GROWING IN COCO COIR FOR THE FIRST TIME

I've been using potting soil (specifically roots organic soil) for years now and finally wanted to make the switch to coco atleast when it comes to indoor growing for most part. I know coco is a soiless medium meaning you have to add the nutrients prior to watering just like hydro, I'm just curious about feeding seedlings, knowing that it's easy to burn & kill a seedling with to much food I'm being very cautious when it comes to how many ppms my water/feed mix is at. I use RO water so naturally I'm always adding calmag back into my water, so don't have to worry about the seedlings getting deficient from lack of calcium/magnesium. Also adjusted my ph accordingly to 5-8 / 6-0 as I know plants growing In coco prefer a more acidic ph. It may be hard to notice through the pictures but some of the first set of leaves are ever so slightly yellowish green/ and some aren't 100% green, almost as if some are just starting to become deficient. I'm worried about when to feed & how much nitrogen to feed seedlings growing in coco in the first 1 - 3 weeks of the plants life? Should I not feed the plants any nitrogen for atleast acouple weeks? How much food do seedlings really need is the question?

Personally, regardless of the medium, I generally don't apply additional nutrients to seedlings until about 7-14 days after they have first popped. In coco I will generally apply a 10-20% veg mix once that time comes (but that would also depend on what fertilizers). Some coco is lightly buffered, so it could also depend on what coco you are in. Since you are using RO I would be starting on that light feed closer to that 7 day mark. The seedlings themselves do have a bit to live off of and if you are going to feed them you can always give them more, but you can't remove what has already been given.

Hope coco treats you well

I never water with RO and for seedlings I'll do 400-600 ppm with run off

Water each day at least onc3 to runoff to ensure excess nutrients are leached out and it will be easy for you. Pre charging, and buffering pH are two important steps before planting

I was using Ro at first until I tried one grow without it and realized I was wasting water.

You would have been better off starting in smaller containers........maintaining the correct air/water ratio will be a challenge until the roots become established.
Never give plain water in coco.
I start feeding from the day they sprout with a weak nute solution.

Yep. Never water coco with just water. That's some bad advice.

Nizza said:

I never water with RO and for seedlings I'll do 400-600 ppm with run off

Water each day at least onc3 to runoff to ensure excess nutrients are leached out and it will be easy for you. Pre charging, and buffering pH are two important steps before planting

I was using Ro at first until I tried one grow without it and realized I was wasting water.

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Yea I did the ro thing and switched back. Not really any benefit imo. Just creates issues for no reason. I just run mine through the first two stages, and skip the ro membrane. Life's easier now.

cougheeesm said:

Personally, regardless of the medium, I generally don't apply additional nutrients to seedlings until about 7-14 days after they have first popped. In coco I will generally apply a 10-20% veg mix once that time comes (but that would also depend on what fertilizers). Some coco is lightly buffered, so it could also depend on what coco you are in. Since you are using RO I would be starting on that light feed closer to that 7 day mark. The seedlings themselves do have a bit to live off of and if you are going to feed them you can always give them more, but you can't remove what has already been given.

Hope coco treats you well

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Thanks for your input! I bought the 60 % whc 1 gal quick fills by floraflex, I'm not sure if they buffer the coco before packaging. They come in as 1 gal compressed bricks. I've been just watering with calmag but now that they are a week old I think I'll take your advice and feed them with a light amount of nitrogen nothing to much but just enough so they don't start yellowing up on me ... I plan on using coco for along time, as I've been growing in regular soil for 5 years, finally the time has come to make the switch! I've just seen way between results growing in coco when it comes to how fast the plants grow / the dry backs times / hard to have fungus gnats live In coco which is one of the best parts from making the change in roots organic soil I was constantly having to deal with bugs aka mainly fungus gnats!

MickFoster said:

You would have been better off starting in smaller containers........maintaining the correct air/water ratio will be a challenge until the roots become established.
Never give plain water in coco.
I start feeding from the day they sprout with a weak nute solution.

Click to expand...

The reason I planted directly in 3 gal pots was to avoid transplant shock, as that just sets me back a week. Also 12 of these girls are going outside and I want to be able to get them as big as possible within the 3 months time frame I have. I still start in smaller pots occasionally, I just avoid transplanting unless I really have to.

Nizza said:

I never water with RO and for seedlings I'll do 400-600 ppm with run off

Water each day at least onc3 to runoff to ensure excess nutrients are leached out and it will be easy for you. Pre charging, and buffering pH are two important steps before planting

I was using Ro at first until I tried one grow without it and realized I was wasting water.

Click to expand...

I run off of town water that contains excess Chlorine / heavy metals and rusty water so using my tap water is Def not a option so RO water works best for me in my area ... I just always make sure to add calmag back every water / feed and the plants never get deficient from calcium/ magnesium

northeastcultivators said:

The reason I planted directly in 3 gal pots was to avoid transplant shock, as that just sets me back a week

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I don't know your transplant procedure, but I have never experienced transplant shock.......even for a day.

northeastcultivators said:

The reason I planted directly in 3 gal pots was to avoid transplant shock, as that just sets me back a week. Also 12 of these girls are going outside and I want to be able to get them as big as possible within the 3 months time frame I have. I still start in smaller pots occasionally, I just avoid transplanting unless I really have to.

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How are you transplanting? I haven't seen any transplant shock when I up pot.

I wouldn't be concerned, i,d plant into the final every time if space allowed, imo with coco there's nothing challenging about starting in the final pot.

northeastcultivators said:

The reason I planted directly in 3 gal pots was to avoid transplant shock, as that just sets me back a week. Also 12 of these girls are going outside and I want to be able to get them as big as possible within the 3 months time frame I have. I still start in smaller pots occasionally, I just avoid transplanting unless I really have to.

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northeastcultivators said:

The reason I planted directly in 3 gal pots was to avoid transplant shock

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I know what you mean. Like when growing in soil and you transplant into an overly large pot with inadequate aeration. Plants slump a bit until they grow into it. It's a lack of oxygen at the rootzone.
(Or when you damage the root-ball during transplant)

So long as you're careful, and keep the pot sizes reasonable with good aeration, transplant shock and overwatering should be a thing of the past.
Especially whilst running coco too. Once roots are established, coco can be fed multiple times a day.

Far as coco coir and Cation Exchange Capacity goes, it's no different to soil. Behaves in much the same way.
Only it's a much lighter substrate, whilst also holding lots of water and air. Making it perfect for hydroponics.
But you can't let it get too dry.
Requires more frequent watering/feeds than soil. And has better aeration. For hydroponics that's a great thing. Means you'll get that really fast growth you mention.

northeastcultivators said:

I've just seen way between results growing in coco when it comes to how fast the plants grow / the dry backs times

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Treat it like DTW hydroponics with 10%+ of waste or so in pot volume each time. Feeding upwards of once per day as roots establish themselves and all should be fine.
If you're watering it properly and not letting it get too dry, you should have a really fun time.
Coco's a breeze when it goes right.

GL.

MickFoster said:

I don't know your transplant procedure, but I have never experienced transplant shock.......even for a day.

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Only time I did was when I left my bail of promix.in the truck and it froze (-20°) I thawed it overnight but the center was still semi frozen and cold. I thought. Meh. Whatever. But the plants hated it, wilted and didn't talk to me for a couple days. Lol. Other than that never...and I chop up the root ball a bunch and stab into in a time or two

Star Dog said:

I wouldn't be concerned, i,d plant into the final every time if space allowed, imo with coco there's nothing challenging about starting in the final pot.

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Small pots less water-less nutes being used-less water going into pot/less runoff
Running a couple plants no worries I guess but having 20 small plants in big pots is alot of watering/runoff for no reason.

northeastcultivators said:

I run off of town water that contains excess Chlorine / heavy metals and rusty water so using my tap water is Def not a option so RO water works best for me in my area ... I just always make sure to add calmag back every water / feed and the plants never get deficient from calcium/ magnesium

Click to expand...

Your town water has excess chlorine heavy metals and rusty water? You in Flint?
There are guild lines to safe drinking water where values of those items cannot exceed certain safe levels or else they wouldnt be able to deliver that water to the system. It's tested numerous times a day to ensure that. So it's hard to believe that statement without a township water report attached.

Jjgrow420 said:

Your town water has excess chlorine heavy metals and rusty water? You in Flint?
There are guild lines to safe drinking water where values of those items cannot exceed certain safe levels or else they wouldnt be able to deliver that water to the system. It's tested numerous times a day to ensure that. So it's hard to believe that statement without a township water report attached.

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Lol regardless there's no other option if you live In a city with shitty town water RO water is the only option ... unless I had well water but that's not the case

Nope_49595933949 said:

How are you transplanting? I haven't seen any transplant shock when I up pot.

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That's not the point. My point was in certain situations if you can plant directly in your final pot and skip the step of having to transplant wouldn't you do so? Obviously if someone's phenohunting or transplanting a clone or seed is still fine nothing wrong with that, just me personally if I'm starting from seed, and I can avoid transplanting I feel like planting directly in the final pot saves time and less shock results in faster growth and quicker harvests.

Jjgrow420 said:

Your town water has excess chlorine heavy metals and rusty water? You in Flint?
There are guild lines to safe drinking water where values of those items cannot exceed certain safe levels or else they wouldnt be able to deliver that water to the system. It's tested numerous times a day to ensure that. So it's hard to believe that statement without a township water report attached.

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Water can still be rated potable but still detrimental to plants over time as excess minerals like sodium, iron, manganese build up in the pots. With hard water you can pH your nute mixes every time and still end up with high pH in the pots from left-over calcium etc that causes the water to be hard in the first place.

Using organics with promix hp I'll water my plants with unfiltered tap water as our tap water comes from a dugout on the property so has all sorts of micro-herd living in it. After that it's RO water all the way and some carbs to keep that micro-herd happy. A little DynoMyco doesn't hurt either.

With DWC or hydro nutes in promix it's RO or distilled all the way.

As to transplant shock mentioned above I saw the bottom off the rootball at each up-potting even when 4" sprouts and never see any slow down in growth. Shave any long roots off the sides too. Roots coming out the drain holes in just a few days.

OldMedUser said:

Water can still be rated potable but still detrimental to plants over time as excess minerals like sodium, iron, manganese build up in the pots.

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Sure, but op said excess chlorine / heavy metals, not hard water.