Plumber's First Coco Grow

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PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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I was hoping to plant seeds 2 days ago but found the coco I bought needed to be strained and calmag charged. About 75% dust per bag although the dust, mixed with 30% perlite looks like a good seed mix.

Rinced about 8 qts of coco dust in a nylon bag then soaked in 1300+ EC from calmag for 18 hours.
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Planted 20 seeds
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I'll be culling out the males and runts and hope to keep a few mom's and flower a few as well when the time comes.

I added an old shower pan
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so I can collect the runoff in a 17 gal plastic tank
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A 2 stage drinking water filter
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which has lowered the pH and TDS as well as removes the chloramine.

A DIY seed warmer made from a reptile hot rock
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and an aquarium for clones.
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I'll add an air stone, there's a built in filter with submersible pump.

Lights (LED's and CFL's) to extend the daylight 3-4 hrs a day will be installed in the next week and I still need to wrap it. As soon as the sun sets and the breeze stops I'll get with it.

MasterBlend nutes will be utilized for this grow and I'll be growing in 1 gal water jugs and 3 liter soda bottles.
Plumbers first coco grow 10

These are sliced many times along the sides and the bottoms. I have a large supply of both. Was going to use fiber pots but believe these will help keep the roots warmer in the coming winter months. Next spring I'll switch over to cloth.

I haven't been this excited about a grow in a while. I've always treated cannabis as an annual, planting in spring and harvesting in fall. After harvesting a small plant last month that started flowering first week in June after planting in March I figure with our weather I can start producing a half dozen plants every month starting in January.

Happy Growing!
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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Day 3
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5 seeds popped.

Amazing. Used SuperThrive, 1/4 teaspoon per gal of filtered water on day one and filtered water the past 2 days.

This and cloning is why I bought it. Good results so far.

I've got another 2 buckets with dust and coir soaking in calmag solution and is ready to be rinsed. The work never ends and I just wanna sit and bong. Such is life.

I think I'll start using this coco dust to pop all seeds, regardless how they'll grow.

Really surprised they popped this quick.

I've been dreading pulling down the girls outside and not having more growing. Problem solved.

Fun stuff.
 
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PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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Day 4

All but one seed has popped. I've never had seeds pop this quick. SuperThrive (ST) works well and 9 of 10 pepper transplants are rockin' (one was munched) after a first watering with ST.

I'm readying their pots and will transplant this weekend. I use 3" peat pots for seeds and I just stick 'em in a pot, little stress but I'll still give 'em ST.

If the grow continues at this pace I'm gonna be a very happy camper!
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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Day 6

Transplanting begins at sunset.

I'll be mixing 30% perlite with the coir and 50% with the dust. With 20 seedlings I can try a couple different mixes and see which one works best.
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I also purchased a bag of peat moss to run in the aquarium to lower water hardness.
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The aquarium has a build in filter in the lower back with a submersible pump.
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I'll fill nylon bags with the peat and run it 24/7.

The battery in my TDS meter fell out when I was testing the soak solution at night while toasted. Horrible timing. Ordered batteries, should be here by tomorrow night, I hope. Rinsed the coco half a dozen times to be sure I got the calmag solution out.

I understand the cation exchange sites in coco need to be changed or buffered with calmag to avoid deficiencies during the grow. Learn something new everyday.

The seedlings are doing well and ready for their new homes.
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I'll do a few in soil, give 2 to our youngest and have about a dozen in coco.

Will update tonight after transplant.
 
Seraphine

Seraphine

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I was hoping to plant seeds 2 days ago but found the coco I bought needed to be strained and calmag charged. About 75% dust per bag although the dust, mixed with 30% perlite looks like a good seed mix.

Rinced about 8 qts of coco dust in a nylon bag then soaked in 1300+ EC from calmag for 18 hours.
View attachment 890772
View attachment 890773
View attachment 890777
Planted 20 seeds
View attachment 890774
I'll be culling out the males and runts and hope to keep a few mom's and flower a few as well when the time comes.

I added an old shower pan
View attachment 890775
so I can collect the runoff in a 17 gal plastic tank
View attachment 890776

A 2 stage drinking water filter
View attachment 890788
which has lowered the pH and TDS as well as removes the chloramine.

A DIY seed warmer made from a reptile hot rock
View attachment 890789
and an aquarium for clones.
View attachment 890790
I'll add an air stone, there's a built in filter with submersible pump.

Lights (LED's and CFL's) to extend the daylight 3-4 hrs a day will be installed in the next week and I still need to wrap it. As soon as the sun sets and the breeze stops I'll get with it.

MasterBlend nutes will be utilized for this grow and I'll be growing in 1 gal water jugs and 3 liter soda bottles.
View attachment 890792
These are sliced many times along the sides and the bottoms. I have a large supply of both. Was going to use fiber pots but believe these will help keep the roots warmer in the coming winter months. Next spring I'll switch over to cloth.

I haven't been this excited about a grow in a while. I've always treated cannabis as an annual, planting in spring and harvesting in fall. After harvesting a small plant last month that started flowering first week in June after planting in March I figure with our weather I can start producing a half dozen plants every month starting in January.

Happy Growing!
You’ll want to cover the outside of that 2 liter, if sunlight can penetrate the plastic, you’ll get algae growth on your roots which will cause your plant roots to compete with the algae for oxygen and nutrients. It’s happened to me before when I used clear plastic solo cups. I had to tape the the outside to block out the light.
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

1,611
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You’ll want to cover the outside of that 2 liter, if sunlight can penetrate the plastic, you’ll get algae growth on your roots which will cause your plant roots to compete with the algae for oxygen and nutrients. It’s happened to me before when I used clear plastic solo cups. I had to tape the the outside to block out the light.
I decided against them as it was difficult to add the extra media around the peat pot.
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Had 8 of these 1/2 gals and will figure out the rest tomorrow. I've got a lot of 1 gal pots but not enough coco ready.

Peat is in and the water has taken on a tannin tint.
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Used this method to raise killie fish back in the day. As soon as I get my batteries for my TDS meter I'll find out how much. The tank holds 6 gallons. I may have to pick up a used 10 gal.

The shower pan was a score. Got paid good money to install a new one and get to use the old one😉
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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263
Day 15

I can really see the growth difference between the coco and soil.
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Good growth for 10-12 days from popping.

Couple of the nicer ones
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These F4 look like the hybrids they are. F3's were mainly indica looking while F2 were sativia leaning.

The dry coco was added after watering. Watering daily with 1/8 tsp MasterBlend per gal. By this weekend I plan to increase to 3/16 tsp with a pinch of cal & mag.

Purchased 20 one gallon fabric pots.
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I have to plant again in two weeks and won't be culling any for another month.

Checked on plastic pot prices at a local nursery and these at a buck each were about the same price.

Ordered 2 rolls of 4 mil plastic sheeting 4' x 100' to wrap the greenhouse. I've got some real thin sheets that are tearing too easily and I don't want to re-wrap in bad weather. Arrives the end of the week.

Should be some measurable growth by the weekend.

Happy Growing!
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

1,611
263
Day 16

Coco vs soil

Coco
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Soil
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Okay, I know what media I'm putting the tomato winter crop in, D'UH!

Very impressed with the growth.

Maintaining the 1/8 tsp MasterBlend per gallon daily. Mixing with the filtered softened water and dirty fish water.

Very happy. Will up the feed this weekend with a pinch of cal & mag and way past time for fungus tea.

Easy so far.
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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263
Day 18

Wow. Just frickin wow.
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I've been adding coir to the tops of the dust/perlite pots for plant stability.

Instead of upping their percentage of ferts I've started feeding twice daily (starting today) and they're still drying out.

I'll keep the twice a day feed at 1/8 tsp until next weekend.

Truly amazed at the growth.

Recieved the 4 mil plastic rolls (thanks Amazon Prime) and hope to be in shape to wrap the small greenhouse Sunday. Plan on adding screened windows. Still too hot here to fully enclose.

Have I said WOW yet? Just checking...

Planted a couple 3" plastic pots of basil in coco dust w/ perlite. Falling in love with coco/hydro.

Can't believe how much time I've wasted growing our favorite plant in soil.
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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263
Day 21

Love love love growing in coco.
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3 weeks in and really looking forward to Sept 25th and my next planting.

Still 1/8 tsp MasterBlend per gal of filtered tap water (dirty goldfish water once a week) twice a day with 30+% runoff.

I just read I should have seeded with microbial fungus the end of the first week. Will use tea water in the morning to mix their cocktail!

I'm totally blown away at the growth rate. I can see flipping every 6-8 weeks. A few months ago I didn't think it was possible.

Tomorrow I'll be planting cherry tomatoes, hot peppers, basil and a few sunflowers in coco and grow with the Kratky method.

Until next time, Happy Growing!
 
Dirtbag

Dirtbag

Supporter
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I love your excitement! It's awesome when we discover something new that so radically changes the game. Coco worked very well for me too, I'm just too lazy for the multiple daily waterings, that's honestly the only thing keeping me in proterra/promix, although lately I've had hydro/coco growth rates in it with fabric pots.
Fun grow, following for sure to see where this goes.
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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263
I love your excitement! It's awesome when we discover something new that so radically changes the game. Coco worked very well for me too, I'm just too lazy for the multiple daily waterings, that's honestly the only thing keeping me in proterra/promix, although lately I've had hydro/coco growth rates in it with fabric pots.
Fun grow, following for sure to see where this goes.
After all these years of growing in dirt I can't believe the growth with hydro. Never would have believed it without seeing it.

I hear ya on the daily care. I need a few days in the mountains soon but I do have a 20 year old just learning so I can take a break when needed. I'll give him a couple of the next planting and get him up to speed. He's pretty excited about the two in pots under his window. Bug has got him and he'll be teaching me soon enough.

Having a blast!
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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263
Day 25

Seems the rapid growth has slowed.
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I've upped the nutes to 1/4 tsp of the tomato and less than an 1/8 of both cal & mag starting this morning.

It will take some time for me to figure out and I'll adjust with the coming monthly grows and hope to have it dialed in soon.

They're about 3 weeks since seed pop and from what I've read should be to 6 nodes by now. This one and another at 5 are close.
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So I have a ways to go yet to find that sweet spot.

It also seems the dust/perlite mix is preforming better than the coir/perlite. I'll run the next batch on mainly the dust mix and I also want to try a few without separating the dust and coir, just soaking in a strong cal/mag solution and adding 30% perlite.

I was worried the dust would compact but the perlite has so far kept that from happening and it's without a doubt the best seed starting mix I've ever used. No matter what happens, even if I totally fail at growing in coco and shelve the whole idea I'll continue using the coco dust/perlite for popping seeds.

Speaking of seed popping
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I've planted cherry and yellow pear tomatoes, peppers and basil to grow this winter in coco with the basil and a couple of peppers in a Kratky setup. I'll give the pepper plants away this Christmas along with a couple bottles of my home made hot sauce.

Picked up the plastic cups at the 99 Cent store and made them into baskets while puffing on the patio. Quick and easy and saved a few bucks ($2 for 42 cups). I doubt if they'll last for more than 1 grow but at that price I don't care. They'll all go into buckets or containers.

I've been looking at these 1 gal containers on Amazon.
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20 food grade containers for $44. Two bucks each ain't bad. Folgers coffee containers also have my attention. Switched to Smart & Final's brand a few years ago for the metal containers but I think it's time to change back.

Also searching for 3-5 gal buckets w/ lids for larger plants. Stopped in two donut shops this past week and both were out. Lots more shops to check in the coming days.

I plan to bury a row of 5 buckets in the garden and grow spinach this winter to see if it's worth converting the entire area to hydro. Should be interesting.

Until next time. Happy Growing!
 
PlumberSoCal

PlumberSoCal

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263
is that 1/2 or 3/4 pvc going into that ro unit????
3/4. One of these days I'll write it up. If I had it all over to do again I would have used sch 80 pipe instead of 40 but it's stood 5 years now. Thought about tearing it down after getting a nicer larger one but back pain has kept me from putting it together. Soon, I hope. I'll need to move a few into it to flower starting in about 4 weeks so gotta suck it up. Got a bit of Blue Dream for this weekend. If able I'll get some work done.

Pic is this past spring before I wrapped it this year.
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I usually wrap it twice a year with cheap plastic. I've only needed it a few months in spring and a few in fall. Simple design, 9' x 6.5' using pallets as shelves and support. I have a 1/2" sprinkler line with two heads hanging from the top. Obviously not using now but it was pretty cool to make it rain it there for the plants.
 
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