Run off coco ?

[Rasta Man]

when the ec of your run off is higher then the ec of your feeds going in should you flush the coco..

i checked mine today and it was 4.2 and the nutes going in is at 1 ec... the plant seems to be doing fine

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm sure others will disagree, but for me, if it ain't broke don't try to fix it. Also, I detest using run-off as a metric by which to gauge anything or solve problems. I do a media sample test to get an idea of what's going on.

But! Let me ask you a couple of questions in any event. First, do you ever alternate water with your feedings? If not, you may want to try doing that OR pre-wet the pots with a bit of water, allowed to run through, before actually feeding. This can help quite a lot with keeping media conditions in check.

Second, do you ever give super-low EC feedings?

Third, do you feed to the point of at least 20% run-off?

All of these methods help prevent salt build-up in the root zone.

Remember also that when growing in coco things happen with a quickness. So if you find high EC run-off and immediately flush, you may see results of that action within a day or so. That's one of the reasons why I emphasize watching the plant, because while the NUMBERS may not be "right", as far as the plant is concerned they may be perfect.

 

[Rasta Man]

its only my second feeding as i only repot the plant a few days ago.. as you say i want to get the conditions in the coco as best i can.. maybe if i keep feeding at 1 ec and get 20% run off ill get the ec level down after a few days...

thanks seamaiden you always seem to answer my simple questions ty

 

[motherlode]

did you rinse and check the ec of the coco before you transplanted?

 

[Seamaiden]

Wait a minute. If the plant looks happy, why do you want to get the EC dropped?

 

[motherlode]

because 4.2 is ridiculously high - even if the look ok now they prolly wont for long

you said it yourself things happen fast in coco

 

[cemchris]

Im going to disagree Sea :P. You made a lot of good points which you should always do. Coco is an soiless medium for hydroponic growing. Soil is a different story. PH is a better judge IMO. You want a target PH in Coco. Without it it doesnt matter what kind of nutes are in the medium. Coco like to stay around 6.1-6.0. There is alot of debate on this subject. FOR ME I never get above 100 ppm from whats going in to whats coming out. My PH will maybe .2 or .3 off from whats going in. You feed at 5.6 and it comes out at 5.9 then you are in that sweet spot. I want to control what the plant eats in that medium no guessing. Not growing organic and not amending the coco. Coco hangs on to P and CA. I also run it on tables so little different school of thought. Gets flushed bout every 10 days. I never seem to have problems.


Edit as far as runoff are you letting about the same volume of medium flush through before you measure? If not your reading is prob not the most accurate. I do agree listen to the plants but some problems cant be undone once they happen.

 

[Rasta Man]

no i never checked or did anything with this one, i took it for granted that canna produce quality coco.. im about to repot 3 more and im after washing through water ph to 5.9 with rhizotonic and cannazym in it...

maybe there was a build up after the first feed i gave it, the run off was like dark urine coming out while the pots i was getting ready the water was clear..

what should i do next.. next watering should i water until i get alot of run off and try getting it down..

i thought by checking the runoff you no excatly what the uptake of nutes the plant is taking.. if your feed is 1ec and your run off is .5 that ment your plants have taken .5 in...

 

[motherlode]

coco doesnt work so well like rockwool for checking ec before and after

but thats very high ec for only the first water since transplant

 

[Darth Fader]

I have a couple thoughts that you may take with a grain of salt since there are plenty of growers here with way more experience than me. First is that I think it is a mistake to concern yourself with trying to control runoff pH, or more accurately stated, the pH of your media. It's simply not your job. Your job to to insure the correct pH range going in and let the bennies & the plant take it from there. The media, and any beneficial microherd (bacteria, fungus, etc) and the plant must to be allowed do their thing, and will, much better than we can.

Regarding ppm, as a caveat, I've seen people running >2000 on sea salts, but that's a completely different thing. That said, with traditional nutes, an ec that high needs to be fixed before it adversely affects those transplants IMO. I have discovered readings that high myself in my res (passive wick) before, and the plants were "sub-optimal" for it - w/ toxicity/clawing, lockout, or disfigured leaves. Didn't kill them, but they were obviously not uptaking the nutes as much as the water and the res ec was becoming more concentrated over time. If this is what is happening, then the plant obviously just doesn't want or need that level of nutes. Why risk pushing toxic levels? There are plenty of exceptional results from running at 1.2-1.4 ec throughout the full cycle. Isn't overfeeding the #1 mistake most growers make?

If it were me, I'd flush until I hit that 1.2-1.4 range and then resume feeding the following day.

 

[Rasta Man]

so next watering ill just ph the water and flush until i get it down closer to 1.. im not to worryed about ph just the ec levels

 

[OGONLY]

I use Canna and never pre rinse. I just pour like just enough R/O and cal mag into each container to make them run off. Then I let the pots sit for 20 minutes and transplant. I've even done it without putting calmag on the coco before hand and didn't have issues.

I never check my runoff, but I have never had salt build up problems. I feed at an average of 900 ppm (.5 conversion) in flower, and I use House and Gardens Drip Clean. I also dilute my res on the last day or 2 before I change the res. By doing this I get away with rarely ever flushing my coco in between feedings. I think I flushed only 2 times with R/O and Calmag last flowering run. Excluding my 2 week end flush of course.

 

[Rasta Man]

i had problems with over watering at the beginning its all new to me

 

[Rasta Man]

you say you feed at .5 my water alone is nearly tht

 

[darlingmaster]

Are you letting your coco dry out in between watering?
Been using coco for 'bout 4 years now and have never checked run off. I drip to waste. By flushing your coco all you're doing is removing precious nutrients from a healthy(you said yourself that the plants are healthy) plant.

 

[Rasta Man]

ye im letting them dry out, ye they look ok now but i have read so much about people checking run off it seemed to be important

 

[darlingmaster]

Try not letting them dry out too much. If the pots are really light when the lights come on them you may want to water them twice per lights on. That's how I gauge my plants...
As the medium becomes drier, the nutrients left in the coco become more concentrated. So when you check the run off the ec reads high.

 

[iscrog4food]

Your ec is likely high because you let the coco dry out. You should make sure the coco stays damp and don't let it dry out between watering. Personally I water full strength then at a quarter strength, then full strength, then just water with micros and cal mag. I usually water every other day until about week 3 when they Need watered every day. Personally I prefer to waste a bit of nuts via leeching rather than risk salt buildup. If you get lockout mid flower even if you fix it immediately you will loose way more than the value of the nutes you are leeching. Also if you run drain to waste there isn't a need to check runoff unless there is a problem IMO.

 

[caliogk]

Your ec is likely high because you let the coco dry out. You should make sure the coco stays damp and don't let it dry out between watering. Personally I water full strength then at a quarter strength, then full strength, then just water with micros and cal mag. I usually water every other day until about week 3 when they Need watered every day. Personally I prefer to waste a bit of nuts via leeching rather than risk salt buildup. If you get lockout mid flower even if you fix it immediately you will loose way more than the value of the nutes you are leeching. Also if you run drain to waste there isn't a need to check runoff unless there is a problem IMO.

:yes

 

[Darth Fader]

you say you feed at .5 my water alone is nearly tht

Unless it's been edited, he said he feeds at 900ppm using the .5 conversion. Maybe some can give the precise conversion, but I'm pretty sure that should be AROUND 1.5ec.

...If you get lockout mid flower even if you fix it immediately you will loose way more than the value of the nutes you are leeching. Also if you run drain to waste there isn't a need to check runoff unless there is a problem IMO.

Hmmm... wait, this doesn't make sense. You state there is no need to check runoff UNLESS there is a problem but JUST PRIOR you state that even if you fix a lockout problem right away, it's too late - the damage (at least a lot of it) is already done. I think the smart move is to keep an eye on it (runoff ec) so that you can fix issues BEFORE they manifest in you plants - since this is the only way to PREVENT damage rather than responding to damage.
Peace