BC Northern Lights Producer Grow #2

Bigbux, do you have a portable ac unit in your grow room or better yet, behind the grow box directed towards the intake? Are u running your lights during the day or at night?

During day but here's why- I was running at nite during veg and the location of the unit and lights made it too visible outside. Even though I have a medical card and it's perfectly legal for me, I don't want any problems nor to disrespect my neighbors or the fuzz. Also I was running AC practically 24 hr a day and I don't know the exact wattage but based on what I've read online central AC units START at 3500 watts, so switching to noon to midnite allows me to cut down to about 3 to 6 hr a day AC on if I'm okay with box temps of 85 to 90(that's with doors open and a separate fan blowing in box) or 8 to 12 hr a day to keep temps 80 to 85(again with another fan-and a ceiling fan right above unit). 3500 watts x 12 hr a day= 42KWH x .11 =4.61/day x 30 = $138 increase per month NOT including producer. So I'd like to run 3 hr max if possible. I'm trying to figure out how to get ducting from the AC vent u see in the ceiling in the picture of the back of the unit.

Ancap, one other thing I wanted to mention after re-reading ur post.

I'm not sure how you're planning on keeping the water in the cup oxygenated, but I think that's a wholly bad idea. I would stick to the perlite, then your roots are gaurenteed oxygen, and all you have to worry about is nutrients and water. Oxygen > water + nutes imo. Hand feeding twice a day is easy, just dip the bottom half or so of the cube in a nute solution, and thatll do it. Make sure you don't dunk the whole cube, as you want to train the roots downwards (you probably already know this stuff).

And Bigbux that looks great! Have you considered moving the smaller plants directly under the lights before the roots get too big?

Well I have but I'm not sure where directly under the light is because I have the CFL and the other 2 and it looks equally bright throughout. But, here are the heights in their relative positions in inches:
13 13 11 9 12 12
7.5 9 8.5 10 8 13.5
Died 9.5 8.5 13 14 13.5


I did 9 in hydroton and 9 in rockwool chunks because I couldn't decide which way to go(whcih was stupid because the hydrotons either get under-watered or the rockwool chunks get over-watered). One never rooted so 8 in hydroton, 9 in chunks. Everything below ten inches is a week younger than the others which is pretty much only reason for height difference(otherwise they'd all be within an inch or 2 of each other) so I'm not sure if there is a brighter or darker part of the box. ??

Let me try that again:
13------13------11------9------12------12
7.5------9-------8.5-----10------8------13.5
Died--9.5-----8.5-----13-----14-----13.5

bigbux do you live in an apt? your set up looks very similar to what mine would be.....i think you would be fine having it running at night, i dont think the light would really shed through the curtains really at all

Yeah I do and I used to run it at night, but it didn't help with temps much at all. I still had to have AC on and during the day in the summer here its 70 to 90 so I usually have to run AC during day anyway. I just gotta figure out how to get ducting to attach to my rectangle AC vent. I don't know how effiecient or practical that would be.

Big bux, typically i've seen best growth in the spots towards the outer left and right side, the spots directly under the 400w. The 125 w is nice, but nothing compared to the 400w. See if you notice a difference.

stillcantroll said:

Ancap, one other thing I wanted to mention after re-reading ur post.

I'm not sure how you're planning on keeping the water in the cup oxygenated, but I think that's a wholly bad idea. I would stick to the perlite, then your roots are gaurenteed oxygen, and all you have to worry about is nutrients and water. Oxygen > water + nutes imo. Hand feeding twice a day is easy, just dip the bottom half or so of the cube in a nute solution, and thatll do it. Make sure you don't dunk the whole cube, as you want to train the roots downwards (you probably already know this stuff).

And Bigbux that looks great! Have you considered moving the smaller plants directly under the lights before the roots get too big?

Click to expand...

So, set them on a bed of perlite? Screw the cups thing? Maybe I could put the perlite in the cups instead of water. If I lay the cubes directly on a bed of perlite, I can only take them until day 20 max (11 more days). I thought if I had the roots growing safely into the cups, I could stagger the cups inside the flowering chamber with the remaining big plants for an additional week. There is really no great option. What's the best plan of action in your opinion...?

Bigbux said:

Yeah I do and I used to run it at night, but it didn't help with temps much at all. I still had to have AC on and during the day in the summer here its 70 to 90 so I usually have to run AC during day anyway. I just gotta figure out how to get ducting to attach to my rectangle AC vent. I don't know how effiecient or practical that would be.

Click to expand...

Just from what I see, I think what Id do with your situation is...

1. Cover up those sliding glass doors and curtains with some kind of blanket or light weight material that blocks additional light.
2. Run the unit at night (it will run cooler or at least will be more gentle on your central ac)
3. Buy a portable ac unit that sits right behind the box and run that thing through the entire light cycle.
4. Buy a dehumidifyer and run that as well (wont reduce heat, but will help control humidity which is a problem in these boxes.

That's the only thing I can think of unless you purchase a water chiller and rig that up like mrbill. He said that took his temps way down... look back a few pages.

Last night I spotted the beginnings of Botrytis on my plants. I saw some white webby mold and some decay starting in the center of my ripest cola. Upon closer inspection, I also saw it beginning in two other secondary colas on that same plant. I decided to chop those last night before it got worse and salvage what I could on those buds. It looks like I'll only have to sergically remove a little bit off each cola.

My humidity had been around 70% and I didn't take enough action to reduce it until last night. I've since removed the charcoal filter to allow more airflow and turned on my dehumidifier as well as my AC/dehumidifier. After making the changes, my humidity levels are just under 50%.

Here's what I harvested...




My res ppm is just under 500... think this will taste like shit?

The plant I harvested early didn't burn very good at all. Roll a joint out of it and look for black ash, if you see it and it tastes bad, stop smoking it and making bubble hash out of it. Sorry man!

ancap said:

So, set them on a bed of perlite? Screw the cups thing? Maybe I could put the perlite in the cups instead of water. If I lay the cubes directly on a bed of perlite, I can only take them until day 20 max (11 more days). I thought if I had the roots growing safely into the cups, I could stagger the cups inside the flowering chamber with the remaining big plants for an additional week. There is really no great option. What's the best plan of action in your opinion...?

Click to expand...

I don't think the cups are a bad idea, I'm just worried about the roots getting suffocated in there. I just didn't like your oxygenated water idea, the cups full of perlite should do you just fine. however, given what i've seen, you might not be giving your roots much to grow in versus having them on a tray where they can spread out a bit. Either way I think will do you until theyre transplanted.

So how's it goin ancap? any updates?

hows your grow goin bigbux? did you get the royale?

No but I should have. Good deal on the nutes with that. I wasn't too keen on the price of the drier either, but now I kinda want it. Day 22, 6 of flower. I've been keepin a journal, but haven't put it online yet. Honestly I'm a bit sketch about it, even with a med-card. I'll post a pic or 2 probably tonite. They 12 to 16 inches now and I'm worried they won't stop growin vertical, but hopefully they will.

Day 62 Flowering

I've been maintaining humidity at around 50% and things look much better. I still wish I could rush things along since I have these 10 day old seedlings looking for a new home. The bud I harvested is weighing in at 24 grams dry. This is from 1/2 of two plants. The ppm in my res is 500 currently. Im not sure if I should increase this or not seeing as things are taking longer than expected.

I think humidity management is the key. I've heard a much lower humidity during flowering (around 30%) can lead to increased resin production. Worth experimenting with on our next grows. Colas look great, hope everything lines up for you!

Looks like a nice crop to me. How many u got right now? 13 was it? BTW, here's what my aks lookin like on day 9 of flower, day 25 overall. I need help trimming. I have no idea what or how to do it or what would be best in my situation given all the variables. Criticism and ideas welcome.

Bigbux said:

Looks like a nice crop to me. How many u got right now? 13 was it? BTW, here's what my aks lookin like on day 9 of flower, day 25 overall. I need help trimming. I have no idea what or how to do it or what would be best in my situation given all the variables. Criticism and ideas welcome.

Click to expand...

I would leave no more than 3-4 branches (not including cola) on each plant. It might seem like you're trimming good bud away but trust me, you aren't. Good airflow, light penetration, and plants focussing on a few branches is KEY. I would wait until the end of the third week of flowering to see which branches have the best flower sights and useable light, then trim the worst ones off. My 2 cents. Leave all major fan leaves.