the Hand Watering coco thread

[MaynardG_Krebs]

This is my 1st coco grow after growing over 25 yrs organically. I got a ton of advice from my bros already growing in it and it's been easy pezzy so far. I'm using Veg+Bloom HD and Golden Tree, putting my 1st coco plant into the flower room this weekend so wish me luck!

I've noticed better overall health and growth watering everyday vs watering every other day or two.

Yes, water/feed every day. I do a once a week flush of Final Phase from Advance Nutrients. The plants always seem to enjoy their 'day off'.. Just remember.. coco is not dirt and should not be treated like dirt.. the normal 'wet/dry' cycle is quite detrimental to coco growing.

mgk

 

[NumbSkulled]

yes but Just up to 4 weeks in veg !

The finish set up will be 4 to 6 plants under one 600W.

gd

2 x 600w for veg & 1 x 600w for flower? Interesting. Most would do it the other way around.

My girls veg under a CFL light bulb or two

 

[NumbSkulled]

Yes, water/feed every day. I do a once a week flush of Final Phase from Advance Nutrients. The plants always seem to enjoy their 'day off'.. Just remember.. coco is not dirt and should not be treated like dirt.. the normal 'wet/dry' cycle is quite detrimental to coco growing.

mgk

Hey Maynard, I haven't heard that letting coco to dry out is "detrimental" to growing, before.
Most say that one needs to water/feed when the pot is lighter in weight, once it's dried out a bit but still moist.

Are you able to explain why "..the normal 'wet/dry' cycle is quite detrimental to coco growing." ? Thanks.

 

[Xray Kimono]

When a seedling is developing its roots in coco, you need to let it dry out between waterings. Once the root is established then the coco should never be dry. And depending on plantsize, rootsize/container size, and other factors, by the end of flower you should be feeding multiple times a day... Otherwise there is no point to use coco instead of soil. And you dont need to water to runoff either if you are feeding multiple times a day. You gotta dial it in to how much the plant is eating and transpiring compared to how much the root mass and medium can hold per feed. No runoff needed, but you have to make sure you are keeping the coco moist to prevent any salt build and to keep the oxygen through the moisture more readily absorbed.

 

[Xray Kimono]

^Bam. On point Xray.

I used coco like soil my first time w it.... Then I figured it out and ran a round in 1 gals on multiple feeds and more plants w heavy defoliation and doubled my harvey.... Years later, i run 3 gals of coco/perlite filled 2/3 of way with 5-9 plants per light and get a least a gpw unless it is a really low yielder... But even then, add more plants in smaller pots and defol and feed multiple feeds... No reason anyone should get less than a gpw unless it is for a test run to see how a plant behaves or a mother hunt. Add more plants, feed more times per day, defol to increase airflow in the vines and throw out LOTS OF BUD. On a couple of strains I hit almost 2 gpw but that was on massive yielders w CO2 and a lengthy veg and train cycle

Keys to making coco work better than soil (if you dont reuse):
Smaller pots
More plants
Good rootball development when young w dry periods
More feeds in flower
Keep coco moist in flower at all times
Defoliate throughout
If you think it is done, wait a week and it will pay you off.

Sorry for the dab ramble and repetition, but coco is my baby and if everyone understood how to use her properly, there would be a lot of happier growers and patients and cost of production decreases and bud is produced more efficiently with less input material.

Peace!

 

[NumbSkulled]

Thanks for the explanation Xray, makes sense.

I'll follow your methods next grow & see for myself.

 

[merkaba]

Xray what do you think qualifies as "root is established"? We currently go from clone to 3" squares, few weeks later go to 6" squares. Veg is all hand watered and bloom is on drip 3-5 feeds per day. I am going to set the veg up on drip soon too. Just curious when in veg to keep them wet as I have def. overwatered coco before right out of the gate.

 

[oldbean]

Xray what do you think qualifies as "root is established"? We currently go from clone to 3" squares, few weeks later go to 6" squares. Veg is all hand watered and bloom is on drip 3-5 feeds per day. I am going to set the veg up on drip soon too. Just curious when in veg to keep them wet as I have def. overwatered coco before right out of the gate.

Brilliant question, only as I am experiencing the same currently

 

[Calwax]

you guys,

establishing roots in a new pot is VERY simple process and will almost insure your rooting to be "established" .

rinse or make sure your coco is buffered with a 1/2 stength MINIMUM base food suggestion. I also ADD a root stimulator and CaMg because coco duh.

I personally like to take my buffering solution and have two seperate pales . one for buffering and one for the first feed. I p.h the coco buffering 5.6. 5.7 ish just to make sure there are no spikes. and one at 5.8 for after i transplant.

so. i buffer slightly lower, transplant babies. feed the 5.8 food to run off.

then, here is the trick. I let them dry to like 20 percent or less, they need to dry out after the first feeding.

repeat this process one more time and then feed every day to your hearts content, easy as that.

 

[oldbean]

Thank you Calwax

 

[Calwax]

that whole process can up to two weeks cycling two almost full dry cycles but dont RUSH it! This is a very crucial establishment period of your plants life and will ultimately play a role in dictating what kind of a plant it is, it's just like having a weakened immune system, you want BIG STRONG everything.

So anyways.

By the time you dry these out twice they should be about 6-`10 inches and will be ready for there full food feedings that you have scheduled!

Happy growin

 

[EastCoast710]

just treat like soil with seeds and clones. until established.. works for me lol. I just started my first full on coco grow.. a few weeks ago.. 5 gallon pots.. fucking only had to water 1 good time so far.. and they are really starting to explode with new growth.. feeding should be today or tomaro.. then for the new tents when the gg4 is done I will setup automated feeding lines so that I can kind of set them and forget them type of shit.

 

[merkaba]

So essentially, treat new transplants like soil and let them go through wet/dry cycles?

 

[Xray Kimono]

So essentially, treat new transplants like soil and let them go through wet/dry cycles?

Yeah sort of. .. When coco stays wet when the plants are young and developing their base root structure, all of their food is supplied directly without having to "branch out" and develop new roots or hairs seeking moisture and sustenance. If this happens, the roots never develop completely because they can support the feeding of what the current levels of need are. If they are not allowed to develop well first, when you start flower it takes a while to develop roots again as the stretch happens and creates a metabolic deficit... this leads to too much energy being used in places other than flowering, longer flowering times, less yield, less protection by the plant against any stresses, ETC ETC...

If you allow the roots to go searching for the water after transplant, they develop BEYOND what they can actually support in nutes, structure, vegetation, and will be capable to feed the flowers more.... the Flip starts showing flowers faster, they grow bigger, they finish when they are supposed to... Because all the growing is taking place at the flower and vegetation because the roots are technically "overdeveloped" which leads to faster eating and nutrient uptake and dispersion and faster growth rates.

Also... research on VPD is NECESSARY as well, but I find using coco multi feed makes it much easier to keep your humidity levels where they need to be as well without having to add equipment.... just adjust some DIAL



Peace!
Xray

 

[NumbSkulled]

Xray, your advice has got me thinking. When I 1st started to grow, many years ago, I'd get 3-4 oz per plant under a 400w light in a hydro set-up (they were so dense that I regularly removed fan leaves)

Since using coco, although I get excellent frosty bud, I only get around 2oz per plant using a wet/dry watering regime (also with 400w) As I only grow meds for myself & a mate, I accepted the lower yield as the price one had to pay for using coco.

As I'm heading into summer (too hot to grow inside) I'll have to wait several months to apply your methods, but I expect that you've answered the reason why I get lower yields.

Could you explain your method of defoliating?

Thanks again (& Calmax)

 

[Phases]

X-Ray - thanks for your info this explains exactly what happened to me the first time I ran coco I started feeding too often before roots were fully established and ended up getting a low yeild. So I went back to promix, but I recently decided to give it another go and I started in cups doing wet/dry cycles then up ported to one gal pots and did the same until I got a killer root ball. - once I had a crazy amount of roots I put into two gal pot and now I can feed multiple times and the plants just exploded -

Coco is amazing but it is key to let the roots get established first. I actually did a little comparison with promix hp, coco, and soil mix - all planted at the same time and the difference is crazy. Coco just blows the others out of the water!

 

[Xray Kimono]

Could you explain your method of defoliating?

Thanks again (& Calmax)

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showpost.php?p=3885667&postcount=1381


Here ya go...

 

[gr866]

just treat like soil with seeds and clones. until established.. works for me lol. I just started my first full on coco grow.. a few weeks ago.. 5 gallon pots.. fucking only had to water 1 good time so far.. and they are really starting to explode with new growth.. feeding should be today or tomaro.. then for the new tents when the gg4 is done I will setup automated feeding lines so that I can kind of set them and forget them type of shit.

you treat coco like soil you will get a grow like soil, not hydro. IMHO!
GR

 

[oldbean]

you treat coco like soil you will get a grow like soil, not hydro. IMHO!
GR

High

I've found that treating coco like soil will give lightly better results than soil but once roots are established after a few wet/dry cycles then watering multiple times a day gives the best results.

Treating coco like hydro without established roots leads to problems further down the line from experience

Peace

 

[gr866]

High

I've found that treating coco like soil will give lightly better results than soil but once roots are established after a few wet/dry cycles then watering multiple times a day gives the best results.

Treating coco like hydro without established roots leads to problems further down the line from experience

Peace

To me coco is hydro, and of course you have to establish the root system. That being said I grow in coco Hempys 75/25, coco/growstone. And I, like in a straight coco grow want to establish a root system in the coco along with a strong system in the Hempy reservoir. Yet unlike straight coco, I only water once a day after root establishment unless plants show a need for extra water/nutes.

My point, as made to eastcoast710, is and have seen folks do this in the past is in an attempt to cut waterings they begin letting the coco dry to much causing salt build up and damage to the plants.
GR