HOW TO WATER COCO FOR BEST RESULTS.

  • Thread starter Aqua Man
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
Status
Not open for further replies.
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
I'm trying this type of grow this run and am happy with the results. I was growing under 2 SE 1000w HPS and 1 Diablo but my 420 sale Diablo came in yesterday so I switched one of the HPS lights out. Everything is looking good but I can't get the runoff under control. I feed @3.0 or 1500PPM & 5.5 PH. I was watering 7 x a day and the runoff kept creeping up. Finally hit 2700 two weeks ago so I started a flush, 1st cut the feed in half, then increased amount of water per feed. Took about a week and I got the runoff down to 1600. I'm only feeding 3x a day now but more per cycle. Anyway as soon as I went to a normal 20% runoff schedule the runoff shot up quick. Plants don't look to have an issue but I want to be proactive if this could lead to a problem, any suggestions?

View attachment 1119107
View attachment 1119108
Fabric pots? Try taking a sample with a syringe from the bottom inch and test that.

Later in the grow some salts can accumulate on the fabric from previous drying and skew the numbers. If no decline in plant health or issues this could be the case.

What type of nutrients are you using? That ppm seems awfully high
 
Bbonez

Bbonez

163
63
Fabric pots? Try taking a sample with a syringe from the bottom inch and test that.

No, I'm in 1 gallon 7" square plastic pots.

What type of nutrients are you using? That ppm seems awfully high

Last grow I was using GH Flora line and a friend of mine who manages a large commercial grow gave me 50lbs of this stuff:


He runs it at the same strength (3.0EC) in his rockwool indoor and his soil outdoors. The manufacturer also states he has seen the best results at this strength.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
No, I'm in 1 gallon 7" square plastic pots.



Last grow I was using GH Flora line and a friend of mine who manages a large commercial grow gave me 50lbs of this stuff:


He runs it at the same strength (3.0EC) in his rockwool indoor and his soil outdoors. The manufacturer also states he has seen the best results at this strength.
The environment and media will play a big role. Like they state no one answer so you need to go by the plants. The size and genetics also play a role. I'd say it's like you can keep the same ratio and cut it back by almost half.

When the nutrients are to strong a plant will uptake more water than nutrients leaving the media more concentrated as the water is taken up. So if your seeing that drastic of an increase I'd say that's likely your issue. When the plants are taking them up equally the media should stay alot more balanced with adequate fertigation events.
 
Frankster

Frankster

Never trust a doctor who's plants have died.
Supporter
5,188
313
The biggest contribution will be the overall leaf surface area. Also the lower your humidity setpoint the more water the plants will expel.
Alright, good to know. I've noticed that with my current light regime, and the current plant setup, my leaf surface area's are increasing, more than before. (leaves are wider, fatter, especially in the center of the leaf) Is that a good indication? Seems like my fans are far more flatter, and wide, than I've ever seen them on this particular genetic variety, do you think that's might be more related to the conditions? Or perhaps the strain is evolving some...

Or perhaps they've simply become tolerant to every bit of light I can throw at them, at this distance.

They also are tolerating full sunlight without much notching, except perhaps a few varieties of the photoperiods, especially in the new growth upper area's, of the plant. Think I"m going to start stressing them with the Pure UV at this point.
 
IMG 20210430 110102801
IMG 20210430 110109212
Last edited:
Frankster

Frankster

Never trust a doctor who's plants have died.
Supporter
5,188
313
My fan tips are really droopy this morning. I did the full saturation thing with the 20% run-off, and they look a bit droopy to me.
 
IMG 20210430 111704610
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Alright, good to know. I've noticed that with my current light regime, and the current plant setup, my leaf surface area's are increasing, more than before. (leaves are wider, fatter, especially in the center of the leaf) Is that a good indication? Seems like my fans are far more flatter, and wide, than I've ever seen them on this particular genetic variety, do you think that's might be more related to the conditions? Or perhaps the strain is evolving some...

Or perhaps they've simply become tolerant to every bit of light I can throw at them, at this distance.

They also are tolerating full sunlight without much notching, except perhaps a few varieties of the photoperiods, especially in the new growth upper area's, of the plant. Think I"m going to start stressing them with the Pure UV at this point.
Change to a more blue spectrum?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Not even growing right now, but will be setting up soon. Most of what I am sharing is research i did over 30 years ago when working on my Master's in Plant & Soil Science. I will try to collect some illustrations or at least find links to the work of others that have great graphics to illustrate the concepts I am talking about
I'm wondering where @soultouch went... he had some great info and hoping he makes his way back here. Tagging him to see if he is still lurking about here and there.
 
Arkos

Arkos

75
33
I'm wondering where @soultouch went... he had some great info and hoping he makes his way back here. Tagging him to see if he is still lurking about here and there
Give yourself some credit bro, you're like the grow wizard around here waving your magic wand making everyone's grow better 🤓

But seriously the time you spend helping people out here, answering the same question over and over, the info you share, it's great work man 👏
 
euphoria526

euphoria526

363
63
Any advice for seedlings in coco.
Before a (first) successful soil run, I tried coco and couldn’t get past dampening seedlings as I listened to the “you cannot overwater in coco” too closely and killed a bunch of seedlings. now I have 8 seedlings in coco and about to start a low feed this weekend.
I planted this last week into solo cups after germinating, with Tupur and am wondering if I screwed myself over. I didn’t throughly wet the coco before planting and feel like the bottom of the cups might be too dry, but am afraid if I fully saturate they will dampen off and die as my previous attempts did. Suggestions?
 
DanC520

DanC520

595
143
Any advice for seedlings in coco.
Before a (first) successful soil run, I tried coco and couldn’t get past dampening seedlings as I listened to the “you cannot overwater in coco” too closely and killed a bunch of seedlings. now I have 8 seedlings in coco and about to start a low feed this weekend.
I planted this last week into solo cups after germinating, with Tupur and am wondering if I screwed myself over. I didn’t throughly wet the coco before planting and feel like the bottom of the cups might be too dry, but am afraid if I fully saturate they will dampen off and die as my previous attempts did. Suggestions?
I water slowly with syringes when in solo cups. Got to run off with somewhere btwn 20-40 ml. Probably started with one feeding a day, but that got to multiple pretty quick while in solos cups. No damp off issues on my end. Very limited sample size though, so take as anecdotal.
 
euphoria526

euphoria526

363
63
I water slowly with syringes when in solo cups. Got to run off with somewhere btwn 20-40 ml. Probably started with one feeding a day, but that got to multiple pretty quick while in solos cups. No damp off issues on my end. Very limited sample size though, so take as anecdotal.
Gotcha, I haven’t been measuring amounts per se, more so than spraying the top of the coco till it’s moist, but not enough to get runoff so I’m
Not suffocating them. There is added perlite, so shouldn’t have issues with drainage either. I guess I’ll carry on and slowest do more and more each time?
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Any advice for seedlings in coco.
Before a (first) successful soil run, I tried coco and couldn’t get past dampening seedlings as I listened to the “you cannot overwater in coco” too closely and killed a bunch of seedlings. now I have 8 seedlings in coco and about to start a low feed this weekend.
I planted this last week into solo cups after germinating, with Tupur and am wondering if I screwed myself over. I didn’t throughly wet the coco before planting and feel like the bottom of the cups might be too dry, but am afraid if I fully saturate they will dampen off and die as my previous attempts did. Suggestions?
Keep em nice and warm and light nutrients with every watering. Make sure you have a good amount of drain holes and get runoff. Don't worry to much about letting it dry a little at that stage as they are not going to get nutriient build up at the start of a grow. Can even do wet dry cycles until they get up potted then you want to make sure your not letting them dry to much.
 
Aqua Man

Aqua Man

26,480
638
Gotcha, I haven’t been measuring amounts per se, more so than spraying the top of the coco till it’s moist, but not enough to get runoff so I’m
Not suffocating them. There is added perlite, so shouldn’t have issues with drainage either. I guess I’ll carry on and slowest do more and more each time?
You can drench em just make sure you keep them warm 75-80f
 
euphoria526

euphoria526

363
63
You can drench em just make sure you keep them warm 75-80f
Just to follow up, I sprayed them with a low ppm count (480 +/-) and ph around 5.8+/- sprayed a lot till it felt heavy but still no runoff came out, even when I think I put enough still no runoff yet. I should still be good @Aquaman, right? I literally did Ot 5 min ago, so if need be I can spray more. Lights off is from 12-6p and it’s about 10a right now
 
TheBadChoice

TheBadChoice

789
143
Just to follow up, I sprayed them with a low ppm count (480 +/-) and ph around 5.8+/- sprayed a lot till it felt heavy but still no runoff came out, even when I think I put enough still no runoff yet. I should still be good @Aquaman, right? I literally did Ot 5 min ago, so if need be I can spray more. Lights off is from 12-6p and it’s about 10a right now
I personally aim for the run off each time I’d suggest the same, you might need to increase your watering schedule like for example 2 a day 11 hours apart or 3 a day 8ish apart. And tie that into your pot sizes so for example if their 3gallon than you can break down your watering easier and learn amount needed to get to run off % so if using a gallon of nutes “” 2 feeds a day in 3gallon pots you should be using 1/2 gallon to achieve um 18% run off. My math could be a little off but I hope this helps
 
euphoria526

euphoria526

363
63
I personally aim for the run off each time I’d suggest the same, you might need to increase your watering schedule like for example 2 a day 11 hours apart or 3 a day 8ish apart. And tie that into your pot sizes so for example if their 3gallon than you can break down your watering easier and learn amount needed to get to run off % so if using a gallon of nutes “” 2 feeds a day in 3gallon pots you should be using 1/2 gallon to achieve um 18% run off. My math could be a little off but I hope this helps
I hope so too! Math was never my strong suite to be honest, and last time I tried coco and soaked them they died, trying a little More time in between waterings while still small.
Only issue with feeding more than once a day, IS the timing factor. Because of my job, I’d have to water before I leave and when I get home, which can be 12-16 hours apart at various times of the morning and day.
I JUST watered them about 30 min ago, So I can still add more till they runoff!

********EDIT***********

I went back and sprayed till runoff started in each solo cup, going to leave them alone till later tonight and check up on them, and do the same in the morning. Daytime temps don’t go below 75°, so I feel like I will be alright. I’ll check back here later when I check the plants
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom