So I thought I'd share with you guys what I've been doing with my coco grow. I've been doing a bunch of reading online and haven't found anything about a method like what I am doing. My current schedule for feedings is around 20-25 seconds Every 60 min when the lights are on. This method was recommended to me by a local hydro store in LA. The theory on it or at least what I understand to be is the short but frequent waterings will prevent salt build up in the medium while encouraging growth with an abundance of fresh nutrients This is my first time growing coco and only my third grow all in. But this is by far my favorite method I have tried. I'm using general hydro floranova and following the advanced DTW feed schedule. I am currently a week into flower This is from the first day of flowering These are from today day 6 Any comments suggestions critiques all welcome, I am still very new at growing but it's all learning process and I am just very eager to learn about this Lemme know what you guys think!
I like the idea of frequent waterings with the drip system. 12 feedings a day? How much runoff do you get with each watering? How big is your res, and how often does it need a refill? I could ask a 1,000 more questions, so I'll stop and we can start there. Plants seem to love the regime , looking great.
Thanks man! Yes 12 feedings a day. I shoot for about 5-10% per day. So it's not much off each individual watering and a lot of the time it will just be a few drops out of the bottom. My res is a 27 gallon tote. In veg I put 20 gallons and probably used somewhere between 5-7 gallons for the 6. That was only a 2 week veg period starting with clones. Flowering seems to have kicked up they're appetite because they are taking up a lot more water now so I have been slowly upping the time to about 30 seconds trying to get a little more run off back. I'm going slow because we had a heat wave last weekend during the first few days and things got pretty hot. Temps have been back down to normal and added an ac In my room to keep things consistently cool. But even with temps back to normal since Monday they are just drinking a ton because I've been getting very little run off. The growth rate has been awesome I was expecting it to be a little slower then dwc
So a little correction to what I previously stated about run off. I was under the impression that even with the frequent waterings you are still shooting to get some run off, but that is incorrect. After speaking with my local hydro store about things, run off is not needed. This is due to constant moisture level in the medium. By maintaining constant moisture you are preventing any salt build ups. They did however recommend that I add cannazym to my feed schedule. Will update with pictures later today
Some pictures They are on day 10 of flowering. And they are now getting 12 seconds per hour turned it way down after my conversation this morning with the hydro store. They run at 10 seconds but my pump is a little smaller and shuts off they have theirs wired to a valve so there is always pressure. Mine takes a second to start flowing
The growth rate is just awesome. Over night they have really started to flower. Day 11 they seem to have stopped stretching pretty early. Couldn't find any info on the strain so no idea what kinda yield or characteristics are so pretty much winging it
A great tool for all coco growers is the Hanna HI98331, it's line $75 on Amazon and can reveal a LOT of information about how coco is reacting with fertilizers. I think you'd be surprised to see how much salt really is sitting in the coco if there's no runoff. Just because it stays moist doesn't mean there isn't any buildup. Do you flush at all?
I did at the beginning before potting the clones and i will begin to in a few days as I come to the end of flower. I will def look into that... I did flush one time about week 4 had a little bit of an issue. But even then I have not had any run off. And haven't had a single problem. Has been my best grow so far
What's up man, plants look nice. Will has a point about salt build ups, and they happen in the plant as well as in the medium. You may not notice anything while growing, but you will def notice when you go to smoke it. I am growing in a coco/perlite mix and I use Florakleen once a week during veg and twice a week during flower. I use it during the final 2 week flush before harvest as well.
Not sure as to the exact strain. I got it from a local dispensary. Labeled as P.r. #19 it's indica and I know the majority of the strains come from Cali connection. 7 day flush, gave a sample to a few people in the business out here and all said it looked and smoked great. Super dense nugs trichs everywhere Couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Can't wait to start again in a few weeks
Man I'm with you. I used 2 gal pots, straight botanicare coco with 2-3 daily feedings and a buttload of runoff every time. Floranova 1 part in veg and bloom. No additionals and I was amazed when harvest came. Best bud I've grown so far. Ppm 6-800 pH to 5.8 with RO water each time. Time consuming but I'd do it again next time.