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Can You Bottom Feed With Coco ?

Buddaluva

Buddaluva

Member
Im wanting to do a bottom feed grow so i dont have to move my plants when i water

I have some smart pots that i want to use for it

Can i fill my smart pots up with coco and bottom feed with it ? Like have my smart pot sitting in a saucer and let it leach up when i water ?

Also can i use just coco instead of mixing it with perlight since its gonna be leaching up instead of draining out ?

Thanks in advance fellas
 
Buddaluva

Buddaluva

Member
TribalSeeds said:
Get yourself Blumats already. What are you waiting for?
Click to expand...

I had to google to see what you where talking about lol

They look pretty sweet i found a this 3 pk on ebay for 11 bucks that im gonna try out to see how they do

Gonna try it out on my air pot

This is what your talking about right ?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Automatic-P...645?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2320d99895

Third Coast said:
I would think you'll end up with high salt concentrations leading to toxicity. Not a good idea.
Click to expand...

Toxicity from bottom feeding ? or only using coco ?

Sorry for my ignorance on the matter
 
S

Scrappy-doo

I hand water in coco daily, and always feed till the drip tray is about 1/2 to 1 inch full and let it sit in that.

Never never never do I have any issues with this method as far as salt buildup or toxicity. All I have are healthy plants. These problems are theories created by people who have not done it. Experience tells me this is not the case.

I do make sure I let the plant drink whatever is in the tray before feeding again, and adjust the amount so that I feed daily. I don't want her constantly sitting in a stew of liquid that becomes stagnant. I want her to drink it all up so only feed as much as I know she'll drink till the next day.

I can't think of a single reason why bottom feeding wouldn't work, considering how well I do with my method.
 
T

TribalSeeds

Scrappy-doo said:
I hand water in coco daily, and always feed till the drip tray is about 1/2 to 1 inch full and let it sit in that.

Never never never do I have any issues with this method as far as salt buildup or toxicity. All I have are healthy plants. These problems are theories created by people who have not done it. Experience tells me this is not the case.

I do make sure I let the plant drink whatever is in the tray before feeding again, and adjust the amount so that I feed daily. I don't want her constantly sitting in a stew of liquid that becomes stagnant. I want her to drink it all up so only feed as much as I know she'll drink till the next day.

I can't think of a single reason why bottom feeding wouldn't work, considering how well I do with my method.
Click to expand...

What youre doing isnt the same as bottom feeding. Youre actually flushing fresh nutes through until runoff every day. Thats not experience with bottom feeding in coco... You wont get runoff through the top.
I dont know if bottom feeding works or not. Ive never tried it.
The way I prefer to use coco is really fast. I like multiple feeds per day or Blumats. You want nutes and o2 rushing through there as often as possible.
What you dont want is your roots soaking in soggy coco or water for very long.
 
cyat

cyat

Active member
Veteran
sure you can
It actually works great
a tip I learned from autopots is to is to add water/nutes as soon as the juice is sucked up,
no need to wait a day or two...
one thing Ive noticed is my plants drink about 2x as much with this method
can be automated with one auotpot smartvalve per tray or whatever u use
 
S

Scrappy-doo

TribalSeeds said:
What youre doing isnt the same as bottom feeding. Youre actually flushing fresh nutes through until runoff every day. Thats not experience with bottom feeding in coco...
Click to expand...

Where in my post did I say I have experience with bottom feeding?

When I said 'in my experience' I was not referring to bottom feeding, I was referring to letting my coco sit in its food, which people theorize will cause toxicity and salt buildup detrimental to plant health.

And again I will say that IN MY EXPERIENCE, which I have plenty of as far as this topic goes, there is absolutely no problem with salt buildup or toxicity. All I have are healthy plants.

So there should be no problems with feeding from the bottom, as my plants do that daily for the rest of the day after I feed them.
 
T

TribalSeeds

Scrappy-doo said:
Where in my post did I say I have experience with bottom feeding?

When I said 'in my experience' I was not referring to bottom feeding, I was referring to letting my coco sit in its food, which people theorize will cause toxicity and salt buildup detrimental to plant health.

And again I will say that IN MY EXPERIENCE, which I have plenty of as far as this topic goes, there is absolutely no problem with salt buildup or toxicity. All I have are healthy plants.

So there should be no problems with feeding from the bottom, as my plants do that daily for the rest of the day after I feed them.
Click to expand...

I was mearly pointing out that youre flushing anything out with all that runoff. Thats why you water until runoff...That wouldnt happen with bottom feeding.
Your initial post makes it seem as if implying bottom feeding is bad without experience is terrible, but then you go on to imply that it will work without actual experience bottom feeding without runoff.
I actually prefer my way because I dont have to worry about runoff or stagnant water.
Id be cautious if planning on leaving my coco in water for too long. Im sure its not beneficial to leave them in the waste water that was flushed out. Otherwise theres no reason for the runoff.
 
habeeb

habeeb

follow your heart
ICMag Donor
Veteran
coco needs no perlite I've ever seen.. also there is evidence that adding less then 50% perlite is pointless... go search the organic section for 'technical info' if you like

also another fun to ever look into is perched water table..


but no, no problem if you know how to manage no runoff coco..
 
D

DHF

Scrappy......You can`t have it both ways Bro.......Original post is about being able to feed from beneath in coco , and as Tribal says absolutely you`re handwatering/topfeeding DTW and allowing the plants to sit in their own runoff until the plants rootzone dries out enough to wick the residual runoff "diluted juice" BACK up for the plants to use till next feed.......and.....

That`s completely apples and oranges and in no way answers whether or not bottomfeeding coco is a viable option without hiccups and residual salt buildup definite possibilities occurring in the rootzones from never flushing from the top down..... but......

Dripclean @ 1ml per gal will help eat the residual juice buildup in the upper rootzone to help yas through this , and if autopots worked well for yas without dripclean Cyat , then you`re the exception to the rule unless topflushing weekly and or employing dripclean into the mix.....

Watering into a saucer and allowing the rootzone media to wick the juice up once a day or however many times per light cycle depending on size of container has been proven to store residual salts and will most definitely fuck up your world causin imbalances and lockouts.......guaranteed.......without....

Dripclean......Get it....use it.....and thank God for it if yas want consistent results with coco regardless of how you feed..........bet on it....

Peace....DHF.....:ying: .....
 
Treetroit City

Treetroit City

Moderately Super
Veteran
Salts moving top to bottom vs. bottom to top.

If you water from above and then let sit in the runoff you are flushing.

If you let them absorb from below you will never flush, then toxicity.

Try it, let us know how it works. Oh, wait, I just did.
 
Buddaluva

Buddaluva

Member
Thanks for everyone's replies

Reading over the post and the debating im gonna hold off on the bottom feeding

The part about not being able to flush since it soaks right back up and never out is what caught my attention most

I cant say that i wont try a trail run with a bag seed just to see how it turns out but as of now im gonna hold off on it

Again thanks for everyone`s replies :tiphat:
 
S

Scrappy-doo

Well there's some respectable people giving their opinions which differ from mine so I'm not going to pick a fight. With all due respect I simply disagree.

I don't see any difference in feeding from the top and then letting the plants bottom feed sucking back up all the juices that came out, or just letting them suck up the juices from the bottom to begin with. Any salts that are in the runoff are going to get reabsorbed into the meduim as the plant drinks, which should cause this toxic salt buildup, but I have yet to see it in my garden.

With regards to blumats, most people I've seen using them in coco do so without runoff, so the salts should in theory accumulate and cause mayhem to the plants, but miraculously this is not the case, even in setups I've seen where drip clean is not being used.

I don't know... it's just my opinion. To each their own.
 
T

TribalSeeds

Hey Scrappy. Nobody was trying to pick a fight. Just trying to clear things up.
I think what makes the Blumats work without runoff or build up is the pot is kept moist, so the salts dont dry and become a problem. Although H#ad doesnt get runoff with his low ppm feeds either.
When I do water to runoff I usually empty my saucers. When I put the plant back down it continues to drip for about an hour. All the water I dumped on my floor and about an inch thats dripped back into the saucer evaporates. I have a bit of rock in the bottom of my pot and doubt it absorbs back into the pots. Even so, it would be very diluted with all the fresh nutes that just went in the pot.
 
NorCalZero

NorCalZero

Member
Scrappy-doo said:
I hand water in coco daily, and always feed till the drip tray is about 1/2 to 1 inch full and let it sit in that.

Never never never do I have any issues with this method as far as salt buildup or toxicity. All I have are healthy plants. These problems are theories created by people who have not done it. Experience tells me this is not the case.

I do make sure I let the plant drink whatever is in the tray before feeding again, and adjust the amount so that I feed daily. I don't want her constantly sitting in a stew of liquid that becomes stagnant. I want her to drink it all up so only feed as much as I know she'll drink till the next day.

I can't think of a single reason why bottom feeding wouldn't work, considering how well I do with my method.
Click to expand...

That's a great recipe for powdery mildew!
 
RetroGrow

RetroGrow

Active member
Veteran
It can be done successfully using a wick system. Nylon ropes through the coco that go through holes in bottom of pot to Reservoir below. I know this works, as I've done it while on extended vacation. Thirty days without problems. Not the ideal situation, but it works quite well in coco.
 
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