Coco Growers Unite!

BeaverHuntr

Well-Known Member
I was gonna do that with the air pots but the water level was too low for the pot. work perfect with the short smart pot...
 
I have a 3 week old plant. a week ago, the bottom leaves started yellowing and crisping at the tips, this is progressing up the plant slowly, but I can see it worsening each day.
The plant looks healthy from a distance, but I need perfect. between the leaf veins, it is lighter in color than closer to the veins. Also the petioles and leaf veins are purple.
I'm having a hard time figuring if this is mag def or phosphorus def. Seems like either one.
Growing in coco, 3 gal pot, feeding flora nova grow 7.5ml to 1 gal. every 3-4 days. with ~5ml of calmag. 5.9ph
..or should i be feeding more?
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
hey!!! i think i asked this, but i can not find an answer. i am growing in Sunshine Advanced Mix #4. its a coco based medium. i have been treating it like hydro and like soil. i have been seeing AWESOME results for my first time. here is my delema. i am about 2 weeks from harvest, maybe 3. i was just told NOT to flush. is that crazy talk or what? don't i want to flush? and when should i start the flush? can someone please explain to me the fundamentals of flushing coco, please. +rep for informative answers. thanks in advance!!
 

lambofgod

Well-Known Member
hey!!! i think i asked this, but i can not find an answer. i am growing in Sunshine Advanced Mix #4. its a coco based medium. i have been treating it like hydro and like soil. i have been seeing AWESOME results for my first time. here is my delema. i am about 2 weeks from harvest, maybe 3. i was just told NOT to flush. is that crazy talk or what? don't i want to flush? and when should i start the flush? can someone please explain to me the fundamentals of flushing coco, please. +rep for informative answers. thanks in advance!!
well I dont know about "advanced mix" I didnt know it was a coir based mix.

But yes a coir based mix you need to treat like hydro and always feed. If you where running pro mix #4 which is peat based it would be a different story.

As for flushing...well let's see.

You got to options...I myself water enough every time I'm feeding to get almost 30% runoff...therefor no salts build up in my mix...So I have really no need to flush.

But have found plain old water the last couple days is all that's needed in coco (as long as you are getting sufficient runoff through the flower cycle).

If you feel your one week away from harvest, start now...give her two good drenchings.

I'm going to start putting my plants in a 3 gal bucket full of RO water, and let them sit in 10 days before harvest....supposed to bring on the cure much faster by speeding up the fermentation process.
 

lambofgod

Well-Known Member
ok I got to rant a bit here.

Why is coco not more widely used? Why do people still mess with soil?

It hurts me to see things like:

"make sure to add lime to buffer your ph"

"Dont overwater! your bogging your plant down"

"ohhh you got a major salt build up...you need to flush"

If people could just see......


Those comments are things of past for us!
 

oHsiN666

Well-Known Member
well I dont know about "advanced mix" I didnt know it was a coir based mix.

But yes a coir based mix you need to treat like hydro and always feed. If you where running pro mix #4 which is peat based it would be a different story.

As for flushing...well let's see.

i seriously am about to ditch this whoel forum thing if people do not start reading my posts fully. i am using the Sunshine Advanced Mix #4. it is coco-coir based. it has peralite in it.

You got to options...I myself water enough every time I'm feeding to get almost 30% runoff...therefor no salts build up in my mix...So I have really no need to flush.

But have found plain old water the last couple days is all that's needed in coco (as long as you are getting sufficient runoff through the flower cycle).

If you feel your one week away from harvest, start now...give her two good drenchings.

I'm going to start putting my plants in a 3 gal bucket full of RO water, and let them sit in 10 days before harvest....supposed to bring on the cure much faster by speeding up the fermentation process.
the Sunshine Advanced Mix #4 does have every thing in it. peralite is def in it!!
 

lambofgod

Well-Known Member
your not growing in coco brother, your growing in peat....supplemented with coco.

By SunshineAdvanced on May 5, 2011
Beginning with carefully selected ingredients and formulated by a team of professional horticulturists, the Sunshine Advanced #4 Growing Mix is made from high quality raw materials and provides an ideal growing mix for your indoor and outdoor growing needs.
The foundation of the growing mix is Canadian Sphagnum peat moss, sustainably harvested from carefully managed bogs in rural Canada. The peat moss is screened to remove large clumps and sticks and is blended with horticultural grade perlite and coir (a by-product of the coconut industry). Peat moss reduces the leaching of nutrients from the growing mix allowing them to release slowly over time. Perlite keeps air spaces open while coir combined with peat allows good water retention. This provides a balance of air and water that results in good root growth and the foundation for good stem and flower growth. Dolomitic lime, a starter organic fertilizer, mycorrhizae and an organic wetting agent are added to complete the mix. Lime adjusts the pH for optimum fertilizer availability; the starter organic fertilizer helps transplants establish; mycorrhizae assists in fertilizer uptake and the organic wetting agent helps peat moss absorb water better.
 

glann

Well-Known Member
Would a quarter gallon container support a 1oz bud stalk (lollipoping) sog ? Or is that not enough root room

The 5.5 square 6in tall containers are the one I'm referring to. 100% Coco with half inch hydroton in bottom for drainage.
 

PUKKA BUD

Well-Known Member
Would a quarter gallon container support a 1oz bud stalk (lollipoping) sog ? Or is that not enough root room

The 5.5 square 6in tall containers are the one I'm referring to. 100% Coco with half inch hydroton in bottom for drainage.
1L air-pots would work a treat mate, no gettin root bound!

 

Shwagbag

Well-Known Member
well thats kinda up in the air. As certain people do different things, like I believe beavr pre charges his, so he doesn't have to feed cal/mg through out the grow. I dont pre charge my coco, and feed as necessary.

I find my strains love cal/mg at the beginning and around week 6-8. So in other words I don't feed cal/mg my entire grow (as too much can cause some problems).


from what I gather calcium in plants is almost the same nature as humans....we need it early in life and late in life.


Beaver idea of pre charging (and correct me if I'm wrong beaver if it isnt you who does this) is really good, as it saves the hassle of having to feed over long periods.

Calcium binds well in coco, so the old "a little goes a long way" is a pretty accurate statement when it comes to coco and calcium.



edit: and I should also add, I re use my coco, it seems I need to add less and less cal/mg (but still need to supplement MG) the more I re use my coco.
What are you using for cal mag, just liquid supplements? And to pre-charge coco what additive is used? Initially I though lime, however that would raise the PH of the medium which I'm gathering would be bad with coco since most people like to run around 6.0? Thanks in advance.
 

lambofgod

Well-Known Member
What are you using for cal mag, just liquid supplements? And to pre-charge coco what additive is used? Initially I though lime, however that would raise the PH of the medium which I'm gathering would be bad with coco since most people like to run around 6.0? Thanks in advance.
I use botanicare's cal/mg +. I don't pre charge, just feed it early on, and usually around week 5 when they are starting to use up N. Honestly....and someone may call BS, but, I just ran a plant the whole way through it's life without ever using cal/mg once....looked just fine. Smoked just fine. But I was also using used coco.
 

Jug Stomper

Well-Known Member
So Im gonna start a coco grow, Im goin in tommorrow to buy some canna coco, but I wanna know about the nutes I will need to go with it, should I use canna products, and which ones?
I have only done 3 grows prior, all in soil with Fox Farm products, so I have a little experience.
Also besides the ph drips with up and down, what meters and other stuff do I need. THX guys!
 

asaph

Well-Known Member
So Im gonna start a coco grow, Im goin in tommorrow to buy some canna coco, but I wanna know about the nutes I will need to go with it, should I use canna products, and which ones?
I have only done 3 grows prior, all in soil with Fox Farm products, so I have a little experience.
Also besides the ph drips with up and down, what meters and other stuff do I need. THX guys!
hey man good luck, coco is great. you can get whatever company you like, it's better to get coco specialized nutes which most companies offer, but hydro nutes can work fine, and even soil nutes will work I believe. If you're using very soft or distilled water, be sure to have an available way to supplement calmag or even just epsom salts.

Also you want a digital TDS meter, or an EC meter (virtually the same thing), to determine your feedings, I find it most valuable, but it's not obligatory if you really know your stuff. Either than that, unless you want to start using a big ass res, with automatic feeding, oxygenation and whatnot, there's nothing special required.
 

Jug Stomper

Well-Known Member
hey man good luck, coco is great. you can get whatever company you like, it's better to get coco specialized nutes which most companies offer, but hydro nutes can work fine, and even soil nutes will work I believe. If you're using very soft or distilled water, be sure to have an available way to supplement calmag or even just epsom salts.

Also you want a digital TDS meter, or an EC meter (virtually the same thing), to determine your feedings, I find it most valuable, but it's not obligatory if you really know your stuff. Either than that, unless you want to start using a big ass res, with automatic feeding, oxygenation and whatnot, there's nothing special required.
Thanks man, I looked up those meters and saw some cheapos and some expensive ones, I would guess the expensive ones are more reliable, Im new to the ppm stuff, so this will be a learning adventure.
If Im hand feeding daily, or watering daily, how often do you feed nutes though?
 
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