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a newb becomes coco nuts

inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
beware, here goes a noob coco growers log. or a newb growers coco log. Both are accurate.
We are on day two of flowering. I had all sorts of problems in the veg state. I will give a brief description of what i have learned, thru trial and error.
First of all i read almost every word on coco on this site before starting. About two months of reading...
I watered my seedlings too often. When the top would dry out, i would water. They grew VERY slow.
Next i did not feed them. I learned soil and learned that the plants did not need supplemented food until they grew a few leaves. These plants were hungry with the first set of leaves.
Next once they finally grew i ended up overwatering them with my new dripper setup (thanks Pico for the DIY tutorial).

Things have been moving smoothly for a couple weeks now. I switched to flower two days ago, the day after taking some cuts. I topped some as well, and realize i should not have so soon before flower. Oh well, they were going to overgrow their homes.

I am growing D. Passion PPP and Mr. Nice Shark Shock. From seed. Canna Coco, and Botanicare PBP nutes. Drip 3x a day for about 20 seconds. More of a flow than a drip really. I still have my 400W MH's in as i am hoping it will reduce the stretch during the transition phase. Am i right in thinking this?


a few days ago

today


birds eye

hoping for roots, first time using this machine
 
HeadyPete

HeadyPete

Take Five...
Veteran
Sweet IRA! The pix today look very good. Those plants look nice and healthy. It is very hard to overwater with coco as long as the plants are healthy and established. Think of coco like a hydroponic media, not a soil.

The extra wattage and blue spectrum of the MHs will help with stretch and will help keep them squat.
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
Headypete thanks for the advice. You actually helped these girls through a tough time a while back. Taught me a thing or two.
I just switched from 1x watering to 3x watering when i switched to flower. I was nervous to do it, but new i should. Three days later they are still perky!



Whodi, The only signs of overwatering for me have been when the leaves are real droopy. Prolonged overwatering has resulted in drooping leaves with brown spots. This has only happened with small seedlings with hardly a root system. Before i new better. It is fine to water coco a lot, but i would not advise it until there is a root system built.
 
N

nuggiespl

Member
looks nice very nice setup, how big of a area ru working with looks huge, must be nice to have all that room. Peace keepem green
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
Nuggies thanks for checking them out. The tent is a darkroom 240. It is a little short of 8x8ft. the tent works but has had structural issues and is far from lightproof. I would not recommend one to anybody.

I have noticed that the plants i topped the day before flower are not really growing. Five days later and they are still pissed. I hope that they just take longer to finish and that i did not screw the yield up too too much.

I have decided to switch out the MH 400's for the 600 HPS. I am no longer worried about stretch as they have not stretched too much, and when they do i tie them down.
I had a late urge to try a scrog because the SS are so skinny on the branches. Then i did some research and decided i am a little late for that. Maybe next grow.
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
Thanks for checking in Heady Pete. It is appreciated.

Here is what is happening on day 9 of flwr. The 600W's are cooling very well. It is in the low 69-73 with lights on(canfan MAx is a serious fan), 60-90 with lights off. The variation is from the dehumidifier which heats the tent random temps.
I am noticing a bunch of yellowing happening directly under the lights? I am assuming they are either being bleached from the closeness of the light, or they are hungrier because they are close to the lights? What do ya'll think?
The lamps are not hot, so is there a too close in terms of intensity when using a 600W HPS?

I have no burned tips and am thinking i can probably increase the food, although i am at 1300 PPM's as is. I am hesitant to increase because i read all over the net about coco growing plants getting burned midway thru flower. What do you think? I do water to runoff 10-20% every watering.

Ok lots of questions! One more, can you tell i am a newb?

the machine has been a success. Day 9 and all the SS have roots, but not the PPP. And i had always read PPP is a easy cloner...i still have faith.
http://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=265&pictureid=1575

canopy
http://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=265&pictureid=1576

Side view of POwer plants
http://www.icmag.com/ic/album.php?albumid=265&pictureid=1583
 
N

nuggiespl

Member
Do u have any pictures of the yellowing, Ru running r/o water or just tap? whats ur Ph, I started at 5.8 and worked my way up to 6.2-6.3 which has helped my plants with the yellowing, but may not be ur problem. Also Ru adding any calmag, not sure if ur nutes are coco spec nutes, but if not could be a mag problem. hard to say with out pics, and more info, although I'm still a newb I have learned alot from my first go. what style are u using drip to waste or rec. Peace
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
I am using RO with 7.5 ml of calmag+ added. My PH is locked in at 6.0

I am fairly certain it is the proximity to the light because it is only on the leaves closest to the bulbs, and the rest of the plant is unaffected. I raised the lights a little and will see if that makes a difference.

Does anyone know if A 600W HPS can be to close to a canopy? IN terms of light intensity and NOT heat?
 
N

nuggiespl

Member
I depends on watts per sq foot, example 4x4 area = 16 sqft so 600w/16= 37.5 watts/per sqft, once u get around 75 watt/per square foot u can start bleaching. heat will have other symptoms ,vs just yellowing curled leaves etc. Peace
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
Thanks again Nuggie. I understand the watts per square/ft. The problem with that formula is it does not take into account the plant that is 6 inches from the bulb verses the plants that are 2 ft. from the bulb. Not really a problem, i'm just sayin...

Anyhow the plants look green as long as i check them out before the lights brighten up.
 
G

guest

Those picts are way huge........you need to resize those badboys b4 uploading.
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
So i decided to flush two days ago. I had not done it yet, and realized that if i am feeding them 1200-1400ppm it is probably a good idea. I was seeing the problems mention ed above, and some salt residue on the top of the coco.

I used 100Gallons and a mild nutrient solution of about 250ppm's. Then I fed them about 650ppm food and they have been getting that ever since. Honestly as of last night one of the trays did not seem to have really recovered. The one that was not as bad, seems better. I am interested in seeing tonight whether they are healthier.

I also squared away the heat fluctuations by taking the dehumidifier out of the tent. It is now pushed up against one of the tents vents, so the unit is outside, but the intake is pulling air from the tent. It is working, keeping the humidity between 30-40%, and the temp between 66-75. With a heater in the tent instead for the dark period.

The girls are on day 16 of flower and the shark shocks are still stretching like a m an f'er. Most of them are lanky and will not be in the running for the few momma positions. A few are stout and thick stemmed. Speaking of the momma's, I had about 80% success rate using the DIY aero cloner for the first time. I also put some cuttings directly into coco, having never tried either method, and trying to ensure i would not lose any genetics, and i got 100% SUCCESS in the COCO! Considering it does not use electricity, and i got better results, my cloner is destined for a dark corner.

I just read in 'Urban Gardener' that it is not good to keep Momma's in coco because after a few months coco locks up any nitrogen? Anyone confirm this? I would like to keep my mommas around for at least a year.
Anyone have any suggestions as to the best medium, hydro or soil, for simplicity and health for the mommas?

Thanks for checking in folks
 
habeeb

habeeb

follow your heart
ICMag Donor
Veteran
yeah, all I can add is coco is nothing like soil, and there is a big learning curve to it
 
inreplyavalon

inreplyavalon

breathe deep
Veteran
Large Update Large Plants.

All is green and on the up and up over here.
I am so stoked with the coco and my experience thus far. The plants are all healthier than anything i have ever grown. Really seem to love the Botanicare PBP base and the additives.
Anyone know if i can give a high phosphorous soil Blm booster to coco plants? I have half a gallon of the HYDROPLEX SOIL FORMULA left over from the summer. 0-12-8 I know that coco binds up some nutrients, so i am hoping it may work.

The Shark Shock are still stretching and I am concerned they are going to overgrow the lights. I continue to place them in twist-tie bondage.

There also seems to be a shark Shock Pheno that is a mutant. On one plant, where the blades meet the leaf stem, are flowers. A cluster of about 8-10 pistils growing out of the leaf. Weird. This is in my opinion so far the best structured of all the shark shock plants. As mentioned 9 out of 10 are super lanky and slow to begin budding. Lots of them have an extra blade growing out of the middle of the leaf. More weirdness

The house is starting to stink like the herb. The filter is hooked up to the exhaust which is working fine as long as the tent is fully zipped and i am not working in there. When i play with the plants, the house begins to have that sweet aroma throughout. Need to work on that.

I have been trying to upload pictures for bout an hour and it is not accepting pics to my album. I'll try later. :joint:
 
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