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H3ad goes Coco

O

otis33

Just want to throw my hat in, after reading the entire thread, I saw a few mentions of resevoirs and that they didn't need Drip Clean or a similar product.

Can anyone else confirm this?

Can I just use heads formula in a 30gal rez without needing drip clean? I'll be using blumats btw, in pure coco, so not 100% DTW.

Anyone have any opinions, and would using protekt throw anything too far out of tolerance?

Any and all opinions appreciated.

:thank you:
you could do a blumat grow with lower ec abd no drip clean(I have), but the added insurance of the dip clean is worth it since the blumats, when properly dialed have little or no run off and this can and will cause lock out due to salt build up. I defer to those more knowledgeable about the protekt, but I will include that I too have used it with this formula with good results
 
Personally, I would use Hempy buckets with coco. Simple, foolproof, and tremendous yields. You won't need drip clean for them, and your yield will double. You could use blumats with Hempy buckets, but not necessary, really. Regular drippers work well with them. Check the Hempy bucket thread, and there is also a thread by Hempy where he uses coco instead of the traditional perlite/vermiculite that he used to use. With Hempy buckets, you also save on coco, as you can grow monster plants in a two gallon Hempy bucket, that cost $2 each @ Home Depot. Just remove the handles. You will also need a small amount of perlite, preferably chunky. I have grown one pound plants in two gallon Hempy buckets, however with a two month veg. One month veg, you can expect 6-8 ounces, strain dependent of course. I hand water them daily to run off to give them fresh oxygen.
Once you try Hempy buckets, you will never go back to any other kind of pot, and I have tried them all.
Here's the links to the Hempy bucket threads:
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=98419

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=147954

I use the K.I.S.S. method for stellar results.

I was thinking about trying hempy buckets, but I was just going to put a few inches of perlite in the bottom of a 3 gallon smart pot, coco the rest of the way up, then set the pot in a saucer that fits snug against it, and put a drain hole in the saucer. You still get the benefits of the smart pots plus the bottom res. almost no cost to me.
 

RetroGrow

Active member
Veteran
I was thinking about trying hempy buckets, but I was just going to put a few inches of perlite in the bottom of a 3 gallon smart pot, coco the rest of the way up, then set the pot in a saucer that fits snug against it, and put a drain hole in the saucer. You still get the benefits of the smart pots plus the bottom res. almost no cost to me.

That should work. But you will need something to catch the run off.Really a variation on Hempys. I like to keep it simple. I actually tossed my smart pots after discovering Hempys. You really have to put a saucer under Hempys too, to catch the run off. I water daily to run off for re-oxygination, then use shop vac to suck up the run off from the saucers. Use chunky perlite if you can get it. Recommend getting at least one 2 gallon Hempy bucket, and see how it compares. I'm betting the Hempy will win, and you will use less coco. That's with daily ( or more) watering/feeding @ 800 PPMs (K.I.S.S.) method.
 
Oh I already got the saucers for run off man. It'll be like a smart pot in a saucer in a saucer. For how cheap I can add it in its pretty much a no brainer. Not too worried about the extra coco. Its about $16 a bag where I'm at and I recover quite a bit every cycle.
 

Ghostchant

New member
you could do a blumat grow with lower ec abd no drip clean(I have), but the added insurance of the dip clean is worth it since the blumats, when properly dialed have little or no run off and this can and will cause lock out due to salt build up. I defer to those more knowledgeable about the protekt, but I will include that I too have used it with this formula with good results

This is pretty much exactly what I was thinking.

As for the hempys, I have a friend who does hempys, they have great results, but I'm looking for something with a little less maintenance.

Thanks for the responses guys! :thank you:
 

roasthawg

Member
What week is everyone pulling the micro on 56 day strains? Third week or beginning of fourth week?
Anyone have any input on this? I'm cutting micro after day 28 on 8 week strains then running 9mil bloom for three weeks followed by one week flush. Gonna try keeping the micro going thru day 35 this round to see if I can up yield some w/out losing quality.
 

solomyn

New member
Hey there,
Excellent, excellent EXCELLENT thread! I have learned much from this very thread (and I have years of growing experience!).

I just started growing again after about 13 years of 'retirement', and decided to start growing again (Medicinal MJ here in Maine).

I do have a question....

This is my second run with the H3ad formula in coco. I've grown Mazar/White Rhino, Northern Lights, White Widow/Skunk, Snowbud and currently am growing Barney's Farm's Vanilla Kush and Blue Cheese.

The Blue Cheese and Vanilla Kush are a pale green, whereas the others are all a nice waxy, deeper green color. Also, on the BC and VK, I've notices brown spots on mid-leaves.

Anyone have any clues? I've been doing the 6/9 1 Gr ratios, keeping everything right around 5.8 PH and about a 650 PPM with the .5 conversion.

Anyone experience this before? If so, what worked... bumping up the PPM in proportion to compensate for a heavier feeding plant(s)?

Thanks, and keep up the INCREDIBLE work!
 
I am by far an expert n getting my ducks in a row with coco n orgsnics.
But pale green n brown spots. Sounds like early to mild mg def.
and N. Could have a lockout.
I've had this a couple times not in coco but fed the paler ones a lil he ire till they started to darken. Then backed off to the norm with my other ladies.
Please take this with a grain of salt. Lol.
SB2
 

DabOnDabs

Active member
Veteran
Im at day 30, and I was wondering if this looks like a good flower recipe based of h3ad

4ml Micro, 10ml Bloom
N - P - K - Mg-S- Ca
64-70-112-50-30-64
 

gonzo`

Member
Hey there,
Excellent, excellent EXCELLENT thread! I have learned much from this very thread (and I have years of growing experience!).

I just started growing again after about 13 years of 'retirement', and decided to start growing again (Medicinal MJ here in Maine).

I do have a question....

This is my second run with the H3ad formula in coco. I've grown Mazar/White Rhino, Northern Lights, White Widow/Skunk, Snowbud and currently am growing Barney's Farm's Vanilla Kush and Blue Cheese.

The Blue Cheese and Vanilla Kush are a pale green, whereas the others are all a nice waxy, deeper green color. Also, on the BC and VK, I've notices brown spots on mid-leaves.

Anyone have any clues? I've been doing the 6/9 1 Gr ratios, keeping everything right around 5.8 PH and about a 650 PPM with the .5 conversion.

Anyone experience this before? If so, what worked... bumping up the PPM in proportion to compensate for a heavier feeding plant(s)?

Thanks, and keep up the INCREDIBLE work!

some strains require more or less PPM, just dilute according to their needs, the ratio will still be the same.
 

Snow Crash

Active member
Veteran
The Blue Cheese and Vanilla Kush are a pale green, whereas the others are all a nice waxy, deeper green color. Also, on the BC and VK, I've notices brown spots on mid-leaves.

Anyone have any clues? I've been doing the 6/9 1 Gr ratios, keeping everything right around 5.8 PH and about a 650 PPM with the .5 conversion.

Anyone experience this before? If so, what worked... bumping up the PPM in proportion to compensate for a heavier feeding plant(s)?

Thanks, and keep up the INCREDIBLE work!

To me it sounds like the Blue Cheese and the Vanilla Kush could use a greater amount of Nitrogen in their feed program. Phosphorus and Calcium also come to mind. In theory here, I think you just need to increase the feed levels. Try a 10% increase in feed strength for a few days to test that.

The "green waxy" color might also be of concern. Those plants might be getting adequate Nitrogen for their needs but lack some Phosphorus. This can cause a very deep green, dark and nearly blue/purple, in the right scenario, and it tends to accompany slower flower production. For those plants you might find that decreasing the N ever so slightly and bumping the PK by a few PPM gets them dialed in a little better. Drop the Micro by a ml/gallon and maybe bump the Bloom or add 1ml/gal of L. KoolBloom.

Nuances. Nothing fancy. Just a smidge here and a smidge there makes a difference though.
 

cannacultural

Active member
Hi all - great thread. Cheers H3ad for your work and knowledge.

Since switching to this mix, plants have been a lot happier. Previously was using the 3:2:1 approach, with CalMag and Silica with good results, but not great.

Have been looking at options for using other nutrients which are more easily available to me (GH stuff isn't stocked near me) and wanted everyones thoughts on these numbers.

I've compared both H3ad's analysis with the standard Lucas ratio, as well as the Maxibloom variant, and then looked around at various products to produce the following suggestion:

Assumptions:
Lucas ratio is (N-P-K-Mg) 100-100-200-60.
H3ad's Coco is 97-60-105-41-97.
Maxibloom Lucas is 92-121-215-65-92
Ca:Mg of 2:1
:. this is the target mix: 100-100-200-60-120 (N-P-K-Mg-Ca).

Based on this, mixing a soluble Bloom Booster product + GH CalMag + Epsom salts give me: 108-84-184-66-132. Mixing at a rate of 5g/gal Bloom Booster + 10ml/gal CalMag + 1g Epsom/gal.

What do you make of it? Cheers
 

cannacultural

Active member
Another idea I had was to use Maxibloom at 7g/gal during veg and bloom up to week 5, then use Flora Bloom at 9/12ml/gal for the final 3-4 weeks (9 week flowering, minus flush period). This would adhear to the recommended levels, while also matching H3ad's methodology of dropping the micro during mid-late flower. Could work out quite cost effective and require fewer bottles/packs and thus shipping (for me).
 

theother

Member
Hi all - great thread. Cheers H3ad for your work and knowledge.

Since switching to this mix, plants have been a lot happier. Previously was using the 3:2:1 approach, with CalMag and Silica with good results, but not great.

Have been looking at options for using other nutrients which are more easily available to me (GH stuff isn't stocked near me) and wanted everyones thoughts on these numbers.

I've compared both H3ad's analysis with the standard Lucas ratio, as well as the Maxibloom variant, and then looked around at various products to produce the following suggestion:

Assumptions:
Lucas ratio is (N-P-K-Mg) 100-100-200-60.
H3ad's Coco is 97-60-105-41-97.
Maxibloom Lucas is 92-121-215-65-92
Ca:Mg of 2:1
:. this is the target mix: 100-100-200-60-120 (N-P-K-Mg-Ca).

Based on this, mixing a soluble Bloom Booster product + GH CalMag + Epsom salts give me: 108-84-184-66-132. Mixing at a rate of 5g/gal Bloom Booster + 10ml/gal CalMag + 1g Epsom/gal.

What do you make of it? Cheers

I am scared of the K, seems a bit high, I can tell you prolonged high doses of potassium in coco lead to some unpleasant consequences. If you try it just watch the plants, it won't happen in the beginning, would be something that came up mid flower.

Also I would honestly keep looking, that is a lot of CA, not sure using calmag+ as a base nute is going to be beneficial long term (hope someone jumps in here and explains why that much edta chelated iron in the root zone is detrimental, I don't know exactly why it is, but it makes me a bit nervous)

There are a lot of different 3 parts out now that are pretty much spot on the GH ratios.
 

cannacultural

Active member
I am scared of the K, seems a bit high...

...not sure using calmag+ as a base nute is going to be beneficial long term...

There are a lot of different 3 parts out now that are pretty much spot on the GH ratios.
Cheers for your advice. I went back and played with the numbers a bit to see if I could get it right. Looks as though this isn't the best idea - I reduced the CalMag by half, as they supplies all the Ca and Mg in that mix, but couldn't get the K low enough without dropping too much N and P. So I'll let this go - I thought I might have been a bit off the mark somewhere. I'm only just getting my head around all the numbers and using the calculators, but it's great stuff!

As for other products, yep, sounds like a better plan. My later suggested idea about mixing (not together but in sequence) of Maxibloom and Flora Bloom, would work I think. I'll see what else is available at a similar price point and see if I can come up with something better. I could stick with GH but postage costs become 1/3-1/2 the cost of each product!
 

theother

Member
Cheers for your advice. I went back and played with the numbers a bit to see if I could get it right. Looks as though this isn't the best idea - I reduced the CalMag by half, as they supplies all the Ca and Mg in that mix, but couldn't get the K low enough without dropping too much N and P. So I'll let this go - I thought I might have been a bit off the mark somewhere. I'm only just getting my head around all the numbers and using the calculators, but it's great stuff!

As for other products, yep, sounds like a better plan. My later suggested idea about mixing (not together but in sequence) of Maxibloom and Flora Bloom, would work I think. I'll see what else is available at a similar price point and see if I can come up with something better. I could stick with GH but postage costs become 1/3-1/2 the cost of each product!

Sounds good man, I cant promise you that the elevated K would start locking stuff out, but in my experience that is the case.

Its totally okay to mix and match all day long, just make sure it all makes sense. I don't always follow h3ads exact numbers but I try and keep the ratios in line with his and keep the K down, that is what has worked for me.

The calculator is the best! I use it to look at ratios for different nute lines compare them to others etc, best thing going imho!

Good luck with the coco, you'll love it when you get dialed, and it sounds like you are on the right track.
 

cannacultural

Active member
Hi guys,

Been working on my feeding schedule/logs and noticed something very useful about H3ad's ratio.

Converting the ml/gal (6/9) to ml/L (1.6/2.4) something very awesome happens. The ml of micro used, will equal the solution dilution EC.

Nutrient EC:Dilution ratio
ml per litre
.........Dilution rate: 1.0x .75x .5x .25x
.........Flora Micro.... 1.6 1.2 0.8 0.4
.........Flora Bloom.... 2.4 1.8 1.2 0.6
.........EC:............. 1.6 1.2 0.8 0.4

Makes for easy calculation for mixing solutions
 

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