the Hand Watering coco thread

[boardboy]

Hey Bonecarver thanks for the thread and all the great info and every body else of course. This is my first go at coco and i am using floranova. I am a week from flowering and i want to switch over to coco spec nutes. Should i wait till next go around or can i switch now. Thanks

 

[bigscoot]

boardboy im using floranova with coco an my plants are rockin doin better then ever
the growth an vig is out of control

 

[boardboy]

Bigscoot i have to agree with you on that plants are growing like crazy. I had a problem with nute lock but it was my own fault. I have been hearing that the bloom part of the series is not that great. So i think i am going to switch over to botanicare pro bloom in flowering. Any thoughts and have you use the flora bloom and what do you think. Thanks

 

[bigscoot]

Bigscoot i have to agree with you on that plants are growing like crazy. I had a problem with nute lock but it was my own fault. I have been hearing that the bloom part of the series is not that great. So i think i am going to switch over to botanicare pro bloom in flowering. Any thoughts and have you use the flora bloom and what do you think. Thanks

yea i use the fn bloom 2 i mean it works great 4 me i use it with a bloom stimulator an with liquid kool bloom when i first started i thought it sucked but after i got my adjustments on ph an everything else right i does it 4 me but im gonna try pure blend pro bloom an do a side by side grow on a couple of plants i here alot about it an im sure its great im pissed i didnt use coco be4 this shit rocks hope ur grow goes great
peace

 

[boardboy]

yea thats what i want to try and get away from is all the extra stuff you have to add in, This is my first grow in fithteen years i am learing alot quick thanks to people like you and everybody else on this site. I am also a licensed caregiver i have been checking out some of your ladies and im in love. Will be switching to pro bloom. Late

 

[scurred]

Great read, read about 50% of this topic over the last few days. Planning to use Canna Coco with no additives (no perlite) along with canna coco a&b nutes and pk13/14 with my tap water. I plan to filter the tap water through brita filters and let it sit out overnight for chlorine.

Anywaysss, very new to hydro, always done soil. I know how to check pH but I have never once used a EC or TDS meter. Can someone explain to me what the difference is between a EC and a TDS meter? Do I need both? Or would I be ok with just a TDS meter? Because I found one online for only $30.00. TDS meters tell you the PPM of the water, right?

Thanks!

 

[boardboy]

You are correct tds meter reads ppm. Use it to check ppm before you feed then check your run off to see how much plants are eating. This is my first grow with straight coco love it. Cant help you out with the ec meter. I got a sunleaves tds meter at a hydro store for twenty bucks. Late

 

[jackiee]

scurred Ec meter reads the ec of your feed after mixing your nutrients, i keep mine at about 0.9 for veg then slowly up it to about 1.6 in bloom and i never go over 2.0. ph about 5.8.tds or ec are both different ways of measuring the strength of your feed so you can use any but get a chart so you dont apply to much fertilizer and burn your babies. stay lucky

 

[Jozix]

Hello I need the help of the pros once again! I bought an ec pen since I've started new plants in coco so I've bought myself a ph pen aswell (no problems with that).
My ec pen has a small '100' in the top left of the screen, the main part of the display is taken by 2 digits.
The ec metre did come with simple instructions with directions on how to interpreting the readings???
My question is: does the 100 mean that I should multiply the 2 numbers that apear by 100???
I made a nutrient solution according to the label & it gave me a reading of 35, does that mean that the ec of that mix is 3500????? because I know that that is about double what it should be right? Since I grow in coco I read that I should keep it under 1200

Am I missing something obvious here? I tried a week diluted mix of the worm juice from my worm farm that I usualy mix stronger for my normal vegies & that still gave me about 20 = 2000

Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[suckerrepellent]

Hello I need the help of the pros once again! I bought an ec pen since I've started new plants in coco so I've bought myself a ph pen aswell (no problems with that).
My ec pen has a small '100' in the top left of the screen, the main part of the display is taken by 2 digits.
The ec metre did come with simple instructions with directions on how to interpreting the readings???
My question is: does the 100 mean that I should multiply the 2 numbers that apear by 100???
I made a nutrient solution according to the label & it gave me a reading of 35, does that mean that the ec of that mix is 3500????? because I know that that is about double what it should be right? Since I grow in coco I read that I should keep it under 1200

Am I missing something obvious here? I tried a week diluted mix of the worm juice from my worm farm that I usualy mix stronger for my normal vegies & that still gave me about 20 = 2000

Please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have not used these pens but i would consider these things:

1) what model is the pen, so i can research it.
2) the two digits on your pen, if measuring ec, should be x.x, or 3.5 not 35.
3)a common conversion method is to multiply ec x 700 to find ppm my guess would be the 100 you see is either a 700 for a reminder of the standard conversion, or an indication of the battery life being 100%

i read a bit about conversion ratios that vary between brands of nutrient, and even in the brand of equipment, but we can touch on that later

post the brand and model and i will answer these questions, if you can't yourself after careful consideration.

 

[justiceman]

Is it advisable to add 30% perlite to Canna coco, or does it have enough air porosity so that It drys out about once a day when the plants get established?

 

[generalgrievous]

mold/mildew on my coco.......is h202 ok in organics....?

mold/mildew on my coco.......is h202 ok in organics....?

what do you guys think this is and how can i shut it down....it's dots or very fluffy and soft... it wipes off with a finger.....

the grow medium is botanicare moisture formula ready mix fed with PBP and botanicare supplements....
the grow area is a highly ventilated closet....2'x6'x6'...
right now were 3 weeks into bloom and whatever the mold is does not seem to be affecting the plants... who's growth rate is staggering right now....the included pic is at week two....

i used some H202 3% mixed at 1 tsp. per gl.....it seemed to shut most of it down temporarily, but i just read a post about hydrogen peroxide being bad for organics and killing my microlife.....

doesn't make sense, it's only an unstable extra oxygen atom.... why would it do anything but good.....

lights on in ten so i'll know if it came back......

 

[Brooce]

Dutchmaster Advanced

Dutchmaster Advanced

First off, sorry to blow up the spot with a question from a very new coco head..
I was recently gifted a full set of Dutchmaster advanced[(A+B phases of both veg and bloom)1 liter set]. I am an organic kind of guy, but upon further reading this nutrient set seems pretty legit. At the moment I have my outdoor game shaping out for the season, so I'm kind of stacked in terms of work, and stretched thin for space.

I have four mothers in coco I plan to flower soon.

So my question is to you IC, I have read coco medium should be fed with strictly coco formulated nutrients, Could this Dutchmaster advanced do me any good? or should I pay it foreward..For in all actuality, if I cannot use this I am 100% fine with sticking to my usual of fishy emulsions.

Thanks for the energy and insight

 

[mayorofthdesert]

generalgrievous - that white stuff looks like exactly what's on top of my coco/perlite, i'd also like someone who knows what this is to comment on if it's dangerous and how to get rid of it... Happened to me after extreme humidity & heat - my ventilation failed while I was out of town. (I'm not a hand waterer, I use autopots with a res.)

Brooce- My first go-around I used nothing but AN micro + bloom (at 6ml/9ml per gallon of RO, same mix all the way through) and the plants looked beautiful start to finish. I'm going to use up what I have then I might consider a coco-specific formula, but I hardly think it necessary. lots of folks use regular ferts without issue. Some people say add Cal Mag or similar, this go-around I've been using a touch of MagiCal each feeding, but I can't say I see any positive results from doing so. I've also been using some big bud this time & whatever the reason the plants looked way better last go around with the ultra simple nute schedule.

 

[Brooce]

Thanks muchly

Thanks muchly

mayorofthdesert;

 

[Daddy-O]

.

 

[Carl Carlson]

that said, you should water coco as often as is convenient for you. constant air exchange will most certainly help to spur growth, while a steady supply of properly ph'd nute solution or even ph'd water will ensure the ph of the coco doesnt go out of wack. (make sure you get a little run-off, btw, otherwise salts can accumulate which it turn will effect the ph of the coco)

this last part is not technically correct. the buffering capacity of the irrigation water and the acidity/basicity of the fertilizer have probably the most influence on substrate pH, but salt buildup at high levels certainly can get in the way of nutrient uptake by the plant.

chapter 9 from the Handbook of plant and crop stress By Mohammad Pessarakli - google books thorough preview here: http://books.google.com/books?id=xs...er&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false

starting on page 203 - Mineral Nutrient Acquisition and Response by Plants Grown in Saline Environments by S. R. Gratan and C. M. Grieve

they break down the known affects of high salinity levels on the uptake of each macronutrient.

 

[Carl Carlson]

Hi, my plants are in 12-14ltr pots and being hand fed once a day. Straight coco in pots raised 3 inches off the catching trays with a short wick to assist draining the perched water table They`re into their third week of 9 flowering and all except for a couple of my 14 plants are needing 2ltrs to give enough run-off ie.20-40%. My nutes are running at ec1.5 ph5.9.

Does 2ltrs sound like a lot for plants in 12-14ltr pots. Its like 28ltrs per day for the 14 plants.

That's not a lot. My grow room runs pretty dry.

I've got plants blooming (1200w vertical) in 11.3 liter (3 gallon) containers.

They are consuming just about 2.5 liter per day in the third week.

I keep the EC relatively low, about 1.2 or 1.4 max, so the runoff is kept to a minimal level - probably 5%.

 

[Carl Carlson]

if you find that you are watering a little bit too much, try watering little bit at a time, untill u get a few drops starting to come out in the bottom. normally after a few minutes the excess water will flush out. but it does take time. its easy to give too much (meaning wasting) nute water if u dont water slowly..

i'm sort of experimenting with this right now. not because I water too much, but hopefully it increases the overall efficiency of the fertilizing/watering.

Assuming one daily hand watering - instead it's split up by an hour or so.

 

[Castelvetro]

not to hi jack the thread or side jack it if that a expression but has anybody noticed healheir looking plants with floranova vers flora series. i recently switched back and have i believe plants that look better overnight, i think i may stay with the nova and just employ the flora series bloom solo my last week before i flush with pure water.