PSA:new growers in coco

Just a gentle reminder for those stepping into the coco arena for the first time.As most are aware coco will sequester calcium and magnesium,so its a good idea to be prepared for this.Coco is also a natural source of potassium and will release it through the grow.Too many times ive seen new growers dumping p/k boosters on their plants in coco,just to run into cal/mag deficiencies.Excessive K will aggravate calcium,magnesium and some micros too.Dumping more cal/mag on the plant isnt the way to fix this..the NPK needs to be rebalanced,for less K.A moderate extra amount of cal/mag is needed only.Additionally coco requires a lower ph like hydro,but calcium and magnesium are poorly absorbed below 6 PH.In full hydro I dont think this is a problem,but with cocos weird cation exchange properties,I think this is another major cause for cal/mag deficiencies in coco.I think a Ph swing from 5.8-6.2 is better for coco to prevent deficiencies.Along with a reasonable amount of added K,will help keep your leaves green and free from the dreaded cal/mag deficiency.

I also hear alot about how you cant overwater in coco.My personal belief is this is bullshit,in some senarios.Small plants in coco that havent filled the pots with roots for example.Drowning the whole pot daily in this scenario can lead to a perpetually waterlogged bottom of the pot and stunts roots.You shouldnt let coco dry like soil,but the volume of your feeds needs to be realistic for the size of your pots/plants.Unfortunately there is no hard fast rule for this.

All these problems make coco a very bad choice for new growers imo,but if you choose to do it then be prepared and have a game plan before you germinate or transplant into coco.

I hope this info is useful for someone.

im on my 3rd coco grow, and am STILL dialing it in. Takes a minute to re-train your brain when crossing over from being a soil grower. naturally you want to let it have a wet/dry cycle, and that is horrible for cannabis in coco coir.
Also, I agree with your statement about growers saying that you CANT over water cannabis in coco. This is somewhat true, once your plants roots have filled in the pot, and are no longer directing its main focus on growing roots.
I have experienced 1st hand that you can in fact over water in coco. Once you plant has started focusing on upward growth, you can start to up the watering, but still dont want to over do it, as this is a open invitation to creepy crawly critters. Last grow, i watered heavily all thru, to 20% runoff, EVERY time, and ended up with spring tails. I realize they are not too harmful, but i dont like any thing in my garden that shouldnt be there. Bugs freek me out.
Anyway...good post Resinhound

I'm in the middle of my first grow and went with coco cause I thought it would be easy. It was quite the opposite. I have dealt with cal/mag deifencies and I actually overwatered at first. Didn't even realize it til I looked at pics of plants from a week or so ago and seen they where water logged and dropping. I'm 3 1/2 weeks in and have been flowering for 4 nights now and have pre flowering on both plants. I think I finally sort of have it dialed in but don't want to jinx myself. My new growth is finally looking perfectly healthy I think. Here is a pic from earlier today.

tydot said:

I'm in the middle of my first grow and went with coco cause I thought it would be easy. It was quite the opposite. I have dealt with cal/mag deifencies and I actually overwatered at first. Didn't even realize it til I looked at pics of plants from a week or so ago and seen they where water logged and dropping. I'm 3 1/2 weeks in and have been flowering for 4 nights now and have pre flowering on both plants. I think I finally sort of have it dialed in but don't want to jinx myself. My new growth is finally looking perfectly healthy I think. Here is a pic from earlier today.

Click to expand...

She's looking fat and happy so far, we'll done.

Awesome information. For the new guys I just wanted to add that they can foliar feed the cal/mag while they are working through their issues. This way they can supplement the plants quickly. The hardest time I had was in the transition to bloom where the need for P and K are up. Good luck.