Why did you get the the bad salty coco again lol.
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Coco is killing me!
- Thread starter Jnugg
- Start date
I don't know, I used GH CocoTek blocks for years, then the Botanicare Blocks until settling on Botanicare's Cocogro.
I would hydrate/rinse with nothing but un-ph'd (8.3 ph) tap water. Then i'd transplant and water through with properly ph'd nutrients. Can't say i ever had your issues Jnugg and i honestly don't think it's the coco itself thats doin it to you.
We're in the same state so i'm gonna guess that our tap is similar, 300 -ish ppm's and 8+ on the ph?
I would hydrate/rinse with nothing but un-ph'd (8.3 ph) tap water. Then i'd transplant and water through with properly ph'd nutrients. Can't say i ever had your issues Jnugg and i honestly don't think it's the coco itself thats doin it to you.
We're in the same state so i'm gonna guess that our tap is similar, 300 -ish ppm's and 8+ on the ph?
mine out the tap is 8+ and 170ppm. i'm pretty sure it's not salt that's your issue or else i couldn't grow from seed in the coco which i never rinse.
Like I've said posts back...
I believe my problems were due to...
1) Not hydrating and rinsing the original blocks I started off with with water pH'd to 6.0 and looking for the runoff/leech to come back at 500 to 600 ppm/1.0 to 1.2 EC @ .5 conversion.
2) I let the plants go too long in the 2 liter coco hempy's...rootbound like a biotch...I'll take pics of the roots when I teansplant the third lady.
3) watering/feeding with water/nute solution that isn't in the proper pH range of 5.8 to 6.2
The latest bricks I have hydrated and rinsed with plain tap pH'd to 6.0 until the runoff/leech read 500 to 600 ppm/1.0 to 1.2 EC @ .5 conversion.
I believe my problems were due to...
1) Not hydrating and rinsing the original blocks I started off with with water pH'd to 6.0 and looking for the runoff/leech to come back at 500 to 600 ppm/1.0 to 1.2 EC @ .5 conversion.
2) I let the plants go too long in the 2 liter coco hempy's...rootbound like a biotch...I'll take pics of the roots when I teansplant the third lady.
3) watering/feeding with water/nute solution that isn't in the proper pH range of 5.8 to 6.2
The latest bricks I have hydrated and rinsed with plain tap pH'd to 6.0 until the runoff/leech read 500 to 600 ppm/1.0 to 1.2 EC @ .5 conversion.
Do you guys think I should pick up some epsom salt (can't afford any Cal/Mag supplements at the moment) to go with the 6/9 floramicro/florabloom?
I just find it hard to believe I'm experiencing a Mg defficiency seeing as my tap comes out around 300ish ppm/.6 EC @ .5 conversion.
I just find it hard to believe I'm experiencing a Mg defficiency seeing as my tap comes out around 300ish ppm/.6 EC @ .5 conversion.
i had written a long little thing then i accidentally hit the back button on my mouse. so the short version...
i did some tests
pH - Tap [8-8.5+] Bottle [7.5-8]
ppm - Tap [170ppm] Bottle [126ppm]
i measured my runoff and i did a slurry test
runoff - pH in [8] pH out [7.5]
slurry - pH in [8] pH out [7.5-8ish] / ppm in [170] - ppm out [480]
i believe the issue here is a high pH. or i need more magnesium in my mix. i don't feel like pHing my water everytime and i don't feel like i should, i'll just add more mag by feeding with epsom salt when i water. aside from the mag/k/cal def that seem to pop up everything else seems fine with the high pH. seems like as long as i keep it moist they are happy. but that moist is a fine line. one second they're happy, next the roots are too wet and start dying.
why are you finding it hard to believe?
i dunno what all those numbers mean, but i do know that ppm means parts per million and TDS means total dissolved solids, so i dunno why you think you can't have a mag def with 300ppms and ec's and whatever else you said. it's a TDS meter, not a TDM [total dissolved magnesium] meter.
which is why i only use it to monitor my own calculations. it's pretty useless for anything else. unless it can tell me how much of everything % wise is in the water. why do i have it...
i did some tests
pH - Tap [8-8.5+] Bottle [7.5-8]
ppm - Tap [170ppm] Bottle [126ppm]
i measured my runoff and i did a slurry test
runoff - pH in [8] pH out [7.5]
slurry - pH in [8] pH out [7.5-8ish] / ppm in [170] - ppm out [480]
i believe the issue here is a high pH. or i need more magnesium in my mix. i don't feel like pHing my water everytime and i don't feel like i should, i'll just add more mag by feeding with epsom salt when i water. aside from the mag/k/cal def that seem to pop up everything else seems fine with the high pH. seems like as long as i keep it moist they are happy. but that moist is a fine line. one second they're happy, next the roots are too wet and start dying.
why are you finding it hard to believe?
i dunno what all those numbers mean, but i do know that ppm means parts per million and TDS means total dissolved solids, so i dunno why you think you can't have a mag def with 300ppms and ec's and whatever else you said. it's a TDS meter, not a TDM [total dissolved magnesium] meter.
which is why i only use it to monitor my own calculations. it's pretty useless for anything else. unless it can tell me how much of everything % wise is in the water. why do i have it...
TDS reads in ppm which is a conversion of EC to my understanding.
Of course when my meter reads 300 ppm it doesn't tell you what makes up that 300 ppm.But,I figure since the water is so hard,and stains (calcium deposits) that it held enough Mg.Also I'm not using the hardwater version of Floramicro.
Of course when my meter reads 300 ppm it doesn't tell you what makes up that 300 ppm.But,I figure since the water is so hard,and stains (calcium deposits) that it held enough Mg.Also I'm not using the hardwater version of Floramicro.
I hope you do not have root aphids as it will make you chase the phantom mag deficiency. the ra's are very difficult to see but it may be worth checking w/a scope.
40amps did a thread a few yrs ago battling RA's and I believe the ogbiowar works on them to.
good luck
peace
Have not thought of that.Never had an issue with bugs/critters except for over 15 years ago when I started growing,and neem oil did the trick.
When I transplant the third lady tonight/tomorrow,I'll take a pic showing how rootbound these plants were in their 2 liter coco hempy's.
I have a scope too (needs a new battery soon) so I'll check the roots for RA's wirh it.What would be a better zoom to use...60x or all the way up to 100x?
Glad to have another Sunshine State grower up in my thread!
use the larger magnification scope as the ra's are very tiny and when I got them I believe it was from cheap coco but im not 100% sure.
I know I found out too late and lost many strains but I did beat them while running a perpetual grow.
peace
I know I found out too late and lost many strains but I did beat them while running a perpetual grow.
peace
Jnugg, i too add cal/mag even though i use my 300+ppm (0.6EC) water. Our water is loaded with Calcium and Magnesium carbonate. Plants absorb carbonates much slower than other forms of Cal/mag. I use Technaflora's MagiCal since thats Cal Nitrate, Cal Chloride and Mag Nitrate. (I also use GH 3 part).
My point was that you don't have to say "at 500 ppm conversion" if you just state EC, whereas you have to say what the conversion is if state ppms. Just state EC ... no '@ [whatever] conversion' necessary.
Anyway, I hope your girls recover bro!
Let me set ya straight on a few things before you end up hating coco. First Gh coco bricks/blocks are salty as fuck! I love how course it is, but damn that shit is always salty. Canna and botanicare have an excellent rep for being washed, buffered, and ready to transplant into straight out of the bag (personally I prefer to wash everything so I know exactly what's in it. Eliminates salt content as a potential issue if something goes wrong). Second thing, PH is extremely important in coco (keep it between 5.5-6.0 at all times. This means readjusting the solution after 24 hours if it raises above a PH of 6). No reason you can't use the drops (I use them to confirm the accuracy of my pens), but if you don't know what ph lockout looks like a pen will make life easier. Third you almost never want to give coco straight water other than during the flush period before harvest (this has to do with it's Cation exchange capacity). If you have an imbalance it's better to just pour full strength 6/9 run to waste until things are back in balance. Last thing, lucas is a terrible recipe to use with coco. Stick to just 6/9 with the proper ph
Oh and use full strength 6/9 with every watering from day 1 of veg until flush (for clones and seedlings). IF you experience burn just mix your 6/9 slightly weaker (i.e mix 4 gal. worth of 6/9 in 5 gal. of water) and continue feeding. To fix the plants you have now, I'd start by slowly pouring 5 gal. of half strength 6/9 through each pot, allowing the excess to run to waste (in the tub would make that easy). Once they have drained throughly, add another 1/2 gal of full strength 6/9. This will wash out the excess salts while preserving the CEC of the coco. You should see improvements within 2-3 days.
I can second this re: Canna and Botanicare. The guy at my local hydro store (who is pretty reliable) said he was talking to Botanicare distributer. Apparently the Botanicare coco comes from the same factory as the Canna does. Canna just costs you an extra $3 a bag at my shop, but prices vary. At any rate, everyone that he knows that has run either one has never had any problems and raves about 'em.
scoobysnacks72
Member
dude bummer
dude bummer
man ill tell ya i just switched from hydro and have been using this Batch 64 coco watering every other day and doing pretty well im starting week 5 Thursday and while they are not as far along as id like i did battle some mad root lock before flower and i think that's partly the culprit and i didnt scrog well enough so i kinda had to toss it to the wind lol so now its just kinda a well taken care of group instead lol
dude bummer
man ill tell ya i just switched from hydro and have been using this Batch 64 coco watering every other day and doing pretty well im starting week 5 Thursday and while they are not as far along as id like i did battle some mad root lock before flower and i think that's partly the culprit and i didnt scrog well enough so i kinda had to toss it to the wind lol so now its just kinda a well taken care of group instead lol
