AskEd's Coco Guide

Yeah I use a pen and the liquid test kit as a backup. I calibrate my meter every month, or check it I havent had to recalibrate it once yet. Its dead on accurate.

Let me know how those bulbs work out for ya J. I need a new 600watt full spectrum bulb very soon.

 

WOW great thread Ed. so much info, thank you so much, I will do coco next grow for sure and refer to this alot. you and the mrs. are a great part of this wonderful city. peace

 

hey ed....im new to growin' and have indoor scrog with canna coco and several outdoor container plants.....livin' in florida i water about 2 to 3 times a week outside(3 gal. containers...coco/perlite 50/50 using canna a and b ..superthrive...molassas..some fox farm ect..nutes every watering....we have been havin' some real frogchoker rainstorms daily...inch to inch and a half in an hour....is this flushing my nutes or does the rainwater replace them...lovin the coco....plants thrive and its simple...also...helpful microbes additives ...should i use 1?...great forum...soon this place will be crankin...any and all input is great ....thanks....the deacon

 

So Ed did you have a "recipe" for the organic coco? I'd like to try my hand with plain water.

As a daily hand waterer I drain to waste and end up mixing up a bunch of nutes every week. I did hit on keeping a bucket of concentrated nutes that one could quickly scoop a quart out and make three or more gallons of appropriate strength solution @ 1.4-2.0 EC. I initially pH this concentrate at 5.8 and diluting with RO it rarely requires further adjusting.

I'll see about some pics for the other thread.

 

Thanks Ed, I can't wait to try it out, I'll need your expertise though, otherwise it may just be a big load of nice photos of bad ganja. we don't want that.

 

hey ed....thanks for the fast response....unheard of on most "snob" forums...yeah...lovin the coco...so much less hassle and explosive growth...will post some pics of the scrog and some outdoor containers soon.....depending on taste i may go organic for my next grow...do you use an ec meter and if so what do you look for during late veg and flower....do you use ro water...i've been told use tap water to avoid cal/mag issues or should i use cal/mag additive regardless just due to cocos nature.....thanks again and glad to be aboard the coco train.......the deacon

 

Hey Deacon, I can offer you my experience. I find that if you are going to use tap water you need to be using it from a good source. Not all tap is the same, some is recycled waste... which I've found to be no good for plants. Other tap water via well or watershed is better suited. I still have some fear about tap water though and prefer to use RO filtered water from the water machine by my local grocery and supplement Cal-Mag.

Initially I was using Botanicare's Cal-Mag plus in combination with Canna Coco A&B. This was suggested to my by my local hydro guy (South Bay Hydroponics). Inside the store they were doing an active coco grow using a few kinds of chards, peppers, and tomatoes. The plants that were fed with the cal-mag plus were larger and healthier while the plants with GH cal-mag had quite a bit of yellow new growth. The grower there explained to me that it was the extra iron in Botanicare's cal-mag plus that makes the difference.

The Cal-Mag Plus is good stuff but I was looking for a larger range of micro-nutrients for my next grow. Specifically, I felt like a little more silicon would go a long way. I did weeks of research in to silica supplements and found basically two different sources. Botanicare Silica Blast and Dutch Master's Silica. Botanicare uses a sodium silicate while Dutch Master uses a potassium silicate. The potassium silicate was quite a bit more expensive... but I didn't want to add sodium to my system...

Back to the drawing board.

That is when I finally stumbled across the Organicare (Botanicare Organics) micro-nutrient line. Namely Huvega. This system does contain some sodium, but compared to what I would have been adding this is negligible.

So I got off of Cal-Mag plus and moved to a more precise system that would allow me to add as much calcium as I wanted or as much of the micro-nutrient magnesium rich huvega as I would like. In combination with Humega (Humic Acids, smells like rotten eggs) and the occasional Seaplex boost I am very pleased with the results in both my tap water and in RO filtered water.

Ultimately, I find that calcium, magnesium, and iron are absolutely crucial to the CEC of coco and to assist the rapid growth. Having a system that allows me to tune these (rather than in one bottle) has been great for growing different strains that have different phenotypes. I never did select a silica supplement - maybe some day - but I was led to a better way of dialing in my nutrients for this media.

Hope that helps.

 

nice thread ed, but!!! i gotta disagree on a couple points. i've been growing exclusively in coco for years. i treat it as a straight up hydro grow. i only read the first page, but you mention 2 things that caught my eye, feeding and flushing. since coco is hydro, why would you not feed every day? in mid flower i start to feed 2x a day. coco is actually better suited to several smaller feedings per day. i'm currently doing a bubble gum grow, and am putting together a drip system. root growth in coco is massive. i have roots right on top of my containers. the last thing you want, is for your medium to dry up and damage your root system.
as for flushing, i do a small flush about 4-7 days prior to harvest. other than that, flushing between feeds is totally unnecessary, and can actually be harmful. coco is best suited as a run to waste medium, with a good 10-15 run-off at each feed. this run-off acts as a mini-flush, thereby eliminating the need for flushing altogether. i also re-use my coco about 3x. after that, it begins to break down, and loses it's cation exchange capabilities. again, very nicely put together thread, kudos!!!

 

You and I are on the same page GrowBot.
And so is canna. Excerpt from CannaTalk Issue 4 "Growing on Coco":

I am against flushing until the final weeks of growth.

I'm not totally sold on frequent waterings though. Coco peat (the really fine stuff) can hold up to 33% more moisture than comparative peat products. This means that even though it looks dry, it can still hold a lot of moisture. This is why I use the weight test to determine when I need to water next.

To water/feed my plants I wait until the planter feels light, but is obviously not dry. I then add solution at about 100ml to 200ml at a time, allowing for about a minute to pass before adding more. Ultimately I aim for a VERY SMALL amount of run off. This lets me know the coco is saturated enough but will still manage to have plenty of air as well.

I found my largest Lemon Skunk in a 1 gallon RootMaker uses about 800ml per day. I would try to break this up into 500ml in the morning when lights came on and another 300ml or so at mid day.

Over at ICMag this conversation has been had at length, and it has created enemies of friends. I think that ultimately this medium is just so forgiving, so (for a lack of a better term) magic, that watering twice a day or once every two days is up to the individual to choose which they like better. Both work well, so it's a personal thing.

Just as long as we all know there isn't one way to do something with this medium then that is what matters.

Amazing that a 5.0pH solution added once every other day to excess is pretty equivalent to a 6.0pH solution added twice a day. I'm going to go hump my freshly expanded coco now. Don't bother me.

 

thanks snow crash good stuff there...i was using the grocery ro machine to start but that was early on and i was overfeedin' em big time...real easy to do with the combo of newbeeitis and wanting to try and rush nature....good thing coco is so forgiving...will go back to the ro and some form of cal mag supps...lost one of the outdoor ladies today....she was no match for 2 pitts and two scotties persuing a 1 ounce lizard...the price to pay for security.....made a bubble cloner but after eds talkin about the coco clone method it seems foolproof...so i got a slight chance...if i take clones from a female plant will the clones reproduce as female...hated asking that one...just being a little lazy...i have real trouble with the search function on this sight...any tips...think i will try the bot cal mag...might be better at my level....i love tinkerin' ..thats how i learn..a show me guy...when i think of 39 years buyin' swag...makes me want to puke....i also love growin' cause its one of the few things in life i seem to have a little control over.....when treating a chemical def....how long should i wait to see the result..1 or 2 waterings with the supliments....sorry for so many questions but i always find its easier to learn from other peoples mistakes...think i'll try that several small feedings a day to give it a shot.....thanks for the super quick and friendly, helpful response....for sure a diamond among the coal of most forums....soon as i figure the system here i'll get up photos and reps for fou guys......startin a new list of questions...look out......the deacon

 

LOL!!! i too believe there is more than one way to skin a cat! i must say, your pics look like some healthy plants. i'll prob. never go back to soil. although, i still want to try an outdoor grow...

 

I think it also depends on the size of the container vs plant vs stage of growth and how much/often it needs water. And other concerns like high humidity if there's an enclosed space which can rot your buds. And the Scarid flies.

It's something the grower needs to play with to get a feel for. I'm graduating to 2-3 gallon containers for my next grow. Maybe grow-bags instead of pots. Crossing fingers for my cloning in coco attempt. Followed the guide exactly and so far the little buggers haven't wilted or drooped after 24 hours.

 

Hey ed, Ive noticed a few of these lil buggers in my grow.... You do anything to control besides less water???

 

I've dealt with the fungus gnats before. I used a Hot Shot pest repellent thing from home depot and it worked well enough.

Killing the eggs and larva is the issue and the only effective way I know of is to use the little parasites, can't remember the name because it's like 18 letters and nine syllables, but they work well and can be found inexpensively online or at a hydro store.

I had a problem with some white funky mildew growing on the top layer of my coco, I tried safer's fungicide to keep it in line but never had much success. The mildew never spread to the plant and the gnats actually probably helped keep it in control. Since moving out of my tent and into a larger space I haven't seen any more of the issue, but I keep those HotShots around just in case because they worked so well.