Coco mix over watering problems.

[stonebreaker]

Hello everyone,

I'm using a coco mix for the first time and am having over watering problems. It's straight coco with no perlite and on my first watering I over watered a couple of plants. Although the new growth looks fine so I think they will be ok, i'm not sure if I need to get some perlite in there as I think the plants are getting water logged. I left them to dry really well but noticed when I watered one plant today I got no run off at all so wasn't able to test ph level and didn't want to put more through due to the original over watering. I have been growing indoor for over a year now and would class my results as average, mostly due to the enormous amount of information out there half of which doesn't make any sense!
Here's a brief outline of what i'm doing, any thoughts from other growers would be greatly appreciated as i've found it quite a struggle to get over the line with my indoor growing!

Strains: 3x Ray's Choice - Kiwi Seeds 2x 2 Pounder - Kiwi Seeds
Environment: 4x4 grow tent, 600w HPS, 6" extractor/carbon filter

The plants are in 10ltr pots, I water the plants dependent on individual needs (dryness of coco/weight of pots). I start by flushing straight water through (2-3 ltrs), I then test ph levels with run off and then put another ltr through with the feed. The plants are into their 3rd week of veg.

Many thanks

 

[Wildill]

Hello everyone,

I'm using a coco mix for the first time and am having over watering problems. It's straight coco with no perlite and on my first watering I over watered a couple of plants. Although the new growth looks fine so I think they will be ok, i'm not sure if I need to get some perlite in there as I think the plants are getting water logged. I left them to dry really well but noticed when I watered one plant today I got no run off at all so wasn't able to test ph level and didn't want to put more through due to the original over watering. I have been growing indoor for over a year now and would class my results as average, mostly due to the enormous amount of information out there half of which doesn't make any sense!
Here's a brief outline of what i'm doing, any thoughts from other growers would be greatly appreciated as i've found it quite a struggle to get over the line with my indoor growing!

Strains: 3x Ray's Choice - Kiwi Seeds 2x 2 Pounder - Kiwi Seeds
Environment: 4x4 grow tent, 600w HPS, 6" extractor/carbon filter

The plants are in 10ltr pots, I water the plants dependent on individual needs (dryness of coco/weight of pots). I start by flushing straight water through (2-3 ltrs), I then test ph levels with run off and then put another ltr through with the feed. The plants are into their 3rd week of veg.

Many thanks

Welcome to the farm bro. The plan water is not needed that's maybe why you are having over watering problems. I have been grown in coco for over 5 years I use 5 gallon pots I feed, feed,water I only feed or water with one 1 gallon of water. Most of the time I do mix in a little perlite but not all the time when I don't use perlite I put hydroton pebbles at the bottom of the pot.

 

[Dirty White Boy]

Well if the plants are big enough and roots are wrapped around the pots then pull one out of the pot give the root ball a nice squeeze if that shit is damp throw some perlite on the bottom let em dry if ya pull er out and the soil falls apart then throw the dryed soil back in and water till ya get some run off. It's mucho hard too over water coco. Next time a bit a perlite er husk 'll make thing a smidge of a bitch easier. Good luck on er.....

 

[stonebreaker]

Thanks for the input guy's. One of my main concerns is that without putting enough water through i'm not getting any run off to measure the ph. I put 3 ltrs through on one plant and got no run off at all so couldn't test the ph? I'm thinking a need to get some perlite in there for better drainage, should I re-pot them with the perlite in bigger pots or just re-pot them in the 10ltr ones? The coco mix just seems to act like a sponge and retain all the moisture. Will try and get some picks up in the coming days as I think this is a common problem for the less experienced grower. Anymore advice would be greatly received!

 

[Coir]

It should be really hard to over water coco as long as you have good drainage away from the base of the pots. Don't let them sit in runoff but water until you are getting 10-15% out of the bottom. Check the runoff for EC and pH and adjust feeding as necessary. Don't let them dry out between watering/feeding either!

 

[sensicloud]

Sounds like from what these experts are saying its not so much overwatering but under feeding. Coco definitely needs to be fed constantly. The new botanicare cocogro bags have nice growing tips right on the bags and that's one of the things it says. One of the major things I learned from experience is what Coir said above^ if it's in coco don't let them totally dry out. Good luck friend :happy:

 

[JACKMAYOFFER]

I've never been able to over water coco read that one more time never ever. But I have been able to under feed I coco and that looks like over watering. I use straight coco nothing added. JACK

 

[JACKMAYOFFER]

I've never been able to over water coco read that one more time never ever. But I have been able to under feed coco and that looks like over watering. I use straight coco nothing added. JACK

 

[Seamaiden]

It should be really hard to over water coco as long as you have good drainage away from the base of the pots. Don't let them sit in runoff but water until you are getting 10-15% out of the bottom. Check the runoff for EC and pH and adjust feeding as necessary. Don't let them dry out between watering/feeding either!

Agreed, damn near impossible to overwater, and I'm including using a flood & drain technique where I will leave the flood phase for several hours. I feel that the size of the plant and root ball in relation to the volume of media plays an important role here and can possibly lead to an 'over water' situation. I wouldn't do anything like try to add perlite, though, that won't really help anything as it wicks water as well.

 

[stonebreaker]

Once again thanks for the input peeps,
I think there's a split now happening with the crop between over watering and a nute lock/under feeding. 2 plants I definitely over watered, but the other 3 are yellowing on the leaves and redness on the stems, and all plants look like the growth has slowed down. I did really let these girls dry out once I had discovered the over watering symptoms so I think i've turned one problem into two. Fortunately i'm in the 4th week of veg so i'm really hoping I can turn this around. I'm still a little confused with the watering as I just can't get any run off with the lower amounts of water going through (compared to the soil base mix I was using) but i'm checking the ph levels of the water/feed i'm putting in so I guess this is ok? So my next question would be advice on how to overcome the under feeding and possible lockout? I'm using a 2 part canna coco feed. I've got a few days off work coming up so will try and get some pics up soon!

Many thanks

 

[Coir]

What strength are you feeding the Canna nutes at? You should easily be able to tell if you are underfeeding them by simply checking the ec of the runoff. Take a reading and post the results here.

 

[shoestring]

I never give a straight watering without fertilizer with coco coir as a medium. It messes them up in my experience by upsetting/resetting the cation bank/balance. I also dont blast my plants with outrageous ec/ppm numbers. All my varieties never exceed 1000 ppm. Most top out at 850 total. And.i have very happy plants. Once a nice root structure has formed and i know my plants can handle it 750 ppm of base nutrient seems.to be the sweet spot for all the varieties.i have grown in the last 8 years. Even in the so called ''flush'' at the end i give them quarter strength feeds at around 200 to 250 ppm on the 500 scale. I re use my coir now and this gets the next run of cuttings nice and happy rite out the gate. Good luck.

 

[stonebreaker]

What strength are you feeding the Canna nutes at? You should easily be able to tell if you are underfeeding them by simply checking the ec of the runoff. Take a reading and post the results here.

I was told by the shop to give them 1ml to the litre to start off with and take it up tp 2ml in flowering. I put 1 litre of straight water through followed by 1 litre of feed. I don't get ANY run off at all, I told this to the guy's at the shop and they said to just measure the ph levels that i'm putting in but this is the thing that's confusing me as I always thought measuring the run off was the most important thing? I cannot get run off with this coco without putting more than 3 litres through which everyone says is too much!

 

[Coir]

I was told by the shop to give them 1ml to the litre to start off with and take it up tp 2ml in flowering. I put 1 litre of straight water through followed by 1 litre of feed. I don't get ANY run off at all, I told this to the guy's at the shop and they said to just measure the ph levels that i'm putting in but this is the thing that's confusing me as I always thought measuring the run off was the most important thing? I cannot get run off with this coco without putting more than 3 litres through which everyone says is too much!

Get an ec/ppm meter so you can actually mix/adjust your feed correctly. You won't overwater as long as you don't let the pots sit in the runoff. You will do more harm under watering with unknown levels of fertilizer than overwatering with the correct amount. An ec/ppm meter is a small investment that will make a world of difference in your success or failure.

 

[altitudefarmer]

I've posted this before, an I'll post it again. Overwatering means watering too frequently (before they are dry-ish), NOT putting too much water through the pot! You could put 10 gallons through a 5-gal pot of coco without over watering, as long as you don't let it sit in the runoff, like Coir said. Just make sure they are dry (but not totally dry) before you re-water. I do a little dance with mine; I pick them up to feel how heavy they are. If they are light, they get fed. If they are heavy, they don't. When in doubt, let them go one more day.
The frequency with which you water depends on plant size and room conditions. I usually go 2-3 days between feed/water in my 5 gals. Hope this clears some things up for you. Good luck!

 

[Hank]

I use straight coco and only canna nutes in 23L pots. I always feed but I did have some yellowing and red stems when I first started. I now add small amount of cal/mag to every watering. I haven't dialed it right in but I am having good results.

 

[stonebreaker]

Once again thanks for everyone's input. Here's where I am with this now. I'm putting roughly 2 litres of water mixed with nutes so no more straight water, i'm now filling a 10ltr bucket of water mixed with nutes, checking the ph and using a watering can to apply. I definitely agree with checking the weight of the pots as a way to gauge whether they need watering/feeding. Although the leaves were yellowing and there was redness on the stems all the new growth is looking a nice bottle green so I think these girls will be ok although maybe a little less on the yield. I will defiantly look into some of the equipment you guys mentioned and haven't forgotten about the photo's, just got a problem with my laptop so they are still incoming!

 

[shoestring]

Getting a quality electrical conductivity/total dissolved solids meter and a nice ph meter is highly recommended when gardening hydroponic style especially using coco coir as a medium. If your new to coir iys pretty much required esp if you start out having problems. Also finding a nutrient brand and regimen that works and sticking to it helps out alot too. Good.luck.

 

[infocus]

I find coco by itself gets to sodden. I mix 50/50 with perlite, and the bottom 2inches of the pots are just pure perlite. You really see the explosive root growth in the bottom of the pot at harvest when its done like that. and i also have the top one inch of the pot pure perlite too. This does 3 things; discourages fungus gnats, prevents green algae growth on the coco, and reflects more light, stopping the medium from heating up.

 

[shoestring]

I agree. Ive ran 50/50 coco perlite, 60/40, and 70/30 and.they all outperformed straight coco.coir. I like them all but with the 70/30 it stayed moist a.little longer. This was before i had auto drip manifolds when i finally automated the feed system and i just never switched to the more perlite ratios. I may real soon switch to a 60/40 and use all fabric.pots (most of whats on my tables are disposable nursery bags) so i can increase feeds and.see if i get even faster vigorous growth gains. Them fabric pot dealys dry out much faster than anything ive used lately.