the Hand Watering coco thread

[Heimdallr]

Well I had a friend helping me transplant the other day and we went to pick up our load of soil. He mentioned to me his buddy uses coco and every time I'm at the grow store it's truck after big jacked up truck buying coco.
I am a old school soil guy but was interested in what all the fuss was about so I asked the guy at the store. (Usually really helpful guy)
He gave me the you need to water the shit out of it story and I asked if I could mix with soil to stretch the waterings out a bit. I know one of my friends runs 25% coco 75% soil with good results. So I figured I would do better with 50/50. First watering I did 6.3 ph in room 1 and the plants didn't look well. So room 2 got 5.8 and look amazing.
I now wish I went straight coco as I'm not sure if I should water the shit out of em like coco and flush out the high ph right away or let em dry out a bit more?
I feel like a fool for just jumping into this without thinking it threw more first.
Hopefully I can get threw this without any major fuck ups.
Running GH flora series.
Thanks for any help.

I think the watering is just something you're going to have to work out as both mediums are pretty much polar opposite in terms of how to use them. However, that being said, you can let coco sit for a day or two and it'll act a bit like soil (canna terra/ pro has lots of coir in if i remember right)

Sorry to hear dude but its a learning curve you'll master

 

[Rollout]

QUESTION TO ANYONE WHO HAVE EXPERIENCE WITH COCO!!!

Is it really necessary to water flush every single time after feeding? And is it really necessary to then wait for the flush to dry up just as much as you would after feeding?

Don't let coco dry ever and don't flush with plain water ever, except for the very end of the grow, and even then it's not necessary.

This is what I do. Feed every day and flush once a week. The flush is the same EC as the feed, it's just a feed with a lot of runoff. After the flush, I continue to feed every day.

 

[stoned40yrs]

Well I had a friend helping me transplant the other day and we went to pick up our load of soil. He mentioned to me his buddy uses coco and every time I'm at the grow store it's truck after big jacked up truck buying coco.
I am a old school soil guy but was interested in what all the fuss was about so I asked the guy at the store. (Usually really helpful guy)
He gave me the you need to water the shit out of it story and I asked if I could mix with soil to stretch the waterings out a bit. I know one of my friends runs 25% coco 75% soil with good results. So I figured I would do better with 50/50. First watering I did 6.3 ph in room 1 and the plants didn't look well. So room 2 got 5.8 and look amazing.
I now wish I went straight coco as I'm not sure if I should water the shit out of em like coco and flush out the high ph right away or let em dry out a bit more?
I feel like a fool for just jumping into this without thinking it threw more first.
Hopefully I can get threw this without any major fuck ups.
Running GH flora series.
Thanks for any help.

How big are your plants, still in veg?

 

[teemu shalanie]

DJM great thread , how many times do u top em?, n how long is your veg time , what height u flip plants , like ur style B

TS

 

[TURBD]

Plants are about 15in in 3Gal pots
Still in veg

 

[Flapjack978]

i just thought it could be nice to start a thread with tips for growing in coco - but using handwatering and pots..

since im kind of busy i thought this could run on a question and answer basis - also if other growers feel like chipping in with their bit it would be cool.

first of with the do's and dont's:

do check ur PH! - range from 5.8 to 6.1 works really well
do make sure you use nutes specific for coco! - this will give the best results and easy of use.
do make sure you use pots big enough for the watering intervals you want to have. bigger pots means less watering. but more water is needed to flush out properly.
do make sure you have run off when watering. about 20-40% is enough.
do make sure the coco never gets dry - this is a hydro medium. watering often gives better results.

DONT treat coco like a soil grow.



growing in coco gives great results outdoors also. it slightly more expensive than soil growing - but the end results will speak for them selves. huge yields and lots of flavour!

What's up guys to growing I do grow in coco would love the help from any1 that has the time thx

 

[wheredaweedat]

Is pure blend pro comparable to canna lines as far as yield and quality. looking to get some coco going.

 

[merkaba]

Honestly, I think the whole nutrients making the plant debate or concept is extremely overrated. Any major nutrient line will be complete and sufficient, each with their own quirks and many with way to many additives. I personally love Canna and House & Garden - personally I use H&G as it is almost half the price of Canna (at least the A&B parts- Canna has fewer additives, but I don't use all of House&Gardens additives). I know lots of folks that use Botanicare and GH all with good results - though I think Botanicare is not all that. I know a fella who works in the industrial greenhouse business as a consultant on a global scale and he was musing one day about this world of ours and the marketing hype. He was of the opinion that increasing air quality, adding CO2 and having very effective lighting would far out weight any additive or supplement or nutrient line - in regards to increasing yield. I will say that H&G and Canna are great as the ph is locked at 5.8 and doesn't drift much at all. I am now in a coco drip system, so that's pretty important for me - in hand watering not so much.

 

[medman47]

8th Week of Flower Should I Flush?

8th Week of Flower Should I Flush?

This is my first grow and I've made it to the 8th week of flower with live plants yeah! I'm growing in 2 gal Hempy Buckets with 80/20 coco/perlite mix and hydroton balls in the bottom res. I've been feeding with Botanicare CNS17 Grow-Bloom-Ripe - CaliMag - Liquid Karma - Sweet - Hydroplex - Silica Blast. I picked up some plant molasses last night and some Clearex. What I'm confused about is when is the right time to stop feeding and start flushing. I'm rowing white widowxbig bud which is a 53 day strain. I'm at day 50 any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[GReen dreAM]

Wow....as your first grow it looks amazing ~!!! You have got that thing !!

Yes, is perfect time to start flushing and take them to 10 weeks of flowering....


Good Luck !

 

[LostInEthereal]

"Whoa, we're half way there"

Ahem, pardon me for the Bon Jovi quote.

Well I'm half-way through, and I think at points overwhelmed with information. It seems as though when you read so much and are either, busy at work, home and stoned, home and stoned and drunk, it all kind of blends together. Anyway, I've taken notes or purposely left tabs/posts open to keep for later and I think I'm finally getting it (and only 5+ weeks in!).

I'm knee deep (at least would be if things were going correctly) in my first real grow and certainly my first experience with coco, and things are not going correctly. I think a number of things are to blame including general inexperience and uncontrollable circumstances, but it's all brought me to this point of near enlightenment.. I have 7 plants at 5+ weeks from seed, all doing rather poorly (IMO), and a new set of 5x Starbud (Fem) from Hortilab to start from scratch so to speak with all knowledge gained thus far, and I reckon it's easier to start anew than work with badly stunted plants (that said, I'm keeping any confirmed fems to add to the Starbuds).

Pics/more meaningful updates to follow. Just finished setting up the 4'x4' tonight with a few hour stress test of all components.

 

[randomgrower420]

Using vegamatrix in coco, I have a recurring issue.

I am using ro water. I use the vegamatrix calmag at 5ml per gallon (.35ec or 250ppm) Plants are in 2.5 gal netted pots 70% coco 30% perlite. Easily 6 weeks old and need to be watered atleast 1x a day or they will be super dry.

Basically i noticed the new growth in veg was getting super yellow, but only the new growth. Bright yellow. I checked the ph and the ec of the runoff and it was 7.5ph 2.8ec while i had been watering at 1.4 ec and 6.2 ph

So i flushed with 5.5 ph tap water until runoff read 6.2. I then fed with 5.8 ph and 1.1 ec nutrients.

I have stayed with the 1.1ec and 5.8 ph every watering since (about 2 weeks). They all looked great but a few are seeing the same issue come back. The runoff ec is up at 2.1 and the ph is 6.5-7.0 on the troubled looking plants.

These are huge plants imo and their being fed well UNDER the recommended rate (2.0ec). Why would the ec continue to raise? I always get alot of runoff. I dont let them dry out completely.

I assume the ph is raising because the ec is climbing.

 

[Snow Crash]

Sounds like an iron deficiency. Vegamatrix Amp-it at at 2-5ml/gallon should resolve that issue.

I'm not really a big fan of that nutrient line. The phosphate looks a little sparse in the Grow for veg/rooting plants. Veganic lines in general don't really perform as well as their hydroponic counterparts in my experience also. My suggestion is to begin using compost tea and get a good organic microbial population going. They should help the plant utilize the nutrients a little better, reducing build up, and buffer the pH a little better.

Good luck.

 

[randomgrower420]

Sounds like an iron deficiency. Vegamatrix Amp-it at at 2-5ml/gallon should resolve that issue.

I'm not really a big fan of that nutrient line. The phosphate looks a little sparse in the Grow for veg/rooting plants. Veganic lines in general don't really perform as well as their hydroponic counterparts in my experience also. My suggestion is to begin using compost tea and get a good organic microbial population going. They should help the plant utilize the nutrients a little better, reducing build up, and buffer the pH a little better.

Good luck.

Why would you think its an iron def, considering the high runoff ph/ec im thinking lockout

 

[randomgrower420]

First of coco should never get dry (it only cause problems)

-if you grow in straight up coco you can count on flushing every 2 watering if you want to water only each 3-4 days. but if you get a good amount of perelite in it or some lava rock's or what ever rocks you have around. you will get better draining so you cant overwater as easy as if you grow in straight coco. and ofc you flush your medium just dont over do it or over think it or you can just give less water and feed multi~ times a day its better then you wont get the saltbuild up as much if even at all, if you ask me. (ofc only if you get the time in hand)

It's worth noting that if you're going to flush your coco (which you shouldn't until the very end, water till run off and try and maintain a consistent moisture throughout the medium and you shouldn't ever have a salt problem) then you should do so with a very very low E.C feed, something between 0.5 - 0.8. If you flush your coco too much you risk flushing the 'buffer' away, the coco will then compensate for this by 'stealing' the nutrients from your nutrient solution away from your plants until the buffer is full and then allows the nutrients to become available again.

So always flush with low E.C feed apart from at the end of your cycle to avoid this issue.

i've been growing in 5 gl buckets an i have to water once a day, at least...sometimes i have to water twice a day, an the biggest plant i have has to be watered twice a day, EVERY DAY...

an that's in a 5 gl grow bag...an it's only been in that grow bag for about three weeks, maybe closer to two an a half...an they went straight to the 5 gl bags from 1 pt cups...

point being, water the shit out of the coco lol...once the root system is developed, even a 5 gl container will likely need water at least once a day once the root system is fully in place...

i'm gonna try upping the amount i give the big one, cuz i haven't even started flowering yet an i'm at twice a day...that's gonna be like four times a day in flowering lol an that's too much work...

Nope you haven't misunderstood, you've nailed it there buddy that's the exact reason.

Coco holds salts better than most things, if I remember this is actually due to where the coconut plant grows (next to the sea) so it can withstand silly levels of salt, then when it's cut down the husk is left to decompose in big piles floating on the sea. Even after it's washed, it holds salts like a good one.

But yeah, you're on the money. Keeping it wet allows it to move, so to speak

Don't let your coco dry out.. it's not dirt.. you should not treat it like dirt.. feed daily and be sure to keep it wet.

mgk

Don't let coco dry ever and don't flush with plain water ever, except for the very end of the grow, and even then it's not necessary.

This is what I do. Feed every day and flush once a week. The flush is the same EC as the feed, it's just a feed with a lot of runoff. After the flush, I continue to feed every day.

so just to expand on this conversation a bit.

When you all are saying feed everyday. Do you mean feed everytime the pot gets to 50% moisture or feed everyday and feed again the same day if the pot reaches 50% moisture again.

Basically what i mean is that you should water atleast 1x everyday from the day you started a seed in coco until the day you harvest the plant.

 

[LostInEthereal]

I'll jump in and attempt to answer. From reading this entire thread there is a general consensus, but doesn't mean that it's set it stone exactly. Take my advice with a grain of salt, I'm just 7 weeks (veg only) into my first coco experience.. I'm also trying to get a handle on all the science and I've not gotten it all down 100%

Remember that coco is essentially a hydroponic medium and should be treated as such. Most would recommend to water/feed every day, some even more often than that (e.g. blumat). This is in regards to a plant with a well established root system. Seedlings or transplants should be allowed to dry out a certain amount to encourage new root development of the unused substrate (even this is a subject of debate).

 

[Milkmangrower]

i transferred a cut from a friend that was about 6 weeks old from the solo cup filled with rockwool into a new pot of coco. ran 50% diluted lucas formula through coco before transplant and havn't watered since and that was four days ago. I was told that i should wait to see roots through the holes in the pot before watering but it looks very droopy as of 30 min ago when my light turned on. top of coco is dry but their is some dampness when i push my finger down into the pot. should i just be slowly/carefully watering with the diluted lucas formula at this point?

 

[stoney917]

Lift up the pot If its light will be obvious to u.. what type size pot???. how longs it been in the pot after a few days its good to hit it with some fresh nutes.. i def would not wait till roots pop out..

 

[stoney917]

4Days.... missed that... water that shit lightly.. should def need it...

 

[RetroGrow]

i transferred a cut from a friend that was about 6 weeks old from the solo cup filled with rockwool into a new pot of coco. ran 50% diluted lucas formula through coco before transplant and havn't watered since and that was four days ago. I was told that i should wait to see roots through the holes in the pot before watering but it looks very droopy as of 30 min ago when my light turned on. top of coco is dry but their is some dampness when i push my finger down into the pot. should i just be slowly/carefully watering with the diluted lucas formula at this point?

@ 6 weeks old, it should be at least 18 inches and have a fully developed root system. You can feed full strength, and if it's wilting, it needs water.