How to water seedlings in coco?

[derekdakid]

I've been lurking through the forums trying to find information about how to water seedlings in coco and there are so many different answers I don't know what to follow. Some people say that I shouldn't be feeding nutes because the seedlings have enough nutrients as long as their cotyledons are present, which I'm assuming is very relevant for people growing in non-inert mediums, while others are saying that we should feeding seedlings from the very start.

I just want to make sure I'm on the right path since I started feeding the seedlings water phed to 6.2 at 200PPM, with the mix being 1mL CalMag, 1mL Athena Grow A, 1 mL Athena Grow B. So far the plants are doing okay, no signs of nute burns.

Which brings me to my general questions
1) Is it optimal to just feed the seedlings from the get go as I am doing right now? I'm currently at 8 days from the initial germination (Pic below)
2) Should I be watering the seedlings until runoff like normal? I'm only feeding them 60mL of the solution
3) Can I feed clonex solution for better root development?

Would love to hear your guys thoughts. yesterday was the first day that i decided to feed them the nutrients so these are the pictures of before and after the feeding (24 hours)

 

[Buzz_Bee]

I've been lurking through the forums trying to find information about how to water seedlings in coco and there are so many different answers I don't know what to follow. Some people say that I shouldn't be feeding nutes because the seedlings have enough nutrients as long as their cotyledons are present, which I'm assuming is very relevant for people growing in non-inert mediums, while others are saying that we should feeding seedlings from the very start.

I just want to make sure I'm on the right path since I started feeding the seedlings water phed to 6.2 at 200PPM, with the mix being 1mL CalMag, 1mL Athena Grow A, 1 mL Athena Grow B. So far the plants are doing okay, no signs of nute burns.

Which brings me to my general questions
1) Is it optimal to just feed the seedlings from the get go as I am doing right now? I'm currently at 8 days from the initial germination (Pic below)
2) Should I be watering the seedlings until runoff like normal? I'm only feeding them 60mL of the solution
3) Can I feed clonex solution for better root development?

Would love to hear your guys thoughts. yesterday was the first day that i decided to feed them the nutrients so these are the pictures of before and after the feeding (24 hours)

Not sure why no one is answering this? I'm right with you. On day 8 on my first grow. I'm only doing one plant as a learning curve. My plant looks to be on the same grow rate from your pics.Would love to have some input on your question as well. Good Luck

 

[RealizedReal000]

Just do like a shot glass of water or so. Wait till the cotyledons are starting to yellow when you feed. Water when the coco starts to feel dry then when they get a bit bigger transfer into a 1 gallon pot and then water only around the plant at first then increase the area of water as the plant gets bigger.

 

[Sativajoe]

No need for clonex
Keep nutes very low, for now,,1/4 strength

 

[derekdakid]

@Buzz_Bee Are you growing in coco? Also for me personally I wish I started feeding nutes earlier because once I started feeding nutes the seedlings went into overdrive mode with the roots.

I have since figured out the best way to grow seedlings in coco is to feed 1/4 nutes AND GH Rapid start as soon as the cotyledons sprout. I've been getting some amazing root growth. Also feeding about 10-15mL of water per plant seems to be good, no runoff. Also, I did very well deploying a wet dry cycle since I planted my seeds in straight coco with no perlite. In the beginning I was watering once every two days but now that the roots are in I am feeding twice daily

 

[Aqua Man]

@Buzz_Bee Are you growing in coco? Also for me personally I wish I started feeding nutes earlier because once I started feeding nutes the seedlings went into overdrive mode with the roots.

I have since figured out the best way to grow seedlings in coco is to feed 1/4 nutes AND GH Rapid start as soon as the cotyledons sprout. I've been getting some amazing root growth. Also feeding about 10-15mL of water per plant seems to be good, no runoff. Also, I did very well deploying a wet dry cycle since I planted my seeds in straight coco with no perlite. In the beginning I was watering once every two days but now that the roots are in I am feeding twice daily

Absolutely agree feed from the start its not soil.

Just watch because honestly I can't count how many times I have seen in coco ppl saying everything is great with a wet dry cycle and then mid flower hits and all hell breaks loose. It's not so bad when they are young and usually you won't see any issues until late veg early flower some minors issues and if not corrected mid flower is a mess and fight is on chasing issues ending up with a reduced yield and quality.

If you pay attention to your run off here and there you will see it coming. It can be done but imo in coco if you want to see the full benefits then it needs to be treated like coco.

Some food for thought and understanding watering in your media if you feel like some reading. Will explain why you want to fill those bags up if you look closely. You want as much of the roots in the area just above the saturation zone as possible. Coco has a nice low saturation zone compared to soil and with perlite added even more so.

HOW TO WATER COCO FOR BEST RESULTS.

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...

www.thcfarmer.com

Marijuana Watering, how media, pot size/shape and environment affect it

Ok lots of posts on how to water plants. So I thought I would put together a thread on how different factors contribute to different results that ppl see. This will be a long read based on my personal knowledge, opinions, research and others work to consolidate information for our members. I'm...

www.thcfarmer.com

 

[derekdakid]

Absolutely agree feed from the start its not soil.

Just watch because honestly I can't count how many times I have seen in coco ppl saying everything is great with a wet dry cycle and then mid flower hits and all hell breaks loose. It's not so bad when they are young and usually you won't see any issues until late veg early flower some minors issues and if not corrected mid flower is a mess and fight is on chasing issues ending up with a reduced yield and quality.

If you pay attention to your run off here and there you will see it coming. It can be done but imo in coco if you want to see the full benefits then it needs to be treated like coco.

Some food for thought and understanding watering in your media if you feel like some reading. Will explain why you want to fill those bags up if you look closely. You want as much of the roots in the area just above the saturation zone as possible. Coco has a nice low saturation zone compared to soil and with perlite added even more so.

HOW TO WATER COCO FOR BEST RESULTS.

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...

www.thcfarmer.com

Marijuana Watering, how media, pot size/shape and environment affect it

Ok lots of posts on how to water plants. So I thought I would put together a thread on how different factors contribute to different results that ppl see. This will be a long read based on my personal knowledge, opinions, research and others work to consolidate information for our members. I'm...

www.thcfarmer.com

Thank you for the valuable information I definitely plan on adopting this strategy once I transplant

I guess my case is the exception as I planted the seeds in coco that was not mixed with perlite, therefore leading to inferior drainage and thus requiring a wet dry cycle in the earliest stages

 

[dbrzz]

I've been lurking through the forums trying to find information about how to water seedlings in coco and there are so many different answers I don't know what to follow. Some people say that I shouldn't be feeding nutes because the seedlings have enough nutrients as long as their cotyledons are present, which I'm assuming is very relevant for people growing in non-inert mediums, while others are saying that we should feeding seedlings from the very start.

I just want to make sure I'm on the right path since I started feeding the seedlings water phed to 6.2 at 200PPM, with the mix being 1mL CalMag, 1mL Athena Grow A, 1 mL Athena Grow B. So far the plants are doing okay, no signs of nute burns.

Which brings me to my general questions
1) Is it optimal to just feed the seedlings from the get go as I am doing right now? I'm currently at 8 days from the initial germination (Pic below)
2) Should I be watering the seedlings until runoff like normal? I'm only feeding them 60mL of the solution
3) Can I feed clonex solution for better root development?

Would love to hear your guys thoughts. yesterday was the first day that i decided to feed them the nutrients so these are the pictures of before and after the feeding (24 hours)

I simply use solo cups with lots of drainage holes in the bottom, to start my seeds. The media is the same coco coir 70/30 perlite mix. I use another solo cup to be a place holder in my 5 gal soft pot. When the seedling is ready for transplant I pull the cup from my 5 gal and simply replace with the seedling minus the cup. This way, there is no disturbance to the plant roots, and its easy!!! Happy growing

 

[newbeegrower]

I've been lurking through the forums trying to find information about how to water seedlings in coco and there are so many different answers I don't know what to follow. Some people say that I shouldn't be feeding nutes because the seedlings have enough nutrients as long as their cotyledons are present, which I'm assuming is very relevant for people growing in non-inert mediums, while others are saying that we should feeding seedlings from the very start.

I just want to make sure I'm on the right path since I started feeding the seedlings water phed to 6.2 at 200PPM, with the mix being 1mL CalMag, 1mL Athena Grow A, 1 mL Athena Grow B. So far the plants are doing okay, no signs of nute burns.

Which brings me to my general questions
1) Is it optimal to just feed the seedlings from the get go as I am doing right now? I'm currently at 8 days from the initial germination (Pic below)
2) Should I be watering the seedlings until runoff like normal? I'm only feeding them 60mL of the solution
3) Can I feed clonex solution for better root development?

Would love to hear your guys thoughts. yesterday was the first day that i decided to feed them the nutrients so these are the pictures of before and after the feeding (24 hours)

You shouldnt be feeding nutes if they dont need them, it really depends on the growth ive been told by fellow farmers, although i dont beleive its true that as long as the cotyledons are present the plant doesnt need nutrients but i may be wrong. Ill @ you in a thread where some of yhsi was explained to me.