1st grow with BCNL producer... God bud!

stillcantroll said:

I am mildly concerned about the shape of the leaves. They have a beautiful healthy green, but some of them are breaking on their own in the middle (only a few) and they are slightly curved towards the lights. You can get an idea of this if you look at the pictures. Anyone think this is cause for concern?

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This isn't a scientific answer, but I found that most of these little problems work themselves out. Just double check that your ph is in line and that you aren't over or under feeding/nuting. Other than that, there isn't much you can do anyway.

Thanks for the tips guys. The roots have gotten worse. The tips on every plant are bad, and one of them is crawling right up to the plant. I took the plants out and smelt them, and it doesn't stink of rot at all, so it might either not be root rot, or be early enough to solve the problem.

I'm giving up on h2o2, and im trying a recommendation made by one of you gentlemen about sensizym. I'm going to be adding that instead of h2o2 along with some piranha to eat up the dead root mass. I'm hoping that will solve the problem. I'll post more pics later today.

Alright so, I changed out the res last night, and added a week 2 veg schedule with the recommended doses of sensizym and piranha on the BCNL feeding schedule.

I didn't have a nylon sock to use, so i just mixed it into the res... this was a mistake, the shit doesn't mix at all, so next res change im going to have to clean it good and use a sock to make a little piranha teabag.

So, good news and bad news. The good news is the roots are looking a bit better than before. The brown tips are gone, and some of the most damaged roots have had the brown literally eaten off of them.

The bad news is that there is a bunch of slime in my res again. Now, this is a different slime than before ( I think ), but it is growing rapidly, and is all over the air stones, and sticking to the bottom of some of my roots.

Normally I would be running around the room panicking, but I've read a couple journals, and people say it takes 3-4 days for this BB mixture to eat your problems away. So, i'm going to focus on the positive roots, ignore the snotty stuff, and just balance the ph and keep the water levels topped off and see what happens. Worse comes to worst, I can just scrub the tub and air stones and start fresh hopefully with new roots.

Oh, I also went out and got voodoo juice today and threw that in as well, as I heard it does wonders for root growth.

Plants are looking a tad bit droopy but nothing alarming, and nothing compared to how h2o2 made them look.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

Funny, I actually never filtered the piranha or turantula during my entire first grow and never had a problem! Maybe I should look into that though. Hope I'm not messing up my pump!

On my first journal, I had some problems about 3 weeks into veg with some neon green colors forming on my leaves. I found that by correcting the PH and pulling back on the nutes, things leveled out. Again, I don't claim to be an expert, but when I see potential problems in the leaves, I always start by adding some fresh water to the res to lower the ppm. I'm on day 16 from seed and my ppm is at 430 (130 of that number is my water) just to compare. Don't trust that the ppm listed in the BCNL grow manual matches what it is in reality if you follow the recipe. It always seemed to run much higher for me. Get a TDS meter (for ppm) if you don't have one already. They are $15 on ebay.

Thanks for the tip Ancap. I actually have one of those Hanna EC/temp/ph meters, it works quite well I just never bothered to check the EC due to being on schedule, ill have a look for sure.

I'm so on the fence about this grow. Still some slime dangling on the roots, but most of the roots are a nice white and are growing in great. Some are not, one of the plants (runt) has no roots, and another's roots are brown. On the topside, the plants look great, and are about a day or so away from being ready to flower.

I've managed the temperature issue by adding 2 frozen 4 litre milk jugs to my res every morning before I leave for the day. It drops the temp down to about 55, then slowly rises, and is just shy of 68 or so when the lights go off. I know 60-68 or so is ideal, anyone know if 55 is too cold? I'm running out of options here.

The air stones are covered in brown slime, whichI have to assume is the piranha bacteria eating the bad stuff (or should i say, i like to assume )

I'm going to wait till they are flower ready, rinse the roots right of of all slime, clean the hell out of the res (without h2o2), then replace with week 1 flower nutes, and some piranha and sensizym.

I'm hoping the BB's and the low temps will be enough to keep the slime at bay... at least enough to finish the friggin crop!!!

I'll post some pics of the ladies, and the nasty-ass res in a couple days.

Alright, so after sweat and some meditation, and even some mild prayer... I think the plants are going to survive this crop.

There is some rampant new root growth on the majority of the plants (thank you BB's and voodoo juice). Very nice root mass on a couple. There is brown gunk still on the bottom of the roots, but im positive this is piranha, as the plants are still growing, and roots are still coming in strong. I should mention, that as kind of an experiment, I rubbed all of the brown gunk off of the airstones manually to see if new gunk would replace it afterwards. In my very untrained mind, it would seem that if the gunk were to return to the stones, the underlying problem still hasnt been solved, but if the stones stayed cleanly rubbed off, then the gunk on there was indeed the piranha. I'm happy to say after 2 days, the gunk has not returned to the stones.

That being said, the res is still swimming with the gunk that the piranha ate, and the piranha itself. There is a bit of browning on the roots, but nothing crazy. I smelt every single on of these little fuckers, right at the base, and there is no rot smell, only a mild smell in the res that I believe is the bacteria.

All that being said, as you can see the plants are looking OK. I fucked up the pH yesterday so they were a little droopy, but the tallest ones are almost 10 inches, so I think i'm going to allow them to veg until monday, then clean the shit out of this res and flower. The runt plant is probably a complete write off, and the accidental LST plant isnt looking pretty either (see pictures), but as long as they aren't contaminating my res I see no reason in taking them out just yet.

I want to also add that there has only been a bout an inch of vegetative growth this week, which was mildly concerning, but I also only used the nute strength of the first week of veg, so I'm sure that was one of the primary reasons.

let me know what you guys think, as far as im concerned, I'll wait till monday, clean the hell of out of my res, and flip the lights... GAME ON!!!

Dude, plants and roots look great from what I can tell. Don't worry about roots browning a little. It's usually just the nutes. I wouldn't veg longer than Monday. An overgrown box is the worst!

ancap said:

Dude, plants and roots look great from what I can tell. Don't worry about roots browning a little. It's usually just the nutes. I wouldn't veg longer than Monday. An overgrown box is the worst!

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Thanks for the boost of confidence brother. When did you flip your Co2 on? I was thinking of waiting till the second week of flowering just to make sure they dont get too tall, but ive also been told to do it already by some people on this forum. Your opinion please?

stillcantroll said:

Thanks for the boost of confidence brother. When did you flip your Co2 on? I was thinking of waiting till the second week of flowering just to make sure they dont get too tall, but ive also been told to do it already by some people on this forum. Your opinion please?

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I started my co2 right after the first week, but had to shut it off for a while because of how fast everything was growing. The BCNL manual says to hold off until after the second week. My advice would be to follow the BCNL guideline. The plants will grow like crazy in the first 3-4 weeks of flower. You don't need to accelerate them in the first couple weeks with big doses of co2. Wait until they are over halfway done stretching before introducing the co2. This is what I am doing at least. I might even wait until week 3.

Thanks for the tip, I will be turning it on in week 2 for sure


Alright, so here are some pics of day 2 of flowering.

PPM = 384, and temps are never above 68 degrees, sometimes as low as 56-58.

Roots have never looked so strong, but I'm noticing a tiny bit of residual slime on the air stones and roots, which I have to assume is the sensyzym. I put the BCNL week 1 flowering schedule in for everything I have currently (sensi, piranha, carboload, grow a+b, voodoo juice).

Doing a good job of managing pH, allowing a nice fluctuation of 5.5, then right back up to 6 by the next day or so.

Still using disinfected frozen water bottles! Not really a big deal, and are serving me well.

I noticed the bottom of the roots almost look a bit like chow mein, not something im used to but, whatever. The plants are growing, that's all I care about.

Let me know what yall think!

Man, those plants look great! Uniform, good size and pretty as hell! Your stragglers might get a little crouded out though. I can't really tell what's going on with your roots, but there really isn't much you can do for them that you aren't already doing. I doubt there is anything to worry about.

stillcantroll said:

Thanks for the boost of confidence brother. When did you flip your Co2 on? I was thinking of waiting till the second week of flowering just to make sure they dont get too tall, but ive also been told to do it already by some people on this forum. Your opinion please?

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You should be running that co2 from veg all the way til 2 weeks before harvest.

If you run it all the way til the end, your plants can lose potency, from what I read on various sites.

And make sure you adjust it correctly.. you can screw up your plants with too much, as well as too little.

I turned mine off recently.

Good luck.

CLOSETGROWTH said:

You should be running that co2 from veg all the way til 2 weeks before harvest.

If you run it all the way til the end, your plants can lose potency, from what I read on various sites.

And make sure you adjust it correctly.. you can screw up your plants with too much, as well as too little.

I turned mine off recently.

Good luck.

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Sorry, I don't quite understand your statement. You say I should be running the co2 the entre time, but then say If i run it from start to end, my plants can lose potency? Can you rephrase please

And as ancap has said, running Co2 in these boxes too soon can, as im sure you know from experience, cause them to explode and risk burning the wonderful colas.

It seems my Co2 options are fairly limited.

stillcantroll said:

Sorry, I don't quite understand your statement. You say I should be running the co2 the entre time, but then say If i run it from start to end, my plants can lose potency? Can you rephrase please

And as ancap has said, running Co2 in these boxes too soon can, as im sure you know from experience, cause them to explode and risk burning the wonderful colas.

It seems my Co2 options are fairly limited.

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Sorry, I misunderstood what you said. You said run it early and shut it off for the last two weeks. My bad!!

We talk a lot about nutes, pH and co2 on these boards, but remember that many people have decent grows while paying little attention to any of these things (or just being very sloppy/lazy). These plants are strong and can grow without our constant attention. If you monitor all of these factors daily, no doubt you will have a better grow. However, you can have amazing results with no extra co2 at all! The point is that it is more something to experiment with and play with rather than to stress about... just to keep it in perspective.

ancap said:

We talk a lot about nutes, pH and co2 on these boards, but remember that many people have decent grows while paying little attention to any of these things (or just being very sloppy/lazy). These plants are strong and can grow without our constant attention. If you monitor all of these factors daily, no doubt you will have a better grow. However, you can have amazing results with no extra co2 at all! The point is that it is more something to experiment with and play with rather than to stress about... just to keep it in perspective.

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Amen brother.

Alright so I took about an hour to completely lightproof by box. I'm a little disappointed in the way this thing is designed, in that you pretty much have to use mylar film in order to not grow algae. I'm not even talking about the net pods, im talking about where the irrigation lines run. Anyways, it was too late in the run to add mylar, the plants were too fat, too difficult. So it just used tape and tin foil over basically every possible place there could be light coming through.

I was a bit concerned about algae growth. There is some residual slime on my roots, and the roots that are submerged still break easily and look like dry chow mein noodles in appearance and consistency. There is a bit of that gym bag stink that I had on my last grow, but it isn't overwhelming. The plants, however, are still growing. The temps are low, lower than I want them to be, but I have no way of meeting in the middle. They run about 54 with lights off, then between 52-62 with lights on. I understand 58 is the optimal temp if you can get there so, I hope i'm not running too cold. There is still a bit of slime forming on the airstones this run. I did add a ton more nutes, as this is the first week of flowering.

The good news is, the plants look fantastic! everyone except runt and the dieing double stacker of course. They were very angry at me for messing with them and taping all around their bases, but they are perky and happy this morning.

Also, I noticed my pH is rising faster than it ever has. I'll bring it down to 5.5 in the morning before work, then around 8 in the evening, it's around 6.2. I am using beneficials, but this has me a bit concerned. I'll try not to overthink it.

Thanks for the support again guys!

After covering the net pots like you did, I've never experienced a major algae issue. I'll have to keep an eye on those air lines though. Low temps is another thing I've never had to deal with. I'm always battling the high 80's without ac.

ancap said:

After covering the net pots like you did, I've never experienced a major algae issue. I'll have to keep an eye on those air lines though. Low temps is another thing I've never had to deal with. I'm always battling the high 80's without ac.

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Ancap if you could be so kind as to just check under your lid to see if I'm just crazy or overthinking this issue. Just look at where the larger irrigation tubing branches off to the smaller drip feeders. As it runs along the plastic there are spaces that run underneath the lid. If I lift up my lid and look towards the lights, I can see light coming through those holes!! If I can see it, so can the water as far as im concerned.

Of course, a simple layer of mylar would have solved the problem, but this isn't in the supplied grow manual, and I didn't know about this until my plants were already vegged.

I'd appreciate your feedback to see if you think there's an issue to be had with the design here.

The netpods are obviously not light proof unless measures are taken... but this shit? Grrr @ BCNL

At any rate, I feel for my own purposes (and anyone watching), I'm going to report on this slime problem on approximately a daily basis until it either settles, or goes away. As of right now, it's on the roots and airstones in a light concentration, but is the colour of the solution, and certainly isnt stopping the plants from growing. It is (possibly) however causing the pH to spike, which isn't the end of the world.

Next week I'm going to cut the liquid carbo load right down, and divide the weekly dosage by 7, and add that amount daily. This was a suggestion made by a guy at BCNL, I think it's a good idea. I don't want a ton of sugar for this potentail rot to feed on all at once. And to be honest, if my memory serves, putting the carbo load into my solution was the first week I noticed things going south on my failed crop... well see!

Alright so, plants are looking good, and most of the roots are too Trying to back off of the beneficial bacteria and enzymes as they are costing me a fucking small fortune. Co2 is on TODAY!! I love that little hiss it makes when I open my box

I really hope I timed the veg cycle properly. I am just using the BCNL schedule right now, and my PPM is at 620. I hope they gain another foot or so before they start shooting outwards.

There is absolutely no slime build up on the airstones this week at all, which is excellent news. I attribute this to temperature steadiness, and absolute lack of light in the box as of last week.

I decided that 2x2 litre frozen bottles was a better optin than 2x4 litres. The 2x4 would plummet my temperatures down to about 52, then climb up to about 60, whereas the 2 litres bring it down to about 57, then right before the lights come back on, about 64. I want to see how the roots react to both before I completely make up my mind, but so far, I'm liking the 2 litres better. Next crop im going to invest in a little ice probe that ive seen on these forums for 200 bucks. Aparently it can drop a 10 gallon res by about 5 degrees which is exactly what I need.

Anyways, everything is on schedule as far as I can see. I took runt and droopy right out of the box and drove them down the garborator. They weren't recovering, and were just dismal, shitty looking plants with no hope of any yield, and the dead/dying plant matter is not something I want in my box.

On a side note: I've decided the next run im going to do is going to be a very simple nutrient schedule. I'm reading a lot of hype about additives, and im sure some of them help, but it seems to me the best yields are coming from people who have clean setup, manage steady pH, and are just all around good growers. Also, the more additives, the more food for problems to feed on as well as the plants. I'm going to add another air pump, and dial in the temperatures even tighter, and just run a very simple grow/bloom a+b solution all the way through, with hydrogen peroxide once a week to fight off pathogens. I'm anxious to see how it goes vs a run like my current with carbo load, big bud, etc etc.


Here are a few pics of my ladies as of now (week 2 flower, day 1), and my closet momma station (they are doing great by the way)

So, all said and done, stick with me for another 4-6 weeks or so, and let's see what 16 out of 18 yield for me Purple kush baby!!!