High Ec Runoff?

[dankemhunter]

Okay so... I've read multiple threads saying don't judge your COCO plants by EC runoff. My EC going in is .9 - 1.1. Coming out it ranged from 1.8 - 2.4. So I ran a flush through all of them with about 25-30% runoff. It just confused me because there is not a sign of burn or deficiency on these plants. pH is always 5.8-5.9 EVERY feeding/watering. Plants look a little droopy, I'm thinking because I trellised them yesterday. They are going into flower within the next few days. I did the "slurry" test, took an ounce of COCO about 2 inches down, mixed it with 10 ounces of RO water, mixed and measured 30 minutes later and it came out to like ~.3 EC so that confused me a little too. To be honest, the plants are a little light green and I feel as if I should bump up their feed. Just the high runoff has me skeptical..

Now for the last three
pictures, they are Pineapple. I am not sure if it is the strain, but new growth on this plant looks a little funny. Leaves are kind of curled up and thin.

All plants are getting Mills Nutrients with a touch of drip clean and Sea Green, Ogbiowar tea once a week and foliar fed with Sea Green once a week. Also getting Kelp and Humic foliar once a week.

Plants are: GG4, Plushberry, Pineapple

Room is running at ~80 degrees lights on ~70 degrees lights off.
~50 RH lights on 60~ lights off. (RH could be a little higher) right?

Input on any of the pictures or information would be awesome!
Thanks

 

[sixstring]

The slurry test will have a dif outcome based on how much water you add every time.its ok for testing ph but even then the water changes it.your runoff is what I would look at.when I ran pure coco I always saw the ec rise if I let them get dry at all.coco must be wet all the time or you will need a regular dose of drip clean ect to keep things in check.i would flush with your normal feed strength until numbers coming out match those going in to reset things, and then try to keep them slightly wetter then they currently are . I still do 95% of my cloning in coco and I don't see problems because they are in solo cups and its very simple to get good runoff with every water.gl

 

[dankemhunter]

I transplanted most of these from 1/2 gal to 3 gal about 2 weeks ago, so I was trying to let the coco get a little dry so they would explode with roots and fill out the pots. I've been watering them when they feel half dry. There is a mix between smart pots and plastic pots. The smart pots start to feel dry every 2-3 days, and the plastic range from 3-4 days to feel dry. I never let the go more than 4 days between waterings, regardless if they are dry or not (which almost all of them usually are). I can see roots popping out the bottom of most of my pots (Nothing crazy though like I've seen with other people in coco.) Should I start watering them more frequently? I just want my roots to fill out before I start hitting them a shit load.

Thanks

 

[waayne]

For the slurry test to be accurate you will need to use Distilled H20
Slurry testing is fairly accurate,but only if you follow the same protocols for each test.
Here is a standard lab protocol for slurry testing.........

Scoop up soil into a clean, dry plastic jar or plastic bag. Remove stones and crush any clumps of soil for better results. Gather two to three representative samples of each soil sample to confirm results. No sample preparation or preservative required.

Laboratory Testing—Method A

• 
  1. Weigh 20 g of soil sample into a 100 mL beaker.

• 
  2. Add 20 mL of deionized (DI) water and place on a stirrer to mix for 30 minutes.

• 
  3. Cover and let stand for an hour.

• 
  4. For the most accurate measurements, allow the buffers and the soil sample both to come to room temperature. (A difference in temperature will add error to your measurement.)

• 
  5. strain mixture through a coffee filter

• 
  6. test solution

 

[dankemhunter]

Thanks wayne I will give this a try! I only have well water or RO water. Will bottled purified water work? I happen to have those. Also when I am taking my soil sample, I run into roots when I get about an inch from the top. Do I want to carefully move these roots around and take my sample a few inches from the top?

 

[dankemhunter]

Also @waayne, The pineapple plants are kind of lightish green, I would say almost a greyish green. They show no signs of overfeeding. Do you suggest I up their feed and see if they darken up?

 

[waayne]

@dankemhunter If DI is not available,the purified will work.....
yes be gentle collecting soil,I would try to avoid moving roots as much as possible

They look a bit underfed to me.....and yes, I'd up the Pineapples feed,and I'd do a mild foliar now,before they show deficiencies......

 

[sixstring]

I transplanted most of these from 1/2 gal to 3 gal about 2 weeks ago, so I was trying to let the coco get a little dry so they would explode with roots and fill out the pots. I've been watering them when they feel half dry. There is a mix between smart pots and plastic pots. The smart pots start to feel dry every 2-3 days, and the plastic range from 3-4 days to feel dry. I never let the go more than 4 days between waterings, regardless if they are dry or not (which almost all of them usually are). I can see roots popping out the bottom of most of my pots (Nothing crazy though like I've seen with other people in coco.) Should I start watering them more frequently? I just want my roots to fill out before I start hitting them a shit load.

Thanks

yeah it sounds like how I water my peat based stuff.you need to keep coco moist all the time, it will def help stop lockouts and will give you that fast growth you see from these coco grows.if you look around at these guys running coco beds they have mist heads all over the beds and run 1,2 and even 3 times a day with their nutes.most have some type of catch basin under the beds to collect runoff and thats how they gauge proper water rates.like i said I tried coco and let them dry and had minor problems, lockups.i just started dumping water (nutes) on them daily and things took off real nice.i run coco/promix now and still water daily.best of both worlds imo.gl

 

[dankemhunter]

Thanks @waayne and @sixstring I appreciate your help! Waayne I will run tests later tonight and up my feeding with more run off. Sixstring I will start watering more frequently :)

 

[Tnelz]

Okay so... I've read multiple threads saying don't judge your COCO plants by EC runoff. My EC going in is .9 - 1.1. Coming out it ranged from 1.8 - 2.4. So I ran a flush through all of them with about 25-30% runoff. It just confused me because there is not a sign of burn or deficiency on these plants. pH is always 5.8-5.9 EVERY feeding/watering. Plants look a little droopy, I'm thinking because I trellised them yesterday. They are going into flower within the next few days. I did the "slurry" test, took an ounce of COCO about 2 inches down, mixed it with 10 ounces of RO water, mixed and measured 30 minutes later and it came out to like ~.3 EC so that confused me a little too. To be honest, the plants are a little light green and I feel as if I should bump up their feed. Just the high runoff has me skeptical..

Now for the last three
pictures, they are Pineapple. I am not sure if it is the strain, but new growth on this plant looks a little funny. Leaves are kind of curled up and thin.

All plants are getting Mills Nutrients with a touch of drip clean and Sea Green, Ogbiowar tea once a week and foliar fed with Sea Green once a week. Also getting Kelp and Humic foliar once a week.

Plants are: GG4, Plushberry, Pineapple

Room is running at ~80 degrees lights on ~70 degrees lights off.
~50 RH lights on 60~ lights off. (RH could be a little higher) right?

Input on any of the pictures or information would be awesome!
Thanks

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People myself included have differing opinions on the results u get from reading pH from Coco runoff. I believe a slurry test is the best in that regard. However I've never seen anyone debate the results from checking ec or ppm from Coco runoff. I believe that reading is very telling on what's going on in the pot. Haven't read the entire thread so excuse me if I'm repeating stuff already said. If ur ec coming out is significantly higher than what ur putting in its asking for trouble even if nothing troubling us showing.

 

[Tnelz]

Just went through the thread. @waayne is a demi God in the very least so u r in good hands. Also @sixstring is a beast as well. Good luck bro!

 

[dankemhunter]

Yeah I ran EC~.6 pH5.8 through all of my pots and it brought my runoff to ~1.6-1.8 EC. So I am going to water the ones that feel lighter tomorrow with a ~1.2 solution 25-35% runoff. ~1.4 for the pineapple. Should be smooth sailing from there. I think the problem was that I was not getting enough runoff. That and letting the medium get a little too dry.

 

[dankemhunter]

So @waayne I ran my slurry test. I ended up using the purified water. I added my 20 grams of coco and 20ml of purified water. The coco sucked up every drop of the 20ml, so I added another 10ml. I mixed the combination multiple times for a half hour. Then covered it for an hour. The reading came out to 1.1 EC. I am not sure if adding the extra 10ml of water brought the true EC of my medium down. Without the extra 10ml, it was just wet coco and I could not get a reading.