Coco holding too much water. Pots wont dry and roots turning brown

spaceboy · Sep 11, 2016

Anyone ever had this problem? Been growing in coco for 5 years and never ran into this. This batch is almost like dirt its so fine and taking over 5 days to dry out which i think is causing root rot. Clones were in rockwool and had nice roots before going to 4x4 pots of this coco. I believe this is also causing ph problems but i especially dont see how these can thrive when the coco is staying this wet.

Dont know what to do besides pull everything out and replant.

stoned40yrs · Sep 11, 2016

what brand coco?

Treetroit City · Sep 11, 2016

Sorry to hear of the rough patch you hit recently. You doing anything different or???

chronosync · Sep 11, 2016

Take the pot and place it in another pot of DRY coco, it will wick some of the moisture out for now until you can figure out what's going on. Sounds like you got some shitty media

slownickel · Sep 11, 2016

This happens when you get way too much Mg in the medium. A flush with some gypsum would do wonders... pushes some of that Mg out and lets in air.

spaceboy · Sep 11, 2016

Thanks Tree, nothing different this round that i can think of. It all started when i got this new coco. Rinsed and charged it like I always do, but it just wont dry out.

Never heard that about mg slownikel, but i did order some gypsum and will be here tomorrow so i will try.

Seems like no matter how much i flush them makes no difference though, so i hope the gypsum helps if not going to have to dig roots up and plant in fresh coco. Roots are looking pretty rough also.

spaceboy · Sep 11, 2016

stoned40yrs said:
what brand coco?

Its cyco coco. Ive used in past but it didnt hold so much water.

One thing that i did different tree is go from rockwool to 4x4 pots instead of solo cups. Always pretty cautious about over watering tho.

Loc Dog · Sep 11, 2016

Do you use smart pots or air pots????

spaceboy · Sep 11, 2016

Regular 4x4 pots and smart pots

watts · Sep 11, 2016

try smaller pots and/or get some beneficials like hydroguard or something.

HOVA · Sep 12, 2016

Hey space boy that has happened to me if i turn my exahust off and it stays to humid to
Dry out
Hows your air flow?

teemu shalanie · Sep 12, 2016

room temps? , dehums ? exhaust?, AC ? how many bulb room, talk to me ??

ortsa1 · Sep 12, 2016

im all about humidity these days plants veg 30% faster and buds get huge at 75% humidity I'm only controlling the humidity in the last few weeks now. Sounds like you should just transplant to new coco I don't think pythium will take hold bad in coco like in dwc buckets you can salvage your plants

spaceboy · Sep 12, 2016

Its hit both veg rooms. One is a 1k and other is a 6 bulb t5. Its happening in both rooms though. Air flow has never been a problem down there before, but im not exausting the air anywhere. Same rooms ive been vegging in for a long time though.

I tested the ph of the coco out of the bag and it was good, but seems like it drops really fast once i pot into it, some tested as low as 4.5.

Loc Dog · Sep 12, 2016

ortsa1 said:
im all about humidity these days plants veg 30% faster and buds get huge at 75% humidity I'm only controlling the humidity in the last few weeks now. Sounds like you should just transplant to new coco I don't think pythium will take hold bad in coco like in dwc buckets you can salvage your plants

This chart is optimum temp/humidity combination, the orange part -

Ratzilla · Sep 12, 2016

Hello ,hello
I have been using coco as a medium for 8-10 years now.
I use 40% coco coir with 20% worm casting and the rest of my mix mostly for aeration and drainage which goes hand in hand.
Chunky perlite@30% and some diatomaceous earth is what I use to make a loamy mix.
I use Bontanicare coco.
I get it in the bale size it seems to have more of the mesocarp then even the Bontanicare blocks.
The blocks seem to be made of more of the pith which is like dust more then the fibers.
Know that coir comes in 3 different grades with the middle layer know as the mesocarp it being more fiberous being the one a grower wants in my opium.
The pith or dust sounds like what grade you have it for drains horribly.
Have you seen the coco chips that is made into circles to give you some reference of what I am talking about.
Ratz :tiphat:

slownickel · Sep 13, 2016

Good job Ratzi! Nothing beats real experience.

No clue here regarding these materials.

With all that said, no calcium in your mix at all?

Ratzilla · Sep 13, 2016

slownickel said:
Good job Ratzi! Nothing beats real experience.

No clue here regarding these materials.

With all that said, no calcium in your mix at all?

It is my pleasure Sir

Yes plenty of calcium around 65% of my base.
I just wanted to make coco user aware of the different grades of coir that is on the market and to try and stay away from to much pith "dust" for it never wants to dry down.
I get much of my calcium from oyster shell that is ground into a powder. I also use some dolomite more for its Mg. Some Gypsum and crab shell 23% calcium.
I also have started using some Calcium Bentonite clay more for its CEC holding power.
I think that calcium is the easiest element to source where Mg. is one of the hardest.
I have a list of what is in most things

I have seen that your not a big fan of Michael Astera of "soil Minerals" where I have been a follower of his for more then a few years now with his Handbook "The Ideal Soil" opening my understanding greatly.
Jeff Lowenfels "Teaming with Nutrients" and his "Teaming with Microbes" are other eye openers for any aspiring caretakers.

I opine that ganja growers and their mixes are like chefs in the kitchen with different recipes.
Ratz :tiphat:

slownickel · Sep 13, 2016

Time to graduate up to some real reading based on up to date science written by someone with real experience.

The more Mg you have in the soil, the less the plant picks up. It is an inverted relationship.

Waiting on dolomite is worthless, much less the fact that it causes drainage and purging issues. Use Mg foliarly and get your Ca and P up, the Mg deficiency will go away easily provided your K and Na are at reasonable levels.

With all those carbonates in dolomite, oyster shells, etc... you are not getting much calcium available to the plant. What is the pH of your water? Does it have bicarbonates in it?

Ratzilla · Sep 13, 2016

I have been reading some of your posts, interesting for sure.
I see no deficiencies in my plants most times.
I use rainwater its has 0.0 EC and 6.2 pH
I am a old dog so new ways are hard when I am so comfortable.
I will continue to a better understanding of what you are saying after reading your posts over a few more times.
Ratz :tiphat:

On another note it is my understanding that to much P mixed in globally retards the mycorrhizae growth

Coco holding too much water. Pots wont dry and roots turning brown

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