new to coco

[elsonofdizzy]

Hello icmag.
When you did your first coco grow what was the 1 thing you wish you knew then that you know?

 

[g0dzilla]

Re: new to coco

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241341

I wish that thread was available when I first started coco.... peace and thanks for that hgo

 

[supernuck]

Yeah I have to second that ^ When I first started in Coco this sub forum was just rolled out and it was very helpful, but that thread is AWESOME.

The two most important things I ever learned growing in Coco were dont let it dry out once your roots are established and be militant with your PH. Other than that it's a breeze!

 

[elsonofdizzy]

How do you be militant with the ph?

Let me ask a specific question. What else would I need if I would use canna coco and the full canna nute line? Do I need a phone buffer like with soil or is canna coco good to go?

 

[elsonofdizzy]

Ph buffer *

 

[supernuck]

I always kept mine @ 5.8-6.0 and made sure my meter was working well. A wonky meter made things really rough for me on my first grow so make sure that sucker is in top form.

My best coco grows were in Canna Coco mixed with a bit of perlite and hydroton on the bottom of the pots for drainage/to prevent coco from washing away. I used Canna A+B, foliar fed Rhizotonic until early flower, Canna PK13/14 sparingly once stretch was over and canna-zym once a week. That's it and the results were SOLID.

At first I used the Rhizotonic in my nutes with every watering but I found I had less problems with fungus gnats once I switched to foliar feeding. It also made the pricey Rhizo last longer. Either way it makes for some killer roots!

 

[supernuck]

This is day 46, grown exactly as I laid out above, 5.5" square pots watered once a day. Ideally in that pot size I should have hand watered twice a day or had drippers for 3x even but was not feasible that time round. 3.5'x3.5' cabinet with a 600W.

 

[PerroVerde]

I wish I had calibrated my PH and EC pens more often because things happen quickly in coco... best of luck with your grow

 

[elsonofdizzy]

I really appreciate the time you guys took out to respond to my posts.

 

[PerroVerde]

Day 35 one gallon pots with coco/perlite mix and 1.4EC of Veg&Bloom, 1m2 and a 600 hps...

 

[JazzMatazz]

PH Minus for the vegetative stage leaves nasty orange stains on wooden floors.

Pre-wash your coco fiber before your use them or invest money in prewashed fibers. The yield is a lot better. And if you dont use pre-washed fibers your going to think you have salt build up even though its only the salt from the coco!

Leave a good rim for watering / Don't pack your pots too full. Else you cannot water properly. The water hast to be "dumped" onto the coco, not gently watered. For this you need a rim.

It takes two to three waterings with pure water for the chemicals you flush with to be fully flushed. Harvesting with only 5 days between flushing and harvesting will leave residue in the plants. --> Weed tastes funny, makes you stoned and sparks when burning.
--> Flush --> 1.5 Weeks (2 Waterings) --> Harvest.

If your PH-probe wont calibrate or goes whacky --> Try to soak it in Salt water (Water with Salt!!) for a day. --> This should improve calibration and the readings.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Hello icmag.
When you did your first coco grow what was the 1 thing you wish you knew then that you know?

To use Ca and Mg separately. Once I started doing that, a lot of the previous issues went away, and yields went UP.

 

[vindiesel]

Why is that ^ why seperate..? Always thought calmag is fine..i dnt kno much bout coco tho..

 

[LEDNewbie]

To use Ca and Mg separately. Once I started doing that, a lot of the previous issues went away, and yields went UP.

So are u saying if you think you have a mag deficiency instead of using a cal-mag product you'll use something just for the mag problem?? What do you find work for a mag deficiency?? I believe thats what I have with my girls and have been using cal-mag to address it.

Thanks.

 

[SeaMaiden]

Why is that ^ why seperate..? Always thought calmag is fine..i dnt kno much bout coco tho..

Couple of reasons. One reason is that I found it's easier to push a wee bit more of any nutrient when you separate them out and use them separately (i.e. different feedings). Another is that it allowed me to see, up close and personal, exactly what a Ca- looks like, and exactly what a Mg- looks like. It taught me that The White isn't a Cal-Mag whore, she wants Ca, in a big, big way.

So are u saying if you think you have a mag deficiency instead of using a cal-mag product you'll use something just for the mag problem?? What do you find work for a mag deficiency?? I believe thats what I have with my girls and have been using cal-mag to address it.

Thanks.

Yes, that's basically it. I use two different products for Ca and Mg in my coir cultivation--BioLink 6% Ca (derived from CaCO3), and MgSO4 (Epsom salt, or magnesium sulfate). This allows me to adjust the ratio of Ca to Mg as I wish, and by doing that I discovered that many Cal-Mag products have too little Ca in relation to Mg (in my opinion/experience, anyway).

For a Mg-, Epsom salt diluted at the rate of 1/4tsp/gal (I think Ziggaro or someone told me that works out to something like 1g/gal water), can be given either as a foliar application to correct Mg- (my preference as it's also the diagnostic; i.e. if the problem corrects post-application, then you know you're on the right track, make sense?) or a root drench. If giving as a foliar, be sure to use a sticker-spreader of some sort. I use cheap dish soap, JMS Stylet, or SM-90.

Ca can be given via foliar application as well, but nothing with a Ca issue corrects quickly, ever, nor will it ever reverse unlike Mg-.

HTH.