COCO GROW QUESTIONS - I NEED HELP :)

[Ttutorial]

Hey Guys

Hope y'all are good, i do have a question and its about growing in coco.

I do know how to grow in Soil - but coco first time..

I use Canna Coco and Canna Coco A+B as fertilzer.
I used Rhizotonic and Cannaenzyme as well, i thought i do the first time without any PK 13/14 or Boost accelerator.


I did my first coco grow now and iam currently day 50 on flower. Its a CBD Girl Scout Cookies from CBD-Crew (Shanti's CBD project).
I will start now just adding water - should i PH it or it doesnt matter? I will water till 20% drain comes out.

Iam more then happy with the results yet - i did put like 20% perlite in it, next run i try without perlite so i will see the difference.
Whats ur thought about Coco and Perlite?

I water every day, when the light goes on 1L of water (1/4 gallon) in a 5L Pot (1,3 Gallon). And i get 200ml of drain. So thats 20%.

A picture, do u think i should let the nutrients out? Its Day 47 on the picture, CBD-Crew said 8 weeker, but i think its a bit more.

I plan with 14 days of just adding water and let the plant eat her self, here is the picture:

Now the other question(s):

I watered with an EC of 2,8 and had no problems (in full bloom).
1,6 from the beginning (first day)

My tapwater has an EC of 0,7 - any suggestions? I dont know how to install a RO-Filter and its expensiv, is it really necessary? Any suggestions what product is the best in form of price and quality?


Other Question - i started the first week, when the seedling sprouted to just add water without anything, just Rhizotonic and Cannaenzyme.
The Rhizotonic is putting the EC of such a high lvl, so after 1-2 weeks i dont use it. Is that okay?

Watering:
How to water from the beginning the right way?
I started giving water every 3 days.
After 8-10 Days i did transplanted in a slightly higher pot like 4x the size. I did the same. After 6 days (2x Watering) i started to give it everyday - with 20% drain.

Any Suggestions, to do it better?

Question about Canna / Hesi and the booster's:

Is PK 13/14 really that good? Should i use it?
Canna Boost acceleration? Should i use it, is it worth the high price of 22,50€ for 250ml?

I thought about trying Hesi out the Coco line what is ur opinion on Hesi? And Canna vs. Hesi?

I did used Dolomitlime for Cal-Mag because my water has 60Calcium and 15Magnesium.
Is it because of that, that my Buds are not that big?
Should i let Dolomitlime in coco coir away?

I do love Coco! Its so great! U can see what the plant is telling you, more or less. Iam addicted to this substrat! Great stuff - And such big Plants is just amazing!

Is 6x5L (1,3Gallon) okay for a 60x60 spacewhise? Because i just did 1 plant.

 

[Ttutorial]

And what ive forgot:
Every day watering is a bit.. its work.

Is it possible to use the System with autopots? But what is with the Salts? That would be super interesting.

What else can i use - it should be cheap. Because my "main" Substrat is still soil so i already bought Autopot. I dont have a lot of money to use it on a expensiv system.

Would be super cool to get few of you guys suggestions.

Best Regards

 

[Desert Hydro]

Hello, I will try my best to address some of your questions. I generally prefer straight coco since it is excellent on its own. I have run canna, h&g, jacks, etc etc. They are all pretty similar. use what you have access to. You will benefit far more from dialing in your environment and watering than switching nutrient lines. The general consensus in the scientific community is that flushing with straight water is more harmful than beneficial. you are going to strip calcium from the media and open yourself up to the possibility of bud rot and other issues. you would probably be better off limiting nitrogen if possible and then bringing down the ec gradually. I would set up a cheap drip system with a small pump and a timer. should be able to do it for under 50$ with everything and it will save you a bunch of time and effort that you can put into other areas of your garden.

 

[CannaRed]

I love growing in a 70/30 coco/perlite mix
I don't bother pHing the flush water.
The best advice I can give you is to go to cocoforcannabis and start reading. They have everything you ever wanted to know about growing in a coco perilite mix. That one web site helped me understand the science of it and why it works. Tells you best watering practices, goes over nutrients in coco.
I have most of my tents set up on their diy auto watering system. I mix nutrients 5 gal at a time and dump into the reservoir, it waters 5 times a day. High frequency fertigation. My main difference from them is they is the GH three part, and I do the 6/9 method with silica.

 

[Rocket Soul]

I rec measuring the ec/ph of the runoff, it tells you where to take the nutes, up or down, and when to flush and when youve flushed enough. Autopots are bottom feed and not a good option for coco in my opinion, younwill end up with salt accumulation.

Some of these numbers dont make sense: you water 1l every day with 20% runoff? We use 10l pots, water with 3 liters to get decent runoff but not as much as 20% I dont think youre letting those pots dry out properly which may be a misstake. Our watering is maybe every other day maximum, usually 3 days

 

[xtsho]

Look into Blumats and straight coco to make watering simple. Gravity fed and no need for pumps. They keep the coco at the perfect moisture content.

Three gallon fabric pots, straight coco, and base nutes only no additives. The Canna fertilizer you're using should be all you need. I wouldn't bother with any of those additives you listed.

 

[StickyBandit]

I have a straight coco auto grow thread which might give you some ideas...

Diary - World's First Wilma Auto Hempy!!

I don't know if it actually is but it's a catchy title :p it's probably been done many times before Much of the credit (if this works) goes to @HEMPY who took the time to run me through his method, cheers bud (y) I already had the Wilma system (any bin with a lid will do) so it was a small step...

www.icmag.com

 

[Veritas629]

... The best advice I can give you is to go to cocoforcannabis and start reading. They have everything you ever wanted to know about growing in a coco perilite mix. That one web site helped me understand the science of it and why it works. Tells you best watering practices, goes over nutrients in coco.

I learned a lot from Coco For Cannabis website too. I forget the fella's name, but he is a frequent guest on the GrowCast podcast. The podcast is good info in general and in particular beginner coco growers.

 

[stiff]

I didnt read the other answers...im in a rush....but i'd always ph the water,even when it's just water.
Enzymes are needed halfway through if you ask me and specially at the end if you want to use your coco again (in that case even triple dose)

If you think they need food longer,do it!

Little hint for you...MKP is much cheaper than pk13/14 and more potent (it's as cheap as chips...a kilo last you an eternity)
Just don't slip when you add it...use a fine scale!
If you want a feeding scheme for it, I have one if you're interested

Good luck, stiffy

 

[JustGrowing420]

In my little experience with coco, as already said, you don't really need the perlite, coco has excellent aeration by itself.

Rhizotonic, I don't really find it makes a difference, roots go crazy in coco due to the oxygen and medium consistency anyway!
Enzymes as stated are useful only if you plan to reuse the coco, otherwise wasted money, used to use them at first but I am throwing away the coco so no need.

I would also suggest dropping the dolomite as it is slow release and getting a liquid cal/mag to be able to adjust instantly and also have the option to cut it off completely.
Coco feeds have enough calcium and magensium to satisfy the coco needs, but if using led you probably need some supplementation.

I don't pH "flush" water either and if fed well the whole cycle, they show no problems at all even after 10-14 days of non-pHed water. I sometimes use GHE FinalPart (0-6-5) for some days before plain water, I find it a nice way to eliminate nitrogen without limiting other elements.

About autopots, I have used them with success with 100% coco, no problems with salt buildup (I think the salts accumulate at the top drier layer of the soil since it is bottom fed).
Might not be the perfect option for coco and salts but I did not find any problems with them.
With autopots always hand water until pot is full of roots, then hook up to tank.

Drip system rocks coco much better of course, no opinion on blumats as I haven't tried them.

Also a (maybe controversial) personal opinion, I don't recommend testing the runoff and going by the results, it has caused me more confusion than help, better to be consistent in monitoring the inputs making sure the pH is stable.

 

[StickyBandit]

In my little experience with coco, as already said, you don't really need the perlite, coco has excellent aeration by itself.

Rhizotonic, I don't really find it makes a difference, roots go crazy in coco due to the oxygen and medium consistency anyway!
Enzymes as stated are useful only if you plan to reuse the coco, otherwise wasted money, used to use them at first but I am throwing away the coco so no need.

I would also suggest dropping the dolomite as it is slow release and getting a liquid cal/mag to be able to adjust instantly and also have the option to cut it off completely.
Coco feeds have enough calcium and magensium to satisfy the coco needs, but if using led you probably need some supplementation.

I don't pH "flush" water either and if fed well the whole cycle, they show no problems at all even after 10-14 days of non-pHed water. I sometimes use GHE FinalPart (0-6-5) for some days before plain water, I find it a nice way to eliminate nitrogen without limiting other elements.

About autopots, I have used them with success with 100% coco, no problems with salt buildup (I think the salts accumulate at the top drier layer of the soil since it is bottom fed).
Might not be the perfect option for coco and salts but I did not find any problems with them.
With autopots always hand water until pot is full of roots, then hook up to tank.

Drip system rocks coco much better of course, no opinion on blumats as I haven't tried them.

Also a (maybe controversial) personal opinion, I don't recommend testing the runoff and going by the results, it has caused me more confusion than help, better to be consistent in monitoring the inputs making sure the pH is stable.

I agree with all these points, that's why I linked my grow further up. I was trying to get to the most basic straight coco grow possible and without all the extra knick knacks, lazy rules

 

[CannaRed]

I learned a lot from Coco For Cannabis website too. I forget the fella's name, but he is a frequent guest on the GrowCast podcast. The podcast is good info in general and in particular beginner coco growers.

Yeah dr. mj coco.
I have listened to him on GrowCast, but He's a regular on my favorite podcast Growing With My Fellow Growers, and I've neen listening to them for past 6 or 7 years. Excellent show, no commercials or promotions, just a group of growers giving advice, and reading cannabis studies.

 

[Ttutorial]

Hello, I will try my best to address some of your questions. I generally prefer straight coco since it is excellent on its own. I have run canna, h&g, jacks, etc etc. They are all pretty similar. use what you have access to. You will benefit far more from dialing in your environment and watering than switching nutrient lines. The general consensus in the scientific community is that flushing with straight water is more harmful than beneficial. you are going to strip calcium from the media and open yourself up to the possibility of bud rot and other issues. you would probably be better off limiting nitrogen if possible and then bringing down the ec gradually. I would set up a cheap drip system with a small pump and a timer. should be able to do it for under 50$ with everything and it will save you a bunch of time and effort that you can put into other areas of your garden.

Hey
First of all thank you for reply, and trying to help.. I do appreciate that Sir/Mam

I never wanted to flush, just add water without any fertilizers like normal (20% drain).

I thought about trying Hesi out, because one in my family did it, and he never watered till runoff. So i thought maybe i come away with 10-20% drain once or twice a week.. Because it has like a lot of organic Nitrogen.


Does someone knows if i should do what Hesi suggest in form of adding the amount of fertilizer? Because i did like 70% what Canna said.

I pushed it once a bit further, saw that i got a tiny bit of burning leaftipp's and then i got back to the "normal" solution. It was perfect, the run is awesome without any Issues, but u know the deal, if u passionate about something u directly search for a better way to get it better the next time..

Addicted to Coco.. The substrat is awesome.

@Desert Hydro If u would have links for that drip system and what i need that would be awesome.
I do live in germany tho, so i would try to find alternatives, but i dont know where to begin with.

I have Autopots, thats the only system i use what is automaticly watering.. But i dont know how it works in coco because of the salt's that can build up.

Thanks for helping guys, i will check out cocoforcanabis


What i forgot to mention:
I dont use PH-
Instead i use Silic Rock from Plagron that is Silica.. and it has an PH of 1.5

They Suggest 1ml per L of water, i do use like the half of it and i come out on 5,9 PH.
I dont know if thats good.. but it worked great.

 

[Ttutorial]

I rec measuring the ec/ph of the runoff, it tells you where to take the nutes, up or down, and when to flush and when youve flushed enough. Autopots are bottom feed and not a good option for coco in my opinion, younwill end up with salt accumulation.

Some of these numbers dont make sense: you water 1l every day with 20% runoff? We use 10l pots, water with 3 liters to get decent runoff but not as much as 20% I dont think youre letting those pots dry out properly which may be a misstake. Our watering is maybe every other day maximum, usually 3 days

When i do use an EC of 2.5 and give it to the plant, i do measure the runnoff:

If it is like 2,0 it means i should add a bit more nutrients, if its 2,8 = salts build up i should lower the dosage.

Is that correct? My EC meter broke in middle of flower, so i improvised and just observed the plant to lower or higher the dosage pretty much.

I was on 3,0ml of Canna A+B in Flower, may i ask the amount u guys use?

I do have an EC of 0,7 (tapwater) so.. :/


@Rocket Soul I use a 5L pot, i dont know what do u mean with dry out?

I water once a day, if the light is going on, i do water 1L and get like 100-200ml runoff.
I dont water slowly, i should start doing it actually, maybe thats the reason.

Btw, i did used mykrorhyza - i dont know how to spell it.
That should be fine as well? Sorry for these newbie questions, but i just did soil my entire life.

@JustGrowing420 Thats why i use dolomitlime.
Cal-Mag is putting the EC to the moon.

 

[xtsho]

Blumats are from an Austrian company.

I just use one classic blumat in a three gallon pot of straight coco. There's no runoff. Once you set them you can forget them if you do things properly. After that all you have to do is keep a reservoir higher then the blumats and gravity takes care of the rest. There's also no runoff to deal with unless you don't set them correctly and get a runaway which is why you need to keep an eye on them for the first few days and adjust as needed.

The Original - Blumat Classic

The classic for indoor plants. Proven Made in Austria brand quality, tried and tested a million times since its introduction in 1965.

www.blumat.com

 

[Rocket Soul]

When i do use an EC of 2.5 and give it to the plant, i do measure the runnoff:

If it is like 2,0 it means i should add a bit more nutrients, if its 2,8 = salts build up i should lower the dosage.

Is that correct? My EC meter broke in middle of flower, so i improvised and just observed the plant to lower or higher the dosage pretty much.

I was on 3,0ml of Canna A+B in Flower, may i ask the amount u guys use?

I do have an EC of 0,7 (tapwater) so.. :/


@Rocket Soul I use a 5L pot, i dont know what do u mean with dry out?

I water once a day, if the light is going on, i do water 1L and get like 100-200ml runoff.
I dont water slowly, i should start doing it actually, maybe thats the reason.

Btw, i did used mykrorhyza - i dont know how to spell it.
That should be fine as well? Sorry for these newbie questions, but i just did soil my entire life.

@JustGrowing420 Thats why i use dolomitlime.
Cal-Mag is putting the EC to the moon.

What i meant to say is that if you get 20% runoff from 1L daily there is already a fair bit of water in the substrate, thats why you get a bit more run off than us. General recommendations that i had is to water the plant when as dry as possible, in order to keep your roots fresh and growing as much as possible. But obviously water before wilting.

Another recomendation that worked for us is to water extra strong nutes when you up-pot: coco has high CEC so tend to bind salts to it. If you water fresh unbuffered coco the same as your regular watering the nutes available to the plant is going to be low. Iirc last few times we used EC 3 for our final up pot, and thats with fairly low light intensity. Ymmv

 

[Ttutorial]

I used 5g of dolomitlime for 5L coco - and it worked great.

But i heard that is not a good thing? Can someone explain that to me?

I know that the PH is 7,0 from Dolomit, but its just 5g.. and i never had any problems, so do it again?

EC is to high with 0,7 so i cannot use any cal-mag supplement otherwise.

 

[-OSAKA CASIO-]

Hello and welcome to growing on Coco Coir! I have Been growing in Coir aprox. 15 years , had trials and errors, so maybe I can Give you some advice.

Okay 1. it's better to use straight Coco, than to add perlite in IT, first Times I added perlite too but Found out that it's better to use straight Coco.

2. You dont need any additives If you'r using Canna Coir and Canna A & B. I tried using them when I started growing but Found out that you'r More likely getting problems using them, than any real benefits. I only sometimes use pk13/14 just because I still got the old bottle left, but can't see no real benefits.

3. Watering . When I start from seed , I first take a Solo cup and water IT soaking wet with pH 6 water, then put The seed in to The wet Coir, and next time water when The seed had germinated and popped to The surface, after that I Water maybe every 3 Day with about ec 0.6-0.8 pH.~6 solution Till The roots has colonised The Solo cup, after that I Water once or twice a Day( when The roots Are colonised The container you grow on, you can't over water, The More you water, The More roots get oxygen and The More vigorosly they grow) As what comes to The runoff, I usually water Till I get just a bit runoff, sometimes I doesn't have runoff at all, IT aint that accurate If you don't have very high EC, but try to keep the media allways wet, that's when you can run into problems If the media dries out constantly. I never measure My runoff ec, doesn't have to If you keep your feeding EC resonable. Key thing in Coco IS to get small as possible container so The media dries out fastly and you can Water IT More often, I usually use 3 or 6 litter airpots. I get about 150grams per 3 litter airpot and 300+ on 6Litter, More or less depending on strain and vegtime. But best thing you can do IS buy Atami Wilma system, and modify IT to drip to waste system, it's good because they are cheap and they are low in height, perfect For Tent grow, you only need cheap timer and airpots, some kind of reservoir For The nute solution, small amount of gardening hose and you'r good to go!

PS. I hardly ever go over EC 1.4 and still have Been growing buds big as 2 litter soda bottle. Here's one picture of My current grow, Orient Express about to Be bloomed.

 

[Ttutorial]

Hello and welcome to growing on Coco Coir! I have Been growing in Coir aprox. 15 years , had trials and errors, so maybe I can Give you some advice.

Okay 1. it's better to use straight Coco, than to add perlite in IT, first Times I added perlite too but Found out that it's better to use straight Coco.

2. You dont need any additives If you'r using Canna Coir and Canna A & B. I tried using them when I started growing but Found out that you'r More likely getting problems using them, than any real benefits. I only sometimes use pk13/14 just because I still got the old bottle left, but can't see no real benefits.

3. Watering . When I start from seed , I first take a Solo cup and water IT soaking wet with pH 6 water, then put The seed in to The wet Coir, and next time water when The seed had germinated and popped to The surface, after that I Water maybe every 3 Day with about ec 0.6-0.8 pH.~6 solution Till The roots has colonised The Solo cup, after that I Water once or twice a Day( when The roots Are colonised The container you grow on, you can't over water, The More you water, The More roots get oxygen and The More vigorosly they grow) As what comes to The runoff, I usually water Till I get just a bit runoff, sometimes I doesn't have runoff at all, IT aint that accurate If you don't have very high EC, but try to keep the media allways wet, that's when you can run into problems If the media dries out constantly. I never measure My runoff ec, doesn't have to If you keep your feeding EC resonable. Key thing in Coco IS to get small as possible container so The media dries out fastly and you can Water IT More often, I usually use 3 or 6 litter airpots. I get about 150grams per 3 litter airpot and 300+ on 6Litter, More or less depending on strain and vegtime. But best thing you can do IS buy Atami Wilma system, and modify IT to drip to waste system, it's good because they are cheap and they are low in height, perfect For Tent grow, you only need cheap timer and airpots, some kind of reservoir For The nute solution, small amount of gardening hose and you'r good to go!

PS. I hardly ever go over EC 1.4 and still have Been growing buds big as 2 litter soda bottle. Here's one picture of My current grow, Orient Express about to Be bloomed.

Thanks for that reply.

Did u used Dolomitlime? The only question i still have left is if i should use them.
I used 5g on 5L Pot - and it runs perfectly.. But people say its really bad i shouldn't do that.. so iam confused.

Like i mentioned before, my EC is 0,7 without anything. And i just can add Cal-Mag if i will buy next year the RO-Water Filter thing.

My Plants are Getting like 1,4 EC from the Start - 2,0 on day 14 of veg.
Up to 2,8 in deep Flower.. I had no problems.