A beginner's guide to coco

[jonnygotah]

had a question:

can a gravity style res work as a dripper/irragate for coco? could you just ajust the drip rate to a very small trickle and refill every day or two?

 

[Guest]

Hey If you guys are still check throw a pm if you dont want to answer here

Im wondering i can put rock wool under my coco ? or should i strip it from the plant.. unfortunetly couldnt get teh coco before ..and i had rockwool so i stuck my seedlings in there.. im gunna get coco real soon as in today LOL and prolly lookin at a transplant in the near future and wondering about issues between the rockwool and coco rthx for any help

You only have 40 posts therefore no pm for you hehe

In answer, check my grow thread. Although this grow is only a new one I have grown with rockwool and coco many times and it's no probs.

 

[Guest]

had a question:

can a gravity style res work as a dripper/irragate for coco? could you just ajust the drip rate to a very small trickle and refill every day or two?

I just went on a 7 day holiday and left my seedlings with a water-pump drip feed, once a day, regimen and came home to find all running well.

The coco soaks up and holds the moisture well for at least a day, depending on temperatures where you grow. Mine was setup for 25-27c.

I'd suggest your idea will work great.

 

[GET MO]

Good lookin on this Mojo, havent read the whole thing but good info on the first post.

 

[bambam]

Dude this thread really kicks ass! Much respect! I am in DWC and think its kinda a pain in the ass compaired to this coco stuff! Mix a few gallons of nutes and had water everyday! Sounds like a true KISS with Hydro like grow rates! Thanks for the info and i am off to get some of this stuff and give it a go!

 

[Nonphixion]

Why is this thread not Stickied yet?

Mods this one has a lot of great info on Coco growing

Especially this part here;

How to grow in coco.

--snip--

Here's the report. The mum lines referred to were "mom" lines according to what gaiusmarius told me once. I thought they were talking about mums as in the flower called a mum. As I remember it, gaius laughed at us for wondering. Must be a British thing, hehe.

In the words of the author:

Lighting Schedule

We did a lot of experiments with light times a few years back using known sativa and sativa dominant clone lines.

With Vegging under HID lights.

20/4 produced the sturdiest growth and the most bulk. Best final yield, taken as 100%
22/2 Less of both growth and bulk. Yield 88%
18/6 Sturdier than 22/2 but slightly less bulk. Yield 87%
24/0 Much lighter in all aspects than 18/6. Yield 79%
16/8 The weediest plants. Yield 67%

Plants vegged to final pots under fluorescents at 20w per sq ft on 18/6 yield 49%

Have not tried 36 hrs dark but did try 48 hrs from 18/6 veg. The final yield was down between 15% and 20% by varying the pure sativas with the biggest loss in final weight and caused the odd herm, [sativas] it did reduce the flowering time by 5 to 8 days.

For the mum lines we have, 20/4 to 12/12 gives the best crop weight and bud quality, really that’s all I’m interested in.
End of report:

 

[thekid818]

I believe I have bugs in my coco and someone advised me to bake it to clean it out. Does that make sense to anyone. I want to just throw it away.

 

[geekusa]

What's the recommendation when using autoflower seedlings? Is it best to start those in a small cup, or just start them off in the container they will finish in?

 

[chemsteady]

my two cents...

my two cents...

~the kid~ as far as the bug question is concerned, im assuming youre talking about bugs in the coco youve just used and wasnt to use again, right?

heres what you do, rinse the old coco, maybe with a big rubbermaid container and a strainer. then, take that coco and put it inside a big clear plastic trash bad and tie it closed. place that bag in some direct sunlight for a few days and let the coco dry all the way out. no bugs, not nuttin', man.

~geek~ as for the container question, its a matter of personal preference, because the pot size is going to influence how much you have to water. remember, as a seedling, the plant is going to be really susceptible to either under or overwatering, even in coco. they just dont have enough of a root system to manage too much or too little water.

best advice, start your seeds in straight coco maybe using solo cups (beer cups). a lot of guys here use them -just pop a few holes in the bottom, i even cut some slits in the side for extra air-, and i would recommend the opaque ones because you can see when the roots hit the sides and bottom of the cup.
once that happens, i would transplant into 1 gallon pots.

once roots hit the bottom of that, right around the time your plants will be preflowering, you throw them into their final destination pots. you could put them in the bigger pots right away, but i feel like the watering schedule/regiment would be problematic. bonecarver talks about this in his handwatering thread. in a nutshell, plants are easier to maintain, initially, in proper size pots. i say initially because eventually, once a real healthy root system is developed, plants can get huge in smaller pots.

check out this plant i have in a two gallon pot. she big.

the downside to the huge plant in small pot scheme is that you need to water them more frequently, or risk them drying out and ph issues sneaking in. hope that helps a bit.
-c

 

[Mr Apricot]

nice thread, bookmarked!

 

[ChaChaChiba]

Excellent write-up mojo thanks much; only difference for me is i don't use coco specific nutes and have no problem issues from them. I read it doesn't matter and the chemical nutes absorb faster/better with coco.