Unwashed coco!

[420charlie]

Hey all!
I got my first brick of coco a few weeks ago, got some mother’s earth off amazon.
Issue I am having is that my Coco appears water logger. I know I am supposed to fertigate daily and people say not to worry about the coco drying out due to its superior air to water retention ratios. My problem is that I forgot to wash my coco for the first four plants I transplanted into it. Plants planted in the washed coco are getting fertigated daily and drying somewhat by the next day.
picture of unwashed vs washed after 18 hours since fertigation.
So my question is, if I have unwashed coco, loaded with coco peat should I still fertigate daily? Or allow some moisture to dissipate?
Thanks all!!

Unwashed, much denser.

Washed.

 

[ChaoticNeal]

Coco holds air its very hard to drown ur plants once there the size ur plants are You don’t have to water everyday either I have all my mother plants in 6” fabric pots grown in coco and only water when there dry to the bone I keep them small like a bonsi tree just make sure u water till there’s a little runoff you only water a lot when ur wanting the speed of hydro it’ll grow just fine letting them dry out a bit You’ll just get the results of soil and it’ll grow slower I’ve had my mother’s in the same pot for 2 years an never had a def growing them this way.

 

[tobh]

So, let me clarify something here.

You should not let coco dry out much, if at all, because the salt content will sky rocket. If you monitor your run-off, you should have at least the same EC coming out as you're putting in; preferably a lower EC in your runoff from your input. If you let it dry out, any nutrients you've added will begin to crystallize, resulting in huge pH swings, and subsequently massive EC increases resulting in lockout and all kinds of other not-so-fun situations (sick plants -> pests -> lost product).

Fertigate daily, multiple times a day if you can. You literally cannot drown your plants in coco.

Let this be a lesson to you now -- always wash your coco. You can get away with unwashed coco, but you'll want to put solution through it to get the EC down to what you're putting in. For example, at the stage your plants are at, I'd say your inputs should be around 500 EC, depending what you're composing your nutrient solution from. Your output should be at that, or less. Less means your plant pulled nutrients out (ate) and you're simply replenishing what's been consumed.

Overall, your plants look healthy. Keep an eye on the pH and EC, and don't let your coco dry out. Period.

 

[cemchris]

^

 

[420charlie]

So, let me clarify something here.

You should not let coco dry out much, if at all, because the salt content will sky rocket. If you monitor your run-off, you should have at least the same EC coming out as you're putting in; preferably a lower EC in your runoff from your input. If you let it dry out, any nutrients you've added will begin to crystallize, resulting in huge pH swings, and subsequently massive EC increases resulting in lockout and all kinds of other not-so-fun situations (sick plants -> pests -> lost product).

Fertigate daily, multiple times a day if you can. You literally cannot drown your plants in coco.

Let this be a lesson to you now -- always wash your coco. You can get away with unwashed coco, but you'll want to put solution through it to get the EC down to what you're putting in. For example, at the stage your plants are at, I'd say your inputs should be around 500 EC, depending what you're composing your nutrient solution from. Your output should be at that, or less. Less means your plant pulled nutrients out (ate) and you're simply replenishing what's been consumed.

Overall, your plants look healthy. Keep an eye on the pH and EC, and don't let your coco dry out. Period.

Hey man thanks for the thorough reply! Appreciate it! My TDS metre generally runs about 800 ppm going in and 750 coming out. In the beginning it was coming out a bit higher. I really appreciate the insight. And yea, lesson learned on washing coco!

 

[ChaoticNeal]

It’s coco bro salt buildup and a ph swing can be fixed with a good flush, letting them dry out a bit won’t hurt them at all plus pests are usually an organic problem except nat flys but a good sticky trap will fix that problem as well. I’ve personally never had any pests other than the nats but every grow is different and so is every grower.

 

[420charlie]

It’s coco bro salt buildup and a ph swing can be fixed with a good flush, letting them dry out a bit won’t hurt them at all plus pests are usually an organic problem except nat flys but a good sticky trap will fix that problem as well. I’ve personally never had any pests other than the nats but every grow is different and so is every grower.

Yea yea I get all that, I was mostly just unsure if coco still retained its oxygen holding properties despite not washing it. It’s full of peat and a lot denser than pots with washed coco, takes about 3 times longer to dry- no issues at all just less frequent watering.

 

[FlintTownBrown]

i had some mother earth (from a bag, not brick) that was way dirtier than i'd expected from a brand that was supposedly washed already. it's way darker than the Canna brand i replaced it with, and when my plants were smaller it seemed to hold water alot more and they seemed to be waterlogged alot. I didn't wash either brand. This is all in my very first grow, so i'm really not sure if the M.E. brand is worse than Canna, or just different. It's entirely possible i was watering everything too much, regardless of medium. Now that they're older/bigger, all plants are doing well, both Canna and M.E.

NOTE the difference between EC and PPM. Datsun recommended 500 EC for those young ladies; you replied with your PPM values. Most TDS meters will measure both TDS and EC, with EC being 2x the TDS value (in other words, if your feeding solution measures 800 PPM, the EC is actually 1,600).

 

[420charlie]

i had some mother earth (from a bag, not brick) that was way dirtier than i'd expected from a brand that was supposedly washed already. it's way darker than the Canna brand i replaced it with, and when my plants were smaller it seemed to hold water alot more and they seemed to be waterlogged alot. I didn't wash either brand. This is all in my very first grow, so i'm really not sure if the M.E. brand is worse than Canna, or just different. It's entirely possible i was watering everything too much, regardless of medium. Now that they're older/bigger, all plants are doing well, both Canna and M.E.

NOTE the difference between EC and PPM. Datsun recommended 500 EC for those young ladies; you replied with your PPM values. Most TDS meters will measure both TDS and EC, with EC being 2x the TDS value (in other words, if your feeding solution measures 800 PPM, the EC is actually 1,600).

Yeah everything is starting to use up the water a bit faster now, prior to having the TDS metre (when I posted this) I was feeding 1/4 dose, I am now feeding more as they are older, and that’s what the numbers I’ve provided are based off of. I may cut back to about 1/2 dose because I realized upon getting the TDS metre that I’m actually putting more nutes into the young plants than I am the ones in flower. Lol!
I haven’t burnt anything yet.