Coco trees (MPB style lighting)

[blackcat]

Wow great thread. I was thinking of doing very similar to you blackcat. I was going to root in 50/50 perlite coco, pot into 1 gals and slowly decrease the perlite till finally potting in 100% coco in ten gals. Was hoping then to just water one or two times a day. I have only done just coco, but never have tried big trees. I know another grower that just did lots of perlite and a little peat reserculating drip that really worked well. This thread has me thinking. I like to hand water, but I definetly think an airier mix with more watering would be better.

What is the reasoning for you wanting to slowly decrease perlite? fwiw I was originally going to slowly increase perlite. e.g. clones in beer cups of 100% coco, then into 1 gals with 90% coco 10% perlite, 2 gal with 80% coco and 20% perlite. but to be honest seemed like a lot of extra effort and too many variables/

I think we'll try 50/50 coco and chunky perlite for the first run. should allow us to water frequently i.e. every day.

thx for the link on that air diffuser. and the info about the heavy metals.lol air line will work pretty well i think

 

[mr.tortoise]

The reason I was going to do it the reverse, starting with a very high perlite level at the beginning and moving towards more coco is a) for better gas exchange in the middle root area; and b) more water holding capacity near the end of the grow. To me oxygen gets to the sides of the pot the easiest/diffuses into the medium easily. I am thinking that this is were the meduim that allows the least gas exchange/higher water holding capacity should be. I want a mix that promotes more air in the middle of the pot, I was hoping for more root activity there. Maximize nutrient absorbtion throughout the whole pot not just the sides or the middle. Then since the plant roots will be in the final pot the longest I wanted the last layer to really hold a lot of water as I think the final plant can use this water up very quickly. I just read on here that a really wet coco mix can inhibite rooting of cuttings. Therefore I wanted a really airy mix to really get aggressive root growth from the start. That was my logic anyway. It is totally theoretical at this point. Hope to really experiment with things when I am back up and running.

Peace.

 

[Mr.]

I am about to do 11 vertical lights, 10 plants, 4 strains, start in 3 gallon smart pots, transplant into 25 gallon sp's halfway into veg. I will be handwatering, but I designed the reservoirs to be able to gravity feed blumats in case I decide to use them. Planning on 70/30 coco/perlite mix, maybe 60/40. I will be using drip clean so I only need minimal runoff, less than 5% if that. Should have lights on and clones in very soon.

Thought I'd share that since it looks like we are going to be doing a very similar grow.

 

[Mr.]

Oh yeah, if possible design the system so you can move your plants as they grow. In smart pots it is tricky, but possible.

 

[januaryfirst]

i am thinking 50/50 mix of coco and chunky perlite will be good for watering every other day in 10 gal hempys. how does this sound:

week 1 - drop rooted clone into 50/50 mix in beer cups - veg room
week 2 - 1 gal same as above (not hempy) - veg room
week 3 - 2 gal same as above (not hempy) - veg room
week 4 - 3 gal same as above (not hempy) - veg room
week 5 - 5 gal same as above (not hempy) - veg room
week 6 - transplant into 10gal hempy buckets w/ rez in bottom - flower room
week 7 - still vegging in 10gal - flower room
week 8 - flip to 12/12 - flower room

result 2 lb trees right? hahah. is 50/50 coco / perlite light enough for every other day or every day watering in 10gal hempys? thx we are growing trees

think you can cut the veg time in half and double the plants? To get similiar results.

 

[BC farmer]

Mr,

Thanks for sharing, I just read this thread. How did you end up doing?

 

[Donkdbz]

Sadly Mr never completed a run in his room. I met up with him months ago to help but his grow partners wife was a bitch and shut the room down.

Very nice room they had but......poor choice in partners. Zero grow experience, dropped 30g's on a excellent room. Seeing dollar bills in there eyes. You can always tell things are gonna be a pain when the 1st questions are about yield.

Not the 1st I have ran into similar situation. People see green and think its so easy cause there friend does it. They forget to realize there friend started out in a closet or grow tent and went through the learning process.

 

[Jalisco Kid]

I love it when people do all the research and decide to grow trees. Pick out nice 20 gal containers and put them on 40" centers. The brutes have a 20" dia and are 23" tall. So that leaves 20" from the edge of one bucket to the next. Yeah that's good planing to grow trees. Think before you plant. Even better yet think before you spend. JK

Letting patients in the room to relax and be one with the plants sounds nice. A nice way to learn how to kill plants. This is work or your room will look like someone did not know how to work.

 

[cemchris]

I was saying more the more perlite I had the better results

I can second that one. Been a coco warrior for a while now and started out pure. Over the past couple years I'm at about 50/50 now. The difference is night and day. Specially in early veg where pure coco seems to stall for a week or two before they shoot up.

70/30 huh... watering about 5 to 6 times a day in hempys?

 

[mrdizzle]

I love it when people do all the research and decide to grow trees. Pick out nice 20 gal containers and put them on 40" centers. The brutes have a 20" dia and are 23" tall. So that leaves 20" from the edge of one bucket to the next. Yeah that's good planing to grow trees. Think before you plant. Even better yet think before you spend. JK

Letting patients in the room to relax and be one with the plants sounds nice. A nice way to learn how to kill plants. This is work or your room will look like someone did not know how to work.

hahah everytime I see "40in" I giggle

 

[Capulator]

what about 48"...?

That's what I ended up with... keeping the good old fingers crossed on this one. Been growing about 15 years in hydro, but never vert,and never "trees"... I guess you have to start somewhere.

 

[Donkdbz]

Those are 2 foot 10 inches from center of plant to bulb. So 68"s .......That was barely enough room for the plants I could not even get into the room

 

[mrdizzle]

tell um donkdbz, a pictures worth a 1000's words