Hey Snow, I think that mildew is from the organics (supposedly a good thing I believe). I had a ton of that crap when I was mixing in worm castings, it freaked me out a bit but never had any ill effects that I could see. Still, not what you want to see growing in your container!
[/quote] This sounds like my watering regimen. I'm watering every other day and feeding every other watering. When I water, I water heavy for 50 to 100 percent runoff. I can't help myself. It's those soil grows that did it to me. So that's basically a flush every 4 days, if Canna is to be believed, and I believe them. I guess I'm continuously resetting my buffer, which explains the hairy palms and the bad eyesight. But the plants seem very happy with the way things are going. I use ~7.4 pH tap water, moderately hard I guess. I don't own a TDS meter. I suppose I could cut the nutrient dosages in half, feed every watering for light runoff and then flush every 4 weeks. You would think that was better than continuous 4 day cycles of feast then famine. But the plants seem very happy with the way things are going. That's not how we roll around here. We like to keep things friendly. Mellow. Friends can disagree about the finer points of coco and still be friends. Basic civility served up with a generous helping of good will. That's the Grass City vibe.
that is a nice way to look at it and pretty right on the money. Love GC and love this new Coco forum too. Ed, you did a great job on the guide, very proud of you! I just wanted to chime in here too on the different styles of growing with coco. Even though Ed knows his stuff and all...I can't do it all his way so venture off on my own as well. It is all about finding what works for you and then trusting it to play through the entire grow. The container size and age of the plant plays hugely into the watering. My little girl has gone pure organics, not even superthrive or even ph up or down for her whole life. She gets no plain water either, it always has MaxiCrop in it. She went 13 days with not a drop to drink however now that she is really kicking into gear for flowering she has taken 4 gallons in the past week with zero run-off. I even run my fingers through the first inch of the coco due to my top dressings and have no root damage or even touching any roots when I do this. When she was transplanted though she was planted extra deep so that may play into not hitting roots in the first inch or so. Love coco and how forgiving it is to the newbie grower (which I am for coco and MJ). Hint to those of you that have been on the Guide from the beginning...Ed added more info so you may want to go back and read the first posts again for more goodies.
Diatomaceous Earth is an excellent way to keep them from coming out of the soil. A nice layer on top of the medium and any of those lil fuckers come crawling out get cut up and dry up and die. I have not tried in coco, worked well for me in soil in the past. Would just want to research a little bit on how it could effect PH watering through it. Although, I never had an issue in soil on MJ or outdoor garden plants using it.
Hey J! I'm there with ya man! I have some sprinkled on a few plants testing it now. This DE I have is super powdery, almost turns to glue when it gets wet. It's been years since I used it (back in the soil days) but seems like it was a lot grittier before, this stuff I have now resembles flour. Does yours come like this? BUT - seems to work just fine and no ill ph effects so far (2 weeks into the test). I mixed some into the organic mix to try that too as preventative measures LOL Little bastards are everywhere right now
Ed, your diatomaceous earth sounds a lot like my dolomite lime. Here is what Wikipedia says about the consistency of diatomaceous earth:
Ah yes, thanks Alatar. I guess I had the 1 milli + type back in the day LOL I know what you mean about the lime, this is just about the same.
Thanks for the info ED... N all you other out there Its not a huge problem now, but I aquired them from my mothers garden from before when they were babies :/ well if the problem persists imma have to start clean Alrighty, thanks again peeps!
Hi Ed, do you still need a pic of a Mg deficiency? I believe I have a few good ones you can look through and pick out. If im not mistaken they are early signs of the Mg def like your Calcium pic. I posted pics in my tread about strange spots on the leaves in week 4 flower could really use your insight http://forum.grasscity.com/sick-pla...eaf-damage-never-seen-before-please-help.html
Hey Playboy! I found a great picture From Russy that I'm going to use, but I'll certainly take more (thank you!), especially early signs one. Russ has a great one of mag def more progressed. I'll add it to the guide a little later today.
I think theses are early mg/cal issues but could also be thrips..take em if you want not gonna hurt my feelings if you dont http://forum.grasscity.com/sick-plants-problems/589147-canna-coco-deficiency-over-fert-pics.html I couldnt upload them again because I already did but they are in the above post
awesome guide ed dont think anyone could have done better explaining coco fiber growing A+ im converting to coco now and wouldnt have if i hadnt read this you are an asset to this community
Hi Ed, .. So, your name is, " AskEd "right, .. So I have a deep sorta question. On page 1 of this, you wrote this, Now, I understand that the vast majority of Hydroponic systems are usually made up of elements that's Man Made. So, .. Reading further, I was intrigued that Coco is actually not man made, IE: Rock-wool, or to, Bubble Buckets, *( As the BB's also need man made properties IE: Air Stones, Pumps, Drip If your system is a Drip system ) .. .. Coco comes from nature, the inner of the Husk. That is not man made, but grows. So, If I'm planting in a Natural Resource like soil or even Coco, .. How is it that Coco is Hydroponic, when its like I said, a Natural product from the soil, *( The tree grows, Coconuts Grow, and then Husked for the properties of the Inside of the Coconut, .. So, we have a natural product that is just being used as a Medium, but being referred to as, Hydroponic .. Help me understand if you can, how it falls into the Hydroponic Category. Thanks Ed .. ..
It is considered a hydroponic media because it is inert, and contains no nutrients. Depending on how you think about it, other inert mediums are not that "unnatural." Perlite is simply expanded silicon. Yeah, we process it, but the product itself comes from the earth. Much like RockWool, which is rocks that have been melted down and spun (kinda like cotton candy). Hydroton is just clay that has been heated and expanded due to the water content inside of them. All of these products come from the earth and they are not synthesized from chemicals like say... Formula 401 all-purpose cleaner. So your definition of "natural" in my eyes holds more than just soil and coco. Coco is what you should call "renewable" because we can always grow more coco nuts but we could some day run out of the clay for hydroton or use up the peat bogs where we get our sphagnum from. Since coco has no nutrients naturally you have to supplement them. Coco works as both a soil amendment (like peat moss and perlite) and as a stand-alone media using hydroponic nutrients. The pH of the coco method also sits it firmly in the hydroponic category, running around 5.8pH is too low for most soil systems. Yet, coco's self-buffering capabilities allow for the options of organics and hydroponics working in balance. I hope that helps.
Hey WWM! Actually, coco is in the "soiless" category and soiless uses hydro rules as far as ph and feeding generally. As Snow pointed out, rockwool is very similar to coco in that it's processed from some earthly source, but is inert for the most part and requires nutrients to be provided. So all in all, I don't really consider coco to be hydroponic, I just think it takes a hydroponic approach to use it as a medium, meaning ph & nutrients mainly and constantly supplying them. They way I'm using it now is more like soil though, so in reality coco can fit into hydro/soil/soiless categories, at least you can argue that with some pretty valid points LOL To confuse things even more, I like mixing 50/50 coco & compost with a little perlite. Makes a terrific soil for veggies. What is coco considered then? Hmmm.... an amendment or conditioner? Coco is also great to layer on top of soil or whatever as a mulch. I do this with a lot of our plants outside. So many ways to use this stuff...
YEah Ed ! Any time I hear anything about coco or even just coconuts, lol, I think of you dude! On an unrelated note, you been to any good shows lately, metal shows
Hey Veeners! Dude I think you would rock this coco man, you have soil dialed in so well I hate to even mention it, but can't help it anyways LOL Metal shows have been kinda lame here lately man, I haven't been to a decent one in some time. How about you? BUT Mayhem fest is just a few weeks away... SLAYER!! I'm really looking forward to seeing Chimaira, last album was incredible man. Got tickets for Tom Petty and Rush though! All these old timers are making the rounds LOL Hope all is well with you bro, you're always taking care of kids, old folks, plants, you have lots of good karma deposited in the bank man
After reading your Guide, I definitely have thought about it but a hydro set-up is callin my name, just need a job to fund it Man, I havent been to a concert in about 10-11 years Ed , Ive been dieing to see a show for a looong time but I always find a reason that I probably shouldnt spend the $ . I should though, soon and Ill take my wife, shes never been to a concert, ever I think she would like a Machine Head show if I had my choice . Now Tom Petty would be a killer show, damn how cool would that be! Take care Ed, keep on coco preachin brotha !