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how often to water in coco coir
- Thread starter GhettoGospel
- Start date
i water different than everyone i think. i water to 10-20% runoff everytime, w/ H&G line about every 2 days for small-medium plants. every other day w/ large plants and i get amazing growth. i water when i feel like they need it. i dont mind wasting 10 cents worth of nutes doing this much runoff if that ensures my root zone is build up free and working as hard as it wants to. one thing i would not do is waste time weighing my plants everyday just to see how much water they have used. im not sure what your experience level is, and dont take this as me being a TOTAL dick, but, you should get to the point to where you can just look at your plants and tell if they need watered. or at least pick it up and tell by weight. i myself couldnt tell what a plant wants just by how much it weighs
IeatCubes
Member
i water different than everyone i think. i water to 10-20% runoff everytime, w/ H&G line about every 2 days for small-medium plants. every other day w/ large plants and i get amazing growth. i water when i feel like they need it. i dont mind wasting 10 cents worth of nutes doing this much runoff if that ensures my root zone is build up free and working as hard as it wants to. one thing i would not do is waste time weighing my plants everyday just to see how much water they have used. im not sure what your experience level is, and dont take this as me being a TOTAL dick, but, you should get to the point to where you can just look at your plants and tell if they need watered. or at least pick it up and tell by weight. i myself couldnt tell what a plant wants just by how much it weighs
I guess it's only a matter of 10c here and there when you're buying those cheap H&G products.
I have time to weigh all my plants and I consider it to be a form of a control.
Just because your coco looks dry, does not mean it is dry.
Different strokes for different folks man.
I don't know what to say.
I doubt you're growing THE best product in the world, so ya...
"When watering organic based mediums such as peat moss, mineral soils or coco, make sure you allow, on average, a 50% reduction in the
amount of water applied previously before watering again. This ‘drying down’ of the medium fosters good root development and ensures the root system has adequate air
infiltration. The same holds true with automated systems, water when 50% of the entire crop is 50% dry."
- Canna Talk Issue 4, 2008
GratefulPhish
Member
As you've heard a few times, coco ain't soil. When first transplanting to a big pot you can get away with watering every other day or so, but for most the time you will need to water every day.
I've had no problem feeding every water with GH nutes and drip clean from h&g.
I've had no problem feeding every water with GH nutes and drip clean from h&g.
IeatCubes
Member
I've been reading that a lot of ya'll run Drip Clean through your medium...
...you really should not have to do this if you water to drain at least 20%.
I'm not a super experienced coco grower but I feel as though there is a serious lack of knowledge by many users here. I see this with almost all coco users though.
Like the dude above me said, coco ain't soil.
So forget everything ya'll know...
Biggest problem I notice with coco growers that have experience with soils or hydroponics always seem to break the coco regiment. It's not soil, you can't treat it like soil. It's not hydro, you can't treat it like hydro. They always fall into bad habits that were acquired through soil/hydro grows. Either because they start to get nervous upon seeing new problems, irregular growth with coco (fast or slow), or simply because they have no idea how this stuff works. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Organic chemists and botanists must read this forum for laughs...
Knowledge is power.
Forget what people say on these forums; go read some documented scientific research on coco coir and absorb knowledge.
Some of you might better understand what coco coir is doing on the molecular level which might lead to a better understand of the coco process.
Which should lead to better product and bigger yields.
Not saying ya'll are wrong but I disagree with lots of posts on here. Huge discrepancy from actual documented research on coco as compared to user posts.
At this point, someone might ask themselves...
Do I follow what every other grower is doing on the internet?
Or listen to the guys in white coats that have been using and researching coco for the past 25 years?
...you really should not have to do this if you water to drain at least 20%.
I'm not a super experienced coco grower but I feel as though there is a serious lack of knowledge by many users here. I see this with almost all coco users though.
Like the dude above me said, coco ain't soil.
So forget everything ya'll know...
Biggest problem I notice with coco growers that have experience with soils or hydroponics always seem to break the coco regiment. It's not soil, you can't treat it like soil. It's not hydro, you can't treat it like hydro. They always fall into bad habits that were acquired through soil/hydro grows. Either because they start to get nervous upon seeing new problems, irregular growth with coco (fast or slow), or simply because they have no idea how this stuff works. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Organic chemists and botanists must read this forum for laughs...
Knowledge is power.
Forget what people say on these forums; go read some documented scientific research on coco coir and absorb knowledge.
Some of you might better understand what coco coir is doing on the molecular level which might lead to a better understand of the coco process.
Which should lead to better product and bigger yields.
Not saying ya'll are wrong but I disagree with lots of posts on here. Huge discrepancy from actual documented research on coco as compared to user posts.
At this point, someone might ask themselves...
Do I follow what every other grower is doing on the internet?
Or listen to the guys in white coats that have been using and researching coco for the past 25 years?
mooseknuckle
Member
I've been reading that a lot of ya'll run Drip Clean through your medium...
...you really should not have to do this if you water to drain at least 20%.
well,if you read a little more,you will see,thats exactly why people are using drip clean,to avoid the hassle of running 20% water through
S
sm0k4
Wow, some common sense. Its all about internet ego IMO. I just ignore posts that boast. I found that while following instructions from most message board posts, my plants suffer. What works for one may not work for another.
i dont listen to either of those, people on here, or the white coats that do the research. i just do what my plants want. also, who wants to have to be looking at coir in a "molecular" level. i dont want to be a fuckin scientist and im sure most of the people on here dont want to be either. i feel that some of you take this stuff way way to seriously. looking into it way to deep. but i digress, like ieatcubes said, we should all just forget everything we think we know about coir. let us all
to ieatcubes, i guess he is the foremost leader in EVERYTHING coco..... hail ieatcubes
IeatCubes
Member
i dont listen to either of those, people on here, or the white coats that do the research. i just do what my plants want. also, who wants to have to be looking at coir in a "molecular" level. i dont want to be a fuckin scientist and im sure most of the people on here dont want to be either. i feel that some of you take this stuff way way to seriously. looking into it way to deep. but i digress, like ieatcubes said, we should all just forget everything we think we know about coir. let us all
You just do what your plants want? How do you know what that is? Do they talk to you?
You don't listen to experienced growers or science?
You must think your product is good enough now...it could be better. It could be great.
Your loss. Not mine.
You seem to be very naive, close-minded and immature.
This is the kind of stoners that are lurking internet grow forums these days?
Grow up, dude. No pun intended.
As far as the drip clean goes...
If people just use drip clean, and do not water to drain, the drip clean will act almost magnetic with salts... so if the drip clean you're putting into your medium is in the coir, bonding with salts, where do the salts go? Matter cannot be created nor destroyed so what happens with the salts? What new bond or element will be created? Is this something you want in your medium? Will you have to flush before harvest? Yeah, lots of questions when adding unnecessary products to coir. They developed this stuff so you wouldn't have those problems or need those products. Just follow their advice on basic growing with coco. They've done most of the work for you. This is science.
Also, from what I read, coirs will have semi-permeable membranes that only allow for certain elements to pass freely. Others will be rejected or processed into usable elements.
Not to mention this adds a little more PK to the mix. More numbers to keep your eyes on; more work. More money... you already have your nutes. Just drain to 20% and it's all set. That's the $20 to $50 (maybe more) you'd lose in your drainage that you'd be spending on the drip clean.
Canna is five easy products throughout veg and bloom.
Raedwulf
Member
I agree with IeatCubes. No need to re-invent the wheel.
Using Canna is so easy, if you just follow the instructions on the label.
I recently switched to Canna in Coco - from growing in a compost mix - and it's bliss compared to worrying about formulating X-mls of this and X-mls of that plus Epsom salts etc for feeding.
My girls (Nirvana Swiss Cheese clones) are fit and healthy on the stuff. Now they are in full growth, I feed once a day with 10% - 20% run-off. I PH test, but don't bother with ppm readings.
After 7 days...
Peace to all, and thanks for all the good advice on ICM
IeatCubes
Member
Uhh, gold star?
Nope.
I just checked out all the links in your sig. You've got some decent set-ups and some know how... which makes me wonder why you are not flushing whatsoever...?
You know coco has to be watered to drain to at least 20% to remove salt buildups that can cause nutrient lock outs and deficiency's?
Oh, but you must run Drip Clean...so it's fine. Not.
I bet your plants are starving!
You wanna' flush to get those salts out. You also want to make those roots work to find their nutes. When you drain, the salts leave. That build up of salt will prohibit the uptake of necessary nutrients. Yes, you have 20% less nutrients in your medium but the roots will find it. Even more so if you let the coco go 50% dry. Their roots will blow out looking for food. Then when you feed again, your ladies will have more surface area in rootage to take up a higher percentage of nutrients each time you feed/water. This increases exponentially each time you feed/water. You're making life too easy for your girls. They should work for you. Not you work for them. You're hand watering 100 ladies... get what you deserve out of your bitches. You can get more than what you're getting now. This is where growers let themselves go... because what they're getting is enough for the head or enough to pay the bills... forget about that. Get what you truly deserve! You know you want better buds... no matter what skill level or how much experience under your belt... you know things can always get better.
Next grow, just pick one lady and water to drain 20% each time. Keep hitting her with full bore nutes and watch her grow heartier, fuller, faster...bigger yield. Just try it with one. Think of it as a business experiment.
Just try it, Shcrews. Best of luck to ya.
I've noticed that the final product of those who do not water to drain end up with very leafy buds. Still loaded with trichs but leafy.
Don't we all want monster calyxes?
When I grow with coco, I'm growing roots.
The rest of the plant will copy what the roots do.
I see it as a mirror image, starting at the baseline of the medium.
Without a superior root system below...what kind of flowers can you expect above?
Not very good ones.
Big, strong, healthy root systems = big, dense, hearty flowers.
Yeah, you know what...bow down motherfucker!let us allto ieatcubes.... hail ieatcubes
GanjaPharma
Member
100%coir is more like hydro than soil.
keep it wet
keep it wet
IeatCubes
Member
My dick hate sweaters so she jack it slow...
actually i have grown with coco just about everyway one can..... outdoors in smartpots, indoors handwatered, ebb&flow tables, Drip to waste....
i haven't noticed any difference betw them to be honest, end product is A+ regardless of nutrients used or amount of runoff.
just my experience, not much but more than most.. what can i say?! I'm a Coco Guy!
i haven't noticed any difference betw them to be honest, end product is A+ regardless of nutrients used or amount of runoff.
just my experience, not much but more than most.. what can i say?! I'm a Coco Guy!
stagafolaysa
Member
my coco watering story:
i started growing from seed in 6.5 liter, mistake there. at first, i listened to an advice from a friend, said to water every few hours on drips. I did this and pretty soon my plants started to seem overwatered. so i stopped and reverted to hand watering. I would still water every 3 days or so, not letting the medium dry. after a while i started having fungus gnats, and since then i have been letting the coco run fairly dry between watering, even to the point of drooping. i let run off of course in generous amounts. at some point before flowering i repotted to 12 liter, and continued as before. sometimes more than a week between waterings.
i must say my plants have been looking nice and green throughout growth and most of flowering. I've been using HESI coco @ 1500EC (750-1000ppm), and no more than that. I don't think I'll yield as much as I would like but this is because I was very late to scrog.
another important thing is that when i removed the males, i checked their roots, and some of the males in coco had really weak and brown roots. i don't know why. the ones in soil had good white strong roots, and they also suffered from gnats. so maybe from overwatering in the beginning? but it was the entire root system... maybe pythium that started then and consisted throughout the plant's life.
i started growing from seed in 6.5 liter, mistake there. at first, i listened to an advice from a friend, said to water every few hours on drips. I did this and pretty soon my plants started to seem overwatered. so i stopped and reverted to hand watering. I would still water every 3 days or so, not letting the medium dry. after a while i started having fungus gnats, and since then i have been letting the coco run fairly dry between watering, even to the point of drooping. i let run off of course in generous amounts. at some point before flowering i repotted to 12 liter, and continued as before. sometimes more than a week between waterings.
i must say my plants have been looking nice and green throughout growth and most of flowering. I've been using HESI coco @ 1500EC (750-1000ppm), and no more than that. I don't think I'll yield as much as I would like but this is because I was very late to scrog.
another important thing is that when i removed the males, i checked their roots, and some of the males in coco had really weak and brown roots. i don't know why. the ones in soil had good white strong roots, and they also suffered from gnats. so maybe from overwatering in the beginning? but it was the entire root system... maybe pythium that started then and consisted throughout the plant's life.
stagafolaysa
Member
my friend (who supposedly knows a lot about growing, though i am in doubt about this), says when you water you have to measure the exact amount of runoff and keep it on some level. I think it's bullshit. anyone ever heard of this?
Donald Trump
Member
like errryyydayyyy
