Understanding PPM for coco

needshelpguy · Nov 14, 2019

How do I feed using a TDS meter? I have obviously got some signs of under feeding and am trying to do feeding by PPM as on the coco nutrifield bottle it says the 20ml per litre for A and B solutions and feed 4-6 times daily for 3 minutes. Since I am top feeding roughly 10L per plant every 2-3 days I am unsure how much to feed i measured today and what i typically feed is 140ppm per 10L which is in the seedling range. Can I just increase what I feed every two days to 450 slowly increasing too 700ppm? Or what is the best way too feed plants this way?
Thanks any help appreciated!

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

@Aqua Man I know you're not a coco grower but maybe you have some insight into PPM?

illmatik · Nov 15, 2019

You say you're feeding every 2-3 days. That would only work well with extremely big pots. I suspect you're letting the coco dry out which is a big no no. When the coco dries it accumulates salt buildup and you have nutrient lockout issues.

Feed to run off every single day. Never let the coco dry out.

Aqua Man · Nov 15, 2019

Have pics and whats the pot size. Not a coco grower but depending on the plant size i think you need to start feeding more often. The media will only hold onto so much nutrients. so if your feeding less often you need to feed a higher ppm. But honestly i feel its better to feed more often then more nutrients as feeding more often will bring other benefits like air exchange. I don't know the coco mix your using so you may not be able to feed as often as recommended. If you want some real coco advice @Enforcer and a few others here are the people you wanna talk to.

guymandude · Nov 15, 2019

I'm riunning coco girls at the moment. I feed half strngth - basically 5-600 ppm every time i water and i allow for about a 20% runoff from the pot. you want to feed when the pots are damp, not dry. you should eventually end up feeding daily. at this point up your ppm, since your plants should be big enough and your rootball big enough to handle it. I measure the ppm of the run off to see how much is building up in the coco too. when that number gets high, i flush them a lite flush down to the target ppm

Jack og · Nov 15, 2019

Treat coco Iike hydro. Ppm wise yes u can start feeding daily at a low ppm as per ur mfg suggested, increasing as the plant size increases. But the key is to keep the media wet. I know it sounds counter intuitive but coco should be treated like hydro. Water 2x a day depending on how fast it dries out and feed daily, slowly at first and then increase as u go. By the time she is ready for flower you will get to about max mfg recommendations and then some. Also don’t forget, she will need cal mag, and pls get the stuff specifically made for coco

Guess · Nov 15, 2019

Use EC, its a simpler number and easier to understand. Buy a Truncheon from BlueLabs. Start by making 1 L of solution of the individual part A and B. Then divide the EC by 20 ( the milliters used) then you have value of change in EC that 1ml of nutes makes. Then you can figure out how many ml/L you need to adjust to your desired EC. I hope that made sense.

Guess · Nov 15, 2019

Guess said:
Use EC, its a simpler number and easier to understand. Buy a Truncheon from BlueLabs. Start by making 1 L of solution of the individual part A and B. Then divide the EC by 20 ( the milliters used) then you have value of change in EC that 1ml of nutes makes. Then you can figure out how many ml/L you need to adjust to your desired EC. I hope that made sense.

Do the individual Part A and B separate to figure values but then add the EC together to figure out a combined EC

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

thanks guys much appreciated, im not letting the coco dry before re watering the tops dry a bit but not the whole container, im in 50L containers with good drainage and roots, i feel like the drainage is good enough for me to water once a day with run off but dont want to flood them?

Aqua Man · Nov 15, 2019

needshelpguy said:
thanks guys much appreciated, im not letting the coco dry before re watering the tops dry a bit but not the whole container, im in 50L containers with good drainage and roots, i feel like the drainage is good enough for me to water once a day with run off but dont want to flood them?

Not a coco grower but I'm with @Jack og. I would try 2x a day. The more often you can water coco I feel the better growth your going to get. Yes you do waste more but that's why they call it drain to waste. Over watering is not actually to much water... It's to little oxygen and in coco watering bring oxygen into the soil and as it drains it pulls more in. I grow in RDWC.... Bit different but my roots sit in water constantly and they can because I make sure the water is oxygenated. Same goes for coco. Soil is different because the lesser drainage. Don't mix soil concepts with hydro. They are completely different.

That's just my opinion and I'm not a coco grower

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

Aqua Man said:
Not a coco grower but I'm with @Jack og. I would try 2x a day. The more often you can water coco I feel the better growth your going to get. Yes you do waste more but that's why they call it drain to waste. Over watering is not actually to much water... It's to little oxygen and in coco watering bring oxygen into the soil and as it drains it pulls more in. I grow in RDWC.... Bit different but my roots sit in water constantly and they can because I make sure the water is oxygenated. Same goes for coco. Soil is different because the lesser drainage. Don't mix soil concepts with hydro. They are completely different.

That's just my opinion and I'm not a coco grower

so how much should i feed it says on the bottle 4-6 times daily but i think thats for RDWC or bottom feeding with pumps, ive been feeding what they recommened per 10L but if i up to twice a day should i feed less than recommended?

Aqua Man · Nov 15, 2019

needshelpguy said:
so how much should i feed it says on the bottle 4-6 times daily but i think thats for RDWC or bottom feeding with pumps, ive been feeding what they recommened per 10L but if i up to twice a day should i feed less than recommended?

Never done it but I know one member feeds at 600ppm from the start and another coco grower just recommended 500-600 or an EC of 1-1.2 so that sounds right to me. Have pics of the plants?

You have a couple coco growers in here I would trust their advice over my own I think it was suggested 2x a day

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

ill get a pic of them now cheers

illmatik · Nov 15, 2019

You can feed as many times per day as you want, really. As long as the ppm/EC of your solution is in the right range there is no harm to feeding as many times per day as you want.

I started feeding once per day in the morning in week 1. I'm in week 4 of veg and I'm feeding 3-4 times per day now. You'll start to see how much the plants drink and how fast the coco dries up. If you can keep it wet all day long you're gonna see good results.

Aqua Man · Nov 15, 2019

illmatik said:
You can feed as many times per day as you want, really. As long as the ppm/EC of your solution is in the right range there is no harm to feeding as many times per day as you want.

I started feeding once per day in the morning in week 1. I'm in week 4 of veg and I'm feeding 3-4 times per day now. You'll start to see how much the plants drink and how fast the coco dries up. If you can keep it wet all day long you're gonna see good results.

This sounds like good advice to me.

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

Yeah nice cheers guys @illmatdo you too feed? Pics of plants

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

Bit bushy been getting neglected because of my other problem

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

Sorry @illmatik do you top feed also?

illmatik · Nov 15, 2019

needshelpguy said:
Sorry @illmatik do you top feed also?

Yup I have hydro halos set up on each plant to top feed. This was when I set up the irrigation in week 2:

Here we are today in week 4. The front plants (GSC) are way behind the back plants (Pineapple Upside Down Cake). I was hoping I could flip to flower already but I'm gonna give the GSC another week to catch up.

needshelpguy · Nov 15, 2019

illmatik said:
Yup I have hydro halos set up on each plant to top feed. This was when I set up the irrigation in week 2:

View attachment 910739

Here we are today in week 4. The front plants (GSC) are way behind the back plants (Pineapple Upside Down Cake). I was hoping I could flip to flower already but I'm gonna give the GSC another week to catch up.

View attachment 910740

Nice man cheers for the help what type led you running on there?

Understanding PPM for coco

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