Greenthumbskunk
- 85
- 33
To speed up the process im going to dig out some of the wet coco and put in some dry
Every operation is unique and the variables are endless. You will figure it out. A couple things I will say, in no particular order. Familiarize yourself with the weight of your pots.Ya that was the purpose of watering them even though they looked like they didn't need watering. You know get oxygen down to the roots, read it all the time to water, water ,water.
Guess I'll let them dry out for a few days
You will probably damage the roots.coco doesnt take that long to dry out .changing it to dry coco will only make things worseTo speed up the process im going to dig out some of the wet coco and put in some dry
Just gonna say if your temps are in the lows 70s this method is not for you.
You absolutely MUST optimize the environment if you want to see the best results. If high fertigarion rates are not working for you its likely an environment issue that you need to adjust one way or the other. In the example of temps you either need to raise them or reduce the watering to compensate for less uptake.
Again.... this is assuming light, environment and nutrients have been optimized.... not just sufficient to grow.
Absolutely.... these plants can grow in immensely different environments and media.just want to say that this is why we have to watch the plants and environment and dial it all in as needed together. I have major shifts in temp and humidity to deal with in west michigan. Keeping the roots warm in winter and the heat down in summer are priorities. Not how many times i can feed. (If i used coco and drippers for example). Once i got a handle on all that then i would learn to ramp things up.
Until i can buy and install my dream walk in fridge converted growroom. :-)
You will probably damage the roots.coco doesnt take that long to dry out .changing it to dry coco will only make things worse
Just gonna say if your temps are in the lows 70s this method is not for you.
You absolutely MUST optimize the environment if you want to see the best results. If high fertigarion rates are not working for you its likely an environment issue that you need to adjust one way or the other. In the example of temps you either need to raise them or reduce the watering to compensate for less uptake.
Again.... this is assuming light, environment and nutrients have been optimized.... not just sufficient to grow.
Not really... you are trying to keep a stable ppm in the media. Buy feeding more frequently you will be keeping it more stable. The side effect is waste and thats really all. I would suggest not feeding over 800ppm and for full grown plants 600-800. The nutrients don't build up because you are feeding more often and they are constantly being replaced. It when the pots dry out that the concentration starts to increase.Just finished reading through the entire thread and theres some great info in here.
I currently run straight coco 5 gal. 2 month veg. Currently feeding bulk once every 3/4 days. After reading through the thread, I def need to water more frequently. Next run I think i'll be going down to a 3 gal pot.
My question is, how would you approach plants that feed differently when using micro-feed strategy? I have one plant that would drink a gallon a day right now and another that would drink a gallon over three days. How would i adjust for this if I started micro-feeding multiple times per day? My only thought is to put more drip lines in the heavy feeders to try to balance out the shot times.
Also - lets say I used my heaviest feeder as the baseline for my irrigation events. (Fed based on what it takes to get run off on biggest drinker). That would mean the light feeder would have much more run off than the heavy feeder. How would that effect the light feeder?
Not really... you are trying to keep a stable ppm in the media. Buy feeding more frequently you will be keeping it more stable. The side effect is waste and thats really all. I would suggest not feeding over 800ppm and for full grown plants 600-800. The nutrients don't build up because you are feeding more often and they are constantly being replaced. It when the pots dry out that the concentration starts to increase.
I also suggest perlite and a quality coco that's well rinsed because that will make a difference in aeration.
My question is, how would you approach plants that feed differently when using micro-feed strategy?
Wow good catch that went right over my head... I do the same thing.I use these. I have similar situations where a couple of plants will get overflow quicker then others. I could dial back those if I want, but honestly things change every week or two so I have not bothered to tweak the flow to individual plants. I could, but I just adjust the timer to get the flow I want off the heaviest drinker. Having a timer that can run in seconds is critical.
MANIFPR9S - Drip Irrigation 9 Port Pressure Regulating Manifold with Adjustable Flow and On/Off
Connects up to nine 1/4" drip irrigation tubes to a 1/2" riser 9-ports with individual levers for on, off or regulated flow Operating pressure: 25 PSI Use to convert an existing underground sprinkler using Rain Bird RCKIT (sold separately) Constructed of UV-resistant durable ABS materialsstore.rainbird.com
I can't say for sure but I got a feeling that won't be enough. A cheap pump and timer maybe $30-40 and you gave autofeed if itIm pretty new at growing. I have experimented in soil and hydro and now trying coco. I seem to struggle with watering schedule in soil. I like the idea of watering more frequently but knowing myself oh so we'll i know there's gonna be days I get lazy. So my thought was could I use hydro spikes or wick cord if I made sure to flush them every day or 2? Trying to stay in 3gal fabric pots maybe 5gal max.