I heard a fella in another forum suggest watering for Coco everyday. I've grown in Coco, noticed it was retentive enough so I don't water everyday.
if you're having heat issues turn off one of those lamps, don't need both right now and you're only hurting them more as far as watering, it's more of overwatering less frequently issue. if that makes sense if you let them dry out too much, then overwater, it not only shocks the roots, but drowns them as well throw in some ph issues, combined with heat stress and possible overnuting (not that it matters because the roots are so fucked they couldn't eat anyway) and it's gonna be trouble
So in other words I should water them less often but when watering be careful not to overwater. I read in another forum that when watering try to get about 10 to 20% run off would you agree with that if I am watering once a week?
How often do you water during veg? And what kind of mix do you use? 3 of mine are straight coco, the other 2 are coco 70% and grow stones 30%.
I will definitely take your advice and switch off one of the leds. I've been wondering if I need to have both on for the last 3 weeks but thought it couldn't hurt. do I only need the 2nd light for flowering or should I switch it on when they reach a certain size?
I am surprised at your temps, I have used coco 5 times with topspin drippers water little but often .ph 6.. I use coco with say 2 inches of clay pebbles to help drainage, with coco water every few days big amount or little amounts often, once every few days is so much easier i feel as you can run into problems if your roots are not established, where is your heat coming from? Have you got a radiator next to your setup as I am using 3 x600w and have a steady 24 lights on but I am using hps, heat is causing you your problems big time, also run your lights during the night time as it's naturally cooler good luck mate
Thanks for the help Londonlife, I honestly never thought my temps would get this high with leds either especially with an exhaust fan, however my problem may be that the fan does not blow air out the window but instead just releases it into the room. I know this is not ideal but I have to be as stealth as possible and my neighbors can see my windows. I will most certainly change my cycle because my lights turn off at 11pm and back on at 4am. I will document the temps for the next week before cracking any more beans. Londonlife when you say water alil, but often do you want me to water to run off or even less than that? Again everyone who has answered thanks for the help
If you are hand watering, once every few days is enough when you get run off that's enough, if you put your finger a inch down and it's dry water, also water a hour after your light go on as it will give your plants some time to process it,. I have noticed coco hates a cold medium so when your lights go out it can cause problems with locking out nutes. Coco can be treated like hydro and can be watered frequently if you mix with clay pebbles but tbh can be a nightmare.. stick to hand watering every few days, also when I started ten years ago I also ducted hot air into my room which was a real headache as you don't want to be dumping hot air outside as it's a helicopters wet dream.. changing when your timer is on will help massively with your temps, avoid having it on the hottest part of the day. Do you have a wall next to it where you could possibly duct into a vent?
I am hand watering so this is massively helpful, I have found many contradicting advice on the watering of coco so I can admit I was pretty confused. Thanks Londonlife your really clearing somethings up for me. what do you think about using a couple of bowls or jugs of ice outside or inside my tent to cool it? I decided I can't buy an air conditioner because the cost is high and it will cost a lot to run as well. The closet is connected to a small bathroom which is has a window that I open to try and cycle in fresh air but as I said on hot days this doesn't work. today I am changing my light timer so it will switch off at 10am and on at 2pm, however I am thinking of going to 18/6 to help with the heat problem what do you think about that? I have already switched off 1 light since sunday and the temperature yesterday was a steady 75, today it is around the same but I must say the last two days have been in the 60s and 70s but Sunday when my heat inside the tent hit the 90s it was 80 outside. London life, in your post you said to water an hour after the light goes ON? I have been watering an hour after the light goes off as I was always told not to water while the light is on to avoid burning of the leafs? Am I incorrect there? Also I checked today and there is no vent in the closet. Lastly, I was wondering when I should switch on my second 300w led, is one led sufficient for veg and when I switch to flowering I should use both? Thanks all!
Water the medium (top of coco) during lights on, one hour or two hours after. Read your plants they will tell you everything, The coco has a real colour change when dry to wet, you running autos? 18/6 is good enough to keep them going but different companies state different times. Heat will Fuck everything and a ac is expensive, the ice idea is one we have all thought off but it will melt very quickly and back to square one , what's your extraction and filter?
This batch has no autos, but my next batch will, I decided not to waste auto beans on my first attempt. Londonlife, not sure if you can see it in the picture I put up the other day of my general set up, but I have some 4 inch aluminum ducting sticking out from the bottom hole/vent there that is hooked up to a 6 inch duct fan(240 cfm) on the outside of the tent via a reducer, I had another reducer connecting the fan to a 4 inch carbon scrubber rated at 210cfm but I didn't want to restrict airflow so for now the the filter is off. I will update you with my daily highs and lows in temp tomorrow. I'm sorry to be such a noob, I know what foliar spray is, but how mild would you recommend?
Why don't you connect your fan direct to the filter when you do use it, 18/6 stick to that photo period for veg, shorten your duct run, also you say the duct runs down into a bottom hole can you send it out of the top hole, just hot air rises so bringing it down to the lower hole causes whatever cold air you have to warm.. Good luck and will keep checking and help as much as possible happy growing ..
Thanks so much London life, I am away from my set up until Saturday but when I get back I will change my extraction, I may need to do some clearing up with you when I do. Since switching to 1 light and changing my timer, even with a high of 80 yesterday, Inside the tent my Temps were between 70 and 81, I hear between 70 and 75 is optimal but considering that last time it was 80 outside it hit 93 in the tent I will take what I can get. On Saturday I will change my extraction and hopefully with the change I will be able to run 2 lights without having to worry about my Temps. Will be applying foliar spray on Saturday as well.
Cool sounds like a good plan, well hope the changes work for you and look forward to your update... Good luck
Update for you all, I threw them into flowering about a week ago, and as you can see, I'm starting to see the difference. The temperature is under control, the humidity is a bit more difficult to account for at the moment. They're all still looking a bit raggedy, so I thought the good folks here might be kind enough to help me out and take a look at them. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.