HoundDog's Coco Trials and Tribulations

[Coconutz]

Ya, so thats 500ppm or 1.0EC

 

[Green lung]

Are those tables or something you rigged up?






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[hounddogg]

4x8 trays sitting on a slanted 2x4 frame with half of the trays lined with smart pot liners and the other half of the trays have pots for comparison.

 

[One2Lurk]

I really can't believe hydroponic nutrient company's still fail in the ability to provide a feed chart (that works) with a "top shelf" product. They have to be surprised when they get repeat business. Funnier still is the irony of all the wasted money chasing "better results". Especially when one sees how well Jacks, Maxibloom, or even Osmocote actually work.

Just curious if the Op ever determined if he was mixing correctly or if some error had caused the off the scale reading?

 

[hounddogg]

I haven't determined what I have done wrong, but I won't be mixing it the way I have been. That's for sure. I had to contact the owner to get the feed chart. Maybe I should ask him how he intends it to be used.

 

[theother]

I haven't determined what I have done wrong, but I won't be mixing it the way I have been. That's for sure. I had to contact the owner to get the feed chart. Maybe I should ask him how he intends it to be used.

Usually at 50% lol. It's amazing how they write these things. Even canna (which your line is modeled after) is rediculously high IMO. If you follow there feed chart you WILL suffer salt buildup. It's the odd cultivar that can survive 2 ec watering a in coco. Shoot for between .8 and 1.2. You can keep all the ratios the same just cut the mls by whatever it takes.

 

[hounddogg]

So I got them flushed out and everything is back on track.

 

[theother]

Flush again with light nutes. Get the ppms down and then I would just use part a&b and nothing else and only enough a&b to hit 1200-1500 ppms. That's what I would do anyway. Maybe someone else will chime in. goodluck

You need to be a lot lower, honestly man it needs to be about 1 ec or 500 ppms (on a hanna at 500 scale) overfeeding coco is not awesome at all. On the topic of flavor I will tell you this, overfed tastes like shit. I have had trouble with coco and overfeeding, they really don't need much and it only takes a couple of feeds that are too high to fuck them up.

The thing that is killing me about coco is that once they are overfed they never seem to come back. I have fed like .4 ec of nutes for a week to plants that went all dark like yours and had no luck what so ever bringing them back. Supposedly when all goes well coco is awesome. I got kind of screwed up because the first time I ran coco I had some turn out fantastic, even though I overfed them, ever since then everything has been crap. I wish I hadn't switched over personally. I suppose once it's dialed its awesome but it's a tricky little bastard until then.i just finished some that I never went over 1.6 on and they were horrible. Now I have some that have never been over 1.2 and hopefully they will be awesome.

What I think kept happening to me with the 2 part (canna ab for me, but the same as his line) as soon as I got ppms up anywhere near 1 ec in mid flower the plants would go nitrogen toxic slightly (wasn't really that bad looking to be honest) and they would never bounce back. It was like I could never get that nitrogen out no matter how long I fed them nothing. I suspect it was the n in the plant as opposed to n in the root zone. There was just no cure that could get rid of that harsh n taste. It sucks, because to be completely honest I had never fucked up a run in doing this for a long time. I do not ever remember anything that was flat out bad like these have been coming out of any other system.

My guess is because there is no traditional cec in coco. With dirt or peat there is always soil to soak up the cations that the plant doesn't want. This gives you a sort of buffer against this kind of syndrome. With coco what you feed the plant will eat no matter whether it wants it or not. Also it seems to eat a lot of it. Things happen quick in coco whether they are good or bad. My best advice is get away from the 2 part. This is the only time I have ever used a two part synthetic nute and man it has been a complete drag. Especially now that I know coco is so quick. I wouldn't wish trying to finish out a plant on a 5-4-4 (or what ever it comes out to). I know it can work because I have seen it, but I will tell you this from some painful experience, it is the exception rather than the rule that anything fed that much nitrogen late in flower comes out tasting like anything but crap.

 

[theother]

Ive only read part of this thread, but it seems like you have given the best advice to yourself so far...
My only other comments would be to ditch this entire product line.
The feed chart is ridiculous! I bet theve never even tested any of this shit. Just copied something from everyone and bottled it up.
The best results you are going to see in coco is feeding at like 500ppm with just base nutes.
Now, I cant say thats possible with this nute brand. It looks like theve probably bottled everything seperate so you need all 50 bottles or whatever.
I recommend you switch to something more complete like Gen Hydro Flora Micro & Bloom.
Its cheaper than any of these supplements you have and its a complete nutrient.

This is your answer right here. Listen to the man, I did and I was NOT sorry. I only wish I had got involved here and got this advice sooner.

 

[Green lung]

Wow great job, looks like your ready to finish strong.




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[hounddogg]

Wow great job, looks like your ready to finish strong.




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Thanks buddy. I hope so. It's been a stressful ride thus far.

 

[hounddogg]

A little over a week ago. I'll post more recnt pics this week.

 

[Oregon Stoner]

Here is the feed schedule. I measure ppm with a blue lab meter which is ec x .7. I am starting week 4. I add coco b to my rez and then coco a. My ppm is at 1800. Then I add each additive, using all of the ones on the chart, which leaves me at 2600 ppm. The target ppm on the chart is 1200 which sounds more reasonable to me, but that is not what I am getting. The chart has been changed to add pk 13/14 during weeks 3-6. I also have been adding that. I tested runoff and the ppms were so high that the meter couldn't measure them. After flushing each tray with about 40 gallons, the ppms are down to about 2400 in the runoff.

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On the chart when it says to add ??ml of Coco A and Coco B, are you splitting that number between the 2 base parts? Or giving that amount of each?

 

[hounddogg]

That amount of each.

 

[al70]

Wow, great work, goodluck

 

[Oregon Stoner]

That amount of each.

I'd split that number between the 2 base parts and see if that will help drop your ppms closer to the target.

 

[hounddogg]

I learned a lot this grow. Stuff that I already knew. LOL. Don't trust a feed schedule. Make sure you get run off. Don't wait to long to flip. Anyways, I have been hesitant to post room shots because the plants stretched so much they all fell over. I had all of the trays bunched together. I wasn't able to get to the center plants, even with some scaffolding. I fell off the scaffolding into the trays, breaking some branches. In the end, it was all worth it. Especially the knowledge gained. The next run I will be using jacks in one room and botanicare in another. Thanks for stopping by. I will continue with the next grow right here.

BTW, the complete hydroponics line did very well considering all of the mishaps. I flushed for a while after the overdosing. Then I ran half strength til the end. I flushed for 10-11 days. The dried flowers taste great.

I had a friend stop by that runs Canna and he confirmed that the additives were all the same.

 

[Oregon Stoner]

Good to see they were able to finish still. I've always been impressed by your rooms. They're always clean, organized, and well built. And plants are always bushed out for max yields. Can't wait for your next show. ^^^ Is that chernobyl in that last post?

 

[hounddogg]

Good to see they were able to finish still. I've always been impressed by your rooms. They're always clean, organized, and well built. And plants are always bushed out for max yields. Can't wait for your next show. ^^^ Is that chernobyl in that last post?

With all of the mishaps, I think the final yield suffered as I have pulled more from super soil. Thanks for the compliment on the rooms. Next run is going to kill it. Yes that is chernobyl.

 

[hounddogg]

Here are some ladies in a little quarantine/experiment room I threw together with stuff laying around the shop. Anything new to the shop will be ran in this room before going into production. I am running them on the jack's at 1.6 EC and they are loving it.

I have Goji OG, and 2 different SFV cuts in the back. Up front is Timewreck, MK Ultra, and the one that is a little burned is the Forum cut GSC. She got burned from her first feeding which was PBP not the jacks.