First Grow: Afghan in Coco

i wouldn't even bother.... i havent used my ph meter in over a week and my plants look totally fine

 

filtered water, ph out of the tap is a little bit above 7.5 if not sometimes in the lower 8's
im serious, i have been ph'ing for the majority of my growing time and just recently have stopped and i haven't noticed anything bad, and somewhat more lush looking growth...

just my two cents, but a lot of others on here agree

 

I will disagree with this given the proper circumstances.

In my own garden the E.C. (electrical conductivity) is King. I monitor the EC going in and the EC coming out. Then I accumulate data for several grows and this gives me a relatively good conceptualization of what kind of charge the media has to better tune my feeding process.

An EC meter, or a combo EC/pH/Temp meter is fantastic for when you're really looking to dial things in.

When you are working in coco/organics I think it is more important to ensure you are using an organic Acid to lower the pH of your solution. I like to use FlavorFul Fulvic Acid from Humboldt Nutrients though you can find many on the market. I don't bother checking the pH of my nutrient system because of the natural pH buffering capabilities of the coco.

Because I am unfamiliar with your nutrient program I cannot give direct advice, but personally I like to use between 3ml and 5ml of Fulvic Acid per gallon. I start my plants off at 0.6ec and work up by 0.1ec with every new leaf set. During veg I won't go over 1.6ec, and usually top out around 1.25ec. At the transition to flowering I generally drop my nutrient solution concentration, and begin using bloom nutrients at the switch, to get about a 1.0ec solution. This I will bring up about .1ec per week, ending around 1.6ec or so, some of my heavier feeders prefer a 1.8ec for an extended period. Higher EC levels has never worked in my own garden, perhaps because it is still an organic system and there is a considerable charge of elements in the media already. Or maybe I just don't get the hungriest phenotypes. Other factors, like CO2 supplementations will come into play for some gardeners as well. I would recommend that in your situation you get an EC meter and work to keep your solution sub-1.65ec for your first time around.

I prefer to feed once per day with a copious amount of runoff, in excess of 30%. I prefer less than 3 gallons, or 15L, of coco, working in about 10 liters of coco seems perfect for growing 2-3 foot tall plants, with 24 inch canopies, producing between 2 and 5 ounces depending on variety. Start by developing a healthy and robust root system. We feed the media, the media feeds the roots, the roots feed the plant. Understand that the vast majority of the grower does has to first be digested by the media and organics if it applies. So if what the media contains is understood (by diligently measuring the EC of your runoff and recording it) and focused efforts on building a crazy effective root system are applied, then this will give the greatest control over the final product from the plant itself.

My advice is to get an EC meter and an effective runoff system to collect your drained out solution. Work in smaller containers than you think you need and build happy roots in the coco mix. Focus on organic pH balancing with Fulvic acid. Use your solution when it is "fresh," within 6 hours of mixing, never aerate it, and keep a good diary of everything in and everything out. You'll have the hang of it in no time.

Some products I can recommend:
General Organics - The entire lineup
Dyna Grow - Pro-Tekt Potassium Silicate (as a pH up and a source of Si)
Cutting Edge Solutions - Micro (better "Cal-Mag" supplement) and Uncle John's Blend (Resin enhancer and K+ balance)
Botanicare - CNS17 Coco/Soil, Ripe, Liquid Karma
Humboldt Nutrients - FlavorFul Fulvic Acid

 

Clean setup are you gonna flower under those lights too?

 

All depends on your space on when to top I have alot of ceiling bight so I let mine go natural less veg time I'm no pro on coco so I'm not sure when to start nutes with that medium but I'm sure by the sounds of it you gonna do just fine good luck I'll be checking in from time to time to watch your progress

 

Looks good just remember it's easy to overwater with a small plant and a big pot just be careful

 

You're going to have a problem watering like that.

Every time you water you want to completely and evenly saturate the media. The fresh solution brings much needed dissolved oxygen to the roots and washes out residuals.

Always get runoff. Always.
Overwatering is watering too often, not too much. Once the media is wet, it's wet, and it cannot get "more wet" by using extra solution.

When plants are young they need a surprisingly small amount of water. In the planters you have you could be watering once a week at this stage without concern.

The proper way to test your media when working with an immature root system in coco is to lift it up. You never want coco to go totally dry, but as you lift the planter every day it should get lighter and lighter. When you go in there and it is just obscenely light, practically no weight at all (but before the seedling gets limp), that's when you water to complete saturation and collect a reasonable amount of runoff.

 

You probably want to wait until you have 4 established leaf sets before employing any sort of training. Won't take long. They should start producing a new leaf set every 2 or 3 days now.