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15 plant coco grow, recurring Nutrient/Magnesium deficiency problem

~Shhh~

JETS
Veteran
Hi mate, sorry to hear that you are still having these issues...

Can I ask a few q's about this as it seems to be a coco related issue a few peeps are having and I have just got some coco for my new grow.

1. Were the 2 plants healthy plants at your other grow the 2 strongest root & health wise?

2. Are you still watering with open ended hose or have you added drippers? (if so how many times per day and for how long- Have you measured the amount coming from 1 dripper per feed?)

3. Have you always gone from the cups to 10L or is it 12L pots(?) with your coco grows?

4. How compact is your coco in the pots? - (Do you pack it in densely?)

5. Do your buckets drain well?

6. What size buckets are they currently in?

U prob know coco can have smaller pots than soil and not suffer same root bound pics as soil... typically a 4L pot is used when growing sog stylee (24 plants per 600w) coco slabs have 12L of coco in them and people put 4 - 6 clones on them... point is you may not need to use the larger pots and maybe the 7L's are enough for you as the larger pot is not filling with roots.

From viewing your thrad this issue started at week 3-4 veg, how many ml's per L were you giving at this point, also what was is your watering schedule when they go from cup to pot/ bucket?

Cheers!

Still cant sleep! :D

Just been downloading the Coco PDF's from Canna's website, as all this has made me realize there's alot more to coco than meets the eye! So the more info the better.... anyway, I noted the following:

CANNA’s Coco is made up of thousands of capillary micro-sponges that retain almost 1000 % of their own weight in water. Therefore Coco retains an enormous buffer of water and nutrients. It is recommended that the grower keep the medium a bit dry rather than soaking wet. Wet circumstances form an ideal basis for fungal diseases like Pythium. A drier substrate
passes more air through to the roots stimulating them to absorb water and nutrients more actively. This results in a faster growth and higher yields.Another important instrument is timing. Once the Coco has become too wet, reduce or pause watering until the Coco has dried out and then start normal watering again.
Check the moisture content of the Coco by hand or by determining its weight by lifting the pot or slab. A rule of thumb for watering fully-growplants is 4 to 6 litres per m2 a day. By decreasing the dripping frequency and by increasing the amount of nutrients per watering, the best use is made of
available water and nutrients. This will also improve drainage.
The frequency of watering depends on the evaporation and the water supply in the Coco. A common rule is that one daily watering is sufficient during the first few weeks under normal circumstances; then increase up to 2 times a day; 2 hours after the lamps have been turned on and 2 hours before they are switched off again. Please keep in mind, smaller root volumes per plant (small pots or many plants per slab) will make Coco dry out quickly. Therefore it is critical to water these plants more often.


The last statement is why dewds that are using small (4L) pots or slabs sog stylee water between 3 - 5 times daily until run off.
With your larger pots they are suggesting a different wtaering regime (as they hold more water longer) but still advocating run off (I suppose to ensure nutes are exchanged, salt build up is to a minimal and new oxy introduced when water sucks air into coco after feeding.

Method for collecting representative sample of your coco's true EC (not run off EC)

The most reliable method for measuring the nutrient levels in Coco is using the 1: 1.5 extraction method. EC
and pH of the root environment can be determined by using this method. The pH and EC of the drain water
generally deviates from the actual root situation, as Coco is able to retain and release elements.

1) Take a sample of Coco from the slabs or pots (photo 1). This can be done with a soil core sampler or a
trowel. To get a representative sample the Coco must be collected from as many places as possible.
2) Collect the sample in a bowl and determine whether it contains the right amount of moisture. The Coco
has the right amount of moisture if moisture disappears between your fingers when you squeeze it (photo
2). Add demineralised water if necessary and mix the Coco.
3) Take a 250 ml measuring jug and fill it with 150 ml of demineralised water. Add Coco to the 250 ml mark
(photo 3). Fully mix and allow the slurry to settle for at least two hours.
4) Mix again and measure the pH
5) Filter this material and measure the EC.
A 1:1.5 analysis can preferably be done after 3 to 4 weeks. The target values for EC are between 1.1 and 1.3,
for the pH, between 5.3 and 6.2. Very high EC values increase the risk of burning symptoms. To limit the risk of
burning symptoms, the Coco can be rinsed with acidified water (pH 5.8: acidify with CANNA pH - growth).


And last but by know means least... do you use nitric acid pH down or phos...
 

Tokesome

Member
Sorry ~Shhh~. I still have`nt gotten around to responding here and again I`1m tired, stoned and going to bed. I`ll pop back as soon as I can and reply best I can to your questions.

The Canna info is very handy, thanks.

Toke;-)
 

Tokesome

Member
Hey ~Shhh~, cant be absolutely specific, some details will be in these pages.

1. Yeah the 2 plants in the other grow were the best healthwise of the bunch.

2. feeding open ended 4mm hoses on those 2, and currently hand feeding my bigger grow. Though I was feeding open hose before on the big grow from a recirculating res, now I`m drain to waste. No I know its a bit crap but I`ve never once checked how much is being fed in the recirc set-up, just feeding by eye to what seems like the right amount of run-off. Something I`ll defo be doing from now on though.

3. Always gone from cups to 7ltr pots, not anymore though, a distinct disadvantage I feel. The 2 plant grow had a spell in 3ltr pots before going to the current 14ltr buckets. I use 12/14ltr buckets throughout now.

4. The coco is packed quite lightly by me, just firm enough for the plants not to sag after watering. It gets denser through time, watering and root mass but is still really quite fluffy at the end.

5. my buckets drain as well as any others I guess, loads of big holes drilled in the bottom. My bigger grow this time I have the pots raised 3 inches and have drainage wicks to assist with leaching the perched watertable found in pots. This is working well I think, check my thread update earlier this morning.

6. As I mentioned above, 12 and 14ltr buckets.

Hope that helps, sorry its taken me a while.

Toke ;-)
 

turbolaser4528

Active member
Veteran
definitely seems like overwatering/over-fertilization and some imbalance in nute uptake possibly. Have you tried watering less, and feeding less? Maybe switching things up can help eliminate some of the variables, trying different things with different plants will save you a lot of time figuring this one out imho. good luck man!
 

Tokesome

Member
definitely seems like overwatering/over-fertilization and some imbalance in nute uptake possibly. Have you tried watering less, and feeding less? Maybe switching things up can help eliminate some of the variables, trying different things with different plants will save you a lot of time figuring this one out imho. good luck man!


Hey thanks turbo, yeah this is an old thread revisited, I think water quality and poor feedeing regime was responsible for a lot of the ills in this thread.

My 15plant scrog in my signature is where I`m at now, I`ve moved on in many ways:biggrin:

Toke ;-)
 

turbolaser4528

Active member
Veteran
Hey thanks turbo, yeah this is an old thread revisited, I think water quality and poor feedeing regime was responsible for a lot of the ills in this thread.

My 15plant scrog in my signature is where I`m at now, I`ve moved on in many ways:biggrin:

Toke ;-)

haha o awesome, i didnt read the whole thing, im glad i diagnosed it correctly with 0 exp. in coco sweet! lol :bis: jk
 

~Shhh~

JETS
Veteran
Cheers for the reply toke, helps me get a few things clear and also glad that you have resolved the issue. I am looking into an RO filter now, how much does the one you have produce and are you mixing with tap water or some cal/mag supplement?
 

Tokesome

Member
Hey Bones, I was hoping you`d take a look at the last page and a half of my current thread here http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=143080&page=4 , as I`m now handwatering drain to waste and would like you to check the figures and quantites over if you would. Overall though things are looking a ton better though, thanks.

~Shhh~, hey dude, I think I`ll let this thread die a death, unless anyone has specific reasons to carry it on, then I`d be pleased to help if I can. Having said that, my other thread is a continuation and I dont mind any of these issues being brought up there. In fact I just posted ya the very information you ask for on my other thread, on my other thread so to avoid doubling up would ya check it out there? Cheers

Toke

Ps I`ve just updated the RO info, incase you been there already
 

tip302327

Member
What was the final conclusion of this thread if any? I built a new vert garden from the ground up and shit it's like starting all over again. My well rooted Kush cuts take a dump about a week after being potted in plain coco or a mix of coco and black gold. Seems like they just lag, get spotty and yellow out. This coco is something else. Man when its dialed it rocks but when it aint....t
 

ricky80

New member
Magnesium should stay in their normal levels inside our body because it causes heart problems. I know a lot of people and some just took it for granted. It should be treated immediately. Take supplements to prevent it. Prevention is better than cure as they say.
 

Centrum

In search of Genetics
Veteran
I have the exact same probelms.

Hand water to Coco 30% perlite.
Using Floranova Series Bloom.
Ec 1.0 - 1.2

Ph 5.5 - 5.8

Pot sizes 1gal - 3 gal

Ro Water 10ppm.


EXACT SAME PROBLEMS NO MATTER WHAT I DO!

I skimmed through these pages and it seems no one has an answer to fix this problem is that right ?

Tokesome your new plants still have these issues?

Take Care
 
B

bonecarver_OG

centrum try using an amount of normal tapwater mixed with the RO water.. most tap water is rich in cal AND mag. mix in tap water untill u got ec 0.2-0.3. more cal mag than that is not necesary in most cases....
 
W

W.P.

I have the exact same probelms.

Hand water to Coco 30% perlite.
Using Floranova Series Bloom.
Ec 1.0 - 1.2

Ph 5.5 - 5.8

Pot sizes 1gal - 3 gal

Ro Water 10ppm.


EXACT SAME PROBLEMS NO MATTER WHAT I DO!

I skimmed through these pages and it seems no one has an answer to fix this problem is that right ?

Tokesome your new plants still have these issues?

Take Care

Me too.... Im 'new' too coco and was treating it like dirt (little too no run off, letting it dry up some, not supplementing cal/mag...)

Water every day. Cut with perlite. Run off IMOP 20%+!, If showing differences give 10mill gallon cal/mag back down slowly to 3 mill gallon every feeding.

I tried 5 mill at first and because of the whole CEC thing was afraid to go any more mill per gallon at first but now am glad i did.

The whole not running off thing will cause all a build up of salts way faster then dirt.
 

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