HOW TO WATER COCO FOR BEST RESULTS.

[SecretGardener]

About 1/3 of my coco transplants look like these

ALL my plants looked like this after transplant from 1 gal to 3 gal plastic pots. I had 8 clones, 4 varieties, 2 of them had beautifully roots when removed from the one gal pots. Used coco with 30% perlite and watered till water came out the bottoms. They drooped like this and after 3 days it was clear they were never going to use enough water to dry out the 3 gal pots. Ended up transplanting to cloth pots with 50% perlite. Roots looked dead, no white at all, when I transplanted. It has taken a month for then to recover and now the cloth pots are nicely full of roots.

I have grown in a mix of mostly perlite and peat moss for years and have never seen plants so negatively impacted by watering after transplanting. I had completely bought into "you can't overwater coco". In hindsight, there are clues about being careful if you have large amounts of coco with no roots.. Lesson learned.

I have new cuttings rooting, only goal of the next crop is healthy roots and never overwater. I used to root in water and have always had trouble with watering when I first plant the rooted cuttings. This was why I was moving to coco "you can't overwater". Now I'm rooting with root riot cues to coco.

Thanks for all the great info.

 

[Aqua Man]

ALL my plants looked like this after transplant from 1 gal to 3 gal plastic pots. I had 8 clones, 4 varieties, 2 of them had beautifully roots when removed from the one gal pots. Used coco with 30% perlite and watered till water came out the bottoms. They drooped like this and after 3 days it was clear they were never going to use enough water to dry out the 3 gal pots. Ended up transplanting to cloth pots with 50% perlite. Roots looked dead, no white at all, when I transplanted. It has taken a month for then to recover and now the cloth pots are nicely full of roots.

I have grown in a mix of mostly perlite and peat moss for years and have never seen plants so negatively impacted by watering after transplanting. I had completely bought into "you can't overwater coco". In hindsight, there are clues about being careful if you have large amounts of coco with no roots.. Lesson learned.

I have new cuttings rooting, only goal of the next crop is healthy roots and never overwater. I used to root in water and have always had trouble with watering when I first plant the rooted cuttings. This was why I was moving to coco "you can't overwater". Now I'm rooting with root riot cues to coco.

Thanks for all the great info.

You need the right environment... sounds like cold roots.

Like I said previously not all coco is the same and some needs rinsed, temps need to be optimal, transpiration needs to be optimal, etc.

If your plants aren't responding well to it something is out.

With that said not everyone can create the ideal environment. It's just like co2... you need the environment forst and this is assuming you have it

 

[SecretGardener]

sounds like cold roots.

I have a heat source that never lets the grow room get below 60* F at night. During the day the vent thermostat is set to 76* and fans circulate heat from the lights. Brick coco was strained to get rid of smallest particles and double buffered with CalMag.

I will try coco gain next grow. Try to get better with it. I was hoping to make it easier for consistently healthy plants by going to coco. Faster growth, higher grams/sq.ft. and the like was never a goal. Currently I'm thing coco is harder to grow in than "soil" mixes.

Thanks!

 

[Aqua Man]

I have a heat source that never lets the grow room get below 60* F at night. During the day the vent thermostat is set to 76* and fans circulate heat from the lights. Brick coco was strained to get rid of smallest particles and double buffered with CalMag.

I will try coco gain next grow. Try to get better with it. I was hoping to make it easier for consistently healthy plants by going to coco. Faster growth, higher grams/sq.ft. and the like was never a goal. Currently I'm thing coco is harder to grow in than "soil" mixes.

Thanks!

Far to cold at night and lights on... is LED should be around 82-84. HID 77-80.

Root temps are a massive massive part of this. Mine never go below 70.

 

[MIMedGrower]

Far to cold at night and lights on... is LED should be around 82-84. HID 77-80.

Root temps are a massive massive part of this. Mine never go below 70.

77 max for my canopy under the 600’s hps’

higher than that for too long affects quality.

 

[Aqua Man]

77 max for my canopy under the 600’s hps’

higher than that for too long affects quality.

Yeah I should say that it depends on the light distance and really what you should shoot for is leaf tenos of 75-78f for some this may be 80f or higher and other may be 74f... depends alot on lights, air flow and transpiration rates.

 

[SecretGardener]

Far to cold at night and lights on... is LED should be around 82-84. HID 77-80.

Root temps are a massive massive part of this. Mine never go below 70.

Good to know. Easy to adjust with my new AC infinity Bluetooth connected fans. However, my new gen LEDs are so efficient I don't have the spare heat like with HID. If don't vent till 80* the humidity is high. During the winter...

I have a Infrared thermometer I can measure the surface temperature of the leaves. That should read ~ 78*?

What's a good max humidity? I'm set to vent at 70%.

 

[Aqua Man]

Good to know. Easy to adjust with my new AC infinity Bluetooth connected fans. However, my new gen LEDs are so efficient I don't have the spare heat like with HID. If don't vent till 80* the humidity is high. During the winter...

I have a Infrared thermometer I can measure the surface temperature of the leaves. That should read ~ 78*?

What's a good max humidity? I'm set to vent at 70%.

Your gonna need a dehuey I think.

If not using co2. Have a read here. But imo 70% way to high and that also will slow uptake compounding cool roots.

VPD (vapor pressure deficit)

Ok i was gonna sit down and write out a whole article but i have been lazy so instead instead I'm going to copy paste because im lazy. This is not my work so let start. You may find this very long but its worth the read. Some may want to skip ahead. I have added here and there to what i feel is...

www.thcfarmer.com

Thus calculator is handy.. does what I explain at the end and just a free DL.

VPD Calculator - Vapor Pressur - Apps on Google Play

Simple calculator to generate VPD based on Air/Surface Temps and Humidity.

play.google.com

 

[Aqua Man]

Never go by charts after reading and using the VPD calculator you will see why.

 

[SecretGardener]

Thanks, temperature fills in a gap for me.. 2 of my pants were pretty sickly, thought it could have been light burn, so I turned down the lights when I transplanted to 3 gal. Low temp, low light levels, sitting in new wet grow mix = dead roots.

Even now, looking at my fan app, the fan is on due to 68% humidity while the temp is only 72*. Not Ideal. And the room is pulling in warm air from the house vs colder outside air. Too cold is a new issue for me coming from years of running HID in a small room.

 

[Bbonez]

Got my setup finished today, not too happy with the emitters. I got the floraflex matrix circular drip emitters. I'm only watering 105ml at a time so my concern is, am I getting enough water to the edge of the 1 gallon pot? I plan on watering 4 times a day for 9 seconds (105ml.) I don't want my roots to stay in the center of the pot, you think I should get different emitters or stick with this setup?

 

[Aqua Man]

Got my setup finished today, not too happy with the emitters. I got the floraflex matrix circular drip emitters. I'm only watering 105ml at a time so my concern is, am I getting enough water to the edge of the 1 gallon pot? I plan on watering 4 times a day for 9 seconds (105ml.) I don't want my roots to stay in the center of the pot, you think I should get different emitters or stick with this setup?

View attachment 1101319

It will wick... I wouldn't be to concerned. I mean the more even the coverage the better but I don't think it's a deal breaker by any means.

 

[lilnew]

Got my setup finished today, not too happy with the emitters. I got the floraflex matrix circular drip emitters. I'm only watering 105ml at a time so my concern is, am I getting enough water to the edge of the 1 gallon pot? I plan on watering 4 times a day for 9 seconds (105ml.) I don't want my roots to stay in the center of the pot, you think I should get different emitters or stick with this setup?

View attachment 1101319

perhaps you can get their bigger matrix size, i think its 3" something, this is the 2" one i think. the 3" one should work fine with the 1 gallon pots

FloraFlex Matrix Circulator 3"

FREE shipping on eligible orders over $149. Discreet delivery in Canada. Lowest price on FloraFlex Matrix Circulator 3" guaranteed with our Price Match Guarantee. Financing available.

indoorgrowingcanada.com

 

[Bbonez]

I mean the more even the coverage the better but I don't think it's a deal breaker by any means.

I'll keep a close eye on them but I don't think the top edges will ever get wet at this rate. I soaked the shit out of the coco before I transplanted but by the time I got them all in place, drip lines set up, nutrients mixed (new recipe,) the top of the coco was dry. I was testing the system since it was my first time with it and watered about 3x a normal watering. Top edges were still dry, but I did get runoff.

perhaps you can get their bigger matrix size, i think its 3" something, this is the 2" one i think. the 3" one should work fine with the 1 gallon pots

I saw those, not sure if the extra .75 inch will make much difference. The 2.25" ones were recommended for up to a 9 inch circle, I have a 7" square pot. There 3" don't list square pots at all but the 2.25" does say 6"...

I think they are ment to be run in tandem with these:

This 6 inch square should fit good enough in my 7" pot. Although I think they are designed for rockwool cubes.

 

[lilnew]

I'll keep a close eye on them but I don't think the top edges will ever get wet at this rate. I soaked the shit out of the coco before I transplanted but by the time I got them all in place, drip lines set up, nutrients mixed (new recipe,) the top of the coco was dry. I was testing the system since it was my first time with it and watered about 3x a normal watering. Top edges were still dry, but I did get runoff.



I saw those, not sure if the extra .75 inch will make much difference. The 2.25" ones were recommended for up to a 9 inch circle, I have a 7" square pot. There 3" don't list square pots at all but the 2.25" does say 6"...

View attachment 1101322

I think they are ment to be run in tandem with these:
View attachment 1101324

This 6 inch square should fit good enough in my 7" pot. Although I think they are designed for rockwool cubes.

yes, they recommended that for size if you are using the matrix pad. i think the 3" will do, but more importantly, you have to have the right pressure so the water coming out will be faster to saturate the medium. but like what aquaman is saying i wouldn't concern about it that much. my suggestion is don't push the matrix all the way into the coco, have a little distance between the bottom of the matrix and the top of the coco. mine is working fine for me

 

[Bbonez]

but like what aquaman is saying i wouldn't concern about it that much. my suggestion is don't push the matrix all the way into the coco, have a little distance between the bottom of the matrix and the top of the coco. mine is working fine for me

I wish the stakes were longer so I could elevate them more. I think I was a little too worried about it, when I woke up this morning (after 2 waterings) the pots looked a lot better, the coco is getting saturated better than I expected.

Now I need to find the best solution to keep my nutes reservoir circulating so the aquarium heater will keep the tank the desired temperature. Will a simple bubbler/air pump work? Or do I need to make some kind of waterfall w/water pump?

 

[lilnew]

I wish the stakes were longer so I could elevate them more. I think I was a little too worried about it, when I woke up this morning (after 2 waterings) the pots looked a lot better, the coco is getting saturated better than I expected.

View attachment 1101451

Now I need to find the best solution to keep my nutes reservoir circulating so the aquarium heater will keep the tank the desired temperature. Will a simple bubbler/air pump work? Or do I need to make some kind of waterfall w/water pump?

This is what i use, i set up to kick on 5-10min before the pump for irrigation. A good thing about this product is it has a tubing that puts air into the reservoir as well... and its cheap...lol...if you have room, just leave the reservoir in the tent...i didnt add any water heater nor chiller

Amazon.ca

 

[Bbonez]

This is what i use, i set up to kick on 5-10min before the pump for irrigation. A good thing about this product is it has a tubing that puts air into the reservoir as well... and its cheap...lol...if you have room, just leave the reservoir in the tent...i didnt add any water heater nor chiller

Amazon.ca

Your link doesn't work

 

[lilnew]

Your link doesn't work

shoot...that item is currently unavailable...let me see if i can find something similar

 

[lilnew]

Your link doesn't work