First Timer: 12 Light Coco Multi-feed

[RB26]

Going to chime in on the perlite thing as well.

Like an old member, dongle69 liked to say, perlite is a crutch! And she grew the shit out of some coco herbs.

No reason for it. you can feed multiple times a day with 100% coco. I've done both and will never waste time and money on perlite again.

Once roots are established in the pot you cannot over water, I don't care if you water ten times a day, it's just not going to retain enough water to cause problems. Every time you water you're just pulling more oxygen down into the root zone. It is what make coco so special.

If it's not too late dump out a pot and stick it back in straight coco and see for yourself.

Just my opinion anyway. Looking great, I'll be here watching.

It's too late to do that with what's been planted, but I can throw another plant in and do 100% Coco to test.

 

[Treetroit City]

All those pots would be enough of a pain with straight coco let alone mixing.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Feel free to check my album, I get pretty decent results.

Loving the gutter idea by the way.

 

[RB26]

All those pots would be enough of a pain with straight coco let alone mixing.

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Feel free to check my album, I get pretty decent results.

Loving the gutter idea by the way.

Trust me, mixing 50/50 coco/perlite in a tumbling composted is SUCH an upgrade from mixing 30g of perlite, 8g pro-mix, 6g of FFOE, and a cup of vermiculite on a tarp on the floor of my room.

I will definitely take what you're saying into consideration and test a couple straight coco out. I would do more of the room except its already planted.

Glad you like the gutter, I'll take pictures of it today for you guys.

 

[RB26]

As requested, pictures of the gutter

 

[RB26]

 

[RB26]

Plants are now spaced out in their final resting places, auto-feeds are setup and running 1x / day.

 

[dansbuds]

I love this set up dude !!!!

 

[RB26]

I love this set up dude !!!!

Thank you! Me too

Let me know if there is anything else you would specifically like info/pictures on.

 

[RB26]

So I've been getting a lot of questions recently about how my floors work. Here is what I posted over in my grow diary. I hope this clears everything up!

The floor is simple, both halves are just sloped towards the center where the gutter is. The gutter runs into a hole dug with a jackhammer, lined with a 5 gallon bucket and a sump pump inside of it. Here are some pictures, hopefully these will explain better.

 

[RB26]

 

[dansbuds]

thats alot of work for drainage .... but its fukin genius !!!!

 

[Treetroit City]

I agree dans. I wish I could do something like that but come Jan & Feb I think my lines would be freezing up and rendering it useless.

Thinking of using condensate pumps to pump my drainage into a 55 gallon barrel in the barn that I will manually pump outside with a hose that has been stored inside thus no frozen lines.

Question, do you trellis or stake those plants?

 

[RB26]

thats alot of work for drainage .... but its fukin genius !!!!

I tend to mix the two mottos, "Go big or go home" and "Do it right the first time"

In all seriousness through, this is a completely sealed room and having buckets sitting straight on a variable temperature concrete floor just wouldn't cut it. The floor is actually the easiest part of the whole room (and is fully insulated like the walls with R13).

I agree dans. I wish I could do something like that but come Jan & Feb I think my lines would be freezing up and rendering it useless.

Thinking of using condensate pumps to pump my drainage into a 55 gallon barrel in the barn that I will manually pump outside with a hose that has been stored inside thus no frozen lines.

Question, do you trellis or stake those plants?

Are you talking about freezing drainage lines? I think my solution with a 5 gallon bucket and sump pump underneath the floor would solve your problem, since its still more or less room temp.

I generally use 54" cages on every plant and flip to flower when they hit the third (final) rung. My last run (link to diary in my sig) I used stakes and the plants were far too heavy and falling over no matter how well they were tied. I will be going back to cages for this run. They are a complete PITA come harvest time, but there is no other way for me to do it unless I want 500 yo-yos hanging from suspended lines in the room.

 

[dansbuds]

Maybe a couple nets draped above the plants just to hold up branches .... not for scrogging , just for the support .
cuz i agree ..... tomatoe cages are a PIA !!!

thats basicly all my nets do is hold up branches on my stretchier strains . & i'm able to spread the branches out so they're not all bunched up in one spot .

then i clean out all the larf & suckers undernieth & let the lights concentrate on the tops

Just an Idea .....

 

[Treetroit City]

Are you talking about freezing drainage lines? I think my solution with a 5 gallon bucket and sump pump underneath the floor would solve your problem, since its still more or less room temp.

I generally use 54" cages on every plant and flip to flower when they hit the third (final) rung. My last run (link to diary in my sig) I used stakes and the plants were far too heavy and falling over no matter how well they were tied. I will be going back to cages for this run. They are a complete PITA come harvest time, but there is no other way for me to do it unless I want 500 yo-yos hanging from suspended lines in the room.

Yeah, I was just talking about my situation in general which is in a barn with no water or drain thus my runoff would need to run out into the freezing snow in winter and would freeze up.

Don't guess you California guys have to worry about that lol.

 

[RB26]

Maybe a couple nets draped above the plants just to hold up branches .... not for scrogging , just for the support .
cuz i agree ..... tomatoe cages are a PIA !!!

thats basicly all my nets do is hold up branches on my stretchier strains .

View Image

View Image

then i clean out all the larf & suckers undernieth & let the lights concentrate on the tops
View Image


Just an Idea .....

Thanks! I've been searching for a solution, that looks like it could work. Are you using straight coco or a mix of coco and perlite?

I'm trying to figure out how to adapt my nutrient schedule to coco. Usually in this first week of veg I'd be using:

- 5-8ml/g Botanicare PBP
- 5-8ml/g Botanicare Aquashield
- 3 ml/g Botanicare Silica Blast
- 3 ml/g Botanicare CAMG+
- 1 ml/g Roots Excel.
- 2 ml/g SM-90

I've heard a couple things regarding CAMG and SB with Coco though. I've heard that Coco requires a little more CAMG and little to no Silica. Any input on this topic?

 

[dansbuds]

Thanks! I've been searching for a solution, that looks like it could work. Are you using straight coco or a mix of coco and perlite?

I'm trying to figure out how to adapt my nutrient schedule to coco. Usually in this first week of veg I'd be using:

- 5-8ml/g Botanicare PBP
- 5-8ml/g Botanicare Aquashield
- 3 ml/g Botanicare Silica Blast
- 3 ml/g Botanicare CAMG+
- 1 ml/g Roots Excel.
- 2 ml/g SM-90

I've heard a couple things regarding CAMG and SB with Coco though. I've heard that Coco requires a little more CAMG and little to no Silica. Any input on this topic?

3rd & I both use straight canna coco & canna coco nutes . He uses the whole line & protekt as a PH up .
I use everything but the boost & i give them protekt at 2ml from start to finish , cuz i luv what the silica does for plant strength & helps frost them up more too .
I have no experiance with your nutes so can't really give ya a feeding recomendation . But it looks like a solid regiment .... calmag is a good dose , so is the silica blast . don;t know much about aquashield or PBP . & roots excell is good shit , but rhizo is cheaper & works just as well . SM -90 i know nothing about either .

but with coco it depends on if your using Tap or RO & how much CalMag your nutes have in them .
coco holds onto pottasium & you need a litttle extra Calcium to make up for it .... but most coco nutes do that for you . you just add calmag or epsom salts to your water IF the plants need the extra .... some do , some don't .

silica in any form .... will strengthen the plants stems , make the plants stronger & more pest resistant & adds frost like you wouldn't believe . silica blast or protekt @ 2 or 3ml per gallon will make a big difference . 3rd only uses enough to bring his PH in range instead of using PH up or down .

 

[RB26]

3rd & I both use straight canna coco & canna coco nutes . He uses the whole line & protekt as a PH up .
I use everything but the boost & i give them protekt at 2ml from start to finish , cuz i luv what the silica does for plant strength & helps frost them up more too .
I have no experiance with your nutes so can't really give ya a feeding recomendation . But it looks like a solid regiment .... calmag is a good dose , so is the silica blast . don;t know much about aquashield or PBP . & roots excell is good shit , but rhizo is cheaper & works just as well . SM -90 i know nothing about either .

but with coco it depends on if your using Tap or RO & how much CalMag your nutes have in them .
coco holds onto pottasium & you need a litttle extra Calcium to make up for it .... but most coco nutes do that for you . you just add calmag or epsom salts to your water IF the plants need the extra .... some do , some don't .

silica in any form .... will strengthen the plants stems , make the plants stronger & more pest resistant & adds frost like you wouldn't believe . silica blast or protekt @ 2 or 3ml per gallon will make a big difference . 3rd only uses enough to bring his PH in range instead of using PH up or down .

Awesome! Thank you. I will keep on this regiment then, as I think I'm on the right track. My water is run through 3 stages of RO. First stage is Hydrologic Tall Blue, second stage is Hydrologic Evo-Prefilter, third stage is Hydrologic Evolution 1000. If it could come out negative PPM's it would but its 0 every time.

 

[McKush]

ThirdCoast, keeping a mass of water in a sump and dumping it warm and in volume will help you out alot. But if you do not have a good slope to run over than I would be concerned about an eventual freeze up too in a small waste line. Pumping into 3" or 4" PVC is going to go a long way in preventing that though. You could purge periodically with hot water also. Our gutters somehow manage to work year after year so it should be doable - granted your winters are much harder than mine.

I'm going with a sump basin and sump pump approach. I have a great slope out back though too, just a bit farther south than you are.

I'm working on a way to supply water to my shed (studio to be) with PEX and compressed air for water line purging with some valves I throw manually. Going to check out what people do for cabins in the winter also, TBD research...

 

[RB26]