the Hand Watering coco thread

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Hey mgk
So, I do not think that the bricks of coco I got I have to rinse, i will try straight (6.0??or 5.8btw?) water to break them up. If I had a ppm problem with the first 2 bricks I would've seen it in the plants right? I am just wondering if this is a necessary step. Shit, I do not even know the brand of coco I have, I would have to go look.
Speaking of how expensive nutes are, I HAVE noticed that I am feeding alot more than I used to. The coco dries up fast...but I also noticed the results are fast too. If I see some curling of leaves, 5.8 water the next feeding...boom...back to normal...i am basically hand watering every two days with nom temps and humidity...and every three feedings they seem to need water at the fourth. Loving it so far, except again..compared to soil...wow...some days at same temps in soil I could go 3 or even four days before they need a feeding or water.
AAAaaaannnnd, another thing I love about coco, running at 5.8ph. I mix up my nutes and they always fall in at 5.8-5.9...lovin it!

Well, when I first started using coco (all of 3 months ago), I too just hydrated and planted.. I had no troubles except one plant.. I'm not sure if it was residual salt in the coco that caused the problem or not, but after reading other people's methods, I thought the 'rinse' cycle for coco was a good idea and I've been doing it since. The way I look at it is, why not take the small amount of time and do it rather than not do it and have a potential problem. We put a lot of effort into the growing, harvesting and curing of our product.. why not take the extra (small) step of making sure your medium is properly prepared.

I feed my plants every day with nutrients solution. If I see any burn or stress, I'll flush. But, the amount of time I've seen such stress while growing in coco is zilch. Sounds like you're pointed in the right direction.. it does sound like you're treating the plants as tho they are in dirt, but remember.. they are not.. they are in a hydroponic medium that just looks like dirt.

mgk

 

[str8clandestine]

Dear Bonecarver,
ive extensively read this and other coco threads and have tried it for my first time, and am replacing it with DWC, coco coir is what the plants roots love, fiber, its the best medium, thanx for sharing your wisdom, muchly appreciated, i have been using AN sensi bloom, big bud, bud candy and overdrive, with low ppm, around 800, and have had good results with Sour D in 2 gallon containers with 400 watt light, im choppin down here in a few days, i'd love to share my first time grow in coco, any advice on what camera to use and how to upload it safely, and anonymously on this thread? thanx bro.

 

[Justin_Credible]

<snip>
I feed my plants every day with nutrients solution. If I see any burn or stress, I'll flush. But, the amount of time I've seen such stress while growing in coco is zilch. Sounds like you're pointed in the right direction.. it does sound like you're treating the plants as tho they are in dirt, but remember.. they are not.. they are in a hydroponic medium that just looks like dirt.

mgk

Hey mgk,
Yeah, I guess old habbits (treating them like they are in soil) die hard. Do you mean the wet/dry method I am using? As in letting them dry out and then watering? Is this a bad idea? So you feed everyday even when they are wet? What nutes do you use? Also do you use perlite in your coco mix---90%-10%? And lastly man, how do you rinse your coco? Use a piece of cheese cloth or something? I am soaking a brick right now in 5-6 gals of 6.0 water...what next? When you said remember they are in a hydro medium? That is why I was so surprised when you and others said they rinse because some bricks have 700ppm etc. I did not think coco had anything at all to give to the plants, I did not know that it came with crap inside of it that I have to clean out.Thanks for the help and good coco-convo. Man, did not realize how many questions I had.....


Str8clandestine: It took me a while to get the guts to start putting up pics, I talked with someone on the site whom has been here for years..I was told the best way if you are scared is to put a plant in front of something that noone can identify, a sheet or a door or something...and not to take full garden shots. All of the data from your pics; info from your comp etc is all whiped when you upload to ic. Hope this helps.

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Hey mgk,
Yeah, I guess old habbits (treating them like they are in soil) die hard. Do you mean the wet/dry method I am using? As in letting them dry out and then watering? Is this a bad idea? So you feed everyday even when they are wet? What nutes do you use? Also do you use perlite in your coco mix---90%-10%? And lastly man, how do you rinse your coco? Use a piece of cheese cloth or something? I am soaking a brick right now in 5-6 gals of 6.0 water...what next? When you said remember they are in a hydro medium? That is why I was so surprised when you and others said they rinse because some bricks have 700ppm etc. I did not think coco had anything at all to give to the plants, I did not know that it came with crap inside of it that I have to clean out.Thanks for the help and good coco-convo. Man, did not realize how many questions I had.....

Hey mon.. letting them dry out in coco can be dangerous.. it drains so well that you can have your roots dry out completely between watering.. not good.. I do feed every day and I use House and Garden nutes. They are by a company called 'Vande Zwaan' from the Netherlands. There's a thread here that you might find useful https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=158853 . I use the entire line and it rocks.. a little expensive, but looking at the whole picture is what counts. I think it's relatively inexpensive if you buy the 5 liter size of the base nutes and the quart size supplements. BTW, I use straight coco.. I use the General Hydroponics Cocotek (the 'Mixed' variety). I do not use any perlite or other amendments. The way I rinse is pretty simple to do, but might be hard to explain. I grow in 2 gallon (actually holds 2 1/2 gallons) that I get at Lowes or Home Depot. I put drain holes in the bottom of the paint buckets. When I'm rehydrating the coco bricks (one of the bricks is prefect amount for the paint buckets) I put the small bucket inside a 5 gallon bucket and fill the whole rig with water up to the top of the small bucket. That hydrates the coco. After it's fully hydrated, I drain it and dump off the drain water. Then I suspend the small bucket above the bigger bucket using a couple sticks fed thru the handles of the small bucket and going across the top of the bigger bucket. This makes the small bucket hang down inside the bigger bucket. I then start pouring water on top of the coco in the small bucket and it drains down into the bigger bucket.. I keep flooding the coco until it's about to spill over the top, but don't let it (I don't pay too much attention to the pH of the water I'm using for rinse, my tap pH is right at neutral). Then I let that sit for half hour or so until it's done draining. I then take a sample of that drain water and test it for ppm level. I repeat this process until my drain water is showing a low 100 ppm level. I hope that didn't totally confuse you. One interesting thing I've notice using this method is that some bricks have more residual salt/mineral content than others. I'm sure others will chime in with their methods and I'm not saying my way is the best or the only way.. it's just the way I do it. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love it.

mgk

 

[str8clandestine]

i dont have a camera, what camera is best for macro shots and best picture quality?

 

[bonecarver_OG]

str8clandestine - go check ur local camera store , i bet they can give u good tips ion selecting a camera

everything that gets uploaded to the icmag image folders is pretty much as anonymous as u can get. just keep posting and such untill you have a rigth to upload pics. check the FAQ of the forum for info on post count and such.

anyway im glad to hear your coco round has gone well

peace!

 

[gaiusmarius]

i think you can post pics up right away, it's only pms that require a post count and a week of time being a member

 

[bahura]

Hi guys I have a problem with my plants (6 week flowering). The leaves begin to turn yellow! I use Coco! fertilizers which are used a Dutch Formula 1,2,3 for Hydro only!

Now I have a Hy-Pro a + b hydro and shooting power and want to use them, but first I want to fix the problem with yellow leaves

 

[brobrobro]

hey guys

my seedlings are about 7 days old and ive been feeding with canna a+b @ 200ppm (tap water @ 45ppm)

should i up the ppm?

im feeding once a day


thanks for any help!

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Hi guys I have a problem with my plants (6 week flowering). The leaves begin to turn yellow! I use Coco! fertilizers which are used a Dutch Formula 1,2,3 for Hydro only!

Now I have a Hy-Pro a + b hydro and shooting power and want to use them, but first I want to fix the problem with yellow leaves

It's hard to tell by the picture, but yellowing of the big leaves during late flowering is not abnormal at all. Gauge your plant's progress by the looks of the bud sites more than the fan leaves. I start taking those yellowing fan leaves off when they start looking like they're drooping and fading. It opens the plant up for more light to the lower bud sites and seems to have no effect on the plant at all. Don't forget.. when these plants are making flowers, they go into 'survival' mode and go thru several changes along the way. Good luck..

mgk

 

[gaiusmarius]

yeah not abnormal, but his yellowing leaves seem a bit different then just end of life yellowing. i imagine your plants don't get enough N, i should say the coco is not getting enough N, so it's stealing it from the plant. you'll notice the coco specific nutrients have quite high N levels even though you use it for full flowering cycle.


without pics of the 7 day old seedlings it's impossible to say if they need more ferts. if they are looking a bit light green yu could up the nutes a bit, if they look nice a green already, then you can just stick with what your doing.

 

[Justin_Credible]

Hey mon.. letting them dry out in coco can be dangerous.. it drains so well that you can have your roots dry out completely between watering.. not good.. I do feed every day and I use House and Garden nutes. They are by a company called 'Vande Zwaan' from the Netherlands. There's a thread here that you might find useful https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=158853 . I use the entire line and it rocks.. a little expensive, but looking at the whole picture is what counts. I think it's relatively inexpensive if you buy the 5 liter size of the base nutes and the quart size supplements. BTW, I use straight coco.. I use the General Hydroponics Cocotek (the 'Mixed' variety). I do not use any perlite or other amendments. The way I rinse is pretty simple to do, but might be hard to explain. I grow in 2 gallon (actually holds 2 1/2 gallons) that I get at Lowes or Home Depot. I put drain holes in the bottom of the paint buckets. When I'm rehydrating the coco bricks (one of the bricks is prefect amount for the paint buckets) I put the small bucket inside a 5 gallon bucket and fill the whole rig with water up to the top of the small bucket. That hydrates the coco. After it's fully hydrated, I drain it and dump off the drain water. Then I suspend the small bucket above the bigger bucket using a couple sticks fed thru the handles of the small bucket and going across the top of the bigger bucket. This makes the small bucket hang down inside the bigger bucket. I then start pouring water on top of the coco in the small bucket and it drains down into the bigger bucket.. I keep flooding the coco until it's about to spill over the top, but don't let it (I don't pay too much attention to the pH of the water I'm using for rinse, my tap pH is right at neutral). Then I let that sit for half hour or so until it's done draining. I then take a sample of that drain water and test it for ppm level. I repeat this process until my drain water is showing a low 100 ppm level. I hope that didn't totally confuse you. One interesting thing I've notice using this method is that some bricks have more residual salt/mineral content than others. I'm sure others will chime in with their methods and I'm not saying my way is the best or the only way.. it's just the way I do it. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love it.

mgk

Hey mgk,
Thanks for the thread, I have been in there checking things out...some good stuff in there. Also, I like and see in my head your method for straining the coco. I am going to try this today to see what kind of run off I get from my ppm meter.

 

[str8clandestine]

Anyone wanna see some good medicinal herb?

Anyone wanna see some good medicinal herb?

400 watt scrog with advanced nutrients, grown be me, i use intuition, not a feeding system or schedule, the ones with buds on then are 4 sd's, 2 in DWC, and 2 put in coco, about 2 months ago, side by side comparison of growth rate, yield, potency, and terpenoid/flavanoid production. I am wondering if a 10 megapixel camera is enough to take photo's that have clarity and excellent viewing of trichomes and what not, any one please help, what kind of camera you guys use? if i bought a $60 camera that has 10megapixels, would i be able to take photos here before i chop, and have trichome macro shots as well? thanks, i really wanna share, and am curious to see what you people think my buds would look like under a 1k, compared to my 400 watt, they are lookin juicy, sexy and tasty, trichomes are turning milky cloudy, so i will chop soon, quicker u respond, quicker i buy camera and take a few snapshots, thanx

 

[mydnytetoker]

Hey mon.. letting them dry out in coco can be dangerous.. it drains so well that you can have your roots dry out completely between watering.. not good.. I do feed every day and I use House and Garden nutes. They are by a company called 'Vande Zwaan' from the Netherlands. There's a thread here that you might find useful https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=158853 . I use the entire line and it rocks.. a little expensive, but looking at the whole picture is what counts. I think it's relatively inexpensive if you buy the 5 liter size of the base nutes and the quart size supplements. BTW, I use straight coco.. I use the General Hydroponics Cocotek (the 'Mixed' variety). I do not use any perlite or other amendments. The way I rinse is pretty simple to do, but might be hard to explain. I grow in 2 gallon (actually holds 2 1/2 gallons) that I get at Lowes or Home Depot. I put drain holes in the bottom of the paint buckets. When I'm rehydrating the coco bricks (one of the bricks is prefect amount for the paint buckets) I put the small bucket inside a 5 gallon bucket and fill the whole rig with water up to the top of the small bucket. That hydrates the coco. After it's fully hydrated, I drain it and dump off the drain water. Then I suspend the small bucket above the bigger bucket using a couple sticks fed thru the handles of the small bucket and going across the top of the bigger bucket. This makes the small bucket hang down inside the bigger bucket. I then start pouring water on top of the coco in the small bucket and it drains down into the bigger bucket.. I keep flooding the coco until it's about to spill over the top, but don't let it (I don't pay too much attention to the pH of the water I'm using for rinse, my tap pH is right at neutral). Then I let that sit for half hour or so until it's done draining. I then take a sample of that drain water and test it for ppm level. I repeat this process until my drain water is showing a low 100 ppm level. I hope that didn't totally confuse you. One interesting thing I've notice using this method is that some bricks have more residual salt/mineral content than others. I'm sure others will chime in with their methods and I'm not saying my way is the best or the only way.. it's just the way I do it. Once you get the hang of it, you'll love it.

mgk

Ok, I use House & Garden Cocos A&B with Roots Excelerator and Drip Clean, and I read somewhere around here that some coco nutes (not sure if it was Canna or some other dutch brand) are recommended to be mixed with A, let sit, then mix B in, and let sit, then pH and then add supplements? Is this true, and is it true with House and Garden? It seems to work well, however I have been infested with a disease, actually my plants..either by thrip or by something I may have brought in so down with the crop! I'd like to hear some thoughts on this.

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Ok, I use House & Garden Cocos A&B with Roots Excelerator and Drip Clean, and I read somewhere around here that some coco nutes (not sure if it was Canna or some other dutch brand) are recommended to be mixed with A, let sit, then mix B in, and let sit, then pH and then add supplements? Is this true, and is it true with House and Garden? It seems to work well, however I have been infested with a disease, actually my plants..either by thrip or by something I may have brought in so down with the crop! I'd like to hear some thoughts on this.

I do exactly that. I add 'A' and then 'B' and mix it well and then take a pH reading. I adjust the pH and then add the supplements. The supplements have a tendency to drop the pH a little, so I shoot for 5.8 or so before supplements. Hope you get ur bugs under control..

mgk

 

[Irie_Lion]

I do exactly that. I add 'A' and then 'B' and mix it well and then take a pH reading. I adjust the pH and then add the supplements. The supplements have a tendency to drop the pH a little, so I shoot for 5.8 or so before supplements. Hope you get ur bugs under control..

mgk

what does your ph drop to after adding the base nutes??? I just got some A&B and after mixing it dropped in the 3.6-3.8 range before being ph'd back to 5.8 and mixing in the additives. It didnt drop much just like .1-.2 after that. I was using RO water so i tried it on tap water that started at 6.5 and had similar results. Just wondering if others out there have the same experience? Thanks

 

[Justin_Credible]

mgk,
So,
I broke down the bricks yesterday, I used 12 gals of 6.0 water at a ppm of 100-110. What I did was let the coco sit for a few hours, then squeezed out about 1/2 gal of water from the coco. To my surprize my ppms in three different tests varied from 250-500...depending upon which spot I took from. You say this is the salt etc that comes along with coco? Anyway, I kind of did the same method you did except I took my 3 gal black pot and strained into a five gal. Only took about 15 minutes. Added another 5 gals of 6.0 water, repeated process. Then tested ppm's...140-180!!!!thanks alot, I think I will be doing this from now on. Thanks

 

[brobrobro]

hey guys

my seedlings are about 7 days old and ive been feeding with canna a+b @ 200ppm (tap water @ 45ppm)

should i up the ppm?

im feeding once a day


thanks for any help!

???


i've watered them about 3 times in the last 8 days @200ppm, maybe up it to 300ppm? (still in 8oz cups)

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

what does your ph drop to after adding the base nutes??? I just got some A&B and after mixing it dropped in the 3.6-3.8 range before being ph'd back to 5.8 and mixing in the additives. It didnt drop much just like .1-.2 after that. I was using RO water so i tried it on tap water that started at 6.5 and had similar results. Just wondering if others out there have the same experience? Thanks

It depends on the strength of the solution. The stronger the mix, the lower the pH before adjustment. Usually around 4.6 to 4.8 then I adjust it up to about 5.8. Then I ad the supplements. You'll definitely get the rhythm of things as you work with it more.

mgk

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

mgk,
So,
I broke down the bricks yesterday, I used 12 gals of 6.0 water at a ppm of 100-110. What I did was let the coco sit for a few hours, then squeezed out about 1/2 gal of water from the coco. To my surprize my ppms in three different tests varied from 250-500...depending upon which spot I took from. You say this is the salt etc that comes along with coco? Anyway, I kind of did the same method you did except I took my 3 gal black pot and strained into a five gal. Only took about 15 minutes. Added another 5 gals of 6.0 water, repeated process. Then tested ppm's...140-180!!!!thanks alot, I think I will be doing this from now on. Thanks

It's almost too much fun to not do..

mgk