Coco Growers Unite!

hot cheetos

Active Member
Guys i have 3 gallon fabric pots. 4 weeks flowering already and im sick of hand watering. I cant keep up with watering manually more than twice per lights on and they demand so much more. Coco is constantly dry on the top.

How many times should i water per day?

And when you guys talk about, for example, 3x per day...are we talking 3 times per 24 hours? Or 3 times during lights on?

Do you irrigate during lights off???


What are your watering times specifically?? Example...9am, 3pm, 9pm, 3am, 9am. That would be 4 waterings in 24 hours. C'mon fellas i need to get this done.
 

sky rocket

Well-Known Member
Guys i have 3 gallon fabric pots. 4 weeks flowering already and im sick of hand watering. I cant keep up with watering manually more than twice per lights on and they demand so much more. Coco is constantly dry on the top.

How many times should i water per day?

And when you guys talk about, for example, 3x per day...are we talking 3 times per 24 hours? Or 3 times during lights on?

Do you irrigate during lights off???


What are your watering times specifically?? Example...9am, 3pm, 9pm, 3am, 9am. That would be 4 waterings in 24 hours. C'mon fellas i need to get this done.
That's normal for it to dry on top. Just because it's dry on top doesn't mean it's dry further down in the smart pot. Are you feeding so that there is run off? I don't feed every 2-3 days but I'm using 600 watter..What size lights are you using? And infeed when the pot is getting light.
 

since1991

Well-Known Member
Guys i have 3 gallon fabric pots. 4 weeks flowering already and im sick of hand watering. I cant keep up with watering manually more than twice per lights on and they demand so much more. Coco is constantly dry on the top.

How many times should i water per day?

And when you guys talk about, for example, 3x per day...are we talking 3 times per 24 hours? Or 3 times during lights on?

Do you irrigate during lights off???


What are your watering times specifically?? Example...9am, 3pm, 9pm, 3am, 9am. That would be 4 waterings in 24 hours. C'mon fellas i need to get this done.
A simple drip.line is what you need. You need a pump/short cycle timer and a walmart trashcan reservoir too. Go to H depot for the lines...hole punch...fittings...and drippers. No one can tell you when to feed...thats something you will have to play around with for your setup. Everyone is different and all that. I used to live next door to growers where we had completely different feed times and lengths. But a drip manifold is prettt self explanitory. Just get all the lines and shit together and play with it is about all incan tell ya. Personally..my setup doesnt have drippers. Just a 1/4 barbed "T" on the open end of the small 1/4 " line. I feed 45 to 60 seconds when lights kick on...and depending on what the plants and pot weight tell me...determines how many feeds of 45 - 60 seconds per day they get. I dont feed at lights off. I got catch saucer uderneath each pot to grab runoff/spent solution. The pots themselves are on one inch pvc pipe "risers" so they arent sitting in spent solution before o can suck.it out with a shop vac. I have runoff tables and homemade corrugated tables but these sit in a corner of my basement. The take up valuable height clearance but they are WAY morr ideal than runoff saucer/shop vac dealy. The manual shop vac method of removing runoff sucks balls. Tables with piping to direct the waste to a basement sump well is far superior.
 
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mattyblade1

Well-Known Member
Guys i have 3 gallon fabric pots. 4 weeks flowering already and im sick of hand watering. I cant keep up with watering manually more than twice per lights on and they demand so much more. Coco is constantly dry on the top.

How many times should i water per day?

And when you guys talk about, for example, 3x per day...are we talking 3 times per 24 hours? Or 3 times during lights on?

Do you irrigate during lights off???


What are your watering times specifically?? Example...9am, 3pm, 9pm, 3am, 9am. That would be 4 waterings in 24 hours. C'mon fellas i need to get this done.[/QUOTE I water once a day in coco. It's fine if it's dry at the top mate. Do you have trays under your pots at all?
 

BuzzD2Kill

Well-Known Member
Recently been trying a few coco cups/pots here and there and have horrible growth. The coco stays wet, some plants eventually wilt and die. Put some coco mix in a pot ran some water through it, RO runoff says 6.2, can I assume its the ph? Had foxfarm nutes mixed at 6.2 when I soaked the coco. Just watered with 5.8 400ish ppm foxfarm and cal mag. Do some strains suck in a hydroish enviornment? My skywalkerog is the only one in coco taking off.
 

Skunk Baxter

Well-Known Member
Your nute strength and Ph sound fine.

What are you using for lights?

Are you using straight coir?

How big are the plants?

Pure coir doesn't drain well, and sometimes young plants, that haven't developed robust root systems yet, have trouble pulling all the moisture out of the medium. I recommend a blend of about 65% coco pieces and 35% coir. Good air circulation and warm-ish temps help a lot, too. If you're growing under tubes or CFLs, your medium will stay moist longer than if you're using HPS or ceramic.
 

BuzzD2Kill

Well-Known Member
Your nute strength and Ph sound fine.

What are you using for lights?

Are you using straight coir?

How big are the plants?

Pure coir doesn't drain well, and sometimes young plants, that haven't developed robust root systems yet, have trouble pulling all the moisture out of the medium. I recommend a blend of about 65% coco pieces and 35% coir. Good air circulation and warm-ish temps help a lot, too. If you're growing under tubes or CFLs, your medium will stay moist longer than if you're using HPS or ceramic.
T5s, yes straight coco, and straight from propagator to coco. I went into solo cups. I have been a soil whore for long time.
 

somebody1701

Well-Known Member
I like 25% perlite with 75% coir. Almost impossible to overwater. However, overwatering will slow growth. You need to let them almost dry out to the point they are about to wilt and then lift the pot to get an idea of what almost dry feels like so you know when to water.
 

Roger A. Shrubber

Well-Known Member
i don't like to let them get quite that dry, but you do have to let them dry a little. one of the advantages of coco is it holds so much oxygen, but it draws in fresh oxygen when you water it, listen to the rice crispy crackling when you water, thats the coco sucking in air. so if you don't put a little water through it it has less oxygen in the root zone. just don't drown them.
 

3rdcoaster

Member
Recently been trying a few coco cups/pots here and there and have horrible growth. The coco stays wet, some plants eventually wilt and die. Put some coco mix in a pot ran some water through it, RO runoff says 6.2, can I assume its the ph? Had foxfarm nutes mixed at 6.2 when I soaked the coco. Just watered with 5.8 400ish ppm foxfarm and cal mag. Do some strains suck in a hydroish enviornment? My skywalkerog is the only one in coco taking off.
Are you transplanting into coir from another medium, bare root from a cloner, or comjng up . from seed?

In coir with not yet established plants, charging the medium with .5ec of your nutrient and then squeezing it
out and pkanting into that can give tender roots that air to water ratio they need to get going. Then feeding from the bottom by dipping the cups or very gently watering from the top....trying to promote downward root growth with out soaking the pot..until plants get going.

Just a couple wet/dry cycles and the plants should be able to handlebeing flushdd through/heavy watering w/o drowning.

Hope that helps.
 

BuzzD2Kill

Well-Known Member
Are you transplanting into coir from another medium, bare root from a cloner, or comjng up . from seed?

In coir with not yet established plants, charging the medium with .5ec of your nutrient and then squeezing it
out and pkanting into that can give tender roots that air to water ratio they need to get going. Then feeding from the bottom by dipping the cups or very gently watering from the top....trying to promote downward root growth with out soaking the pot..until plants get going.

Just a couple wet/dry cycles and the plants should be able to handlebeing flushdd through/heavy watering w/o drowning.

Hope that helps.
Straight from the dome to coco. With the advice given in these posts im gonna assume the cups are deeper then needed for coco. I was also watering after I transplanted soaking the cups, and the cube of rockwool. Im hunting this glow everyone talks about in coco, my soil takes off, but I mix 30% more perlite into it. So I mixed a batch of coco up with 33% perlite, got it damp enough to absorb and breakup. Gonna let it dry up and use it when I need it. Thanks for the advice guys/gals!

Edit: Also have been watering around the edges instead of straight topping off, read some where topping off is bad. I can see why it pushs all the air bubbles out.
 
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