New to coco and high fertigation

[Phillie8185]

New to autofeeding and coco. Using the Floraflex matrix system. Veg was difficult. Im in flower now. I ph my resevoir at 6.0 and ec of 1.2, watering with it once a day. My runoff is the same as the intake. I know im not utilizing my system the way it should be. Not too good at graphs and numbers. Trying to find a general baseline on running the system until i can get more knowledge in. Anyone have any insights?

 

[Dub_City405]

How are you feeding the water through the pvc to each plant?

 

[Ezdeezy89]

Keep doing exactly that. If you notice a little cal/mag deficiency, go a lil higher on the pH Next feed.

I try to keep 6.0-6.1 in flower for the most part, but every 3 or so days I'll pH up to 6.2-6.3 do a feed with about 3-4ml of cal mag on top of my regular nutes, then go back to 6.0.

Remember coco pulls in cal/mag, and can leave your plants without it.

In veg, keep pH around 5.6-5.8. and if you're using floraflex coco, you need to rinse the hell out of it. I used it for about a year, and it's probably the worst coco I've ever used. Ppms after mixing ro water were anywhere from 1100-1500. Extremely hot and high in salts.

Also, in veg, I don't recommend high fertigation. If you absolutely soak the coco, the plants will slow in growth and look like they're over watered. Maybe get the coco around 60% moisture and then let it dry down some (but not completely) then feed again.

 

[Ezdeezy89]

Imo, do a little defoliation on the biggest fan leaves on the top.

 

[Phillie8185]

How are you feeding the water through the pvc to each plant?

Pump inside a 15gl barrel

How are you feeding the water through the pvc to each plant?

 

[Phillie8185]

Keep doing exactly that. If you notice a little cal/mag deficiency, go a lil higher on the pH Next feed.

I try to keep 6.0-6.1 in flower for the most part, but every 3 or so days I'll pH up to 6.2-6.3 do a feed with about 3-4ml of cal mag on top of my regular nutes, then go back to 6.0.

Remember coco pulls in cal/mag, and can leave your plants without it.

In veg, keep pH around 5.6-5.8. and if you're using floraflex coco, you need to rinse the hell out of it. I used it for about a year, and it's probably the worst coco I've ever used. Ppms after mixing ro water were anywhere from 1100-1500. Extremely hot and high in salts.

Also, in veg, I don't recommend high fertigation. If you absolutely soak the coco, the plants will slow in growth and look like they're over watered. Maybe get the coco around 60% moisture and then let it dry down some (but not completely) then feed again.

I tested the coco when i got it, had a .6 ec and a 7.2 ph. I always flush it down to 5.8ph and ec it out to my nute numbers of 1.2. I can up my calmag im currently doing 4ml peer gl. They say not to exceed 5ml per gl. After a bit of reading this morning i think i got a shot program mapped out in 5gl buckets i set it to do 6 shots at 45 min increments 2hrs after lights on. Run it for 34 secs give me 6oz of water to each plant

 

[Phillie8185]

Imo, do a little defoliation on the biggest fan leaves on the top.

Defoliation is a whole issue with me.. mainly not knowing how much to take off

 

[Phillie8185]

Keep doing exactly that. If you notice a little cal/mag deficiency, go a lil higher on the pH Next feed.

I try to keep 6.0-6.1 in flower for the most part, but every 3 or so days I'll pH up to 6.2-6.3 do a feed with about 3-4ml of cal mag on top of my regular nutes, then go back to 6.0.

Remember coco pulls in cal/mag, and can leave your plants without it.

In veg, keep pH around 5.6-5.8. and if you're using floraflex coco, you need to rinse the hell out of it. I used it for about a year, and it's probably the worst coco I've ever used. Ppms after mixing ro water were anywhere from 1100-1500. Extremely hot and high in salts.

Also, in veg, I don't recommend high fertigation. If you absolutely soak the coco, the plants will slow in growth and look like they're over watered. Maybe get the coco around 60% moisture and then let it dry down some (but not completely) then feed again.

The schedule im following and the watering schedule im now attempting to follow

 

[Ezdeezy89]

I tested the coco when i got it, had a .6 ec and a 7.2 ph. I always flush it down to 5.8ph and ec it out to my nute numbers of 1.2. I can up my calmag im currently doing 4ml peer gl. They say not to exceed 5ml per gl. After a bit of reading this morning i think i got a shot program mapped out in 5gl buckets i set it to do 6 shots at 45 min increments 2hrs after lights on. Run it for 34 secs give me 6oz of water to each plant

Yeah that's good EC for coco out the bag. Just remember if you flush, make sure you either flush with at least cal mag in your flush water, or you give it a nice dose of cal mag on the tail end of your flush that way the coco gets charged back up with cal mag.

I have a 300g reservoir. When I flush, I usually just run 200 gallons of PHd ro water through, then stop the pump. The last 100 gallons I'll mix my normal nutes up, and add extra cal mag to replace what was flushed out, and charge the coco back up so it doesn't take away from the plants.

 

[Ezdeezy89]

The schedule im following and the watering schedule im now attempting to follow

Oh word yeah dude if you're using floraflex nutes, I'd just go with whatever they have set. Pretty sure their nute line is pretty coco specific, especially if the schedule has you already adding cal mag.

I wouldn't overthink it and just keep doing what you're doing. Check runoff ppms every now and again. If it's 2-300 ppm(700 scale) higher than what's going in, id cut the nutes down by a quarter.

 

[Phillie8185]

Yeah that's good EC for coco out the bag. Just remember if you flush, make sure you either flush with at least cal mag in your flush water, or you give it a nice dose of cal mag on the tail end of your flush that way the coco gets charged back up with cal mag.

I have a 300g reservoir. When I flush, I usually just run 200 gallons of PHd ro water through, then stop the pump. The last 100 gallons I'll mix my normal nutes up, and add extra cal mag to replace what was flushed out, and charge the coco back up so it doesn't take away from the plants.

Exactly what i do. Good to know im on the right track. Didnt know the calmag thing though. Thanks on that. So my younger plants u thinkin its just overwater? I was watering them daily, stopped 3 days ago. The runoff checked good.

 

[Phillie8185]

Oh word yeah dude if you're using floraflex nutes, I'd just go with whatever they have set. Pretty sure their nute line is pretty coco specific, especially if the schedule has you already adding cal mag.

I wouldn't overthink it and just keep doing what you're doing. Check runoff ppms every now and again. If it's 2-300 ppm(700 scale) higher than what's going in, id cut the nutes down by a quarter.

It always reads like .1 lower iirc. I need to check again tomorrow after the new schedule runs. On my small plants its always the same on runoff

 

[Ezdeezy89]

Exactly what i do. Good to know im on the right track. Didnt know the calmag thing though. Thanks on that. So my younger plants u thinkin its just overwater? I was watering them daily, stopped 3 days ago. The runoff checked good.

I don't know what your younger plants looked like, but I had a problem in veg with coco for a while. I couldn't figure it out cause you can't really "over water" in a traditional sense with coco. But yes, my plants were too small, just rooted in root riot cubes, and I was putting them in soaked 1 gallon pots. The nutes weren't really being used and it would take 7-10 days for the moisture to pull out which had the salts build up cause the nutes weren't even being pulled through the plants by the roots. Growth was slowed, plants looked water-logged. They really don't need much water in veg at all.

That .1 ec runoff is good

 

[Phillie8185]

I don't know what your younger plants looked like, but I had a problem in veg with coco for a while. I couldn't figure it out cause you can't really "over water" in a traditional sense with coco. But yes, my plants were too small, just rooted in root riot cubes, and I was putting them in soaked 1 gallon pots. The nutes weren't really being used and it would take 7-10 days for the moisture to pull out which had the salts build up cause the nutes weren't even being pulled through the plants by the roots. Growth was slowed, plants looked water-logged. They really don't need much water in veg at all.

That .1 ec runoff is good

My youngsters

 

[Ezdeezy89]

They look decent, maybe too high EC. I veg at 350-500 ppm(btw sorry for ppm, just how I measure. On the 700 scale btw).

What are temps like in there and what type of light/wattage and height is your light at?

Imo 1.2 EC for veg is double what I'd be doing. Those small plants don't need to be that high. Idk where they got those numbers from.

 

[Phillie8185]

They look decent, maybe too high EC. I veg at 350-500 ppm(btw sorry for ppm, just how I measure. On the 700 scale btw).

What are temps like in there and what type of light/wattage and height is your light at?

Imo 1.2 EC for veg is double what I'd be doing. Those small plants don't need to be that high. Idk where they got those numbers from.

I use a marshydro ts600 for them, roughly 28” away. Temps like 76 humidity 60%

 

[Dub_City405]

So then you just put that pump on a digital timer. For it to run 15 to 30 seconds. Every 3 to 4 hours. And it depends on your drippers how much water it let's out. Gph.

Every setup is different. But mine is all automated. I just make water 1 time a week. And it feeds by itself. All week.

 

[Ezdeezy89]

So then you just put that pump on a digital timer. For it to run 15 to 30 seconds. Every 3 to 4 hours. And it depends on your drippers how much water it let's out. Gph.

Every setup is different. But mine is all automated. I just make water 1 time a week. And it feeds by itself. All week.

Thats dope, I can't let mine sit in the res more than 3 days or it starts going bad.

 

[Dub_City405]

Thats dope, I can't let mine sit in the res more than 3 days or it starts going bad.

What goes bad?

 

[Ezdeezy89]

What goes bad?

My nutrient solution