H3ad goes Coco

[Snow Crash]

I get this issue commonly when there is a salinity issue with the media. The runoff was probably very high and there was a buildup of cations in the media. Often times the answer to a deficiency isn't more of the missing element. The answer is less of the other elements that compete for uptake with that element.

The only way to resolve the issue is copious amounts of runoff over several waterings. This will remove excess cations built up in the coco and allow the proper uptake of the proper ratio of elements.

Good luck with your current grow.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Just wanted to say that I have been using this method for a little over 3 weeks now and have gotten such fast growth. Thanks for showing us how u do it Head!

 

[dgr]

Pirate,
What is the pH of your coco? 6.5 seems pretty high for Coco. Just the coir should be around 6.0. What is your EC doing when your pH goes up? Could it be that the plants need a higher EC?

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

Whew, made it through 100 pages. Great read Grat3fulh3ad and thank you very much for putting this info out there, you have grown many growers. I just wanted to say thanks to GH and everyone else who positively contributed to this thread. Well I am off to start this thread over and take some notes.

 

[EDSB]

hello
how must i use the new floraduo bloom
like the head formula?

Thx

 

[Maj.Cottonmouth]

Do you guys think this looks right assuming a 10 week strain?

 

[J23]

Hello everyone.
Well, as said in my previous post I "finished" my first grow. I got my own smoke! I must confess it tastes and smells like crap but, well, it's my crop. I had problems with balancing nutes so at the final stage I burned almost all leaves. Additionally, my curing attempt failed - I over-dried my harvest at the beginning and I guess that contributed to the poor smell/taste quality. I just got a caliber hygrometer so I hope to improve the quality of my next harvest. Other than that, while gaining some experience I'm still fighting the nutrients imbalance. My second grow from clone is about 6 weeks now. I have moved the plant from cfl to hps 20/4. Fertilizing with 6ml GH FloraMicro, 9ml FloraBloom and adding about 5ml of General Organics CaMg+ per 1gal of tap water. I have been tracking the fert solution composition. I keep the ph at 5.7 - 5.9 range, ppm 850 - 870. Today, run-off at 850 (OAKTON Con 410). About a week ago I noticed slight discoloration of the leaves: vains remain dark green while the rest turns light green. Please see the pisc...


As mentioned, I keep the ph and ppm at acceptable levels. Dosing CaMg+ per manufacturer recommends (5ml/gal for light feeding). Watering twice a day with approx. 10% run-off.
...just check run-off ph. Its 6.5. Should I flush it to lower ph? Darn, looks like I neglected balancing coco ph. Could that be the issue?
Thanks for comments

some more pics of LST and plant...

 

[Coco_nuts]

Do you guys think this looks right assuming a 10 week strain?

Looks good. Maby run micro till end of week 11 What wattage are you using? I flower under 400w hps and use 5/7.5 or even 4/6 for some light feeders.

Hello everyone.
Well, as said in my previous post I "finished" my first grow. I got my own smoke! I must confess it tastes and smells like crap but, well, it's my crop. I had problems with balancing nutes so at the final stage I burned almost all leaves. Additionally, my curing attempt failed - I over-dried my harvest at the beginning and I guess that contributed to the poor smell/taste quality. I just got a caliber hygrometer so I hope to improve the quality of my next harvest. Other than that, while gaining some experience I'm still fighting the nutrients imbalance. My second grow from clone is about 6 weeks now. I have moved the plant from cfl to hps 20/4. Fertilizing with 6ml GH FloraMicro, 9ml FloraBloom and adding about 5ml of General Organics CaMg+ per 1gal of tap water. I have been tracking the fert solution composition. I keep the ph at 5.7 - 5.9 range, ppm 850 - 870. Today, run-off at 850 (OAKTON Con 410). About a week ago I noticed slight discoloration of the leaves: vains remain dark green while the rest turns light green. Please see the pisc...


As mentioned, I keep the ph and ppm at acceptable levels. Dosing CaMg+ per manufacturer recommends (5ml/gal for light feeding). Watering twice a day with approx. 10% run-off.
...just check run-off ph. Its 6.5. Should I flush it to lower ph? Darn, looks like I neglected balancing coco ph. Could that be the issue?
Thanks for comments

some more pics of LST and plant...

Your plant looks ok, its fine for a couple leaves to die off, they were lower down the plant right?

Dont test the runoff of your coco, you dont get an accurate reading that way, if you are feeding to waste just make sure the solution that goes in is ph5.8 and you should be fine.
What coco are you using? Did you pre treat it at all?

Dont stress to much your plant looks pretty healthy.

 

[J23]

Hi coco_nut.
I use General Hydroponics cocotek. Did not treat it. L
eaves show discoloration in different parts of the plant

 

[Coco_nuts]

Hi coco_nut.
I use General Hydroponics cocotek. Did not treat it. L
eaves show discoloration in different parts of the plant

The last picture you posted, the plant looks pretty healthy to me.
Dont stress about losing 2-3 leaves. Start a grow diary ill follow along.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

Hello everyone.
Well, as said in my previous post I "finished" my first grow. I got my own smoke! I must confess it tastes and smells like crap but, well, it's my crop. I had problems with balancing nutes so at the final stage I burned almost all leaves. Additionally, my curing attempt failed - I over-dried my harvest at the beginning and I guess that contributed to the poor smell/taste quality. I just got a caliber hygrometer so I hope to improve the quality of my next harvest. Other than that, while gaining some experience I'm still fighting the nutrients imbalance. My second grow from clone is about 6 weeks now. I have moved the plant from cfl to hps 20/4. Fertilizing with 6ml GH FloraMicro, 9ml FloraBloom and adding about 5ml of General Organics CaMg+ per 1gal of tap water. I have been tracking the fert solution composition. I keep the ph at 5.7 - 5.9 range, ppm 850 - 870. Today, run-off at 850 (OAKTON Con 410). About a week ago I noticed slight discoloration of the leaves: vains remain dark green while the rest turns light green. Please see the pisc...


As mentioned, I keep the ph and ppm at acceptable levels. Dosing CaMg+ per manufacturer recommends (5ml/gal for light feeding). Watering twice a day with approx. 10% run-off.
...just check run-off ph. Its 6.5. Should I flush it to lower ph? Darn, looks like I neglected balancing coco ph. Could that be the issue?
Thanks for comments

some more pics of LST and plant...

The plants look somewhat healthy at this point.....I am also a beginner to coco but I would think that watering once a day with more runoff would be better than watering twice a day with 10% runoff. I always used 5.5 ph though like Rez and i think head recommend. 5.9 seems especially high for coco. Also, why are you adding so much cal mag? are you using RO water? Are you flushing every 10 days or so?

 

[J23]

Hi Johny.
I water every 12 hours and flush with diluted nutes every two weeks. As far as adding CaMg+, I may be a little paranoid. I do use tap water but I almost lost my previous grow due to Mg deficiency (I guess that was the reason). This time I add it as a precaution...

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

In the coco, I am now using 6ml/gal micro and 9ml/gal bloom which gives the nute profile:
N 97
P 60
K 105
Mg 27
S 41
Ca 97

adding 1 g/gal epsom salts to the solution changes the numbers for mg and s to:
Mg 67
S 61


Adjusting for the extra available potassium in the coco, the new formula puts me very close to the 'target ratio'... Phosphorous is a tad low, but I think there should be no worries there...

Liking everything I'm seeing so far cept the epsom salts, I had trouble with using epsom, then again I had so many problems maybe that wasn't it at all. My gut says you'd do better with cal/mag+ from my experience, which is also N based and gives em that extra N kick MrMo was talking about.

Well, I had considered the cal-mag... but with my formulation, the only elements that really needed modified were the Mg and the S... So I broke out the handy nute calculator from the cannastats site, and figured out exactly how much Magnesium Sulfate(epsom) to add...

Also with the mix I'm using, I think additional Ca would only cause me problems...

 

[Coco_nuts]

I think calcium doesnt uptake as well at ph5.5, ph5.8 is what i feed at.

 

[habeeb]

what is the actual formula for 6/9 ?

I see head says it:

N 97
P 60
K 105
Mg 27
S 41
Ca 97

but when I type it in canna stats, I get:

N 99
P 61
K 109
Ca 99
Mg 42
S 28
I'm a little confused, the bloom says 1.5 mg , and at 9 ml a gallon it comes out to 42? so why does head lists so low?

I've also seen other people say different numbers when saying what 6/9 gives them.. who is correct ???? or what does it actually come out to?

 

[Slimm]

The plants look somewhat healthy at this point.....I am also a beginner to coco but I would think that watering once a day with more runoff would be better than watering twice a day with 10% runoff. I always used 5.5 ph though like Rez and i think head recommend. 5.9 seems especially high for coco. Also, why are you adding so much cal mag? are you using RO water? Are you flushing every 10 days or so?

I believe H3ad and Rez both settled on 5.7 - I have not heard of either recommending 5.5. Got a link?

I think calcium doesnt uptake as well at ph5.5, ph5.8 is what i feed at.

Yeah, it's a balance between mg and ca. With lower ph releasing more mg and less ca. As the ph rises the plant sees more ca and less mg. 5.8 seems to be the balance point; that is what I target as well.

Unless it is pre-rinsed coco should always be soaked overnight in ro to remove salt. Its a good idea to pre charge coco with a normal feeding of nutrients along with a heavy dose of CalMag overnight in the water you plan to grow with. This helps to avoid cal mg issues that coco is known for.

 

[laughingmoon]

Are you pre-charging the pre-rinsed coco?
I picked up some Royal Gold a little while back but haven't used it yet. I'd like to make sure I start it out correctly.

 

[Slimm]

Yes. I use Canna coco and pre charge it. Also, get yourself some Gnatrol. It's inexpensive and completely safe. Fungus gnats love coco.

 

[laughingmoon]

Is CalMag+ essential? That's the one thing I didn't buy. Figured I could use tap water and ph adjust.

 

[Slimm]

Coco has an affinity for certain things. Ca and mg mainly. If you don't fill up the buffer it will pull it from your water and then you may have to supplement. I don't know what is in your water but it's pretty common for growers to need more calmg with coco because of it's CEC.