MOISTURE CONTENT IN COCO. VWC AND CROP STEERING

[socalrecfarmer]

Hey Guys, SoCalRecFarmer here. I wanted to make a thread going into VWC% and MC% and where you guys like to keep the moisture level of your coco. I aim to stay around 65% moisture content after feeding during veg and 45% or so during flower after feeds. In veg I will dry back to about 45% before feeding again (Hand Water) and in flower I will dry down to about 25-30% during the night cycle. I am checking my Moisture content with a blue lab pulse. I wanted to post this thread to see where other peoples sweet spots are and to learn more about crop steering and dry backs etc.. The goal is to dial every aspect of my facility to get my weight/yield up while maintaining that craft quality on a several hundred light scale. I see a lot of talk about all this in the Rockwool world but not as much in Coco. Lets discuss and help each other get better at our craft

 

[TripsRabbit]

Some people are adamant about watering every day and not letting the coco dry out at all. I do about the same as you probably. When they are in veg I let them go a day or two before watering again depending on the size of the plant and then in flower I water almost every day. I've never checked the moisture content tho.

 

[socalrecfarmer]

Some people are adamant about watering every day and not letting the coco dry out at all. I do about the same as you probably. When they are in veg I let them go a day or two before watering again depending on the size of the plant and then in flower I water almost every day. I've never checked the moisture content tho.

During veg or when the roots are still filling In the pot it is crucial to get full dry downs to let the roots search than as the roots fill in its key to keep the moisture level higher so the roots search less once filled in. Thanks for the input I love to hear how everyone is running their feeds and dry downs. Happy new year bro!

 

[StealthLED]

This is my first run using small 1gal fabric pots, I've been feeding 11 times a day, the growth was so fast in veg. I have a bluelab pulse the most dry back I get is 80% so not a lot at all. Ive been doing a lot of reading on crop steering so this is something I will try on my next run because this one's only got a few weeks left. My room always yeilds about the same so it'll be interesting to see if giving more dry backs in flower makes a difference

 

[socalrecfarmer]

This is my first run using small 1gal fabric pots, I've been feeding 11 times a day, the growth was so fast in veg. I have a bluelab pulse the most dry back I get is 80% so not a lot at all. Ive been doing a lot of reading on crop steering so this is something I will try on my next run because this one's only got a few weeks left. My room always yeilds about the same so it'll be interesting to see if giving more dry backs in flower makes a difference

Nice man im in 2gal plastic bags with Netafim Drippers. I was at 4x day but now im at 7 so Im eager to see the difference. 80%? Nice man, Might be a little high in flower but if it is working for you than that's all that matters. Crop steering is a game changer. It will def take your grow game to the next level. Lmk what happens with the increased dry backs

 

[StealthLED]

Nice man im in 2gal plastic bags with Netafim Drippers. I was at 4x day but now im at 7 so Im eager to see the difference. 80%? Nice man, Might be a little high in flower but if it is working for you than that's all that matters. Crop steering is a game changer. It will def take your grow game to the next level. Lmk what happens with the increased dry backs

Yeah seems to be working definitely better than my last run, this is probably just down to multiple feeding in small pots which I've never done, but I'm always after bettering things up so next time I'll be doing a lot more reading on crop steering and trying that out. Not sure if you've seen Ramsey from Aroya.io his latest IG video of him explaining field capacity and shot sizes, really interesting stuff! There was also a live stream yesterday on IG with josh neulinger, craft framer and a few others with some very good information as well, I'll be watching these a few times to get more understanding, I might also invest in a Aroya sensor to see how accurate the BlueLab pulse is

 

[Madmax]

This is going to b a great thread..better make this one a sticky @Aqua Man

 

[socalrecfarmer]

Yeah seems to be working definitely better than my last run, this is probably just down to multiple feeding in small pots which I've never done, but I'm always after bettering things up so next time I'll be doing a lot more reading on crop steering and trying that out. Not sure if you've seen Ramsey from Aroya.io his latest IG video of him explaining field capacity and shot sizes, really interesting stuff! There was also a live stream yesterday on IG with josh neulinger, craft framer and a few others with some very good information as well, I'll be watching these a few times to get more understanding, I might also invest in a Aroya sensor to see how accurate the BlueLab pulse is

Yeah man both of those videos were super informative, I’m definitely going to have to watch Ramsey’s video a few times to break everything down and apply it. Josh neulinger is a wizard. Can’t believe these guys are putting out 4+ a light. Insane. Yeah I’m definitely going to grab some aroya sensors I have a strong feeling my pulse isn’t super accurate and the app always is giving me trouble. Not enough people are on the crop steering tip yet, it’s a game changer and every real grower needs to get on it. I’m seeing explosive results and I’m not even steering fully. Just with my pulse and troll master irrigation controller. Hope you crush this run!

 

[socalrecfarmer]

This is going to b a great thread..better make this one a sticky @Aqua Man

Yeah we need some more traffic in this thread! I wanna hear what everyone is doing!

 

[Homeyc1864]

I'm on my first time grow, in ffof soil one gallon pots running autoflowers. Never grown anything in my life, I'm about a month in and the effects of overwatering seem to be hitting me finally. About half my crop looks like its about to die, leaves drooping and discolored, mini/stunted. Was looking into one of these moisture meters to correct my problem (Extech MO750 Soil Moisture Meter). I'd love for someone with experience to expand on this topic a little bit further, seems like it could actually put a number on the amount of water to give instead of the internets recommended "lift the pot method" or "1-2 inch knuckle test". Maybe coco would be a better option for a newb lol.

 

[Bobbytropix]

Hey Guys, SoCalRecFarmer here. I wanted to make a thread going into VWC% and MC% and where you guys like to keep the moisture level of your coco. I aim to stay around 65% moisture content after feeding during veg and 45% or so during flower after feeds. In veg I will dry back to about 45% before feeding again (Hand Water) and in flower I will dry down to about 25-30% during the night cycle. I am checking my Moisture content with a blue lab pulse. I wanted to post this thread to see where other peoples sweet spots are and to learn more about crop steering and dry backs etc.. The goal is to dial every aspect of my facility to get my weight/yield up while maintaining that craft quality on a several hundred light scale. I see a lot of talk about all this in the Rockwool world but not as much in Coco. Lets discuss and help each other get better at our craft

Are you getting runoff when watering in flower if your keeping M.C at 45%? So you are watering just to 45%? Maybe I need a better meter!

 

[blaznstarships]

Hey Guys, SoCalRecFarmer here. I wanted to make a thread going into VWC% and MC% and where you guys like to keep the moisture level of your coco. I aim to stay around 65% moisture content after feeding during veg and 45% or so during flower after feeds. In veg I will dry back to about 45% before feeding again (Hand Water) and in flower I will dry down to about 25-30% during the night cycle. I am checking my Moisture content with a blue lab pulse. I wanted to post this thread to see where other peoples sweet spots are and to learn more about crop steering and dry backs etc.. The goal is to dial every aspect of my facility to get my weight/yield up while maintaining that craft quality on a several hundred light scale. I see a lot of talk about all this in the Rockwool world but not as much in Coco. Lets discuss and help each other get better at our craft

Hey Guys, I have experience with crop steering in rockwool and in greenhouse environments. My experience comes from a 50 acre greenhouse tomato farm. I've also been a commercial cannabis/tomato grower for 6 years and I have an educational background in plant science controlled environments.

Rockwool is just such a different material. All my experience so far has been in rockwool, but I've taken on a new grow that will be running all coco coir. I'm very thankful I have found this thread. My irrigation strategies I used with rockwool will not work in coco. I'm extremely anxious to find some good material for crop irrigation strategies in coco coir.

Thanks guys, looking forward to learning with you!

 

[blaznstarships]

Are you getting runoff when watering in flower if your keeping M.C at 45%? So you are watering just to 45%? Maybe I need a better meter!

I'm also

Hey Guys, SoCalRecFarmer here. I wanted to make a thread going into VWC% and MC% and where you guys like to keep the moisture level of your coco. I aim to stay around 65% moisture content after feeding during veg and 45% or so during flower after feeds. In veg I will dry back to about 45% before feeding again (Hand Water) and in flower I will dry down to about 25-30% during the night cycle. I am checking my Moisture content with a blue lab pulse. I wanted to post this thread to see where other peoples sweet spots are and to learn more about crop steering and dry backs etc.. The goal is to dial every aspect of my facility to get my weight/yield up while maintaining that craft quality on a several hundred light scale. I see a lot of talk about all this in the Rockwool world but not as much in Coco. Lets discuss and help each other get better at our craft

I'm also curious to know about your daily drain % in both veg and flower. From what I understand, 65% is about the maximum water content of coco coir (depending on the mix type). Some mixes the maximum water content is only 45%. But, if you are able to get 65% WC in veg, and are running only 45% in flower, I would imagine that you are not getting much drain in flower, since typically you need to be at the saturation point (this example it is 65% WC) in order to get drain. If you are getting drain without getting up to the saturation point, then you might be giving too big of shots and the irrigation water is just running straight through the bag, which is not the realization that we want to have.

I will say, killer dry-downs @socalrecfarmer . In rockwool, I would target 10-20% WC dry downs. So I would go from about 80% WC at my last shot in the day, to 60-70% WC in the morning. This target WC in the morning is based on my strategy of what I'm trying to get the plant to do and what i need to compensate for in regards to the climate.

 

[Bobbytropix]

Go on Instagram and @floraflex under there saved stories called “how to grow” they outline everything perfectly for crop steering, the most helpful guid I have found, including co2, VPD, ppfd for all stages.

 

[blaznstarships]

To EVERYONE WATCHING THIS THREAD, this is the info you've been looking for.

I tried to post the link, maybe the mods didn't allow it . @Bobbytropix you nailed it. What a great resource. I also found that on IG @floraflextechsupport has the entire How to Grow story posted as individual pics, so you can actually read the details.

 

[mikeross]

Yeah man both of those videos were super informative, I’m definitely going to have to watch Ramsey’s video a few times to break everything down and apply it. Josh neulinger is a wizard. Can’t believe these guys are putting out 4+ a light. Insane. Yeah I’m definitely going to grab some aroya sensors I have a strong feeling my pulse isn’t super accurate and the app always is giving me trouble. Not enough people are on the crop steering tip yet, it’s a game changer and every real grower needs to get on it. I’m seeing explosive results and I’m not even steering fully. Just with my pulse and troll master irrigation controller. Hope you crush this run!

In veg what does your irrigation cycle look like? How often and how much throughout the day? When is your first feed and last feed in a cycle? Thanks

 

[daget24]

The flora flex how to grow section is invaluable. My main question is what tool are you guys using to ACCURATELY monitor your WC and EC levels in your substrate? I’m in rockwool, I have a trolmaster WC sensor but sometimes it works really well, and other times, not so much. It is my understating that the AROYA SOLUS only does “spot checks” and will not give you a graph of what is happening in your media over the last day. The grodan grosense is $3k +.

what tool are you guys using to monitor what’s going on? Thanks!

 

[farmer219]

The flora flex how to grow section is invaluable. My main question is what tool are you guys using to ACCURATELY monitor your WC and EC levels in your substrate? I’m in rockwool, I have a trolmaster WC sensor but sometimes it works really well, and other times, not so much. It is my understating that the AROYA SOLUS only does “spot checks” and will not give you a graph of what is happening in your media over the last day. The grodan grosense is $3k +.

what tool are you guys using to monitor what’s going on? Thanks!

Interested to know this plus if there’s any cheaper options that’s ~$200

 

[SSgrower]

Bro science or not I won't spend $200-400 to help do anything. If the U.S. goes legal then I might use more $$ equipment to help my grows as I'd like to become a breeder.

 

[3 balls]

Crop steering... I've been dying for something new to confuse the living shit out of me so I can spend hours and hours researching it.