the Hand Watering coco thread

[Sapman]

I transplanted into 2 gallon smartpots (actually a knockoff of smartpots called "rootpots") right before flower and seem to be getting no runoff out of the bottom even with heavy feedings.

I just started the second week of flower and the plants are happy as can be. I'm worried though that these pots do not allow runoff and that I will have a salt build up here pretty soon.

I've watered each pot with about 1/2 gallon and get no run off. Do I need to water more to get these pots to run off?

 

[dramamine]

The smartpots will definitely allow runoff...I've just started messing with them myself this run. It sounds like you just need to water a bit more for the initial saturation of the coco.

Once you've gotten them fully watered the first time, subsequent waterings will be a lot less, since you'll just be replacing the water that's been drank or evaporated.

The plants seem to love these pots, I have to say. I've also got some plants in the airpots, the plastic knobby looking ones. The thing I like better about the airpots is that the bottom of the pot is suspended an inch or two above the base, so the runoff does it's thing a little bit easier.

 

[Highlighter]

I'm running in 2 gal. smart pots & the seemingly bigger 2 gal air pots.

I do cut weed fabric to put in the btm of the air pots, I think the btm spacings are too big, but ya, I like how they're off the btm.

I think dramamine is right, you just need to condition the coco a bit.
My biggest plant in a 2g S pot, took 8 cups today before runoff. I can't wait to see the root mass on this one when done!

 

[dramamine]

Laylow,
Plants do need calcium during flowering...whether or not it became too much would mostly depend on how much was in your water before you added any.
I don't add much during flowering, but mainly because I have the botanicare calmag, which also contains nitrogen. Extra nitrogen isn't a good thing during flowering. In any case, if your nutes have cal and mag (most do), it's likely you may not need to supplement with any during flowering.
I don't like to add supplements unless I know they're needed by the plant. Sometimes even if toxicity doesn't occur, it could still be an unnecessary addition. Hope that makes sense....and these are just my observations so far with coco...peace

 

[Dubya]

I don't know how you guys can stand mixing all these additions. I just use coco specific nutes and let that be the end of it. Never had a problem.

 

[fly poster]

Hey all, total noob here, hoping for some advice on hand watering... so I have just started, and I want to add nutes to water.. rhizotonic, and a + b. do I make 2 seperate mixes (one for rhizo, one for a + b). both hitting 1.2ppl, or all mixed together hitting 1.2ppl, or all mixed together hitting 2.4ppl?

Thanks.

 

[maxmurder]

Hey all, total noob here, hoping for some advice on hand watering... so I have just started, and I want to add nutes to water.. rhizotonic, and a + b. do I make 2 seperate mixes (one for rhizo, one for a + b). both hitting 1.2ppl, or all mixed together hitting 1.2ppl, or all mixed together hitting 2.4ppl?

Thanks.

how big/old are your plants, what's ppl?

 

[fly poster]

Hi thanks... ppl... told you I was a noob. Parts per liter, or proper term EC?
plants are 3 inches tall, cuttings. thanks

 

[BPJR]

Hey all, total noob here, hoping for some advice on hand watering... so I have just started, and I want to add nutes to water.. rhizotonic, and a + b. do I make 2 seperate mixes (one for rhizo, one for a + b). both hitting 1.2ppl, or all mixed together hitting 1.2ppl, or all mixed together hitting 2.4ppl?

Thanks.

Not sure about the ppl. But I always mix my Rhizo, a+b, zym, boost etc together. Has always worked well for me.

Cheers,
Bobby

 

[maxmurder]

Hi thanks... ppl... told you I was a noob. Parts per liter, or proper term EC?
plants are 3 inches tall, cuttings. thanks

i watched the canna movies on you tube and i'm pretty sure they recommend just using the rhizo for the first feeding when thransplanting (similar to transplanting only with less shakey fingers caused by too much coffee) and they say to foliar rhizo at the same time. let the coco get semi dry (sometimes it takes a couple days)so the roots search n grow, then i would hit em with mild a/b (3 mils a and 3 mils b) and rhizo (10-15 mils) mixed together in res, adjust pH between 5.8 and 6.0- mils are per gallon of water.
i think you mean ppm - parts per million ? if so then i would tell you to use ec instead of ppm - there is only 1 ec and there are 2 different ppms which can cause confusion.

 

[fly poster]

i watched the canna movies on you tube and i'm pretty sure they recommend just using the rhizo for the first feeding when thransplanting (similar to transplanting only with less shakey fingers caused by too much coffee) and they say to foliar rhizo at the same time. let the coco get semi dry (sometimes it takes a couple days)so the roots search n grow, then i would hit em with mild a/b (3 mils a and 3 mils b) and rhizo (10-15 mils) mixed together in res, adjust pH between 5.8 and 6.0- mils are per gallon of water.
i think you mean ppm - parts per million ? if so then i would tell you to use ec instead of ppm - there is only 1 ec and there are 2 different ppms which can cause confusion.

Yeah, i meant ppm. but I have an ec/ph meter, now I am only mixing a litre at a time, as I only have a few plants, so my confusion is what measurements of rhizo, a + b to use, and what ec I wanna get if i mix them all toghether. Cheers.

And thanks for the tip about root searching.

 

[maxmurder]

according to the canna coco card-
veg stage 8-12 mils per gallon of a
8-12 mils p g of b
8 mpg of rhizo
this should give you between 1.0 and 1.5 ec (using reverse osmosis water with a starting ec of 0.0)
they also say to use 10 mpg of cannazym.
but i believe this is for bigger more established plants so this is why i personally would cut it back for 3" plants.
i fuckin hate measuring anything that small so if i were you i would mix up a gallon at least , keep it cool and it'll last a few days, check your pH tho, it may go up over time.

 

[dramamine]

fly poster,
The best advice I can think of for you is to start at the beginning of this thread and read through, even make some notes of things that you need to remember. You'll find answers to questions that you haven't even thought to ask yet. It's a huge advantage to dealing with problems as they appear. Not that it's not valid to ask questions here, but you'll learn by leaps and bounds just by reading.

Can't stress it enough, there's a huge amount of accumulated knowledge in this thread (and use the search function for specific topics).. Take advantage!

Best of luck, man....peace

 

[fly poster]

Thanks, I have done that, spent the last few days reading, and have the info. I had thrown myself in at the deep end, and to be honest made a few mistakes, which I am glad I did, I have learnt a bit from it. my two mistakes were:

1. I gave my plants nute burn, flushed them and the browning of the leaves/ spotting has stopped.

2. temperature was getting too low in lights off period, reset the heating in my house.

I have also increased the humidity by putting some trays of water in the tent, it was a bit low.

They are looking good and healthy, wish I had a camera.

I did make one other mistake come to think of it, first time I used water only, I didn't lower the ph.

 

[bonecarver_OG]

if u water with non ph adjusted water once in coco, it doesnt need to change the ph of the coco much at all.

most coco is buffered to ph around 6.0

avoid using much tapwater, since it can give a need of too much ph-down.

peace mate! and good luck!

 

[dramamine]

I have also increased the humidity by putting some trays of water in the tent, it was a bit low.

You're on the right track, it sounds like. Good to see that you're taking humidity into account. It's a huge factor for small plants, seedlings or cuts, especially. Sometimes a calcium or magnesium deficiency is caused by the small plants inability to uptake them due to low humidity. Much better to recognize it then to add a bunch of supplements and cause other issues.

Keep enjoying your garden!

 

[luv2ski]

hello all. new to this thread along with new to the coco grow. this is a great thread with a ton of info and i am reading through all of it. but i have a problem that i cannot figure out and have done some searches on this thread and cant find anything so far. i am going to throw my problem out there and see if anyone has a suggestions.

i am growing in 25l pots with straight coco. i am using tap water (very hard water here)and i adjust my water to a 5.8 and add nutes and water once a day and have plenty of run off. about a week after i transplanted to the 25l pots, my plants started showing some symptoms of droppy leaves, with what looked like nute burn, but after a flush and a feeding and 3 days i am showing no signs of recovery. It is affecting the entire plant.

i did a ph test of my substrate. i took 4 parts distilled water, 1 part coco form about 5 cm down, combined, shook, and let sit for 5 mins. then shook again and tested ph and have a 5.7. calibrated my tester prior to this test and i am dead on.

the leaves have burn egdes, are crispy and are all curled under. i have been using cellmax X+Y coco nutes and their coco substrate as well. also i stated with cellmax enzymes about the same time as the transplant, and just hit them with a PK booster about 5 days ago. i am 4 weeks into flower.

i will post some pics later today as the lights are off right now but from the research i have done it looks like it could be anything from P def to K def to mag def to root rot. i am very confused. i have never had these types of problems in soil.

am i over watering? i have read it is pretty much impossible to over water coco. i have great drainage and i am doing a run to waste so i am not reusing any water. i dont have an EC meter but the cellmax product states that you dont have to measure the EC because the nutes automatically adjust the EC to work with tap water.

any advice would be great. the strain is cali big bud from seed. i am using a 250w HPS with a 110 T5 and i dont have them too close. i have a fan going when the lights are on and they are in a 1 meter squared by 2 meter high home made grow box with panda plastic. is it possible that with no air circulation on the off cycle i have acquired root rot? the temps are pretty good, maybe a little too cool when lights are off. my drainage seems great as i get a ton of run off.

man, so much information on this thread my head is spinning!!!

thanks in advance for nay input!

 

[bonecarver_OG]

ill wait for the pics to give an opinion

 

[luv2ski]

Hey BC. thanks for the quick reply. here's some information for you.

i just got back from my local grow shop and discussed the situation with the guy there. there is a language barrier as i am not in my native country, but we may have it. he is a die hard canna coco grower.

so about 12 days ago i transplanted from 6L pots to 25L pots. apparently this is way too big for my plants. he claims that because the coco is holding so much water, therefore nutes in the coco, that when my roots would go to grow, they would hit the coco with all the water/nutes in it, therefore causing a burn. i do have what looks like a burn, but i wasnt convinced as i have never burned before and have always been very cautious of my nute levels and i have been doing the same feeding regiment and did not have this problem while in my 1L or 6 L pots.

so, he suggested that i return them to the 6L pots and water as normal.

how does this sound to you? as i said its my first coco grow and i have been such a die hard soil grower for years i think i am maybe holding on to that knowledge.

but again, great information on this thread.

one more quick question for you BC. you mentioned that you have hard water, it is very similar here. high Ca especially. should i be using a combination of distilled water with my tap water? i didnt have an EC meter until today because the nute brand i am using claims it automatically adjust the EC for "optimal plant nutrient take up."

i am gonna go check my EC out of the tap right now..

so i am reading a EC of 06 right out of the tap. which if i read my EC meter instructions properly, thats a 600ppm.

then i just went and measured my nute bucket, and it has a recommended dose of nutes in it, and read a 19, which is 1900ppm?

thats all for now. off to do some more research!

thanks

 

[gaiusmarius]

hello all. new to this thread along with new to the coco grow. this is a great thread with a ton of info and i am reading through all of it. but i have a problem that i cannot figure out and have done some searches on this thread and cant find anything so far. i am going to throw my problem out there and see if anyone has a suggestions.

i am growing in 25l pots with straight coco. i am using tap water (very hard water here)and i adjust my water to a 5.8 and add nutes and water once a day and have plenty of run off. about a week after i transplanted to the 25l pots, my plants started showing some symptoms of droppy leaves, with what looked like nute burn, but after a flush and a feeding and 3 days i am showing no signs of recovery. It is affecting the entire plant.

i did a ph test of my substrate. i took 4 parts distilled water, 1 part coco form about 5 cm down, combined, shook, and let sit for 5 mins. then shook again and tested ph and have a 5.7. calibrated my tester prior to this test and i am dead on.

the leaves have burn egdes, are crispy and are all curled under. i have been using cellmax X+Y coco nutes and their coco substrate as well. also i stated with cellmax enzymes about the same time as the transplant, and just hit them with a PK booster about 5 days ago. i am 4 weeks into flower.

i will post some pics later today as the lights are off right now but from the research i have done it looks like it could be anything from P def to K def to mag def to root rot. i am very confused. i have never had these types of problems in soil.

am i over watering? i have read it is pretty much impossible to over water coco. i have great drainage and i am doing a run to waste so i am not reusing any water. i dont have an EC meter but the cellmax product states that you dont have to measure the EC because the nutes automatically adjust the EC to work with tap water.

any advice would be great. the strain is cali big bud from seed. i am using a 250w HPS with a 110 T5 and i dont have them too close. i have a fan going when the lights are on and they are in a 1 meter squared by 2 meter high home made grow box with panda plastic. is it possible that with no air circulation on the off cycle i have acquired root rot? the temps are pretty good, maybe a little too cool when lights are off. my drainage seems great as i get a ton of run off.

man, so much information on this thread my head is spinning!!!

thanks in advance for nay input!

it could well be that your ec level is too high, if your plants are showing signs of burning then thats likely what the problem is. coco generally does well while not running full strength nutrients.

i saw in your last post that your tap ec is 0.6, that is really high, with that water i'd seriously consider a RO filter, then go 50/50 tap/ro or use pure ro and add cal mag.