Coco feeding/watering regimen questions!

[rainforestnomad]

I'm very new to growing with Coco. I've made the switch over from peat moss(pro mix HP). My questions to put forth to learned coco growers is about how to go about watering and fertilizing these plants.

1. I have read that I should fertilize like in hydroponics, as in feed every watering. Is this true? What happens if I fertilize every second watering, as in dirt?

2. Using General Hydroponics Floranova grow/bloom ferts, with CaMg+... what level of ppm should I be aiming for?

3. Is it safe to use the usual old PK boosters such as Liquid Koolbloom, and/or Dry Koolbloom?

Hope someone out there wants to answer my questions!

 

[Grateful D]

h3ad and rez both have great threads for growing in 100% coco coir using the modified Lucas formula with GH nutes and handwatering. All your questions will be answered there. Its alot of reading, but its great info. Here is the link to H3ad's thread: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55683
and here is Rez's: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=81674

Good Luck! You will love coco, i just made the switch, and couldnt be happier. got the idea and most of my info, and also my feeding regimens from those two threads, by the way i feed with every watering everyday. I try and hit the plants with just enough water so there is very little run off. I will flush, but ive been doing this since i switched to coco about a week ago and they look great. Using H3ad's and Rez's recipe at full strngth i found i havent had any calcium or magnisum issues yet, as i said its only been a week though. I always have the ph between 5.5-5.8 Hope that helps!

 

[EddieShoestring]

1. I have read that I should fertilize like in hydroponics, as in feed every watering. Is this true? What happens if I fertilize every second watering, as in dirt?

nothing drastic-they may be a little hungry-or it might be ok

2. Using General Hydroponics Floranova grow/bloom ferts, with CaMg+... what level of ppm should I be aiming for?

say ec 1.5ish, some people get up to ec2.0 in flower-others (myself included) keep the nutes on the light side

3. Is it safe to use the usual old PK boosters such as Liquid Koolbloom, and/or Dry Koolbloom?

yes.

coir is the shit
goodluck
eddieS

 

[rainforestnomad]

Thanks for the replies! I realize that I could do extensive reading/searching of the stickied threads for the Lucas formula, however I'm not going to be using that formula... and I dont have a ton of time on my hands to read 100+ pages of posts, most of which are non-informative. Dont get me wrong, I've read alot of good info, especially in Bonecarvers hand watering thread... I was just hoping to catch someones eye with my questions and maybe develop a synopsis of all the info i've absorbed over the past two nights of reading hundreds of posts....

So it sounds as if the preferred method would be to fertilize with every hydration, allowing for somwhere in the realm of 10%-40% run-off (lots of different opinions there). I should be looking for a run-off that has the same PH as what I water in, and an EC of about .2 less than what I put in. Does this sound right?

So are you saying that I should start at an EC of 1.5, and decide whether or not to work my way up? This will depend on my strain, plant size etc of course, but as I understand it, I can feed more heavily than in Peat-moss?

If I do add Koolbloom liquid/dry, should I follow the instructions on the bottle? I've read that Coco releases phosphorous and potassium, or just potassium? Does that mean that I should add less of the PK flowering booster? Do I add this on top of an EC of 1.5? Or use it to bring up the EC to 1.5?

About CaMg+... is it safe to simply add this every fertilization no matter what? Or does the Coco buffer become filled at some point and the potential for a calcium toxicity develops? Its probably hard to say. How much EC of CaMG+ should be added... again on top of an EC of 1.5, or bring it up to EC1.5??

 

[EddieShoestring]

I should be looking for a run-off that has the same PH as what I water in, and an EC of about .2 less than what I put in. Does this sound right?

sounds great but you'll probably find that the figures don't stay within those parameters-for various reasons the ec/ph pf the run off can go all over the place with little or no adverse effects on the plants-what i'm saying is don't panic if the run off is swinging about a bit just adjust you feeds accordingly

as for ec -i give the smallest plants (ie just out of the prop) ec1.2ish. The when they have grown a few inches ec1.3-1.5. I keep it at ec1.5ish throughout flower-up a little if they need it. But thats just me-coir accomodates all manner of nute levels/regimes-just don't over do it on a regular basis. And it's all dependant on temps /light levels etc-feel your way you'll be fine

PK boosts:you don't absolutly need it-if you do use it i'd suggest half (or lower) the dose given on the bottle.
As for Calmag:i've never needed it-if you do use it be careful because it has caused more than a few problems for growers in this forum in the past

to reiterate-these are just my ideas based on experience you can do it quite differently and get good results

cheers
eddieS

 

[SergeantGod]

I am in my first run of coco from soil, in 10 gallon pots.

I stuck with my soil regimen of water/feed every three days and I don't notice ANY differences than with soil.

When I water I add Rhino Skin, Hygrozyme, and CalMag. When i fert I mostly use AN products. And, i don't concern myself with runoff. All is very good so far, (in 7th week)

 

[Sn@tcher420]

bump...

 

[Flying High]

h3ad and rez both have great threads for growing in 100% coco coir using the modified Lucas formula with GH nutes and handwatering. All your questions will be answered there. Its alot of reading, but its great info. Here is the link to H3ad's thread: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=55683
and here is Rez's: https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=81674

Good Luck! You will love coco, i just made the switch, and couldnt be happier. got the idea and most of my info, and also my feeding regimens from those two threads, by the way i feed with every watering everyday. I try and hit the plants with just enough water so there is very little run off. I will flush, but ive been doing this since i switched to coco about a week ago and they look great. Using H3ad's and Rez's recipe at full strngth i found i havent had any calcium or magnisum issues yet, as i said its only been a week though. I always have the ph between 5.5-5.8 Hope that helps!

Excellent advice!!!

When I was in a hurry to get good advice I filtered those threads by Rez and Head respectively; after rereading the threads unfiltered I can say their was a great amount of information I gathered from other users aside from the thread authors...
good luck
H