Danknuggler
Active member
Can someone post a link to somewhere that sell canna coco slabs. I've looked and cant find anybody even here in cali.I use loose canna coco right now and even discount hydro dont have slabs.
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Let's talk coco slabs with drippers
- Thread starter gaiusmarius
- Start date
G
Greyskull
i thought i saw cogr slabs at greencoast in orange last week...
could be wrong.
online they stock the botanicare slabs... not the canna though...
http://www.gchydro.com/detail.asp?product_id=xcocogro
i know A+ in costa mesa jus changed ownership and they started stocking canna.... not sure they have slabs though. sorry i cannot be of better help
could be wrong.
online they stock the botanicare slabs... not the canna though...
http://www.gchydro.com/detail.asp?product_id=xcocogro
i know A+ in costa mesa jus changed ownership and they started stocking canna.... not sure they have slabs though. sorry i cannot be of better help
Danknuggler
Active member
I called their Whittier store and they have plenty of canna slabs, thanks. nuggler
I called the store in Orange but they only have cocotek mats they say.
I called the store in Orange but they only have cocotek mats they say.
Danknuggler
Active member
1 more question for anyone who knows, what is the length of a slab?Reason I ask is I'm in 3 x 3 trays and I hope those are large enough to hold a slab without having to go buy bigger trays.I went to canna's site and searchedelsewhere but couldnt find any length dimensions thanx. nuggler
Hey guys I`ve been growing in coco for some time now, but I`m having some very serious issues with my grow the last 3 grows, that I just cant get to the bottom of. Its a recirculating dripper fed system comprising 3 seperate res` with 5 pots in each.
I wonder if any of you would care to take a look at a thread I have running here and check it out and see if you can solve the mystery thats wreaking havoc in my grow and causing me more than a little stress.
The thread is here http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=138214
Hope you dont mind me pimping my thread here, but I`m very confused.
Thanks, Tokesome
I wonder if any of you would care to take a look at a thread I have running here and check it out and see if you can solve the mystery thats wreaking havoc in my grow and causing me more than a little stress.
The thread is here http://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=138214
Hope you dont mind me pimping my thread here, but I`m very confused.
Thanks, Tokesome
If you're hand watering in coco and the plants are dry next time you come to water, you need bigger pots. With a recirc system, you can get away with smaller pots if you do multiple waterings a day. I water/feed plants in flower once at lights on and again 10 hours later, 2 hours before lights out. My timer waters for 7 minutes and I start getting a return at 60-90 seconds - 60 seconds at the morning feeding due to less evaporation and 90 seconds at the evening feed, due again to evaporation, uptake, and transpiration. I run my plants in flower in 3x6 trays using a recirc setup.
All the moms/seedlings/veg plants in the closet, I hand water. Hand waterers just need bigger pots if they want to keep the coco wet - and you really should not ever let it dry out, if you can help it, unless you find ways to compensate for the buildup in the pot.
peace
Duckmang
Member
Relatively new IC mag member here, recently switched to a dripper system for my coco pots. I picked up most of the pieces from Harbor freight. They sell a couple of drip irrigation kits, I picked the 11$ one. It has 150' of hose, 10 "T"s, 10 inline drippers, 10 terminal drippers, and a bunch of nifty hose holding spikes. They sell a couple of fountain pumps as well and I picked up the 9$ one. It's no powerhouse but it gets the job done. It also comes with two fittings, one of which connects right to the flexible hose from the drip kit. I used a 5' kiddie pool under my table which is covered in plastic with strategicly placed cuts to allow the return to drip only into the pool. I get 60 - 70 gallons in the pool. The table can hold 24 three gallon pots but only has 10 currently. I am using one dripper per pot except for my two biggest girls. I get runoff in about 10 minutes of run time and run them for 45 mins 3 times a day. So far i havn't had any issues with clogging but I also have about 20ml of dripclean in the mix. I did have to make a drainback valve due to the water draining back down in the lines after the pump shuts off. As the water drains it pulls air down with it and the resulting bubles can air lock the pump. Given my small pump's limits I didn't want to put a check valve inline. I took a small plastic bottle and inserted a long and short tube through the cap which is connected right after the pump. This effectively made a reverse "P" trap that catches the air bubbles before they get to the pump. With so little invested I'm really impressed with the results so far. To do it again I'd go with the next size up pump but when I do fill my table to it's capacity I'll just add another pump. For now I'm still trying to figure out how much ppms my mix of strains will tolerate, does anyone have a low limit of "everything should tolerate this much ppm?"
Ok, so let's see if anyone here has any advice on this situation...
This last crop I ran my drip system much more frequently than on previous grows. Originally, I was hand watering, then switched to the drip system using it to basically water as frequently as I hand watered, and this last time I ran it twice a "day" keeping the coco bags much wetter the whole time.
My main observations on this last run were that the buds turned out PHENOMENAL! Ridiculous crystal production and awesome taste. But...I had half the yield of my last crop which got the same treatement, just less frequent waterings. The roots did not even fill the one gal bags and were very small and weak. My first thought is to mix perlite in the next run for better drainage and air to the roots. Everyone says you cant overwater with coco, but have there been problems like this? I ran 12 plants under two 600watters and got about an oz per average... Last time it was 1.5 pounds! Boohoo...
This last crop I ran my drip system much more frequently than on previous grows. Originally, I was hand watering, then switched to the drip system using it to basically water as frequently as I hand watered, and this last time I ran it twice a "day" keeping the coco bags much wetter the whole time.
My main observations on this last run were that the buds turned out PHENOMENAL! Ridiculous crystal production and awesome taste. But...I had half the yield of my last crop which got the same treatement, just less frequent waterings. The roots did not even fill the one gal bags and were very small and weak. My first thought is to mix perlite in the next run for better drainage and air to the roots. Everyone says you cant overwater with coco, but have there been problems like this? I ran 12 plants under two 600watters and got about an oz per average... Last time it was 1.5 pounds! Boohoo...
Bigbillyboy05
Member
was it the same exact strain??? genetics is everything in this game man, it is the number 1 determining factor in success.
I had this problem also, and i know what your problem was.
2 runs ago, i also switched from hand water to drip, and i thought that i yielded less, the truth spoke after i harvested, and the roots werent nearly as setup.
When you transplant and when their young you need to let the pot dry out A LITTLE more then usual at the beginning. for the first 10 days i say. This will force the plant to search for water and spread roots throughout the pot. once the roots are setup in the pot, water away, watering more frequently causes the roots to grow slower since it doesnt need to search for moisture and nutrients anymore. Im gonna flower my plants in 1 gallons, and when they are almost rootbound im gonna flower and water 3x a day.
I had this problem also, and i know what your problem was.
2 runs ago, i also switched from hand water to drip, and i thought that i yielded less, the truth spoke after i harvested, and the roots werent nearly as setup.
When you transplant and when their young you need to let the pot dry out A LITTLE more then usual at the beginning. for the first 10 days i say. This will force the plant to search for water and spread roots throughout the pot. once the roots are setup in the pot, water away, watering more frequently causes the roots to grow slower since it doesnt need to search for moisture and nutrients anymore. Im gonna flower my plants in 1 gallons, and when they are almost rootbound im gonna flower and water 3x a day.
Thanks for the advice. I hand watered through my veg cycle, letting the roots dry out more, but just set em up on that drip schedule right when I put them into flower. Next time I will increase watering times more gradually at the beginning of flower for sure.
This was the same strain, so no genetic differences. Polio is a professionally bred strain that tastes delicious and the high definitely deserves the name. Kinda tastes hashy...wish I could puff you down on my clean PHX here...
Peace
This was the same strain, so no genetic differences. Polio is a professionally bred strain that tastes delicious and the high definitely deserves the name. Kinda tastes hashy...wish I could puff you down on my clean PHX here...
Peace
Bigbillyboy05
Member
sall good bro, i got 2 of californias best, grand daddy purple(REAL), and a brand new one to hit the scene(incase you havent heard BLUE DREAM is the new shit), but i have a Cali-Mist x Blue Dream cross, KILLLLLLERRRR.
but no doubt i would love to try.
i wouldnt say DRY OUT. it is so hard to describe how moist you should let your coco get when your trying to setup good roots after transplant and when there young.
Weight is a great way of knowing, as stated often times, try keeping one of the same pots with the same amount of coco in it completly dry. NEVER LET IT GET THIS LIGHT. it should always be AT LEAST 20% heavier then the dry pot(assuming you know what it feels like when soaked.
I also wouldnt gradually do it, i would just do it after 10 days of transplanting. start watering 2x a day till you get a little runoff(<----what i do)
Knowing your systems drip out it really crucial in my opinion, you dont wanna have your drippers running till you get runoff, but have then running long enough that you will get runoff in 30 seconds or so.
ALSO
I know this sounds crazy, but the way you put coco in the pots before you transplant is important. I have wayyyyy better root production when i fluff up Canna coco(wat i use) and keep it very airy. It will compact down after watering but it definitly helps with air to water ratio.
Grow on brodda
but no doubt i would love to try.
i wouldnt say DRY OUT. it is so hard to describe how moist you should let your coco get when your trying to setup good roots after transplant and when there young.
Weight is a great way of knowing, as stated often times, try keeping one of the same pots with the same amount of coco in it completly dry. NEVER LET IT GET THIS LIGHT. it should always be AT LEAST 20% heavier then the dry pot(assuming you know what it feels like when soaked.
I also wouldnt gradually do it, i would just do it after 10 days of transplanting. start watering 2x a day till you get a little runoff(<----what i do)
Knowing your systems drip out it really crucial in my opinion, you dont wanna have your drippers running till you get runoff, but have then running long enough that you will get runoff in 30 seconds or so.
ALSO
I know this sounds crazy, but the way you put coco in the pots before you transplant is important. I have wayyyyy better root production when i fluff up Canna coco(wat i use) and keep it very airy. It will compact down after watering but it definitly helps with air to water ratio.
Grow on brodda
transplant
Member
What is a good filter?
transplant
Member
Water Pump
Water Pump
http://www.edmwi.com/home/edm/page_192_96/electric_water_pump___12_hp_centrifugal_pump.htmlsome feed back on this pump would be nice!
Water Pump
http://www.edmwi.com/home/edm/page_192_96/electric_water_pump___12_hp_centrifugal_pump.htmlsome feed back on this pump would be nice!
transplant
Member
NOw woulnd't letting the drain run through a net cup , 10", in the res lid & filling up to the top of the basket w/rockwool croutons???I always thought that would work....
transplant
Member
What if you already have this set up & wanted to put your air pump on a timer to water the drip rings?
catch up post
catch up post
will try and answer all the questions i find that are not answered already
even if it no longer benefits the original questioner lol. it might still help those researching coco slab growing now. here we go...
by letting the rez get as close to empty as the pump will get it, then making a fresh batch with the nutes you want for that stage. in the end most things can be added to the basic A+B nutes as they are the same in veg and flower, you just might add other boosters, pk 13/14 etc. this can all be added without having to let the tank empty as long as you measure total ec and end ph.
well the coco has quite good water transportation qualities, so the nutrient solution spreads out enough to make pretty perfect growing conditions in the medium, even if some parts remain less soaked then other parts it will not matter the roots will just use the drier area to take up more air. i never move my dripper spikes. with big trees i might add 2 or 3 spikes to the pot but still wouldn't move the drip spikes.
aquarium silikon will do the trick, you can also use pvc glue. use it to seal the drip line in.
not sure if the coco or the rw cube sitting on top of the coco would have enough wicking power to make the clay carrot system work, this needs to be tried out. maybe if the tank isn't to low or far away.
as for mixing perlit with coco, in my opinion that's not a good idea, it just interferes with the perfect conditions of the pure coco. a coco bed in it's self is a great idea too, just don't make it more the 15 cm deep, else you'll get it compressing and it's not needed anyway with regular feeding. i can get and keep a 2 meter plant happy in slabs with auto watering. you only need massive pots if you are gonna hand water.
sounds like a cool setup.
as for the drip system, i advise you to put one together based on the ldpe 25mm main line and the capillary lines from there to the plants. make sure you use a good quality inline filter between the pump and the capillary spaghetti lines. there are other systems that use glue to hook up the main piping, up to you what feels safest to you. i like the ldpe system that i use for the leak proof hand tightening corner and end pieces etc. also make sure you use a 1 way valve to stop the main line emptying every time the pump turns off.
this is indeed possible, as i hope to set up something along those lines. the individual pots allow you to move your plants around as needed which can be a big help if growing different strains etc.
1 i think you would be better off using rw or coco cubes to begin with.
2 yes you let the clones root into tampons and then add them to bigger rw or coco cubes and once they have roots coming out you place them on top of the coco slabs and spike them down with the drip spike to hold them till they root well into the coco. veg time in the coco system depends on strain and what size plants you are aiming for. stretchy strains will be over 1 meter tall with only 3 days of veg time in the main system.
once the plants are at the stage when you are watering gallons i don't think it matters how fast you pour it on, lol. as long as it don't overflow your good imo.
slabs are 1 meter long, but they are quite losely packed and if you want you can shorten them a bit as needed just by letting the coco colect in one end allowing you to fold away about 10 to 20 cm if you need. this has no ill effects at all what so ever.
the thing about auto watering till run off 3x a day is that it will require different ec levels then when you let the pots dry. each system needs to be dialed in nutewise. but yes they make less roots with the auto feeding system. but if your nutrient solution is correct it will not matter to the yield. in the end whats important is what works best for you, if you feel less regular watering was better then stick with it.
when i put the clones in rw i will let them get quite dry till the roots start showing under the cube, after that i keep them wett till all the others are rooted well too, then i plant them. from then on i don't worry about the weight of the slabs i just pump 3x a day till i get a bit of run off.
yeah the stocking on the run off is mainly to catch the lose coco dust before it runs into the tank. but yeah if the net cup is fine enough that would work too.
catch up post
will try and answer all the questions i find that are not answered already
even if it no longer benefits the original questioner lol. it might still help those researching coco slab growing now. here we go...
by letting the rez get as close to empty as the pump will get it, then making a fresh batch with the nutes you want for that stage. in the end most things can be added to the basic A+B nutes as they are the same in veg and flower, you just might add other boosters, pk 13/14 etc. this can all be added without having to let the tank empty as long as you measure total ec and end ph.
well the coco has quite good water transportation qualities, so the nutrient solution spreads out enough to make pretty perfect growing conditions in the medium, even if some parts remain less soaked then other parts it will not matter the roots will just use the drier area to take up more air. i never move my dripper spikes. with big trees i might add 2 or 3 spikes to the pot but still wouldn't move the drip spikes.
aquarium silikon will do the trick, you can also use pvc glue. use it to seal the drip line in.
not sure if the coco or the rw cube sitting on top of the coco would have enough wicking power to make the clay carrot system work, this needs to be tried out. maybe if the tank isn't to low or far away.
as for mixing perlit with coco, in my opinion that's not a good idea, it just interferes with the perfect conditions of the pure coco. a coco bed in it's self is a great idea too, just don't make it more the 15 cm deep, else you'll get it compressing and it's not needed anyway with regular feeding. i can get and keep a 2 meter plant happy in slabs with auto watering. you only need massive pots if you are gonna hand water.
sounds like a cool setup.
as for the drip system, i advise you to put one together based on the ldpe 25mm main line and the capillary lines from there to the plants. make sure you use a good quality inline filter between the pump and the capillary spaghetti lines. there are other systems that use glue to hook up the main piping, up to you what feels safest to you. i like the ldpe system that i use for the leak proof hand tightening corner and end pieces etc. also make sure you use a 1 way valve to stop the main line emptying every time the pump turns off.
this is indeed possible, as i hope to set up something along those lines. the individual pots allow you to move your plants around as needed which can be a big help if growing different strains etc.
1 i think you would be better off using rw or coco cubes to begin with.
2 yes you let the clones root into tampons and then add them to bigger rw or coco cubes and once they have roots coming out you place them on top of the coco slabs and spike them down with the drip spike to hold them till they root well into the coco. veg time in the coco system depends on strain and what size plants you are aiming for. stretchy strains will be over 1 meter tall with only 3 days of veg time in the main system.
once the plants are at the stage when you are watering gallons i don't think it matters how fast you pour it on, lol. as long as it don't overflow your good imo.
slabs are 1 meter long, but they are quite losely packed and if you want you can shorten them a bit as needed just by letting the coco colect in one end allowing you to fold away about 10 to 20 cm if you need. this has no ill effects at all what so ever.
the thing about auto watering till run off 3x a day is that it will require different ec levels then when you let the pots dry. each system needs to be dialed in nutewise. but yes they make less roots with the auto feeding system. but if your nutrient solution is correct it will not matter to the yield. in the end whats important is what works best for you, if you feel less regular watering was better then stick with it.
when i put the clones in rw i will let them get quite dry till the roots start showing under the cube, after that i keep them wett till all the others are rooted well too, then i plant them. from then on i don't worry about the weight of the slabs i just pump 3x a day till i get a bit of run off.
yeah the stocking on the run off is mainly to catch the lose coco dust before it runs into the tank. but yeah if the net cup is fine enough that would work too.
transplant
Member
I drain to waste!!!
Thanks for the response 'G. Since that post I have made a run with a much higher number of plants, and replaced the 2X600 setup with a 1000 on a mover over the same area. Also added pearlite to the mix at about 30%. Slightly less frequent watering led to the same yield per plant...so I got more with less watts and more plants.
I am beginning to think that my yield will increase with more veg time now...current run in the same area with much bigger plants and stepped back the numbers again. I will report results soon...
I will also be using the 2X600 setup with same plant numbers now side by side with the dripper table setup...only I will be hand watering this first batch until I get another system built.
In regards to your most recent advice to me, about ppm differences between hand watering to waste vs. recirculating drip, could you please expand on that topic? I have been going without a ppm meter so far and have been thinking about purchasing one. Basically I have just been reading the plants and using general guidelines on the bottles, towards the lower end of concentrations. When I add to my res, I just mix up the new amount of nutrients and pour them in (just a 12 gal res). Do you use a higher ppm with the drip system or hand watering?
Another question: Has anyone had experience with using the Pure Blend Pro line with coco? I had been using the SOIL bloom formula exclusively as my base, and recently saw that they call to use the NORMAL bloom until around 3-4 weeks till harvest before switching to the SOIL formula. Also, it recommends using quite a bit lower concentration of the SOIL at this time than the general 30-45 it said on the old bottles of this (the new ones have a more extensive nutrient chart). I am experimenting now with using both blooms to see if there is a difference.
Aaand...one more current pondering...
I have always been using the product gravity around 3 weeks from finish and it seems to crystal the hell out of the product. So I also acquired some bushmaster and snowstorm ultra. I have been running the snowstorm this time through the entire bloom cycle, but was wondering if you had any experience with running it for veg too as it might mean on the bottle? Also, it appears as gravity has changed its instructions and concentrations since the last time I used it, burning the hell out of a few plants. It recommends way lower amounts and specifically not to use in coco, but to apply foliar. The question I have is when I should start applying this as it says something about spraying the plants when they are 4" tall occasionally vs. during the first week of flower as I did last time.
'G...your da man when it comes to helpful information and sorry if I overloaded you. I have used tons of your information to really improve things and appreciate your time man. I have a masters degree in horticulture, specifically production, and with this topic I have been fascinated and learned so much through these threads.
Peace.
I am beginning to think that my yield will increase with more veg time now...current run in the same area with much bigger plants and stepped back the numbers again. I will report results soon...
I will also be using the 2X600 setup with same plant numbers now side by side with the dripper table setup...only I will be hand watering this first batch until I get another system built.
In regards to your most recent advice to me, about ppm differences between hand watering to waste vs. recirculating drip, could you please expand on that topic? I have been going without a ppm meter so far and have been thinking about purchasing one. Basically I have just been reading the plants and using general guidelines on the bottles, towards the lower end of concentrations. When I add to my res, I just mix up the new amount of nutrients and pour them in (just a 12 gal res). Do you use a higher ppm with the drip system or hand watering?
Another question: Has anyone had experience with using the Pure Blend Pro line with coco? I had been using the SOIL bloom formula exclusively as my base, and recently saw that they call to use the NORMAL bloom until around 3-4 weeks till harvest before switching to the SOIL formula. Also, it recommends using quite a bit lower concentration of the SOIL at this time than the general 30-45 it said on the old bottles of this (the new ones have a more extensive nutrient chart). I am experimenting now with using both blooms to see if there is a difference.
Aaand...one more current pondering...
I have always been using the product gravity around 3 weeks from finish and it seems to crystal the hell out of the product. So I also acquired some bushmaster and snowstorm ultra. I have been running the snowstorm this time through the entire bloom cycle, but was wondering if you had any experience with running it for veg too as it might mean on the bottle? Also, it appears as gravity has changed its instructions and concentrations since the last time I used it, burning the hell out of a few plants. It recommends way lower amounts and specifically not to use in coco, but to apply foliar. The question I have is when I should start applying this as it says something about spraying the plants when they are 4" tall occasionally vs. during the first week of flower as I did last time.
'G...your da man when it comes to helpful information and sorry if I overloaded you. I have used tons of your information to really improve things and appreciate your time man. I have a masters degree in horticulture, specifically production, and with this topic I have been fascinated and learned so much through these threads.
Peace.
