help setting up a 4 light gavita coco grow

[Maina]

I want to do a 4 light gavita 1000 watter. And run 4 plants per light 30 day veg.drain to waste. I have 12 foot ceilingS also. What size pots ? How many feedings a day ? My Buddy has run hydro for 5 years and I grow organic so this is a little knew. But growing is not new. we were going to go with house and garden nutrients he has experience with that with hydro

 

[justanotherbozo]

here ya go man, this should help you figure out what will work in your situation, HGO knows his stuff, BIG time.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241341A few things that I've learned about growing in coco with a drip systm DTW

...and here is another of his threads that you should take a look at before you throw down any cash.

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=127881Benefits of Vertical Growing

peace, bozo

 

[dansbuds]

check out Third Coasts build thread . all the questions you asked .... he has the answers for all laid out for you . .

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=254875&highlight=coast

 

[Maina]

I'm a vert grower now . In one room 12 long 7 wide 8 high 8000 watts . Gavita can't run vert. I would call myself a organic vert grower . Running 24,000 watt all vert. at this time it looks like I'm going to go with a cHow mix . 60% coco 40% hydro tone. 2 feedings maybe 3 per day . Really not shore of smart pot size?

 

[Maina]

check out Third Coasts build thread . all the questions you asked .... he has the answers for all laid out for you . .

https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=254875&highlight=coast

Just looked it over . I run sealed rooms now 100,000 btu of a,/c co2 I get room set up .I don't get hydro coco

 

[dansbuds]

3 gallon pots of straight coco , 4 pots per light with a months veg time depending on the strain of course . run a drip system to feed daily or multiple times a day (your choice) & a tray to catch the runoff & good coco specific nutes ..... thats pretty much it .

I run them like that 3rd coast does & Adrift does , check out any of their threads & you'll see good results from it .
Adrift has the biggest rooms of all of us 3 & mine being the smallest & i use 600's
but 3rd is the only one using Gavitas.
heres adrifts rooms https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=226262&highlight=adrift

 

[madalasatori]

3 gallon pot should do fine, no need to add perlite IMO just use straight coco

 

[Maina]

What would be the down side of a 5 gallon air pot over a three gallon ?

 

[dansbuds]

you just don't need that much medium with coco . 3 gallons is more than enough to grow a 6 ft tree . i went from 2 gallons getting 6 per plant consistantly, to 3's hoping for half pounders . i'll let ya know in a week when my first 3 1/2 gallon hempy gets harvested , if i came close or not .

down side of 5 gallons .... for me its just a waste of money to use that much coco in a pot , plus the extra nutes & water . a 50l bag of canna fill 4 3 gallon pots with a few cups left over , thats a bag a light once a month just for flower .

 

[Coconutz]

You would have to veg at least a month to fill a 5 gal pot with enough roots to have it ready for multiple feeds per day when you want explosive growth.
3 Gal with multiple feeds per day should get you massive plants.
I keep mine small and put them into 3 gal pots a week before flower and they are huge and need to be fed twice per day by about week 3.
5 Gal pots require a lot of water and dont dry as fast.
The more feeds per day in coco the better.

 

[Snow Crash]

I'm with everyone else here. 3 gallon planters are plenty big when it comes to a hydroponic medium. Consider the size of tomato plants growing out of small rockwool cubes on a block. In hydro, less is more sometimes.

Something also worth mentioning. Coco drain to waste is most effective when the plants need to be watered multiple times a day. Not just because they can be. This means developing a robust root system that completely fills the planter prior to beginning flowering. In flower the plant produces fewer root growth supporting hormones as the focus becomes more on reproduction.

So its not enough just to have the right sized planter. You gotta use it right too.

After doing a variety of coco mixes I have found that pure coco is the best. Instead of filling your planter with rocks or perlite use a smaller container and just the coco. Quicker watering cycles and the same amount of space for roots. One product I do like mixing with my coco, or lining the bottom of a container with are Growstones. They look like pummice or lava stone but are much more airy. The pores in the stones cause the roots to explode in a spiderweb of root tips that search into each crevice, like how vines climb stucco. This really helps build a serious root mass and I think assists in the uptake of nutrients.

I do not like House and Garden nutrients as a company but their nutrient ratios are pretty good. The easiest to use coco specific nutrient program with the best results has to be Botanicare's CNS17 Grow, Bloom, and Ripe. The stuff sells for like $9 a quart, the feed schedule is golden, and they are all one part nutrients. A little goopy, sure, but once you mix it into a few gallons of water the stuff dissolves no problem.

Advanced Nutrients Big Bud, Botanicare Liquid Karma, and Cutting Edge Solutions Uncle John's Blend are all necessities in my coco grows. I really enjoy using a Muriate of Potash product (like Green Planet Dense Bud Compactor 0-0-62) when I need that mid flower kick of K to really build those buds. Coco formulas tend to be a little short on Potassium due the the properties of the media so having something specific for that element when it's needed can make or break a harvest.