums and decided to join here as I have seen the people here are much more friendly and helpful than on some of the other sites. Anyway I just finished building my first PC grow box and wanted to share it here as well as my first grow using it. Dimensions (WxDxH): 220.0 x 615.0 x 585.0 mm ​Sorry for the stock photography pics but they were better than the ones I took before I started working on the case.
The hardest part was removing the pop rivets. I used a drill bit and a 1/8 bit to do the job. There were a few in tight spaces I had to remove with needle nose pliers and it was very tedious to say the least. After everything was out I used black felt and a large hot glue gun to glue the felt over any vents and places that light would escape. I had planned to build a light filter for the two front intake fans but due to the shape of the case the front door that closes and locks blocks out almost 100% of the light from them. After that I hot glued the mylar and used chrome duct tape around the edges. The power strip was hot glued as well as gorilla tapped to the top with several layers of each and is very secure. I am only using one exhaust fan as part of what was removed from the insides was a cage that held in one fan at the top but it took up too much space and would not have been very efficient if I had to glue it in place over the vent. The three fans are being run from a 4 switch thing I bought online so I wouldn't have to cut any of the wires. I put in a coke can for size reference. You can see just above the can the knobs that control the fans. I leave them on high and you can barely hear them with the case is closed. Currently there is a piece of cut to fit carbon taped over the exhaust fan at the back but I have a plastic dust filter that I got so I can just slip the piece of carbon material in when it needs to be changed but I have not installed it yet.
The light bulb hanging down is actually not going to be present when I start growing. I had plugged that small extension in so I could use a carbon air purifier that has a little fan so it would constantly scrub the air and further reduce odor. I just plugged the light in while playing around. View attachment 2485080 The smaller air filter will be going inside the case while the bigger one in the box will be used to eliminate any escaping odor when the case has been opened for watering and the like. I also found an odor eliminating block at wally world that has no sent and picked it up for a few bucks. I will be using Fox Farms nutrients as I found them in small bottles for a decent price.
I am using a mixture of different kinds of potting soil I found at the store. Most of it consist of Miracle Grow Organic but has a few other things added to change the consistency I tried to stay away from anything that had heavy time released ferts in it. I mixed in a little bit of jiffy seed starter mix and some perlite as well. The seeds were purchased from world wide. I planted an Easy Ryder directly into the soil. Got off to a bit of a rough start because as soon as I had planted it the lights were on and off for a couple of days due to an ice storm. I kept the pot next to a heater so it would stay warm while the temperature dropped. Despite all of that the seed popped up a few hours ago and here it is. View attachment 2485085 Still very small as it has only been out for a few hours but I am excited. View attachment 2485086
Anyone feel free to comment/post suggestions and if anyone knows why the last two pictures posted as a link instead of a thumbnail I would like to know why.
For odor I will be using a plug in air odor filter on the inside of the PC case. I have a larger air filter that also plugs in to remove odor from the room if need be. Both of those use carbon filters. I also have a block of odor absorbing gel and there is a carbon filter on the exhaust fan too. I got the case new on eBay though the place I purchased it from only had a few in stock and as soon as I paid for mine the price shot up dramatically which was strange. I spent a few hours looking online and watching videos on YouTube to find a case big enough.
Here are some pics from when it first popped until now. I hope they show up. For some reason the other ones didn't work.
I started using nutes at around 1/4 strength. I was planning to wait until around the second week but it started looking like it needed them. The day after the first feeding the droopy leaves straightened out and it is doing well so far. I have fed it nutes twice and do two waterings between them. I changed one of the veg bulbs with a flowering bulb to give the light more balance and added a Tupperware container with wet paper towels to bump up the humidity as it was a little low. Here is an updated pic. Almost every grow of the Easy Ryder talks about how it is a slow starter so I am not too worried as it looks good other than being kind of small. I lowered it a bit to see if it would stretch up any but it didn't seem to have much of an effect.
OK so here is a new pic. Things are not really going so well. As you can see it is still very small. At this point I am losing hope but will let it run it's coarse though to see what happens. I know it is a learning thing but was really hoping my first grow would do better than it has been so far. The two biggest leaves are on the yellow side. Not completely but pretty close. The discoloration you see around the leaves is actually not nut burn but it is turning purple. Even the new leaves have little bits of purple in them though that might not be easy to see on the pic. I am thinking the problem is really the soil. Next time I will try for a different kind. Anyone have any ideas on how to save it?
Did you check your water PH? I would give this a look mate. http://www.420magazine.com/forums/p...abis-plant-pest-problem-solver-pictorial.html
dude how old is your girl? Cos she looks a lil young to be adding nutes man, thats most likely to be the problem! And also ive heard miracle grow isnt the best choice of soil but i havent used it so i dunoo for certain.. You may wanna consider transplanting, But its upto you man.. But im in, ive been wanting to do any easy ryder myself as ive heard some good things about 'em
You shouldn't have to feed your baby until those cotelydon have started to turn yellow and shrivel up, that is their function, to feed the seedling during it's early life.
Well I didn't start feeding her very much at all. It was not even quite 1/4 strength when I did the first feeding and then after two watering feed the same again. I actually stopped after that because I could see some discoloration on the edges of the leafs so she actually got very little nutes. Later on as it developed I saw that the discoloration was not nute burn but parts of the leaves taking on a purple hue. I looked a few hours ago and the cotelydons are already brown and drooping. Since she only received two 1/4 strength feedings before and looks to be needing something I fed her again earlier today. Just checked on her and a little bit more color is coming back into the leaves and seems to be doing much better. I think she is about 20 days old now. I know the biggest problem is I do not have a PH meter. I should have bought one already but have not gotten around to it.
It is doing much better after the last feeding. It is also growing a bit taller and more leaves are coming out.
nice looking pc case setup. im growing some easyryder at the moment too, your about a week ahead of me though. i'll be following your grow - good luck!
