The Producer Round 3

Okay I took seven months off that's how frustrated I got with my producer okay, okay, okay it was not the producer it was myself that I was upset at.

I did many things wrong the first two times my temperatures were all over the map. Secondly I was so confused about the nutes that I know I screwed them up as well. Lastly was my ph I could not believe how quickly it can turn and become toxic.

What I am hoping is for input from serious growers as I will be asking a whole bunch of noob questions.

I started this batch from seed, I was hoping to grow all feminised skunk but some of the seeds did not germinated. I threw in a bunch of free seeds I got when placing my order. I figured this time around I would plant extras in case one or two die I would have replacements thus "hopefully" a full crop.

In these pics the plants are 3 weeks old the ones on the left which are bigger are 4 weeks old again from seed.

Currently I am at 400ppm and using the formula that comes recommended, I am also hand watering the plants.

Other then that I am following NoDrama's forum to a tee. I have the flowering lights on 12/12 and my veg which runs 18/6. I am doing my very best to keep the internal temperature of the producer at 75 degrees. I have had it as low as 70 and as high as 80 depending on the time of day or night I am hoping this varience does not screw up the plants but I can only dial it in so much.

I honestly thought a producer was plug and play I did not think so much work was involved. That said I had to make a couple more investments for round 3 to assist in a a proper enviroment.

I purchased a portable ac which is pictured. My ac on the top floor of my rental house is turned off as it is old and does not keep a constant ambient temperature.

I adjust the ac just before the flowering lights go out as they run fairly hot also it is summertime and the temperature dips at night.

At midnight the lights go out completely and I spray the plants with colossal bud blast and again adjust the ac.

Oh yeah I almost forgot I made one more purchase a ph nanny. I figured since I had so many problems with my ph before I better tackle that problem as well. I plan to drill a small hole in the top of the lid to the producer and line it with a rubber gasket to hold the probe in an upright position also to block any light from going into the res.

To some of you this may seem like overkill but I work 3 jobs so for me to do the basics is a lot of work.

The only thing I am missing is extra tubing for my portable ac as the condinsate tray fills up before I can get home which elevates my temps. I will be replacing the tubing (lengthening) so I can have the condinsate go into a bigger container.

I have an extra pump and airstones for the res. I didn't find much in the way of water movement (bubbles) in my first two trys so I figured lets keep the water moving with extra airstones.

Okay so here is what I have noticed.....dialing in the temp it got a little to hot so I lost or better put burned a few bottom leaves things have been much smoother since i dialed it in to the best of my ability. I am still hand watering at this point I plan to have the res started up this weekend.

The smaller plants are skunk they seem happy and I do not notice any problems. The bigger ones however I am noticing the leaves are drooping a bit. These are the free seeds I got but note the roots are doing very well. Is this cause for alarm or is it a natural part of the process?

I have to run the portable ac unit with the doors to the producer open and pointing into the unit I am hoping this does not cause any stress to the plants. I do not have any other option as I cannot lower the temp to anything less then 80ish with the doors closed.

If anyone spots anything I am doing wrong or could be doing better or have general tips please drop me a line. I promise my posts will be much shorter from here on out LOL.

Okay I was trolling the forum's and before I ask no I don't wait for help sitting on my duff, I am trying to be proactive. Above I note the older plants are starting to droop is it at all possible I am dealing with a co2 problem? Maybe it's time for me to fill the rez and fire up the airstones so they can get some oxygen? When I checked the forums it looks exactly like an overwatering/co2 problem anyone have any input I have attached a pic of the worst of the bunch. To me at least that would explain why all the older plants are showing these signs and I would like to reverse this problem and keep the younger ones from suffering if this is possible.

Its time to fill the res. once the water is in the res you will notice that the roots grow much quicker, they are trying to get to the water. Use a low PPM nute regime for the first week, if it looks fine slowly adjust upwards. You will want to get your plants in the pots before too many roots grow, getting a rooted plant out of its pot usually kills it, and if the roots are long enough they will tangle with other plant roots and you could end up hurting a few.

also theres nothin wrong with 80 degrees. i run 85 quite a bit. i also use co2 though.

Thats another question jbo LOL I have to figure out when to stop veg and switch to flowering, also when I go flowering I am also wondering if I flip the switch to 18/6 but thats another day....I guess one thing at a time.

I can't believe how much time I spent on this today......I had to drill a few holes in the top plate of the res to start things off. One is for the ph nanny probe another for the feed tube and two more for my extra tubing for the pump I have. I have the ph nanny set at 5.6 and boy oh boy is this little unit gonna be a time saver for me! I screwed up at first as I filled the res too full, the bottom of the plants were getting wet. I shop vac'd some water out so I had an inch and 1/2 from the bottom of the pots to the res. I am at 371 ppm I don't wanna go to high so I figured this should be good for now and maybe add a bit to go to 400. I am noticing odour so I plugged in a glade air freshener for now and put it on low. I don't wanna use the carbon filter until I have to.

I have extra plants that are having a hard time because I do not have room for them in the pots. I am going to give them to a few friends tomorrow for their back yard.

I am thinking this is my last week of veg or at least I am hoping so.........

Just like NoDrama's thread at this point my machine is set at 12/12 with the veg light on as well.

Thank you Nodrama for your help a good idea to get the res up and running.

Here are a few pics...........

I have a few questions please........

I looked up a few videos on sexing plants and checked mine but I could not see anything is it to early on to be concerned about the sex or should I pick up a magnifying glass and inspect?

Secondly I am not sure what to do this Saturday? Do I bump the nutes up to say 500 and leave everything as is or do I change the lighting to 18/6 and take the veg light out?

I am very happy with the way things are progressing here are some pics.......I cannot believe how quicky the roots have lengthened. Getting a bit more odor though......

No worries figured out it is far to early to sex.....each week I am gonna bump up the nutes till it's time to flower which I figured out is 12/12 which means all I gotta do is take out the flowering bulb to make room for the plants. 13 of the plants are feminised skunk or at least they better be...the rest are bonus seeds received from an online order. I plan to buy a cloner and place it on top of the producer....I already have a 4 lamp t-8 unit at work which I will put on a chain so I can raise and lower it. No rush mind u I have lot's of time to get a proper set up for the next round I am just hoping this one goes well.

Looks good bro, you put the extra plants in between the pots, thats what i do when i have to wait for some clones to go out the door to another op. The PH nanny is nice, i have never used one. What made you decide to get a separate air pump? Did the one in the producer stop working?

Once the roots hit the water you can up the nutrients to around 800, keep at it that for 1 week, then go with 1000, then 1200, then it should be time to flower.

To save urself a lot of headache and despair,I would get a mother plant or two going(same strain)and sex them first.Next,you want to take clones(that u know are female)root them in an ez cloner type deal.After all that,you throw ur rooted clones into the producer and start them on 12/12 immediately.The producer is for producing flowers,hence its name!So you really dont want to veg anything in there,but,to each his own,hope this helps...

mr.bowlsworth said:

To save urself a lot of headache and despair,I would get a mother plant or two going(same strain)and sex them first.Next,you want to take clones(that u know are female)root them in an ez cloner type deal.After all that,you throw ur rooted clones into the producer and start them on 12/12 immediately.The producer is for producing flowers,hence its name!So you really dont want to veg anything in there,but,to each his own,hope this helps...

Click to expand...

They redesigned the producer to have a useful function for vegetating. Now you can veg and flower with it, its nice and seamless.

13 of the plants are feminised skunk...the other 5 are a mix of free seeds. I don't have a cloner "yet". I blew the budget on a portable ac unit for the room and a ph nanny. I plan on taking clones from the skunk just before I start flowering by then I should have enough money to buy a cloner. I figured by the time this batch was ready I would be good to go with the next, following NoDrama's guide of course.

This is my 3rd attempt so I did not purchase any really expensive seeds I want to get through one complete cycyle so I can get a feel for the machine.

I was wondering why I was running the unit at 18/6 veg. with flowering at 12/12 thank you for answering that NoDrama I get it now.

My ppm is checked daily, the watering is turned on for five minutes when I get home and the ac emptied the ph nanny does the rest. I am maintaining 400ppm but will up it tommorow to 800 again tyvm.

I am really freaked out at the root growth, I honestly can't believe it.

Anyway "slow and steady", here are a couple of pics.

After the flowering is done the roots will completely fill the res.

I am attaching a few pics.

I am wondering about the roots you can see they are no longer white they have a brown film from the res nutes on them but I do not have any issues with the plants should I be concerened at all? If so what should I do?

Also some of the rockwool is green....I am thinking it is from the bud blast I am spraying them with nightly when the lights go off. If I am wrong can someone please let me know and or any solutions please?

I moved some plants around, the ones at the far back had minimal roots compared to the rest. I also moved the airstones to make sure each area got a better concentration of "bubbles".

Lastly as I mentioned before I rent.....I have no return air or supply on the top floor where my producer is located. It's not as simple as telling the landlord to fix the problem as my producer is in my bedroom. Here is a pic of the motor which ran this unit pretty gross huh? I am going to get a new one tomorrow and install it so I can keep the producer door closed as the smell is not getting any better.

My last plan is to drill small holes in the door for the pump so the door can be closed at all times. Once the motor is replaced I will have the luxury of added cooling. All tubing will be increased to ten feet so I can open the door freely.

So please with the above can anyone give me a little help???

Thanx

the roots r prolly ok, looks like the nutes might be staining them. The green is algae and if it goes unchecked it will kill your plants. put tin foil over the tops of the Rockwool Cubes and it shouldn't get any worse.

What did the motor run? I don't understand. Also why are you using a separate air pump?

looks good..you have all this high tech shit..jealous over here

Consider it done I will cover the plants with tin foil tonight thank you very much. I find the pump included with the producer is kinda weak to be honest so I hooked up a seperate pump with 4 extra airstones, I put two in each row for a total of 8. I find the roots love it they seem to grow faster.

I live in a two level apartment each floor has a built in ac interconnected, it is a cold water loop to a chiller. The motor that circulates the air is toast so I have no supply and no return air in the room where my producer is. I need it to run as the portable ac unit can only do so much I also need that return air to work. You see without this unit I have to leave the door to the producer open a bit which creates an odour, the portable ac unit is vented directly outside. In essence I am venting the odour outside, not a good thing...........

homegrow101 said:

Consider it done I will cover the plants with tin foil tonight thank you very much. I find the pump included with the producer is kinda weak to be honest so I hooked up a seperate pump with 4 extra airstones, I put two in each row for a total of 8. I find the roots love it they seem to grow faster.

I live in a two level apartment each floor has a built in ac interconnected, it is a cold water loop to a chiller. The motor that circulates the air is toast so I have no supply and no return air in the room where my producer is. I need it to run as the portable ac unit can only do so much I also need that return air to work. You see without this unit I have to leave the door to the producer open a bit which creates an odour, the portable ac unit is vented directly outside. In essence I am venting the odour outside, not a good thing...........

Click to expand...

Ok now i see, that air pump you got is a nice one, real pro level stuff.

I see why you want the new motor, hell I would get that fixed ASAP, but I guess its the landlords job eh?

Do you plan on using CO2?

Yeah it is the landlords job........."but" I had to weigh it out, do I want them in my place? I have the luxury where I work to have the motor replaced by a tradesperson and I charge it to one of the buildings I look after at my full time job. This way I do not have to move everything to another room set it back up and have building mantainance come in for several visits to source out the problem send in a tradesman etc etc, I don't want them in my apartment at all.

I have a lot of pro level stuff I just don't have the experience to go with it sighhhhhh. I troll a lot of forums and do a lot of research online but I have never been a theory person I am much more practical, I figured if I got good equipment it would only enhance my chances of doing it right.

I have a co2 tank ready to go, to be honest I have had it for over a year my previous two batches never made it that far so I never got a chance to use it. It's a 20lb tank do you think that will see me through flowering or will I have to refill it? The reason I ask is maybe I should get one a little bigger or buy a second tank in case I run out.

From what I read I don't start the co2 until I start flowering correct?

The roots have been stained by the nutes for sure but I still see new white ones growing, some of the roots have brown guck from the res on them but so far it has not hurt them I was going to rinse them off but I don't want to screw them up. Thats the other reason I bought the 2nd pump I noticed some of the nukes would float at the top of the res this cuts it down a lot, is this normal or am I doing something wrong?

Oh yeah thanks No Drama (again) I have almost all the pots covered in tinfoil 5 more to go I will do them tomorrow.

Right on bro! I just finished a harvest of 7 plants in my producer last week and just got done with final weigh in......19.4 ounces dried. 7 plants. Northern Lights. Used Sensi grow A & B at 1100PPM for 3 weeks then switched to SensiBloom A&B at 1200 PPM for the first 7 weeks of the 9 week flowering period. Temps during lights on were 80-83 and 70-74 at night. Ph kept as close to 5.6 as i could keep it, although it varied a bit on a 5 day vacation. No PH nanny here. At week 5, 6 and 7 and i gave 200 PPM addition of overdrive and Dr Hornby Big Bud. at week 8 I dropped all nutes except A&B and then only had PPM to 500. Week 9 was a flush of PH water and clearex. Leaves were yellowing pretty good when I cut it. I did use superthrive the whole time, 10 drops per week, except for flush week. No CO2.

A 20 pound bottle is perfect for flowering up to 10 weeks. You just use it during flowering.

Oh my God NoDrama that is freaking awesome dude all that out of 7 plants with no co2......someday if I ever learn enough I would love to have that kind of production sigh.....