No growth in coco

[Magik401]

So this is my first attempt in coco and it's not going too well so far. These girls are 2 weeks now and they started off well but since transplanting into the coco they seem to have just stopped growing.

They are in 10ltr air pots using biobizz coco, no perlite.

Cx hydroponics nutes, only using coco grow and regen-a-root so far.

Ec 0.7 Ph 5.8

Watering once every 2-3 days or when top layer of coco dries out.

Strain is berry bomb.

250w mh 20" above plants.

I've been growing in flood and drain for a while and it's been good but I'm struggling with the coco! I've dug around in the pots and it doesn't look like much root growth is happening. I haven't tried adding cal/mag yet but I'm told there should be plenty in the nutes? Any help would be good!

I'll get some pics up soon

 

[Croptober]

It could be shocked when did you transplant it?

 

[dabking]

have you done a slurry test? Some coco comes "pre charged" I've had "inert coco" come with a ppm of 900. Its always safe to flush new coco and pre charge with your nutrients.

 

[Magik401]

When I say transplant, I started them off in jiffy cubes then as soon as roots where showing I put them in the airpots.

Forgot to say temps are 26c and humidity 50%.

 

[Magik401]

Here's a photo

 

[Magik401]

I didn't slurry test or charge the coco, I had a long talk with my local grow shop guy and he didn't tell me to do any of that, although it doesn't seem to be working so well....

I'll do some tests on it. If I flush some water through some coco out of the bag and check the Ec reading on the run off that might give some indication I guess?

 

[Magik401]

I just tested the run off and it's reading around 250ppm, although it claims on the bag it's 100ppm and ph of 6.2.

 

[papaduc]

Nothing wrong with her, when she puts out roots she'll take off. Let that happen, don't dig around. Bump the ec to 1.0 and stay on that and she'll fly. What's the NPK of the feed?

 

[Shoots]

Your pots seem a little big to start young plants in. A 1 or 2 liter nursery pot would have been sufficient imo.

But they should turn around fairly quick. Papaduc nailed it feed 1.0 ec and stay at that strength until you start getting them ready for flower then you can bump it to 1.2 or so.

 

[Pittsburgh420]

Your coco is way too dry. Keep it moist, not wet there is a big difference. Also thats too big of a pot and you def wanna add some perlite to your coco say 20%. You dont need giant pots with coco. People pull 8 oz off 2 gal pots. With coco you wanna feed more frequently than you would soil. Never run plain water thru your pots until the end before harvest. Look at coco as hydro instead of soil...always moist and always feeding. I had to learn the hard way so hopefully this will help.

 

[admiralcornport]

Your coco is way too dry. Keep it moist, not wet there is a big difference. Also thats too big of a pot and you def wanna add some perlite to your coco say 20%. You dont need giant pots with coco. People pull 8 oz off 2 gal pots. With coco you wanna feed more frequently than you would soil. Never run plain water thru your pots until the end before harvest. Look at coco as hydro instead of soil...always moist and always feeding. I had to learn the hard way so hopefully this will help.

pitts hit it right on the head.

from jiffy to solo cup. solo cup to 2 gal.

you want to grow that rootball in steps so you have a nice buildup around the outside of inside of the solo cup

 

[papaduc]

you want to grow that rootball in steps

That's one theory, and one a lot of people subscribe to. But more and more people are going away from that way of thinking and more towards the idea that root circling is something to be avoided.

The whole point of smart/fabric pots is that they prune the root tip and stimulate lateral growth along the root body, like topping a plant, creating a denser root system and preventing circling altogether.

Trying to create a rootball is something you'd do if you believe that's a good thing. I'm with those who don't.

 

[newtothiscoco]

the best advise i can throw out is use superthrive in 2 weeks before transplant or before you cut clones. and you would not even could see it got transplanted or cloned the best product i have had for transplanting there are allot of other brands that do the same thing . and never let your coco get dry it will fuck the ph up in the medium and cause allot of problems for you

 

[Snow Crash]

Everyone is so quick to blame the coco. Coco doesn't grow plants. Light, Air, and Water grows plants. And right now, there's just not enough light.

250w mh 20" above plants.

A 250w Metal Halide rates at a peak 23,800 lumens, and an average of about 16,600 (measured at ~7" from the lamp). After just 4 months of usage it also has lost about 20% of it's original brightness.

Due to the law of squares, the absolute maximum lumens you could have with that bulb at 20" is about 2,700 lux. It is with certainty you're not even getting that much light. The translation from lumens to PAR (or ppfd, photons in the photosynthetically active wavelengths) with a bulb like this is bad, and simply put, you're not offering enough energy to the plant to grow. A general rule of thumb is that anything under 5,000 lumens will keep a plant from dying, but it will not encourage rapid growth.

On the lower end of the spectrum, if your bulb isn't brand new, you're looking at more like 1500 lumens with the current configuration. Whether you are getting 2,700 or 1,500 luments, neither is going to cut it.

The solution?

Move the light closer to the plants. It should be between 10 and 14 inches from the canopy. The closer the better.

I have no qualms about your watering techniques right now. A young plant in that much media doesn't need that much water. I find better growth rates when I "need" to water more often, and use smaller root plugs or starter pots to encourage the need for more frequent waterings. But using a larger container will hold a lot more moisture, watering more often isn't adding anything the plant doesn't already have access to. There's plenty of moisture in the system, even after 3 days, because she's just not that thirsty. Dry coco isn't great, but it's not your problem as I see it (yet, at least).

 

[merkaba]

I found when growing in larger pots with coco it is totally possible to overwater, hell...I have a thread going right now where I had a top dressing keeping my coco too wet and the plants just stopped. I think there is a bit of finesse and "feel" with larger pots, as coco doesn't act exactly like say, Pro-Mix or Sunshine Mix.

 

[stoney917]

Hell yea a plant that size in that size pot could turn into a perfect example of overwatering in coco .. the plants roots need time to establish. .. beer cup is perfect... once u get a beer cup of roots u can transfer into ne size pot within reason n not worry bout overwatering cuz ull have a solid established root system. ,, goin from a jiffey with roots just starting into a large pot is just not the way to get her big fast... she is gonna be extra sensitive. ... personally depending on how long ago u put them in there if u just uppotted id repot in beer cups....