HOW TO WATER COCO FOR BEST RESULTS.

[santacokacola]

its more complicated than that like i say… there are a shot ton of things that influence this from every single environmental factor to light spectrum to genetics. Its bot just about ppm but more so the ability to maintain ratios.

@Dirtbag gives a good option if your looking to reduce water usage

wath is your container size and you feed how many time. Im with 2 gallon and i'm feeding 3 times a days with a drip system at 30 psi.

 

[Dirtbag]

Yeah i surprised we dont see a recirc system taking advantage of that… would be a huge savings

I've seen a couple big Indoor and greenhouse setups out here that UV or ozone treat the runoff, dilute it down and reuse it. Essentially, it almost completely eliminates any water or food wasted.

 

[Aqua Man]

I've seen a couple big Indoor and greenhouse setups out here that UV or ozone treat the runoff, dilute it down and reuse it. Essentially, it almost completely eliminates any water or food wasted.

Yeah i think they test the runoff periodically adding individual nutrients to revalance the ratios also… very hi tech stuff

 

[Dirtbag]

Yeah i think they test the runoff periodically adding individual nutrients to revalance the ratios also… very hi tech ststuff

I dont doubt it. But the ones I've seen actually operate the exact same as how I do it and its dead simple. Take the runoff and add it back to a holding tank to dilute it. For example, say you get 10% runoff.. that equates roughly to adding 10 gallons of runoff to 90 gallons of fresh starting water. Then run it all through a UV or ozone chamber and then add nutrients to bring it up to the desired ec. Rinse and repeat.
Doing it this way, about once per week you toss the runoff and start with a fresh holing tank containing no recycled nutrients to reset the system and prevent buildup of byproducts or excess nutrients. Works like a charm.

 

[Aqua Man]

I dont doubt it. But the ones I've seen actually operate the exact same as how I do it and its dead simple. Take the runoff and add it back to a holding tank to dilute it. For example, say you get 10% runoff.. that equates roughly to adding 10 gallons of runoff to 90 gallons of fresh starting water. Then run it all through a UV or ozone chamber and then add nutrients to bring it up to the desired ec. Rinse and repeat.
Doing it this way, about once per week you toss the runoff and start with a fresh holing tank containing no recycled nutrients to reset the system and prevent buildup of byproducts or excess nutrients. Works like a charm.

Makes perfect sense to me… thats kinda how i run my hydro systems…. Change the water once i have added back the volume of the res… drastically reduces waist. This grow i wont even do a water change. But thats because of the number of smaller plants and volume of water the system holds

 

[santacokacola]

I've seen a couple big Indoor and greenhouse setups out here that UV or ozone treat the runoff, dilute it down and reuse it. Essentially, it almost completely eliminates any water or food wasted.

its hard to know wath nutrients is absent in the runoff water to recirculating it..Unless you have a tool to know witch nutrients is present in the water.

 

[Aqua Man]

its hard to know wath nutrients is absent in the runoff water to recirculating it..Unless you have a tool to know witch nutrients is present in the water.

Thats why he would change the res at certain intervals

 

[Dirtbag]

Thats why he would change the res at certain intervals

Exactly, and keeping the runoff/fresh nutrient mix no more than 10/90 as a rough guide. If 90% of your feed is fresh nutrient solution, the 10% recirculated runoff will have no negative impact. But it's still a good idea to start fresh once every week or so. I've gone a couple weeks before starting fresh with no issues.

Just think about folks running rdwc, that shit can sit there for weeks with just water and nute top ups. Imagine how outta wack the ratios are there after a couple weeks. Same philosophy really.

 

[Aqua Man]

Exactly, and keeping the runoff/fresh nutrient mix no more than 10/90 as a rough guide. If 90% of your feed is fresh nutrient solution, the 10% recirculated runoff will have no negative impact. But it's still a good idea to start fresh once every week or so. I've gone a couple weeks before starting fresh with no issues.

Just think about folks running rdwc, that shit can sit there for weeks with just water and nute top ups. Imagine how outta wack the ratios are there after a couple weeks. Same philosophy really.

Yup to a T

 

[MidwestToker]

I only feed my coco to run-off once a week, 650 ppms or 1.3ec at max in flower, 400-500 ppm 1.0ec in veg, but I've been growing in coco since 2010.

 

[benjones]

@MidwestToker what is the name of the things you have your plants standing on please

 

[Madmax]

I only feed my coco to run-off once a week, 650 ppms or 1.3ec at max in flower, 400-500 ppm 1.0ec in veg, but I've been growing in coco since 2010.View attachment 1290983

Fook me really 650 .runoff once a week..shit im only at 570ppm max in flower 500 t end of veg..maybe i could try this as im running over 35% runoff ea day feeding once to keep salt buildup at bay..i have noticed with one though thats an alchoholic only has less than 10% ro and is fine..maybe i should try this to keep waste down.....one thing ..the lawn is lush like walking on a sponge

 

[benjones]

@Aqua Man , when using megacrop 2 part, do i need to add power si silica and fulvic ?

i bought the silica and fulvic before i purchased the MC but i see that MC has some kind of silica on the label ( i won't pretend to know what it is though )

 

[Aqua Man]

@Aqua Man , when using megacrop 2 part, do i need to add power si silica and fulvic ?

i bought the silica and fulvic before i purchased the MC but i see that MC has some kind of silica on the label ( i won't pretend to know what it is though )

Need? No. But imo you will benefit from adding fulvic and silica

 

[benjones]

thanks @Aqua Man

 

[Observationist]

thanks @Aqua Man

Honestly, no you don’t need it, the plants don’t have to have it, it’s not classified as a macro nutrient, but god damn the pros of using it are definitely night and day difference about, but I pretty much consider them essential to the overall plants health.

Since I ran out of both, I’m seeing/feeling differences, especially with silica and how it hardens the cells.

 

[benjones]

cheers @Observationist

 

[MidwestToker]

@MidwestToker what is the name of the things you have your plants standing on please

Those are just shelfing units.

 

[RonnieB2nd]

Ok writing this cause i see this issue often and rather have a thread to link than explain this each time. This is not my work but a collection of info from many members here and I have put into practice myself.

So first off COCO is NOT soil. For best results we want to keep it saturated between 90-100% that does not mean you can't go below this but you may see slower growth or nutrient issues over time if your consistently letting COCO get to dry.

Coco has an amazing gas exchange and air holding capacity when compared to soil. For this reason it is next to impossible to over water. Over watering is NOT to much water... its lack of o2. You will see this in soil with less drainage but because of coco's high drainage, air holding capacity and gas exchange its highly unlikely to see this in coco.

I do suggest if growing in more than 1 gal pots to add perlite if you are seeking faster grow rates. However if you want to water less often then you can eliminate the perlite as this will lower the drainage. As a rule of thumb:

1gal no perlite
2gal 20% perlite
3gal 30% perlite
4gal 40% perlite
5+gal 50% perlite

You can do more or less but it will affect the frequency of watering required. More perlite the more frequent you will have to feed. Personally I feel the better the drainage the faster the growth but its a balancing act and the above ratios i would say are a great place to start.

Coco has a low CEC (cation exchange capacity) so it does not hold onto nutrients as well as something like soil so we feed with every watering to keep a balanced nutrient ratio, ph and ppm in the coco. To do so we also need to flush out some of the last feed with each feeding to prevent a nutrient buildup which can affect all of these. THINK OF COCO AS SOILESS... much closer to hydro and very similar to rockwool.

I won't get into ppm in detail as thing will change quite a bit from grow to grow depending on many factors. But generally speaking start at around 300-400ppm and work up to around 800ppm. Now some may need to alter that as it will depend on your specific grow conditions.

HOW OFTEN DO WE FEED!!!

Ah the always debated subject.. 2 times a day, 1 time every 2 days, 10 times a day????

Forget that nonsense... like I say each grow is different so we need to use a better method. Let the plants tell you!!!!

Ok here is how we calculate it simply to your specific grow conditions, stage of growth, pot size and every other variable. You will never need to wonder am I feeding to much or to little again.

The formula:

1.Feed 5% of the pot size as your nutrient solution.
2. Of that we want 10-20% to come out as run off.
3. If you get more you can lower the frequency.
4. If we get less we need to increase the frequency and for that feed we need to add more to get our run off.

So I will do the calculations up to 5gal below to save you all some time. Feed the amount listed and check to make sure you get runoff of the amount listed from there adjust to dial in the feedings as they will change as the plants grow.

REMEMBER THIS IS A GUIDLINE AND NOT A HARD RULE. Our goal is to get as close as reasonably possible. It's not gonna kill your plants if its not exact.


I'm gonna round up.

1gal. Feed 250ml get 25-50ml of runoff

2gal. Feed 500ml get 50-100ml of runoff.

3gal. Feed 750ml get 75-150ml of runoff.

5 gal Feed 1litre get 100-200ml of runoff.

By doing this your plant will tell you how often you should be watering for best results.

Plant transpiration happens during photosynthesis so we only need to water during the lights on period. But in smaller containers you may find that you need to fertigate once in the middle of lights out if fertigation events are higher. Its unlikely but if your coco is dry before the first feed its not a bad idea to toss one in. Generally feed a couple hrs before lights out for the last time but you want to split the events evenly throughout lights on.

It may sound like you will be watering way to much but when you calculate how much you are feeding and then the frequency its not much more than most already do, just supplied in a manner that provides much greater stability. You will be using much smaller amounts of nutrient solution and by feeding much more frequently it doesn't take much to get your runoff while keeping the rootzone ph, ppm and moisture content ideal.

Very good article. When to water. A fool proof method is the finger test. Stick your index finger half way or the second joint into the coco. Pull it out and if it's dry, it's safe to water, if damp do not water. A plant can't take in oxygen if it's wet. So you gotta walk a fine line. Some folks let their coco dry out. I personally feel this isn't good for the plant. I water water feed, water water feed. Feeds get 1 full gallon and watering gets half or full gallon. Depending on the plants size and age. Seedlings and young plants don't have the complex root system to take in water optimally. You need a good humidifier so the leaves can take in water. You'll find that a good humidifier will pay off big time ,especially in coco because it dries so fast. Seedlings and young plants will grow faster and healthier with a humidifier growing in coco or soil. I personally call 1 week after sprout week one and start feeding. I am at 800-900 tds on first feeds. I've never burned a plant either. But I was over feeding and it caught up with me in late flower. That's when they got burned. So now I follow a strict routine. Water water feed. With 1 liter of run off per 5 gallon and 1/2 liter run off per 3 gallon pots. This will help you a lot. Just because nutrients are in the medium doesn't mean the plant will eat it. So flush out that coco every watering after the plants have developed a good root system.

 

[yobbocrack]

I have only used 100% coco and on the 8th grow now with all my previous grows i had drying on top of the coco but not much and i got leaf yellow/brown spots a few weeks into bloom but with this grow i stopped that and saw no drying and it looks the best grow i have done.