Switching from soil to coco.

[cee_62]

I recently switched from soil to coco and i am hopefully looking for some help on proper irrigation as i think it is causing me buildup which is leading to my plant showing deficiencies.. any advice on coco would help alot.

 

[Coconutz]

Do you have a ec meter/truncheon?

To test your coco, run your normal nutrient through the coco and measure the run off ec it'll tell you what's happening in the root zone, the run off should only be 0.3/0.4ec above the input ec ideally no more 0.2/0.3ec.

Your environment plays a big part in the nutrient strength, for example a hot dry environment = more transpiration from the leaves, too much water transpiration make the nutrient strength at the root zone more concentrated.

 

[Ninjadogma]

I recently switched from soil to coco and i am hopefully looking for some help on proper irrigation as i think it is causing me buildup which is leading to my plant showing deficiencies.. any advice on coco would help alot.

Coco can be treated like a soil where you can throw some amendments in and give it dryback waterings, and coco will behave better than peat with aggressive dryback cycles if you do it right. Coco can also be treated like hydro with no amendments and being fertigated daily / multiple times daily with liquid nutrients or dissolved nutrients in your water. Sounds to me like you're applying a soil style. During the drybacks even if it's been washed, coco can start absorbing and changing the nutrients. It takes your calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese and ammonium and locks it inside and dumps potassium, sodium and hydrogen ions in their place. You can counter it by upping your cal and mag feed a little and backing off your K value and try not to let the weight drop below 80% of "just watered." Alternatively, if you can use liquid nutrients, water multiple times daily with a light feed. If necessary to ensure good oxygen, throw some perlite in there. Coco is one of the best mediums for growing weed and while it can be prone to behavior problems, they're manageable once you get a general gist of what's going on.

 

[cee_62]

Do you have a ec meter/truncheon?

To test your coco, run your normal nutrient through the coco and measure the run off ec it'll tell you what's happening in the root zone, the run off should only be 0.3/0.4ec above the input ec ideally no more 0.2/0.3ec.

Your environment plays a big part in the nutrient strength, for example a hot dry environment = more transpiration from the leaves, too much water transpiration make the nutrient strength at the root zone more concentrated.

Yes, i tested my feed and that is 2.2 and the run off is 1.4. Im not sure if the 1.4 will be accurate as i took the measurement out of my medusa drain and there is always run off water left in the bottom as it only drains so much out, im not sure why it is so much lower than going in as in your last message it says it should be 0.3-0.4 above the input ec

 

[cee_62]

Coco can be treated like a soil where you can throw some amendments in and give it dryback waterings, and coco will behave better than peat with aggressive dryback cycles if you do it right. Coco can also be treated like hydro with no amendments and being fertigated daily / multiple times daily with liquid nutrients or dissolved nutrients in your water. Sounds to me like you're applying a soil style. During the drybacks even if it's been washed, coco can start absorbing and changing the nutrients. It takes your calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese and ammonium and locks it inside and dumps potassium, sodium and hydrogen ions in their place. You can counter it by upping your cal and mag feed a little and backing off your K value and try not to let the weight drop below 80% of "just watered." Alternatively, if you can use liquid nutrients, water multiple times daily with a light feed. If necessary to ensure good oxygen, throw some perlite in there. Coco is one of the best mediums for growing weed and while it can be prone to behavior problems, they're manageable once you get a general gist of what's going on.

Thanks, as coco is new to me it wasnt buffed with calcium from the start and i learned that it will steal the calcium from my plant instead more likely, i am trying to get into the cycle of daily feedings split into 1-3 feeds as i use drippers aswell. Im just struggling to get into the cycle as im still in a way treating it like its soil which was normally a feed and then wait till dryback. I also use athena which stress about getting a dryback and i also think me trying to get a dryback is working against me

 

[Coconutz]

Yes, i tested my feed and that is 2.2 and the run off is 1.4. Im not sure if the 1.4 will be accurate as i took the measurement out of my medusa drain and there is always run off water left in the bottom as it only drains so much out, im not sure why it is so much lower than going in as in your last message it says it should be 0.3-0.4 above the input ec

When coco is new or the plant is hungry it's not unusual for the ec run off to be lower than the input, basically the coco is holding some elements out of the nutrient solution lowering the ec.

If you feed it 2/3 times consecutively you should see a rise in it, if it doesn't improve increase the ec 0.4 until it improves.

 

[Grownsince95]

Thanks, as coco is new to me it wasnt buffed with calcium from the start and i learned that it will steal the calcium from my plant instead more likely, i am trying to get into the cycle of daily feedings split into 1-3 feeds as i use drippers aswell. Im just struggling to get into the cycle as im still in a way treating it like its soil which was normally a feed and then wait till dryback. I also use athena which stress about getting a dryback and i also think me trying to get a dryback is working against me

Using drippers and having dry back sound like you are stuck between two worlds. I'm not familiar with Athena but do you know why they recommend that? Do they have two lines, one for soil and one for hydro? Could you be confusing them?

Letting it dry back and getting lower runoff numbers kinda doesn't make sense and defies the laws of physics lol.

As far as your original post goes, that's a straight up phosphorus issue. You have to check pH, root zone temp and vpd in addition to a more accurate runoff EC. If it's on the oldest lower leaves and not spreading I wouldn't even fuss about it too much.

 

[cee_62]

Using drippers and having dry back sound like you are stuck between two worlds. I'm not familiar with Athena but do you know why they recommend that? Do they have two lines, one for soil and one for hydro? Could you be confusing them?

Letting it dry back and getting lower runoff numbers kinda doesn't make sense and defies the laws of physics lol.

As far as your original post goes, that's a straight up phosphorus issue. You have to check pH, root zone temp and vpd in addition to a more accurate runoff EC. If it's on the oldest lower leaves and not spreading I wouldn't even fuss about it too much.

They say to use drippers and implement dryback just to control the crop better just to give consistent nutrients back into the coco.

It has two lines i am using proline.

I believe the ec i gave wasnt fresh as i use a medusa auto drain system and there is always left over water in the bottom as the pump doesnt drain the tub completely, so this is my fault for not emptying the old runoff..

Its mainly the older leaves i am seeing it on.

I will read the run off today and see what it comes out at.

Everything ive researched so far is pointing towards a buildup in my pot and my roots not being oxygenated properly because of my feeding routine.

 

[Brian804]

Everything ive researched so far is pointing towards a buildup in my pot and my roots not being oxygenated properly because of my feeding routine.

Seems like you've got a compound problem: Athena is salt-based, and you didn't buffer your coco with calmag.

Unfortunately, I don't know how to suggest you proceed with your current crop, sounds like you're gonna be chasing issues until harvest, but next time rehydrate your coco with pH'd calmag solution and get away from synthetic/salt-based nutrients.

Rehydrate/buffer with pH'd calmag solution, Farmer's Pride (or something similar). Smooth sailing.

My .02