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Can You Bottom Feed With Coco ?

N

noyd666

well said, picture perfect. if it works it works. run 40 hempy's once, no run off, very little, top fed, now and then cleaning out 9 litre buckets, would find perlite all hard, and stuck together, all salt build up i guess. plants all ok .
 
Plenty of people bottom feeding coco plants, 1,000 ways to skin a cat.

I do it when I first transplant my clones into 1 gal pots, by bottom feeding them, I allow the plant to get it's roots established while avoiding washing the clone right out of the pot with my massive hose/watering can. I can put 12 of those 1 gal pots in a Home Depot Concrete Mixing tub, and dump a couple gals of nute mix in there, and they all suck it up evenly. Easy, fast way to feed a bunch of plants, at once. The principles are the same as using a flood table with pots filled with coco, and plenty of people doing that, as well.

Once established, though, I do drain to waste..... fresher nutes, I think the plants stay healthier. Plus, the run-off both flushes some of the salts, and sucks O2 down to the root zone.
 
D

DHF

Plenty of people bottom feeding coco plants, 1,000 ways to skin a cat.

I do it when I first transplant my clones into 1 gal pots, by bottom feeding them, I allow the plant to get it's roots established while avoiding washing the clone right out of the pot with my massive hose/watering can. I can put 12 of those 1 gal pots in a Home Depot Concrete Mixing tub, and dump a couple gals of nute mix in there, and they all suck it up evenly. Easy, fast way to feed a bunch of plants, at once. The principles are the same as using a flood table with pots filled with coco, and plenty of people doing that, as well.

Once established, though, I do drain to waste..... fresher nutes, I think the plants stay healthier. Plus, the run-off both flushes some of the salts, and sucks O2 down to the root zone.
Once again the facts are glossed over since Establishing roots and starting newly rooted cuts in their up potting containers is most definitely NOT bottom feeding coco from start to end of cycle as you most certainly confessed Bud.....and....

Guaranteed Cyat`s not giving full disclosure on his awesome lookin nuggage , but rather giving broad strokes without the fine print details.....bet on it....

I help out at many many invite only sites and have yet to this day seen ANYONE EVER pull a successful harvey completely feeding from the bottom without regular top flushes to eliminate residual salt buildup in the upper rootzone .....especially without dripclean in the mix.......

Not saying there`s not exceptions to the rule as in what Seamaiden`s doin with waaay lower nutrient concentrations and her own special blend of rice hulls and organic additives instead of strictly salt based juice......but...

Across the board once plants are established in their final containers till end of cycle , all I can say is I`ve seen 1000`s of plants attempted to be fed from beneath in a ebb and flow /flood table type setup that `ve failed miserably without regularly scheduled 1/2 strength juice top flushes to reduce upper rootzone nutrient concentrations from residual salt buildup.....

1000 ways to skin a cat guys........but very few when it comes to runnin successful coco grows as much as the medium likes to hold onto salt concentrations........that said.......

Ya`ll make your own decisions but don`t skirt the issue with 1/2 truths , conjecture , and hearsay......

The ONLY way to help with residual salt buildup in coco containers is scheduled top flushes AND dripclean @ 1ml per gal.....

No more from me on this circle jerk of folks swearin by it but not knowin how or WHY bottomfeeding coco is a viable grow system when it`s not........without understanding what it takes to make it work......and Cyat......

Pics without the full explanation of how yas accomplished said end results is just wrong Bro , and gives folks the wrong idea and invites disaster once they attempt to reproduce your results.....bet on it.....

I ask everyone here to take your posts with a grain of salt before you generalize and cause folks that`re newbs to burn their shit up and kill their plants......

Peace.....DHF.... :ying:.....
 

medicalmj

Active member
Veteran
I will admit, I dont know sh*t about coco other than prepping is important. Found out the hard way when I had ca/mag defs. Got that all fixed. I am only growing one in coco, and right now it looks awesome. I have been hand top feeding daily @ 1.6 EC, PH 6.0.

My question to all you experts is:

I have 100% coco, can I continue to feed everyday like this, or more? Will the saturation cause rot? Or is it like RW in that it has high air capacity when fully saturated?

I want to feed with and DTW as much as possible (I'm a hydro guy from wayyyy back). What is the ideal EC and PH? How much runoff?

Thanks in advance!
 
Once again the facts are glossed over since Establishing roots and starting newly rooted cuts in their up potting containers is most definitely NOT bottom feeding coco from start to end of cycle as you most certainly confessed Bud.....and....

<snip>

I ask everyone here to take your posts with a grain of salt before you generalize and cause folks that`re newbs to burn their shit up and kill their plants......

Peace.....DHF.... :ying:.....

So you will just "GLOSS OVER" all the succesful grows with coco in smart pots on flood and drain tables? How is that not bottom feeding, Fred?

You are Dead Head Fred, right? From the Cabana?

Don't know why you have to be a "Know it all..." there are many different techniques being used while growing in, and on, coco. If the guy wants to bottom feed, let him, it is certainly a workable technique.
 
My question to all you experts is:

I have 100% coco, can I continue to feed everyday like this, or more? Will the saturation cause rot? Or is it like RW in that it has high air capacity when fully saturated?

I want to feed with and DTW as much as possible (I'm a hydro guy from wayyyy back). What is the ideal EC and PH? How much runoff?

Thanks in advance!

I'm not an expert, but I do have like 40 large coco runs under my belt. Some of my rooms get fed 4 times a day, 30 seconds each, those are smaller pots, my room with the 5 gallon containers gets fed once a day, for a minute, they each get about a gallon of feed in that minute. You should read the "H3ED" thread, it's a sticky at the top of the coco forum. Peronally, my PPMs are about 1000 max, and my PH 5.8 - 6.0 ish.....
 
D

DHF

Bud....The Cabana was the last public forum I was invited to before it went "invite only" several yrs ago as Dedhedfred , and yeah.......that`s me........

Just like it was me the first week this site came online in `04 with my account deleted no less than 6 times from all the controversy and so-called know-it-alls on the public forums that`re left online......and evidently..........you......

Not snubbin my nose at any successful flood and drain table with smartpots bein fed from the bottom that had yields comparable to decent returns BS....just link me 1 here from start to finish with dialed results........please .....without.....

Minimum 1/2 strength top flushes on a regular schedule to prevent residual salt buildup in the upper rootzone , cuz all my Growbro`s that tried it back in the day with smartpots had white rings around every smartpot at flood level and their plants shut down in late flower and NEVER swelled properly from residual salt buildup in the upper rootzones that caused lockouts and imbalances.....guaranteed......and again I stress.....

Without regularly top flushed containers so ppm`s could keep droppin and ph rising instead of ppm`s risin and ph droppin as a recipe for disaster.....and hey.......Bud......

I`m just tryin ta help folks from first hand experience while you` re generalizing trying to discredit me from what you`ve heard or read on the internet without full disclosure on what it takes to feed from beneath and pull any kind of decent crop.......and why do I say this ?..........

Cuz you yourself said that in your opinion it was better to flush excess nutrients outta the containers from " the top" for no problems with coco , and I fully agree.....anyways....

Said I was done with this thread , but don`t call me out........I can back up every thing I post first hand , or it doesn`t get typed........

Tryin to keep it real Bud.....no disrespect toward you even though you attack my advice that`s dead on....... but...

We all have opinions , and I try to respect everyone`s....... but......

I don`t give opinions.......I give what works without killin yer shit with no return on investment.......

Some folks get lucky ...but....from what I`ve seen over the yrs........most folks don`t......and that`s why I try to help on the public forums cuz most of em are sealed and private med sites where all the old head knowledge resides ......anyways.....

Bud....Put me on ignore if you don`t wanna read my posts.......it`s a simple process.......so......that said....

Please folks.....If yas wanna bottomfeed on flood and drain tables with smartpots or any container.....

Top flush your containers with 1/2 strength nutrient solution at least once a week and just check runoff for elevated ppm`s/ec/with ph droppin , and witness what I`m screamin for residual salt buildup in coco....

Dripclean goes a long way in takin care of leaching salts from the medium........if topfed...if bottom feeding most definitely you`ll need it...so....

I vote no categorically from what I`ve witnessed too many times to remember with miserable failures from straight bottom feeding with no top flush regularly.....and......

My last post in this thread cuz folks will do what they will.....Caveat Emptor.......Let the buyer beware.....

I just tryta keep folks from makin costly mistakes when this shit we do costs so much if yas try to make it a production effort...... .and again.....Bud.......

If it`s such a viable setup , how come you haven`t rocked it in your 40 "large" coco grows..........I`m just sayin.....

Peace....DHF.....:ying:.......
 
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Buddaluva

Member
Man this stuff ( coco ) is a crazy water absorber lol

I expanded my 5k brick the other day and its not showing any signs of drying out yet

It looked a little dry up top but when i squeezed it the water came out like i was squeezing a sponge

This would definitely cut down on my waterings to maybe once every 2 weeks

I do not have any perlight mixed in though but now im thinking about mixing some in lol

I have not started a grow with it yet though i wanted to see how long it would take to dry out so i could get a feel of it

It defiantly seems like its gonna be a good growing medium , i can see the potential for over watering so im just gonna have to ease into it and let it dry out fully before each watering until i get the feel for it

I dont remember who suggested trying out coco to me but im glad they did :tiphat:
 
S

SeaMaiden

I'll recommend against allowing it to fully dry out, Budda. That's part of the beauty of coir, you pretty much can't overwater it, but the flip side is that you can cause problems if you allow it to fully dry out. Top dry, yes, fully dry can cause salt build-up problems that look like lock-outs or overfeeding scenarios.

Expect the perlite to float to the top. I'm not using it anymore, especially in coir. If I need to stretch the coir itself, or want to lighten it up I use rice hulls. I hear that peanut or other nut shells/hulls are a good viable alternative for those who may not be able to get a hold of rice hulls.
 
T

TribalSeeds

Read the coco stickies or youre gonna destroy your plants really quickly
 

Buddaluva

Member
Oh Ok i see now

Just got done reading some of the stickies and see that coco is more hydro

This is gonna take some getting use to lol
 

Moppel

Grower for Life
Veteran
i have done watering from the bottem in coco, and achieved 1 gr p watt without problems. Although i agree that DTW is better for coco.
 

paper thorn

Active member
Veteran
Dongle69 used to use ebb and flow with coco. great harvests.
her thread is in the equipment forums i think.
 
These plants will be bottom fed until I up-pot them in a few weeks. And yes, that is an Air-pot in one of the pictures.

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