BCNL Producer & DIY Cabs 3 Strains

[WeednFeed]

The Producer is now showing more bud growth and those are beginning to frost up. I'm making daily adjustments in pH down from around low-mid 6's back to 5.6. This has been common for the first few days after weekly res/nute changes. After a few days it holds pretty stable. I believe it was Hashassassin who said this would occur with the use of Hygrozyme. Next cycle I will try his recommendation of Great White to quell the swings. PPM is easy with the addition of a little ca/mg'ed and pH'ed H2O.

I'll be removing extraneous fan leaves from the bottoms shortly. Very glad I didn't wait even one more day to flower as height seems to have gone perfectly.

The trick on this grow for me may be in how I handle the flushing and finishing of two strains that I believe have disparity in finishing times. You've probably noticed that the Euforia have tanned tips, most evident on the mutation. While mothering 2 Euforia and 2 WW it was apparent that the Eu's did not enjoy the same level of nutes the WW's do. I'm not concerned with the tips as I believe that to be an indication that the plant is being driven hard, but not too much so.

The 4 Euforia

White Widows

Mutation

I had to lasso the plants in the DIY as they were starting to fall under the weight of the buds and colas. Care was taken to be certain as many buds as possible have rays upon them. I notice a little more lengthening and fattening every day. In some areas trichs are partially cloudy. I'll be using Overdrive and Final Phase.

Perhaps due to the lower Sun Blaster lamps, the bud growth goes down to about an inch from the bottom. Mmmm... free popcorn!

In what may be the boldest maneuver to date, I've switched the playlist from the summer of love to more contemporary mind-melting music. Call it counter culture rebellion if you must.

 

[Mr. Krip]

WnF, you're doing a stupendous job with all those girls! They look great! Those buds are really developing nicely and must be packing on some good weight since the only thing keeping them from falling over is your cowboy skills. Did you learn that at Stampede?

When are you planning on starting the Overdrive? You can see by my journal, this has been the BIG debate with me! AN says to use it the last two weeks before flush. Will you be using longer than that? I can't imagine using it for three weeks would hurt anything, but trying to figure out if I'm better sticking with the Big Bud for longer or switching to the Overdrive.

BTW, in spite of my awe for your growing skills and respect for your defending Levon Helm, I do question the play list change. Not much good music was written after 1974, but that's another story! If I'm listening to newer stuff, it's usually something like Black Crows that at least sounds like it was written in the 70's!

 

[Tmac12]

Hey Weed, Your set up is so nice! Love the photos that show a frame around the plants! Girls are looking good. Also just to let you know, they can kick out a male flower up til harvest. Doesn't mean much in the end days though. Hmmmm they were doing so good with the other music, better watch them close!

 

[Siscokid]

The Producer is now showing more bud growth and those are beginning to frost up. I'm making daily adjustments in pH down from around low-mid 6's back to 5.6. This has been common for the first few days after weekly res/nute changes. After a few days it holds pretty stable. I believe it was Hashassassin who said this would occur with the use of Hygrozyme. Next cycle I will try his recommendation of Great White to quell the swings. PPM is easy with the addition of a little ca/mg'ed and pH'ed H2O.

I'll be removing extraneous fan leaves from the bottoms shortly. Very glad I didn't wait even one more day to flower as height seems to have gone perfectly.

The trick on this grow for me may be in how I handle the flushing and finishing of two strains that I believe have disparity in finishing times. You've probably noticed that the Euforia have tanned tips, most evident on the mutation. While mothering 2 Euforia and 2 WW it was apparent that the Eu's did not enjoy the same level of nutes the WW's do. I'm not concerned with the tips as I believe that to be an indication that the plant is being driven hard, but not too much so.

The 4 Euforia

White Widows

Mutation

I had to lasso the plants in the DIY as they were starting to fall under the weight of the buds and colas. Care was taken to be certain as many buds as possible have rays upon them. I notice a little more lengthening and fattening every day. In some areas trichs are partially cloudy. I'll be using Overdrive and Final Phase.

Perhaps due to the lower Sun Blaster lamps, the bud growth goes down to about an inch from the bottom. Mmmm... free popcorn!

In what may be the boldest maneuver to date, I've switched the playlist from the summer of love to more contemporary mind-melting music. Call it counter culture rebellion if you must.

Sir, you are rocking the house.. you see that you have a slight disagreement between your two strains and note it so as you finish up on this grow you will implement tweakage as you see fit on the next go.

I would like to see you clean out some of the lower and shorter stuff, I beleive you would increase your air-flow and better use of those lights. Take care mi amigo.

*Edit, I meant do it durring the Veg Phase... and of-course I'm sure you already knew this.

 

[McCrackin]

Ride them hard but don't put them away wet, HAHAHA.
I just got to work, and I think I'll surf this bitch till lunchtime...

 

[Xlr8]

They look great, Weed. That mutation is crazy! She looks like a sunflower or something. Your plants really do look good. You'll be harvesting for days, literally!

Is your RH really getting up to 73% right now in the Producer? That seems high to me - I think you'd be better off if you can keep it below 60%. I try to stay 45-50% if I can during flowering, but it can be tough (especially this time of year). Hopefully it's not spending much time up that high - I don't want you to have any mold issues. (Better to be on safe side if you can).

I still love classic rock a lot, but I do try to stay contemporary. I'm listening to a lot of Black Keys right now - they're a current alt/rock band with a bit of a 70's sound and a little R&B influence. Love 'em!

I'm all over with music, though. I've also been revisiting The Who a bit lately. I have everything from Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone to bands like Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Metallica on my ipod. Mostly into alternative stuff now like Strokes, Spoon, Cold War Kids, Kooks etc. Music is like cannabis strains for me - I like to sample it all if it's good!

 

[WeednFeed]

WnF, you're doing a stupendous job with all those girls! They look great! Those buds are really developing nicely and must be packing on some good weight since the only thing keeping them from falling over is your cowboy skills. Did you learn that at Stampede?

When are you planning on starting the Overdrive? You can see by my journal, this has been the BIG debate with me! AN says to use it the last two weeks before flush. Will you be using longer than that? I can't imagine using it for three weeks would hurt anything, but trying to figure out if I'm better sticking with the Big Bud for longer or switching to the Overdrive.

BTW, in spite of my awe for your growing skills and respect for your defending Levon Helm, I do question the play list change. Not much good music was written after 1974, but that's another story! If I'm listening to newer stuff, it's usually something like Black Crows that at least sounds like it was written in the 70's!

Thanks very much Mr. Krip! Love Calgary but have never been there during Stampede unfortunately.

I'm coming up on week 6 in a few days and will begin Overdrive then, for 2 weeks. Then at week 8 (or sooner depending on how they read) I'll use Final Phase. If I time things well enough I hope to finish with several days of darkness. I've been following your concerns over when to begin with great interest. I empathize with your not knowing when to begin the end and from my perch see BlueDog's advice as being the answer. That's the route I'm taking... Interstate 420!

You're killing me over here man!!!

The Black Crows are great... friends again?!
I'm in full agreement over your '74 comment. You may scoff... but mind-melting to me is classical. Mind blowing, rock... and Mind altering... well, that's after harvest with some luck.
Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Vivaldi, etc. I figure the Ladies have lived the wild life and are now entering their golden years. I patiently await and eagerly look forward to their cremation!

*Edit- I should not have used "contemporary" with the music reference.

 

[WeednFeed]

Hey Weed, Your set up is so nice! Love the photos that show a frame around the plants! Girls are looking good. Also just to let you know, they can kick out a male flower up til harvest. Doesn't mean much in the end days though. Hmmmm they were doing so good with the other music, better watch them close!

Thank you Tmac! And thanks for the info on the male flowers! That was bugging me. I'll keep a close eye on them with the music and hope they don't think I've moved them to an elevator.

 

[WeednFeed]

Sir, you are rocking the house.. you see that you have a slight disagreement between your two strains and note it so as you finish up on this grow you will implement tweakage as you see fit on the next go.

I would like to see you clean out some of the lower and shorter stuff, I beleive you would increase your air-flow and better use of those lights. Take care mi amigo.

*Edit, I meant do it durring the Veg Phase... and of-course I'm sure you already knew this.

Thanks kindly sisco. Of course you're right about clearing down low. I removed more today that was either weakened, weakening, or clearly not critical. Still, it remains too thick for my taste. As you said... next time it'll be addressed in veg. I bumped up the blower on-time to keep the room RH below 50%. Inside the Producer is another story. That still lingers in the mid-upper 60's.

By the day I'm experiencing a much more pronounced odor in the Producer and things are getting sticky.
The DIY's odor has shifted to a balsom/pine scent that reminds me of my years in the Sierras. It's great after having touched or brushed a plant as it remains on the skin for some time. If I could keep that in a jar I'd save a bundle on Yankee Candles!

My mind now is turning towards trying to time the mom's necessary trims to coincide with the beginning of a new set of clones. Hindsight would find me having built a mom cab about 2" taller. I'll be moving two WW's to the DIY for flowering when the Euforia finish.

 

[WeednFeed]

Ride them hard but don't put them away wet, HAHAHA.
I just got to work, and I think I'll surf this bitch till lunchtime...

away my good man!

 

[WeednFeed]

They look great, Weed. That mutation is crazy! She looks like a sunflower or something. Your plants really do look good. You'll be harvesting for days, literally!

Is your RH really getting up to 73% right now in the Producer? That seems high to me - I think you'd be better off if you can keep it below 60%. I try to stay 45-50% if I can during flowering, but it can be tough (especially this time of year). Hopefully it's not spending much time up that high - I don't want you to have any mold issues. (Better to be on safe side if you can).

I still love classic rock a lot, but I do try to stay contemporary. I'm listening to a lot of Black Keys right now - they're a current alt/rock band with a bit of a 70's sound and a little R&B influence. Love 'em!

I'm all over with music, though. I've also been revisiting The Who a bit lately. I have everything from Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Nina Simone to bands like Rage Against the Machine, Korn, Metallica on my ipod. Mostly into alternative stuff now like Strokes, Spoon, Cold War Kids, Kooks etc. Music is like cannabis strains for me - I like to sample it all if it's good!

Thank you xlr8. Yeah, that mutant was an interesting curve to be thrown first time in the bigs. I won't turn my back on that unpredictable thing. If problems start, I think she'll be the catalyst.

You're spot-on about the RH. Late last night I increased the on-time for the blower and the room is now 46%. It's in the Producer where it remains higher... inherently. Haven't ruled out a room dehumidifier if needed until air conditioning season comes around. I'll be posting new environment figures tomorrow-ish as I'm waiting to get the 24hr min/max's after the ventilation adjustment. I still have not ducted the intake for the lamp cooling. When I do, I'll remove the carbon filter from the grow chamber exhaust which will result in less back pressure, increased air throughput, and a lower internal RH. I'll try to be on that this weekend... been feeling a little lowly of late. Thankfully no signs of PM... which I'm sure you know I don't need a spliff to be paranoid about!

Great taste in music! I'm particularly partial to the Who. Quadrophenia... now I gotta break out the old Sennheiser's tonight thank you!
I'm looking forward to checking out the video you posted of the Keys shortly.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Thanks very much Mr. Krip! Love Calgary but have never been there during Stampede unfortunately.

I'm coming up on week 6 in a few days and will begin Overdrive then, for 2 weeks. Then at week 8 (or sooner depending on how they read) I'll use Final Phase. If I time things well enough I hope to finish with several days of darkness. I've been following your concerns over when to begin with great interest. I empathize with your not knowing when to begin the end and from my perch see BlueDog's advice as being the answer. That's the route I'm taking... Interstate 420!

You're killing me over here man!!!

The Black Crows are great... friends again?!
I'm in full agreement over your '74 comment. You may scoff... but mind-melting to me is classical. Mind blowing, rock... and Mind altering... well, that's after harvest with some luck.
Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Debussy, Vivaldi, etc. I figure the Ladies have lived the wild life and are now entering their golden years. I patiently await and eagerly look forward to their cremation!

*Edit- I should not have used "contemporary" with the music reference.

Funny, tonight ends my weeks six and I'm gonna follow Blue's advice, too; BUT, I don't think I'm gonna start the Overdrive until AFTER week #7 or #8. He had his AK in 12/12 for 89 days, so even starting the "3-week countdown" at week #7 would only put me at 70 days of 12/12.

And, yeah...I'll do friends again...but if/when the Black Crows ever break up, just don't ask me to pick a side!

 

[WeednFeed]

Funny, tonight ends my weeks six and I'm gonna follow Blue's advice, too; BUT, I don't think I'm gonna start the Overdrive until AFTER week #7 or #8. He had his AK in 12/12 for 89 days, so even starting the "3-week countdown" at week #7 would only put me at 70 days of 12/12.

And, yeah...I'll do friends again...but if/when the Black Crows ever break up, just don't ask me to pick a side!

With me, the only reason I pay attention to the calendar is for the nute changes. I'll depart from that as the plant indicates. Caring about the assigned flowering times from the breeders on these things is not a priority here. I can't see how they could be remotely accurate given that everyone's variables differ so greatly. Blue's 89 day example is an ideal illustration. I also liked his tomato allegory. No, it's the plant whisperer way for me. Now I could be dead wrong... but I'm determined to have fun being that way! Besides... it's way easier!!!

I promise... if they break up for whatever reason, I'm choosing your side!!

 

[Mr. Krip]

With me, the only reason I pay attention to the calendar is for the nute changes. I'll depart from that as the plant indicates. Caring about the assigned flowering times from the breeders on these things is not a priority here. I can't see how they could be remotely accurate given that everyone's variables differ so greatly. Blue's 89 day example is an ideal illustration. I also liked his tomato allegory. No, it's the plant whisperer way for me. Now I could be dead wrong... but I'm determined to have fun being that way! Besides... it's way easier!!!

I agree 100% on Blue's whisper technique. I guess what I'm asking, is if you start your Overdrive after week #6, then at week #8 it looks like you still have a few more weeks, are you gonna keep up with the Overdrive, or start the Final Phase, then? Or, would we be better waiting on the Overdrive and trying to only use in the LAST two weeks before flush while continuing bloom nutes as they continue to develop? I was trying to time Overdrive, but perhaps that is a mistake?

I promise... if they break up for whatever reason, I'm choosing your side!!

LMAO!!!

 

[WeednFeed]

I agree 100% on Blue's whisper technique. I guess what I'm asking, is if you start your Overdrive after week #6, then at week #8 it looks like you still have a few more weeks, are you gonna keep up with the Overdrive, or start the Final Phase, then? Or, would we be better waiting on the Overdrive and trying to only use in the LAST two weeks before flush while continuing bloom nutes as they continue to develop? I was trying to time Overdrive, but perhaps that is a mistake?


LMAO!!!

Really good questions. I've been roughly following the BCNL flower schedule that I adhere to in the Producer while using the stated amount per/liter on the AN containers for the Euforia in the DIY. As the weeks change I adapt the volumes from the label accordingly to the proportions on the schedule. Say one value is 100 one week and 80 the next. I'll take that and reduce my DIY nutes by 20% and so on.
As the schedule indicates week 6 for the start of Overdrive I'll be going with that. Your question about continuing to use Overdrive after that is interesting as the BCNL schedule indicates 2-week's use only. I don't think I'll challenge that as it's not within my current ability to.
Week 8 calls for final flush. After that, I'll just be reading the plants. As mentioned earlier, if I'm able to play it right I'd like to finish with at least several dark days to elicit every last bit of goodness from them.
I'm also thinking of surrounding the pots with ice while they're in that darkness to further signal the plants to give up everything.
Now that the system seems proven, I'm getting greedy and going for connoisseur quality. Well it sounded good. We'll see.

However Krip... in your case, especially after learning from Blue that AK can take considerably longer, I'd defer to him and others with experience with the strain. Consider the beauty of your buds and colas today. Not giving them the time they may need to mature to a state I'm sure you'd prefer would be an error well worth avoiding. That 10"er will be a trophy!

In our cases, I believe I have an early finisher and you a late bloomer. Think back to school days. Weren't those late bloomers the truest beauties? That is, once they exited their Edsels.

If anyone's got any notes on that approach I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Out. In and around.

 

[Mr. Krip]

Really good questions. I've been roughly following the BCNL flower schedule that I adhere to in the Producer while using the stated amount per/liter on the AN containers for the Euforia in the DIY. As the weeks change I adapt the volumes from the label accordingly to the proportions on the schedule. Say one value is 100 one week and 80 the next. I'll take that and reduce my DIY nutes by 20% and so on.
As the schedule indicates week 6 for the start of Overdrive I'll be going with that. Your question about continuing to use Overdrive after that is interesting as the BCNL schedule indicates 2-week's use only. I don't think I'll challenge that as it's not within my current ability to.
Week 8 calls for final flush. After that, I'll just be reading the plants. As mentioned earlier, if I'm able to play it right I'd like to finish with at least several dark days to elicit every last bit of goodness from them.
I'm also thinking of surrounding the pots with ice while they're in that darkness to further signal the plants to give up everything.
Now that the system seems proven, I'm getting greedy and going for connoisseur quality. Well it sounded good. We'll see.

However Krip... in your case, especially after learning from Blue that AK can take considerably longer, I'd defer to him and others with experience with the strain. Consider the beauty of your buds and colas today. Not giving them the time they may need to mature to a state I'm sure you'd prefer would be an error well worth avoiding. That 10"er will be a trophy!

In our cases, I believe I have an early finisher and you a late bloomer. Think back to school days. Weren't those late bloomers the truest beauties? That is, once they exited their Edsels.

If anyone's got any notes on that approach I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Out. In and around.

YES!!!

You understand my issue!!!

AN says you're ONLY supposed to use Overdrive in the last TWO weeks before flush. Because of this, and Blue's great advice, my plan is to NOT start the Overdrive until I start seeing the signs Blue was referring to (tips yellowing & pistils being absorbed into the buds). Then, I'll give 'em two weeks of Overdrive and, since I'm using Clearex, I can harvest in as little as three days after that, or just keep flushing with straight H2O until they're ready. Then, I won't have to worry about either continuing the Overdrive for longer than recommended, or having to give plain H2O for longer than desired (I'd rather be giving them nutes!).

I am debating whether to give them some Bud Candy during the Flush. I've heard the carb's can be real good for them at that time, but obviously, it effects the flush.

FYI, I'm NOT planning to do any dark period before harvests. I have heard people swear by this, but I've also seen several side-by-side tests here on 420 and it did not seem to help at all and it increases the chances of bud rot (which I'm pretty paranoid over, if you can't tell!).

That being said, I'd also be interested in hearing other opinions on both a pre-harvest dark period and continuing the Bud Candy during flush, too.

It's great that we're both getting close enough to be concerned with our flushing & harvest plans!

 

[Mr. Krip]

BTW...when I spoke to AN, they explained that they use a 4-week veg cycle and a 7-week flower cycle on their nute schedules. For veg, when you plan on vegging for longer than 4 weeks, you should maintain week #4 veg nutes until you're ready to flower.

On the 7-week flowering schedule, it's basically increasing nutes for the first four weeks of flower, then reducing for the next two, and flush in the final week. But, AN says that if you need to flower longer than 7 weeks (including flush), to maintain week #4 flowering nutes (the highest PPM's before reducing) until three weeks before flush, then start reducing as prescribed.

So, since it looks like I'll have a 9-10 week (minimum!) flower time, I'm gonna try to maintain their exising nute schedule a while longer.

 

[Xlr8]

By the way WeedNFeed, I'm thinking you've got a 5 star thread here. At least that's how I'm rating it.

 

[WeednFeed]

YES!!!

You understand my issue!!!

AN says you're ONLY supposed to use Overdrive in the last TWO weeks before flush. Because of this, and Blue's great advice, my plan is to NOT start the Overdrive until I start seeing the signs Blue was referring to (tips yellowing & pistils being absorbed into the buds). Then, I'll give 'em two weeks of Overdrive and, since I'm using Clearex, I can harvest in as little as three days after that, or just keep flushing with straight H2O until they're ready. Then, I won't have to worry about either continuing the Overdrive for longer than recommended, or having to give plain H2O for longer than desired (I'd rather be giving them nutes!).

I am debating whether to give them some Bud Candy during the Flush. I've heard the carb's can be real good for them at that time, but obviously, it effects the flush.

FYI, I'm NOT planning to do any dark period before harvests. I have heard people swear by this, but I've also seen several side-by-side tests here on 420 and it did not seem to help at all and it increases the chances of bud rot (which I'm pretty paranoid over, if you can't tell!).

That being said, I'd also be interested in hearing other opinions on both a pre-harvest dark period and continuing the Bud Candy during flush, too.

It's great that we're both getting close enough to be concerned with our flushing & harvest plans!

I'm glad we stumbled onto to something helpful. As far as the Bud Candy goes my senses tell me to avoid any food possible when flushing. It makes me wonder what direction excess carbohydrates would have plump, dense and moist buds go. Certainly others know better, but that seems as if it could needlessly contribute to an unsavory condition at a crucial time. Like you said though... more opinions on that would be nice.

The dark period is on paper and not in stone really, although I definitely would like to try it. Your point of bud rot is foremost in my mind and I wouldn't dare attempt the dark thing unless/until I complete my ventilation refinements. I need to affect changes to reduce RH passively (using already running fans) rather than by running the blower and taxing the filter needlessly.

High five is right man! Everyone'll know we harvested when we bost poth centslessly.

BTW...when I spoke to AN, they explained that they use a 4-week veg cycle and a 7-week flower cycle on their nute schedules. For veg, when you plan on vegging for longer than 4 weeks, you should maintain week #4 veg nutes until you're ready to flower.

On the 7-week flowering schedule, it's basically increasing nutes for the first four weeks of flower, then reducing for the next two, and flush in the final week. But, AN says that if you need to flower longer than 7 weeks (including flush), to maintain week #4 flowering nutes (the highest PPM's before reducing) until three weeks before flush, then start reducing as prescribed.

So, since it looks like I'll have a 9-10 week (minimum!) flower time, I'm gonna try to maintain their exising nute schedule a while longer.

Yessir, that's good info from AN. Nice and simple. We've said it before... those folks are very helpful.

I view the flowering cycle as a mountain with 1400ppm being the peak and the downside being runoff (flush). I'm just going to try to make sure the water's clean by the time it gets to the bottom. Your peak is wider than mine. As for vegging, also good info, but I'm going to try my level best to cut that stage out altogether. I see a savings in time, nutes and energy (mine and the electric co's).

 

[WeednFeed]

By the way WeedNFeed, I'm thinking you've got a 5 star thread here. At least that's how I'm rating it.

Wow! Thanks xlr8!

If you're right, I'll take one and you guys take the rest!!