OK, so the thought of growing my own herb has been with me for a long time, I now have the perfect space in my newly built recording studio for a 1.2m x 1.2m x 2.0m Grow Tent and im going to give it a bash, using coco as my medium. I found a great starter kit online which includes: * XL Bud-Box with Silver Lining * 600w Complete Grow Light with Mixed Spectrum Bulb, Ballast & Shade * 6 x 10L Pots * 6 x Saucers * 1L Coco A&B Food * 1 x 50L Coco fibre * 1 x 10L Clay Pebbles * 2M Jack Chain * 100mm Extraction Fan What are you thoughts on this set up? I will expand as time goes on but to get my 1st crop growing will this do? I will obviously also use nutrients (CANNA) bought separately to the correct dosage on the Canna coco grow chart. Im looking at getting seeds in from Green House Co. as I visit dam regularly. Is it as easy as planting a female seed into the coco pots and taking it from there? letting them grow, feeding them, then harvesting them? I am a complete beginner as you may tell! are there any guidelines I must follow growing from seed? do I just make sure they are feminized or is there anything specific to growing from seed in coco? I see people recommend soil as a 1st grow, but I really want to give this coco thing a go as i have read nothing but good things about it and im willing to put the time and effort in for good results, please if you have any help, tips or recommendations such as links, websites, books that would be cool!
I recommend Coco to beginners all the time. The stuff is really very easy to grow with. I am doing some Lemon Skunk from GHS and it has been a very easy strain to work with. What I do is place my seed in the coco and then I just keep the coco saturated until the seed sprouts. This usually takes 3 to 4 days. I begin using very light levels of nutrients early on. I find this helps charge the coco and won't burn up a young seedling at 2ml per gallon of A+B. I also like to use filtered water (reverse osmosis) because tap can be a variable in a grow. Vegetative life is a breeze in coco. During week 2 you'll want to supplement some calcium, and during weeks 3 to 4 you're going to want to supplement magnesium. I suggest running the Canna at 8ml per gallon at the peak for your first time around. Most issues people see in coco are related to Magnesium deficiencies. You will definitely want to pick up a supplement so that you can up this nutrient during the 2nd and 4th to 6th weeks of Flowering. A blooming enhancer (P-K) will be useful to dial in the potassium and phosphate needs during bloom as you'll find the need for some extra potassium in weeks 1, 3, 5, and 7, and extra phosphates in weeks 2, 3, 5, and 6. I also recommend supplementing silicon in coco. My plants generally get a little bigger then they can support and having the extra silicon really beefs up the stems and cell walls. I also recommend alternating a 10% strength solution every other watering after a plant has been in a planter for 30 days. For me it works like this: The plants are started a seed starting tray, then they are transplanted to a 1 gallon planter around day 10. They spend 20 days or so in the 1 gallon planter before being transplanted to a 3 gallon planter. I go another 10 to 20 days of vegetative life and start flowering. So for me, sometime around day 60 of life is when I start to alternate 10% feedings with full strength feedings. I find this helps keep the coco from building up immobile elements and keeping all things in balance. This stuff is easy though. Just mix and feed for the most part. The info I provided is to help you anticipate problems before they arise.