First time coco run, Please help🙏🏽🙏🏽

  • Thread starter oneluv0027
  • Start date
  • Tagged users None
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
Good evening everyone, first time posting so I hope I don’t mess this up too bad 😜. I’ve been growing medicinally for a little while now but I’ve never done hydro or have I grown in coco coir. A bought a new line of nutes I wanted to try out and it was recommended that I use the most neutral medium I can find and that coco was my best option.

Without doing any further research, I bought some and planted my four germinated seedlings directly in the coco coir in 3 gallon fabric pots, ( first no-no) I also didn’t mix the coco with any perlite until I found out later that that’s essential for drainage (second no-no). I managed to add some after to the top third of the pots and mix it in. Then with a little more research I find out that I’m supposed to buffer the coco with a CalMag solution and since I didn’t do that I started foilar spraying at 1 week old and it seemed to have boosted them because I seen a change within 2 days. I usually run a 600 hps system for the whole run but I decided to use 600w led for veg this time( first time using LEDS ). In The last week I’ve seen great improvement in size but 1 in particular although getting big fast, has yellow streaks on old and new leaves, one is has a couple of leaf edges curling up and one has its leaves pointing down.

Our tap water here is very soft and is only 50ppm, with the nutrient solution it’s about 377ppm and after checking runoff after feeding there’s only an increase of 35-50ppm. From what I understand so far, that rules out nutrient lockout correct?

Please let me know if I forgot to mention anything. I have 4x4x7 tent with 4 inch intake fan and carbon filter, oscillating fan and a 600w led for veg at the moment. The temp ranges between 20C and 26 and humidity sits around 25% but goes as high as 40%. First pic is exactly 1 week old and the rest were from today at two weeks old.
First time coco run please help
First time coco run please help 5
First time coco run please help 2
First time coco run please help 3
First time coco run please help 4


Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
 
SSgrower

SSgrower

2,374
263
All I can say is get the humidity up to 60-70%. Learn from your mistakes, as I buy Root Royale 50 L. for 4 3 gal pots. Needs no cal/mag to start the seedlings after they "firm up" into the coco.
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
All I can say is get the humidity up to 60-70%. Learn from your mistakes, as I buy Root Royale 50 L. for 4 3 gal pots. Needs no cal/mag to start the seedlings after they "firm up" into the coco.
What I used was a 50 litre bag from Australia, and it might of been prebuffed for all I know. So you think the yellowing and droopiness are coming from lack of humidity? I’ll add a humidifier tonight if that’s the case. I wasn’t sure if it would make the fabric pots stagnated. Thanks for your info. I shouldn’t start new ones then I guess. Do they look good for 2 weeks old?
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
All I can say is get the humidity up to 60-70%. Learn from your mistakes, as I buy Root Royale 50 L. for 4 3 gal pots. Needs no cal/mag to start the seedlings after they "firm up" into the coco.
Also should the humidifier be turned on at same time as the light or in “off” hours with the intake and oscillating fans turned still running.
 
kekkeruusi

kekkeruusi

15
3
Coco itself demands calcium and magnesium to saturate cation exchange sites. This prevents release of sodium from coco coir. So, you need to add calmag to your nutrient solution until ec is 0,4 mS. Always add calmag first and base nutrients after that.
1617464921402
 
Madmax

Madmax

4,733
313
Also should the humidifier be turned on at same time as the light or in “off” hours with the intake and oscillating fans turned still running.
Yes humidifier on when light comes on .your humidity usually rises lights off.i use an inkbird humidity/dehumidifier and basically set it say 65% and it will turn on when it drops..if it drops lights off make sure you tape up the light coming from the humidifier..near all good brands of bagged coco/perlite are buffered... professors nutrients (pn) 70/30 has a low ec of 500 which is pretty good to start with..
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
Thank you all for your advice. The yellow streaked one is the one concerning me the most right now and I’m thinking of taking it out of the tent incase it has a virus. I’ve seen yellow patching or spots but never stripes or streaks. I thought it might be something with the coco for sure. They’re doing great otherwise, even with only the six hours of humidifier on they’ve perked up a bit.

How can I check EC of soil with ppm meter? I’ve been checking feeding solution before I feed and then the runoff after I feed. Always between 30-70 ppm more after feed. Should I add more CalMag then what the company suggests so I can bring ppm/EC up?

Are they good size for being 2 weeks old from time of germination or am I slacking lol
 
kekkeruusi

kekkeruusi

15
3
Thank you all for your advice. The yellow streaked one is the one concerning me the most right now and I’m thinking of taking it out of the tent incase it has a virus. I’ve seen yellow patching or spots but never stripes or streaks. I thought it might be something with the coco for sure. They’re doing great otherwise, even with only the six hours of humidifier on they’ve perked up a bit.

How can I check EC of soil with ppm meter? I’ve been checking feeding solution before I feed and then the runoff after I feed. Always between 30-70 ppm more after feed. Should I add more CalMag then what the company suggests so I can bring ppm/EC up?

Are they good size for being 2 weeks old from time of germination or am I slacking lol
Run off EC/ppm is good indicator for what's happening in the root zone. You can convert your ppm to EC from picture I posted above. EC is the first one which is measured in millisievert (mS).

No need for calmag If you're using tap water and coco specific nutrients with relatively high starting EC which would be over 0,4. In case on reverse osmosis you need to add calmag as said. Regions with soft water needs calmag as pictured above when tap water doesn't contain enough minerals for buffering.

Your runoff seems to be on check. If it raises too much, just dilute it back watering with 1/3 strength nutrient solution until you reach your desired run off measure.

For example my typical inflow in flowering is EC 1.6 and runoff should not get higher than 1.9. Salt concentration will build up towards the end of flowering especially when hand watering once a day. I need to water with 1/3 strength nutes every fourth day to maintain balance.

Otherwise your plants seems to be alright and big enough. :)
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
And get the humidifier! :D
Thanks for the feedback, humidifier’s been in all day now but it’s one of those little ones you put in a kids room, it’ll do for now. Any advice on the yellow one
 
kekkeruusi

kekkeruusi

15
3
Thanks for the feedback, humidifier’s been in all day now but it’s one of those little ones you put in a kids room, it’ll do for now. Any advice on the yellow one
Let it grow. Miscoloured leaves are quite usual at this stage when growing from seed.
 
SSgrower

SSgrower

2,374
263
Variegated leaves and or stems can come from a virus but yours are fine. These guys are taking me to the Promised Land, true harvest! Just enjoy. Peace.
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
Variegated leaves and or stems can come from a virus but yours are fine. These guys are taking me to the Promised Land, true harvest! Just enjoy. Peace.
That’s the first time I hear that term but phew, I thought I was going to have cull it lol. You guys are great, thank you
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
Good evening everyone, I’d like to say thanks again for all the advice you guys gave me last week. Seems to be working great almost too great actually lol. ( I’ll post pics)

They’re 3 weeks old now from germination and the roots started to come out of the bottom of the 3-gallon fabric pots already. I noticed a few roots poking out this morning and by this evening they had spread ALOT.

I had them raised only half an inch in the saucer and clearly that wasn’t enough. This is my first time using fabric pots and I’ve never had to deal with this before. Should I let the roots be or should I cut them before raising the pots higher?

the variegated is making a nice come back (first pic)
9047C903 B8A6 4431 96E5 5CF6D49BB2AB

665F3E36 91BE 43A1 9743 ED02040997AC
8FAA0110 3D64 4DE7 BCAB C4F6EBEDEB77
 
TheRentIsLava

TheRentIsLava

1
3
Here are my tips for coco:

Plastic pots. Wet is your friend. No more than 3 gallons per 2x2 area.

Automation. Use pumps and timers.

Surfactants. Soap and or yucca root. Flushes salts and keeps everything wet.

ppms: 600-700 range.
Ph: 5.5-6.5

If you use low ppms, add a surfactant, and at least once a week water until runoff you won't need to flush.
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
Here are my tips for coco:

Plastic pots. Wet is your friend. No more than 3 gallons per 2x2 area.

Automation. Use pumps and timers.

Surfactants. Soap and or yucca root. Flushes salts and keeps everything wet.

ppms: 600-700 range.
Ph: 5.5-6.5

If you use low ppms, add a surfactant, and at least once a week water until runoff you won't need to flush.
Thanks for the advice. I’m into my second week of flowering now and the nutrient line I’m using is supposedly super chelated so just when I switched to 12/12, my solution only has a ppm of 570. All of veg it was in the 300-350 range and my runoff would be slightly lower after feeding, Ever since I made the switch to 12/12 I thought I had a magnesium or calcium deficiency because of rust spots on older leaves of one of my plants so I upped the amount I feed them to 1500ml a day. They are in 3 gallon fabric pots and there was still barely any runoff. I gave them slightly more the last 2 days around 2000ml each day and there was finally runoff but it came back double at 1140 ppm. I flushed one of them with tap water (57ppm in my city) today until the runoff went from 1140 to 210ppm. Not sure if that’s what I’m supposed to do but I figured I’ll try it with one and see how she reacts.
I read in another thread here that it’s a good idea to flush every 4-5 weeks with 2x the volume of your pot. So with 6 gallons in my case but only 4 gallons and I brought it down that much. Do you think I should flush until I get 57 ppm runoff on all plants before I start feeding again with nutrients or I should keep runoff ppm close to initial feeding of 570ppm. First one is the best time to run into all of these issue I guess lol.

Although I feel like there’s a build up of some kind they seem to be loving whatever’s happening. In the their first two weeks of 12/12, they've nearly doubled in size.
April 18th under LED and May 3rd are the other pics
34185C0A 224E 4600 866B 073058275B96
E44DBC2E F420 42C4 9801 3471AAB38344
BAB97263 E3A4 49CC 800A 89E9E8E035A5
B892077F 1383 4741 8D15 6BAE0B8B3257
 
TheRealM00

TheRealM00

64
18
some peopel dont mix coco with perlite at all infact its pointless really and pure coco usersd will tell you that. if your ion a really large pot its maybe worth it but anything under 5 gallon should be fine as coco has exelent drainage and absorbtion by itself
 
Dosifry

Dosifry

187
63
You water coco every day with food to achieve 10-20 % run off. This run off is what helps keep the salts from building up. It acts as a mini flush every time you water. If you water not enough your going to get lots of issues due to rising salt concentration. Also never flush coco w straight water. Always at least 1/4 strength otherwise you can completely strip all the nutes in your pot which can lead to problems in itself. Cal/mag deficiency etc. Read aqua mans post on watering coco it’s full of juicy nuggets (pun intended)!
I’m just learning this stuff too as I am on my first coco grow. It’s a great medium and the op is right about the perlite.
If your in a saucer put your pots on a lift so they don’t sit in the runoff. Once you get into it since your coco is at near saturation point consistently you won’t need to add too much water/nutes to achieve some run-off.
you want your runoff to be no more than about 300 ppm more than your input. If it gets higher then add a watering cycle, lower your nute strength, or water more volume to get more runoff. Your plants will rebound and all your hard work will not be in vain.
Initially when you water 1/4 strength to get the ppm down from nuclear levels bring it down only to the poms your already watering with. 800ish is typical. Can be 600 and even easier to keep from getting out of hand and 600 is def enough for your plants to thrive. Just a learning curve 😎
 
oneluv0027

oneluv0027

45
18
You water coco every day with food to achieve 10-20 % run off. This run off is what helps keep the salts from building up. It acts as a mini flush every time you water. If you water not enough your going to get lots of issues due to rising salt concentration. Also never flush coco w straight water. Always at least 1/4 strength otherwise you can completely strip all the nutes in your pot which can lead to problems in itself. Cal/mag deficiency etc. Read aqua mans post on watering coco it’s full of juicy nuggets (pun intended)!
I’m just learning this stuff too as I am on my first coco grow. It’s a great medium and the op is right about the perlite.
If your in a saucer put your pots on a lift so they don’t sit in the runoff. Once you get into it since your coco is at near saturation point consistently you won’t need to add too much water/nutes to achieve some run-off.
you want your runoff to be no more than about 300 ppm more than your input. If it gets higher then add a watering cycle, lower your nute strength, or water more volume to get more runoff. Your plants will rebound and all your hard work will not be in vain.
Initially when you water 1/4 strength to get the ppm down from nuclear levels bring it down only to the poms your already watering with. 800ish is typical. Can be 600 and even easier to keep from getting out of hand and 600 is def enough for your plants to thrive. Just a learning curve 😎
Thanks for the advice, I read aquamans post on watering coco a little too late lol. He is also giving me advice. I'm going to give coco another go even if this run doesn't turn out great. But just like another post I read on here said, automation may be the only solution since my hand watering has been too inconsistent. My plants are on pot risers btw. Now I'm trying to figure out what automatic watering system I could incorporate for the last 3/4 weeks of my cycle.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom