Just switched to Coco. Nute strength PH Problems

[islander420]

Aloha everyone. Just switched my grow to try Coco this time around since I was inspired by many of your grows. I have been having some problems that perhaps some of you can help me out with since I'm pretty new to growing in Coco.

Here's the situation:

Medium Used : Hydrofarm Big Daddy Coco-Grow Bag
Water : RO water [email protected]

(please note these plants were in a Lucas formula at 1.2 EC without any problems til I swicthed to Coco from perlite)

I was at first going to do an ebb & flow system. So I prepared my res with FNG @ 1.2 EC / 6.0 PH.(2.5ml FNG+5ml CalMag Plus per gallon)

Once I flood the tray and drain, I rechecked the res and it reading exceeds my meter (over 4 ec or 2000ppm) and ph jumps up to 7.5. The leaves started to contort and showed signs of nute burn.

So I decide to hand water for over a week with the same nute strength of 1.2 [email protected]. I checked the run off and still got the similar results of over [email protected] PH.

Anyone have any similar problems or possible explanations??

Does this Coco already have some kind of nutes in it???

Thanks for any helpful into guys (and gals)

 

[islander420]

Lots of views with no replies......hmmm.... did I got everyone stumped???

 

[dongle69]

It sounds like you have poor quality coco (high salt content) that hasn't been rinsed.
Good coco can be used straight out of the bag with no rinsing.
Is yours compressed or ready to use?
You are kinda screwed until your coco is "clean."
Beyond that, your ratio of FloraNova to CalMag is way off.
Try 1.2 ec (or more) of just FloraNova once you get some good coco.

 

[thebandit777]

Hey bro, here's your issue,

The HydroFarm Coco is what I am using right now, really it sucks ass... i thought since it was a well known company in the industry it would be well flushed and treated for growing immediately...

But the sad part is that it is NOT ready for growing in right after swelling it with water..

you need to flush it really really Flush it, From what i understand it needs to be flushed with Warm water and Clearex if you can get it, if not you can use just plain water... I did flush it myself but it took about 10-15 gallons of water for every 3 gallon bag,

Note; Canna Coco is the one you want or Be cuzz...


When I first started catching the runnoff my meter wasn't reading either... Not untill it had fushed a 5 gallon buckett of water through it untill I was able to read it...

The PPM's you are reading is not food it is Salts, and it is very bad as you may know for your plants/Clones... Flush the Medium until it reads as low a salts as you can get it to, and then Water the Medium after flushing.... with Some Cal Mag Plus. I have read different anounts per gallon of water, I just stepped it up to 10 mL's per gallon, and It seems to have helped...


I am also new to this Coco thing, I have used it before, nut I didn't have as much issues with it as i am now, I think it
s because I have become more technical since then and I know much more about the signs plants put out in and during Growth!

I hope this helps, God Bless!

 

[islander420]

Thanks for the info Dongle & Bandit. I figured it was a bunch of salts.

Yes the stuff I'm using is compressed, so I had to add a gallon of water and wait for about an hour before using it.

I wrote to Hyrdofarm just to hear what they say. I'll grab a bag of the bio cuzz just to be sure.

Thanks again

I'm off to the store to get some new Coco.

 

[islander420]

Finally replanted in the Bio Cuzz Coco. Waaayyyy better than those compressed coco bricks.

Finally heard back from Hydrofarm in regards to thier copressed coco. Here is what they said:

"Sometimes coco has a higher salt content. It would always be advisable to flush the coco prior to using it. Use a 6.5 ph. This will flush out any excess salts. Try Clearex or Flora Kleen and flush your systems; then continue with your prior course of feeding. You should see better results."

You'd think they would at least inform you how to properly use the product with some kind of instructions. Charge it to experience

Thanks again Dongel & Bandit for the info. My plants are lovin' you for it

 

[dongle69]

Right on!
I have renamed that compressed coco "saltines."
Nothing beats the ease of a quality bagged coco.

 

[islander420]

"Saltines" - I Like it. And I thought I was saving money with compressed stuff.

After my first watering, the run off was pretty clean. Unlike the compressed coco, the run off looked very reddish.

I'll give my girls a week to adjust to this new mix before I go into 12/12.

Do you flush your bagged coco or just plant & go??

 

[dongle69]

I just plant and go.
You can do that with BioBizz, Canna, and B'Cuzz.
There may be others.

 

[islander420]

Great to hear. Looks like I'll be sticking with the coco for a while so I'm not breathing all that perlite dust.

Now all I'll need are balls as big as yours so I can put on a 6000W grow. LOL!!! That was an amazing grow. Keep up the great work Dongle.