the Hand Watering coco thread

[Justin_Credible]

You make me blush..

mgk

Yeah well, that was not the reason it was said. Just wanted to let peeps in here know how much you helped me out. Your advice was ALWAYS solid.

 

[caturday]

my friend used coco instead of soil pots this time around and noticed that they don't dry out quite as fast. Do you think that with coco you can use this instead of hydro and just water it once a week?
Does anyone know of anything to kind of replace a hydro setup so that you only need to water it once a week? No drippers or anything just watering/feeding once a week.?

 

[bonecarver_OG]

caturday - i think it seems impossible. unless you have gigantic pots or try with somekind of wicking system.

coco can hold more water than soil and still has a lot of oxygen and root areation. but a big container with coco that is watered full might still not hold enough wter for optimum growth for one whole week.

is this for outdoor or indoor? outdoors in the sun the pots can dry out faster on hot days etc.

give us more info so we can give better answers

 

[caturday]

it is for indoor, thank you for replying my friend. I know it may or may not be in the right thread but anyways.
Just looking for a way to tend to a garden once a week without getting into hydro. Reason being if there is a .1% chance of a hose leaking, pump failing, etc. it is a 1/1000 chance I am not willing to take on having a DISASTER on my hands. Could be coco or soil, any suggestions are very welcome.
I tried searching a few different strings and nothing came up.

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

it is for indoor, thank you for replying my friend. I know it may or may not be in the right thread but anyways.
Just looking for a way to tend to a garden once a week without getting into hydro. Reason being if there is a .1% chance of a hose leaking, pump failing, etc. it is a 1/1000 chance I am not willing to take on having a DISASTER on my hands. Could be coco or soil, any suggestions are very welcome.
I tried searching a few different strings and nothing came up.

You should probably go with soil. Coco has to be tended on a regular basis (daily if possible). Even with soil to, I would think you'd need to be in attendance more than once a week.

mgk

 

[Oshay]

First ever grow in coco

First ever grow in coco

Hey fellow coco hand waterers, must add this is an amazing thread full of all the info I need. I do have one question,last night when the lights went out I had a look at my plants and they all had little water droplets on every jagged section on the leafs, any idea why these form and is it a problem?

 

[bonecarver_OG]

its condesation of the water the plants breath out - you do need to have the fans and extraction on in the dark period also. if not it will lead to humidity trouble.

but this is not in anyway related to handwatering coco it happens in badly ventilated conditions in any system.

peace

 

[shanto]

i just made the switch over to coco, using the botanicae line, which i have ammended with more perlite and hydroton bed at bottom.
i havent actually put cuttings in the medium yet, but i will start next week, and want to make sure of a few things before i do.

1. does water/nutrient temperature make as big of a differnce in coco as it does with hydro?
2. i use 3 gal root builder pots (air pots)
-is it better to start clones in dixie cups and then transplant to larger container, or go straight to original container right off the bat?
- does coco like to be compacted more or less than soil?
3. i already have all my npks lind up, as well as blossom builders. i also use cal-mag, silicate, enzymes, and fungi. is there anything left off that list thats necessary for coco?

any help would be appreciated... thanks a bunch

-Shanto

 

[bonecarver_OG]

if you havent put in cuts in the pots - you still got time to get rid of the hydroton in the bottom. it sucks for growing in coco - first it takes up important space for the roots, 2nd it does not keep same ph, 3rd its not necesary for drainage in coco. the perlite you can leave - it wont affect it negativelly, but wont make much difference either. coco holds very good amounts of oxygen

temperature is allways important for the roots. but the big amount of oxygen that coco holds, makes it a good isolator - meaning growing outdoors, coco wont heat as quick as soil etc.

its allways better to start with smaller containers. plants tend to use the medium more efficiently like that.

peace

 

[shanto]

Ok, so ditch the clay. Got it.

Is 60* F ideal water temp?

Would I benefit with a drip system that can maintain a more consistent water temp, or can I still achieve favorable results with a daily hand feed?

 

[Oshay]

Thanks

Thanks

its condesation of the water the plants breath out - you do need to have the fans and extraction on in the dark period also. if not it will lead to humidity trouble.

but this is not in anyway related to handwatering coco it happens in badly ventilated conditions in any system.

peace

Thanks For the quick reply, I know it was not related to handwatering coco but seeing i am handwatering coco and it was a problem i had i thought it would be easier to thank you guys for a great thread and ask the question in the one post Anyway cheers again and i'll keep reading through this top knotch thread, up to page 27 so far

 

[AfroSheep]

Gonna be doing a coco hand water in a week or 2, in a new tent im getting,
Just wondering can i pop seeds in coco? or best to get some RW cubes to root em, whats the best way starting from seed with coco

Cheers Afro .

 

[MaynardG_Krebs]

Gonna be doing a coco hand water in a week or 2, in a new tent im getting,
Just wondering can i pop seeds in coco? or best to get some RW cubes to root em, whats the best way starting from seed with coco

Cheers Afro .

Not saying my way is the right way or the only way, but it works for me. I pop the seeds in folded paper towels.. (I know there are people who have issues with this method, but it works for me). After the seed has cracked and has about 1/2 inch tap root showing, I carefully place that in either rockwool or Rapidrooters. I do prefer the rockwool tho after a year of messing with the rapid rooters. The rapid rooters seem to work best for cloning. After I see roots starting to appear at the edges of the rockwool or rapidrooters, I transfer to a 20 ounce clear disposeable beer glass and sit that inside at red or blue glass the same size. That way, I can lift the clear glass out of the colored one once in a while to check the root progress. As soon as I see the roots hit the side of the clear glass, I transfer them into 2 gallon airpots and let them get the feet under them, then they go into the flower cycle. It works good for me..

mgk

 

[THINKING GREEN]

if you havent put in cuts in the pots - you still got time to get rid of the hydroton in the bottom. it sucks for growing in coco - first it takes up important space for the roots, 2nd it does not keep same ph, 3rd its not necesary for drainage in coco. the perlite you can leave - it wont affect it negativelly, but wont make much difference either. coco holds very good amounts of oxygen

temperature is allways important for the roots. but the big amount of oxygen that coco holds, makes it a good isolator - meaning growing outdoors, coco wont heat as quick as soil etc.

its allways better to start with smaller containers. plants tend to use the medium more efficiently like that.

peace

Bone, do you have good results with coco outdoors? What temps do you get where you live? I live in the dirty south and temps get pretty extreme, and I've been told that it can get pretty extreme with coco outside down this way.

 

[THINKING GREEN]

Ok, so ditch the clay. Got it.

Is 60* F ideal water temp?

Would I benefit with a drip system that can maintain a more consistent water temp, or can I still achieve favorable results with a daily hand feed?

To be honest shanto, I know people that have great results both ways, but for your sake for the future I would probably get yourself set up automative. You never know whats going to come up and if your running auto you can miss a day at the garden with no set backs. I'm not saying that you should miss a day, but you never know. Once you get your auto dialed then you can start to really spend some one on one time with the girls. They really enjoy that, and a little music helps also.

 

[AfroSheep]

Not saying my way is the right way or the only way, but it works for me. I pop the seeds in folded paper towels.. (I know there are people who have issues with this method, but it works for me). After the seed has cracked and has about 1/2 inch tap root showing, I carefully place that in either rockwool or Rapidrooters. I do prefer the rockwool tho after a year of messing with the rapid rooters. The rapid rooters seem to work best for cloning. After I see roots starting to appear at the edges of the rockwool or rapidrooters, I transfer to a 20 ounce clear disposeable beer glass and sit that inside at red or blue glass the same size. That way, I can lift the clear glass out of the colored one once in a while to check the root progress. As soon as I see the roots hit the side of the clear glass, I transfer them into 2 gallon airpots and let them get the feet under them, then they go into the flower cycle. It works good for me..

mgk

Swwet cheers, was same direction i was thinking, moist paper towel overnite and wait for tap, into RW, but i was just thinking going straight from rw to coco would that work?

 

[bonecarver_OG]

thinking green - i live in the hottest region of europe. heat is not really an issue outside growing in coco. we get temps up to 45ºC (celsius) equal to 113ºF. that is VERY extreme when there is no clouds.. no where to hide

anyway - for best results i think its a good idea to dig down pots in the ground, or cover them with poly-urethane foam, or other reflective and isolating material. if its very hot its a good idea to throw some chunks of ICE into the water and cool the water to about 15ºC or 59ºF. this will give the pot some extra cooling for a little while.

the good thing with coco is the plants will grow extra fast, so its possible to get bigger plants, or plant later in the season.

peace

good luck

 

[AfroSheep]

Hey OG, wats the best way to have coco in pots drain, have 1 hole 2inch from bottom hempy style? or have several wholes bottom of pot?

 

[bonecarver_OG]

definetly several holes in the bottom, that way imho you avoid stagnated oxygen lacking water in the bottom. like this root rot problems are easy avoided. but make sure the holes in the bottom do not stand in water extended periods of time. just buy normal hydro pots out of plastic. they will have any necesary holes allready made into the pots.

 

[m0ff99]

Great thread bonecarver......not read everything just yet but am working on it.

Got a question about using a moisture and ph soil probe in coco.......can't afford a good quality water Ph tester at the moment but.......picked this up from Wilkinsons and would like peoples opinion on what reading would be best on this probe for Ph levels as there is just a N for neutral and no real way to be precise.

I am being a bit guessy with my water Ph and thought this will at least tell me what Ph my soil is.


Many thanks in advance