General Hydroponics Flora series in coco coir. NEED help with feeding schedule.

[Giantbugkiller]

I am a new grower in coco coir and have not found a good feeding guide for the GH Flora series. So here is my set up. I have the Flora, Grow, Micro and Bloom as well as the Calmagic, Armor SI and RapidStart. I am using CYCO Coco Coir and adding 30% perlite. I am starting my seed in a three gallon fabric grow bag. Ok i know that some people think that that is not a good idea to start seedling in such a big container but i am coming form autoflowers and that is what i am used to so i thought that i should just stick with it for now. I have a 4x4 tent and I have all the stuff to keep humidity and heat-cooling in check, fans, humidifier, dehumidifier, AC, Heater. My lights are Spider farmer SF4000 and I have a Hydro logic 150 RO water system. Now all I need is a feeding guide of some kind. I had a feeding schedule from growweedeasy.com but it says to water with plan water every other feeding and i have read that if you give plan RO water in coco coir that it can cause problems. So now i don't know what to do! Can anyone give me some advice on how to feed my plants in coco coir with RO water and the nutrients machined above.
HERE IS THE FEEDING CHART from growweedeasy
https://www.growweedeasy.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/drain-to-waste-flora-series-schedule.pdf

PS. The seeds are already started in the 3# bags so i can't do anything about that.

 

[f-e]

GH Flora Micro @6mL/Gal = 97N 0P 16K 97Ca 1.9Fe +
GH Flora Bloom @9mL/Gal = 0N 60P 91K 41Mg

6+9 = 97N 60P 107K 41Mg 97Ca 1.9Fe

That might be low in N for veg and early bloom. Where Ca&Mg can also be raised. All 3 can be covered with a calmag product. Which should bring a little more Fe to the table, as that's also on the low side in this mix.

The next one is the Lucas, where you can see the N and Fe look better, but P&K are a bit high for coco. Though most would say they are not.
GH Flora Micro @8mL/Gal = 130N 0P 22K 130Ca 2.6Fe +
GH Flora Bloom @16mL/Gal = 0N 106P 161K 73Mg

8+16 = 130N 106P 183K 73Mg 130Ca 2.6Fe

 

[asher1er]

the 8/16ml per gal Micro/Bloom seems to have worked for a lot of people. The quality just wasnt on point for me so i didn't give it a try again after the first test run. On that note, the 8/16 did much better than the 6/9 recipe for me in coco.

I would recommend that you dont run plain RO through coco, if you do decide to go the route that website is telling you then on the plain water days i would feed with a .6-.7 EC and not plain RO.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

Tank you f-e and asher1er i will definitely take that all under consideration. Do you feed that amount form the time the seedling comes up? Or do you work your way up to that amount? And what about the Calmagic and the Armor SI? Again thank you for the help it is much appreciated.

 

[asher1er]

don't have much experience with seedlings but the times i did mess with them i tend to baby em. id water down the solution a bit and ramp them up, usually at that point they will just be pale but you have plenty of time to bring them back.

Don't forget to put your ArmorSI in the rez first, never used that one but i know SI produsts should always go first. When i ran with RO i liked bringing my starting water up to about .2/.3EC with calmag.

 

[Growenhaft]

Flora, Grow, Micro und Bloom

is it the Tripart series?

then this scheme should be useful to you.
and when growing cannabis on coco, it is generally always poured with a nutrient solution. otherwise you will miss your Ph in the medium. never use pure RO water at coco if you have opted for a mineral supply.

 

[Tynehead Tom]

Veg feed with Lucas is 5ml micro, 10ml bloom. Well rooted clones can be fed that right away but seedlings..... I would not feed until 14 days of growth above ground. If you feel they need to be fed sooner or they are running off a reservoir, just 1/2 that to 2.5 micro, 5 bloom and between day 14 and 21 of veg increase to 5/10. In my view, 6/9 is for coco , rockwool, pop rocks ect and 8/16 is for soiless mix like sunshine 4 or promix HP.
I don't use calmag with general hydro but I do have general hydro's calimagic on hand.
General Hydro has enough mag in it but adding 150 to 200 ppm soluble Gypsum (calcium) will be a big benefit and will improve CEC and if the plants are mag hungry, treat with the addition of epsom salts, root zone or foilar.
And I agree with others here that it's not good to give straight RO.
On my water only days I run 200 ppm gypsum and a teaspoon of epsom salts with the RO
I don't have a lot of experience with coco but I have been growing with general hydro flora series nutrients since the mid 90's

 

[tobedetermined]

I usually start a very light feed - 25% of normal - 0.2 ec or so - around day 5 after they have broken ground. I also start a 25% dose of cal/mag at the same time. 3 or 4 days later, I boost to 50% . . . etc

I grow in coco/perlite using CannaCoco nutes.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

Thank you again asher1er that is good stuff to add to my list.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

grownehaft sorry i may not have mad it clear but i am working with General Hydroponics Flora Series. Thank you for your support man.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

Tynehead Tom ok all good stuff to know thank you! I will make sure to not use plain RO water. I am thinking of using the 6/9 method but i am not sure yet. Thank you man for the info i am writing it all down.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

tobedetermined that is great info! thank you for using EC that helps a lot. It gives me a place to start.

 

[f-e]

If you flush coco you uncover exchange sites. These will need repopulating. Coco is constantly giving off K and sodium. If you have just cleaned sites, and have only K and Sodium present, then the K and Sodium will take the sites. You really want calcium present at quite high numbers, all the time. Or your flushing attempt won't shift out bad salts, but rather, it will give them somewhere to live. The total opposite of what you want.
To flush coco, you lower your ec to half, and that's in extreme need. Realistically, you just don't do it unless you have messed up. You find the constant need and maintain it.
If you do flush a tank of full EC through, the following fertigations you will see the runoff value drop below what was fed to them, as the coco loads up again. So on these days, I like to stick some extra Calcium and Magnesium in. More so the Calcium. That's after a full EC flush.

Your feeds do expect calmag. One with low N. Using RO and coco, you perhaps won't get far without it.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

t-e Wow man you are on top of this coco coir stuff. So I was thinking of just doing the feeding schedule that i posted. But instead of every other watering with plain RO water I would add 150 ppm of CALmagic, 1/8 of a teaspoon of Epson salts and 1/4 teaspoon of Real Growers Recharge. What do you think?

 

[f-e]

Why?
If you want you can buy every element of your feed separately. The push in recent years has been for a 'one bottle does all' feed. That can't really be done, but switching from a grow to bloom formula, then later using some PK works. That's 3 mixes for a plant that can find what it wants in anything. We have so many different feeds on the shelf, because so wide a range will work. What's most important though, is balance. The buffet must have a bit of everything, as no single component works on it's own.

Iron is one of the things coco comes buffered with. It needs a maintenance dose. If you miss it in half your feeds, it will be taken from the coco. Then it's seat will get nicked by the more aggressive Ca or Mg that is their on that day. Then the Iron has nowhere to sit. It will still be on the bus, but only every other day. It will have to wait to get a foothold again. It's not the only one stood though. Perhaps Sodium could get that seat. Getting sodium out is a constant quest with coco.

It's the same story as flushing. You need to maintain cocos balance, not upset it.


As your first run with a new cultivar (perhaps your first at all) you just use a basic like the Lucas formula. You do a full grow. Smoke it. Then do it again. Smoke it. Then think if you learned enough to tune your feed better for that specific grow setup/plant. There is a chance things won't work with the Lucas and you may jump ship early for a different ratio. You may even see that a bit more K is needed during bloom. I imagine as a first grow that won't happen though. You will spend your time just finding the right amount to use. Which isn't at all unprofessional. Getting the strength right is 101 with any new feed. It will take you a grow or two. Just use the known food and pH, and watch. Then you can learn what they like, from that baseline. You must establish a baseline though. Only then can you think about changing things.

 

[Giantbugkiller]

f-e Keep it simple and learn the base nutrients .. Got it! i will do the h3ad formula and start feeding at ten day from when the seeds are up. I will start the feedings at 2/5 and go up from there to full strength. I will also add CALmagic every watering. As soon as the plants are big enough they will be watered to ten to twenty percent runoff. So here is a question that i might be over worried about but here goes. What about salt build up and dead root matter is that a problem that i need to per-think about or should i not be concerned?

 

[Giantbugkiller]

Sorry people if i am asking a lot of crazy questions but i would like to have at least all the basic knowledge in this old head of mine before i get started and run in to all kind of problems and then have no idea how to fix them. Thank you for being patient with me i do appreciate it.

 

[f-e]

Keep to small pots. It increases watering frequency. The sooner you can dtw (drip to waste) the better. Don't waste an opportunity with 10% runoff, if it's taken days to get there. You need that coco salt out. A small pot will dry in a few days even without a plant in it. Allowing dtw more frequently. It's not just getting salt out, it's getting fresh feed and aerated water in. Coco can't really get too wet if the pot is sized appropriately and able to drain.

If this is a first run, pop pet shop for some hemp seeds and practice.

I don't really have a seed recipe. If I have some RO or distilled, I will harden it up to about 0.4 with calmag, then take it to 0.6 with a complete bloom mix. If cuttings, 0.8
Seeds have the energy to get some way. I won't feed again until they ask for it. That first feed is just so everything is there in some propertion, but mostly to clean up the coco after a long time sat in the bag. I will put through quite a bit. Then put the seed in shallow, and cover in dry stuff to lower the general water content left from that little flush.

Biggest killer for me over the years is feeding too early. I'm better taking it easy.