Hello! I am about to start my first grow and wanted to double check that I have done my research and have what I need to get a solid first yield. I am going to start with 3 auto flower Tangerine dream seeds germinated and planted in 5 gallon fabric pots. I am not trying to go crazy with my first cultivation, just sticking with the basics but wanted to make sure there wasn't anything else (nutes or otherwise) that would be easy and beneficial to add. I’m using general hydroponics flora series...grow, micro, and bloom for my nutes. I also have CALiMAGic and ph up / down. So for my first grow I am going with a coco coir medium. My local hydro store carries Canna coco pro plus but I'm not sure if I am going to purchase that or find another. There are a few other shops near by that I am going to stop in and see what they carry. Any issue with Cann pro +? any other Coco Mediums that are also good or better/easier to use? (I read canna is sterilized to prevent fungus which is good right?) Anyway, here is the list of my current supplies/setup... feel free to give advice but like I said its my first grow, just looking to keep it simple and work my way up to more complex nutes and feeding. Thanks, cheers! 39x39x78 inch Grow Tent VIPARSPECTRA Reflector-Series 600W LED Grow Light 1/8" Adjustable-Height Metal Gear Ratchet Hangers 4 Inch 190 CFM Duct Inline Fan with 4" Carbon Filter 4 Inch Pre-Filter for Carbon Filter 6 Inch Clip-On Fan Humidity Monitor with Indoor Thermometer 24 Hour Plug-in Mechanical Electric Outlet Timer, 15 Minute Interval Timer Digital PH Tester TDS Tester 3-in-1 TDS EC & Temperature Meter
Always do your first grow with soil. Coco you are supplementing all the nutes for the plants, soil will give you a little more wiggle room untell you figure out what you are doing more. And maybe a little more light if yoou want quality buds. Good luck
COCO is as easy as it gets my first grow was deep water culture... unless you are dumb as dog shit you will be fine...
I agree with Shifte - 2 plants with that light. What nutes are you using? Make sure you understand that coco is hydroponics and is nothing like growing in soil. I highly suggest you mix perlite in your coco - I use a 70/30 coco/perlite mix for fast growth. Personally I would of started the plants in a smaller container, then transplanted into the larger one after a couple of weeks. I know that people say don't transplant autos, but my plants never skip a beat after transplant. Good luck.
I’m using coco for my first grow it’s works great some basic nutes for veg and flower and you will be set you can’t over water coco (unless you put you’re heart into it ) so it really helps for first timers with over watering being a very common mistake you can also fix coco almost instantly ph off or have any sort of deficiency make up some water to correct whatever is wrong and pour simple as that with coco you’ll water every few days the more perlite you add the more you water Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I definitely want to stick with coco not soil. I am using general hydroponics flora series...grow, micro, and bloom. For some reason I didn’t list that in my supplies above. Any other nutes I should be looking at?
I may have missunderstood what you meant, but I wouldn’t go straight from germination to 5 gal pots, start in something small then transplant.
I’ve read a lot about transplanting to a larger pot after the seed starts to sprout out of the medium (after germinating and planting small cup) and it seems the majority of people say to just plant the germinated seed in the same pot you intend to grow because autos are sensitive and have a limited veg time. What is the benefit of starting in a small pot/cup then transplanting?
The advantage to starting in a smaller container while the roots are establishing themselves is that you can control the amount of moisture easier and you get much faster growth than in a large pot. If transplanted properly, there should be no slowdown in growth. I think you lose more growth time by starting in a large pot. I have grown autos before and transplanted them just like I do all of my plants and they grow like weeds. These plants are 3 weeks from sprouting out of the coco, they were started in a 1ltr air pot and topped once already. Rarely do I ever see a grower that can grow a plant this large in 3 weeks by starting in a large pot. It's possible I guess, but rare. Just my opinion.
The point to not transplanting auto's is that you give it no stress from a transplant. Auto's are on a very strict time limit and if stressed, may stunt plant growth. That being said, there are growers who have had great success transplanting auto's. I have never done so, but, I'm sure, that there are others that could tell you the secret to transplanting an auto with little stress.
so what is the secret? I am an avid gardener with three large raised beds in my yard. I plant my own seedlings in the spring and then transplant them to my beds after the frost...bla bla bla. But this is different. This is Coco. I assume Coco doest hold form like my small seed cups do when I grow veggies. I would imagine that the coco falls completely apart (which I have experienced in my garden when I mixed too much perlite) and if the roots are complete removed from there medium and exposed and replanted...which puts a lot of strain on roots. That process would have to stress them the wee..right? and with a short veg time, stunting of the plants root development is unavoidable which will hurt the bloom/harvest. Is there a technique that anyone has perfected. What exactly do you do when transplanting your seedlings to larger pots?
Mick I use the same smart pots, why the fabric wrapped around them?? For pests or for light reasons??
Coco is brilliant to grow with. You are in full control of the feed schedule, which takes out any guess work. It has fast growth and can produce good yields. Its also a bit more forgiving than other forms of hydroponics. Add hydroton or perlite to the mix to improve drainage. Also use a coco specific range or supplement with cal mag if you arent. Never let coco dry out like soil, always keep it moist. Once your root system has established feed every day until you get 10-15% run off. Its really that simple!
They're air pots. I cover them with pantyhose to keep fungus gnats out of the holes. Queen size works best. Haha.
Are they 9 liter pots?? Great Idea man, no fungus gnats so far this grow but had quite a few last grow. Looks like im going pantyhouse shopping haha Ah sorry airpots yeah I use the same ones. I add a layer of hydroton to the top, middle and bottom of the pots.
I have never had it fall apart when transplanting. Let the roots fill up the container, usually around 2 weeks, and it comes out perfectly. Just put the coco/perlite mix in the new larger container and place the smaller container in the middle so that the tops of the pots are the same height , fill in around the sides of the smaller cup - gently pull out the cup and you have an impression in the coco exactly the same size as your rootball - pull plant and rootball out of cup and put in the hole. The plant doesn't even know it happened.