coco with hydroton bottom layer

[dirtyshawa]

so, i'm at the hydro store and i'm like hydro grow mediums, what are my options? so, the guy who always helps me out is like go with the coco, do a bottom layer of hydroton(i did 50L) for my 30 gal rubbermaids. got 29 seedlings in there they look great. my question is has anyone else, done a run like this? my hydro store guy really seemed to know what he was talking about as he explained the process, but, i haven't seen any threads exactly like what i'm doing. i hear about cutting the coco with this or that and taking off like that, but, any info links to other threads would be appreciated.



dirty-

 

[ShroomDr]

I use 1" thick coco mat on the bottom of my containers. The basic principle is to keep the roots from sitting in a puddle of water

 

[BobbleheadJed]

ShroomDr is absolutely correct, "The basic principle is to keep the roots from sitting in a puddle of water."

I use about a 1/2 inch layer of clay pellets (hydroton) in the bottom of my 4 gallon buckets with coco and 25% perlite. No clue about a 30 gallon rubbermaid, but good luck.

 

[Yes4Prop215]

I do this exact same thing, i kinda just figured to do it myself because i have alot of extra hydroton around.

I layered pretreated hydroton about 2 inches on the bottom of the my pots, then i layer the cococoir/perlite mix on top.

One of the other benefits of this is that the hydroton will create a sort of screen so that loose coco coir doesnt flow out of the pots and into the flood trays.

 

[dirtyshawa]

okay good to hear someone has success with this method. just came back from the hydro store cuz my cfl went out ended up swopping it out for a T5. Yesprop, what issues did you have on previous runs? i could tell i might have a slight cal/mag def. in the future, my heighten sense of intuition kicking in so i bought some humbolt honey and thalassa mix. it's crazy because, humbolt honey smells just like molasses and i have a big az jar of grandma's molasses at a fraction of the price. anyone have experience with it in coco?



dirty-

 

[dirtyshawa]

some pics....oh yeah, some bubbax, g13x, blueberryx..... with the molasses, humbolt honey, and einstein oil i've already been giving them you can tell harvest will be pretty sweet...... pun intended. that rubbermaid smells just like a candy store already

dirty-

 

[Bush Dr]

A good dose of Molasses once a week in flower, hand watered in to save getting a sticky tank and drip lines ..... changed the taste totally

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

i do this on my big outdoor coco plants, from observation, not testing, when you do this I think you want to keep humidity up in the bottom 3" but DO NOT let the roots sit in a puddle of water ..... so... do not just put the hydroton in the bottom & watch the bottom roots dry out & die back "air root pruning" as IIRC it is called ... get them each a shallow tray to let a little [and I mean little] bit of water hang around in to keep thm moist.

I am planning to experiment with adding 1" of bubbled water to the bottom to give a DWC type boost to the growth rate ... IMO Coco coir's greatest drawback.

 

[Yes4Prop215]

okay good to hear someone has success with this method. just came back from the hydro store cuz my cfl went out ended up swopping it out for a T5. Yesprop, what issues did you have on previous runs? i could tell i might have a slight cal/mag def. in the future, my heighten sense of intuition kicking in so i bought some humbolt honey and thalassa mix. it's crazy because, humbolt honey smells just like molasses and i have a big az jar of grandma's molasses at a fraction of the price. anyone have experience with it in coco?



dirty-

My issues on previous runs where that my buds didnt seem to get dense enough and put some serious weight. I was thinking about using some new ferts that have plant hormones or molasses.

I didnt use molassas, but really want to. There is this stuff called OOZE that sells for 100-200 a half gallon, a lot of local growers swear by it though, its main ingredients are mollases and seaplant extract.

If people say molasses goes well with COCO, i will definately use it this run.

 

[dirtyshawa]

A good dose of Molasses once a week in flower, hand watered in to save getting a sticky tank and drip lines ..... changed the taste totally

yeah, i've been giving them molasses from the beginning. tbsp here and there the response is great. like i stated in my last post bought the Humboldt Honey for cal/mag recommended by my dro sto guy. smells just like the grandma's molasses, i've already been feeding with, maybe a little something extra. i think good flushes throughout will help a stinky tote but, right now it smells nice and fruity even with the seedlings

i do this on my big outdoor coco plants, from observation, not testing, when you do this I think you want to keep humidity up in the bottom 3" but DO NOT let the roots sit in a puddle of water ..... so... do not just put the hydroton in the bottom & watch the bottom roots dry out & die back "air root pruning" as IIRC it is called ... get them each a shallow tray to let a little [and I mean little] bit of water hang around in to keep thm moist.

I am planning to experiment with adding 1" of bubbled water to the bottom to give a DWC type boost to the growth rate ... IMO Coco coir's greatest drawback.

yup, i was thinking DWC also, but the my dro sto guy was like nah, don't do it, just run to waste. i think it's definitely possible to do DWC but, this medium is new so, i'll play it safe from this angle even though i'm on a island some what with a completely organic feed in coco. but, to be honest i don't see how organics make a difference in coco. i mean my plants definitely respond to my feedings, maybe i over watered my first few feeds but, now i just let the coco dry out really good and foliar feed and they look perky as hell since making that adjustment. keep me posted cuz, i know DWC could grow our dank even faster.

My issues on previous runs where that my buds didnt seem to get dense enough and put some serious weight. I was thinking about using some new ferts that have plant hormones or molasses.

I didnt use molassas, but really want to. There is this stuff called OOZE that sells for 100-200 a half gallon, a lot of local growers swear by it though, its main ingredients are mollases and seaplant extract.

If people say molasses goes well with COCO, i will definately use it this run.

yesprop, i'm here to tell you molasses goes well. i just ordered some thalassa mix, for the salts, shipped today. so, that should cover the cal/mag def in the future if any. but, the Humboldt honey is supposed to take care of that regardless.


don't feel like posting pics of my nutes right now, just got in from a hectic day but, i'm trying out Blue Mountain Organics super plant tonic, grow it green for veg-high nitro guano, flower power-high phos guano, and the foliar feed. honey humboldt for the cal/mag. i got that purple max shit just for the hell of it, at the very least it says it increases resin production and yields, but who knows, also, i have einstein oil for the pest and the thalassa mix should be here in the next couple of days. so, i shouldn't have any prob with keeping my girls happy as i usually don't. personally, i think yield is based on the veg period but, this rubbermaid is kind of a side note for my intentions for this run. got a bunch of 3gal buckets for hempy style, nice bedroom for flower, 1000w digi lumi, probably buy a six to throw in there 2, some, 300w equivalent cfl's from Hdepot. big yields shouldn't be an issue if that's what i want to do. i'm gonna clone all the gals just as soon as there ready. then flower that mofo, scrap the swag, horde the dank strains, and keep it moving.
any other info feel free to post, pics, troll, whatever

dirty-

 

[Yes4Prop215]

dang thats a lot of nute shopping, purple max just for the hell of it? isnt that stuff like $150 a gallon?

where did you order the thallasas mix and how much is it, im interested.

you are growing coco coir+ perlite correct?

 

[dirtyshawa]

nope, nothing but, premium organic coco peat(bricks) by EmpireOrganics. they expand to 2.5 cubic ft when wet then you can use it however you please, i got the thalassa mix from here http://www.shopgrowgreens.com/category.sc?categoryId=6

some baby pics.....

 

[jamrockjay]

ShroomDr this may sound stupid but what is a coco mat and where do u get them from?

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

yup, i was thinking DWC also, but the my dro sto guy was like nah, don't do it, just run to waste. i think it's definitely possible to do DWC but, this medium is new so, i'll play it safe from this angle even though i'm on a island some what with a completely organic feed in coco. but, to be honest i don't see how organics make a difference in coco. i mean my plants definitely respond to my feedings, maybe i over watered my first few feeds but, now i just let the coco dry out really good and foliar feed and they look perky as hell since making that adjustment. keep me posted cuz, i know DWC could grow our dank even faster.

Yes, thats roughly what i was thinking, although 1" of bubbled bottom is hardly Deep Water Culture, more SWC ......maybe "Coco+ SWC" would be better !

I will get off my a$$ and do some experiments with this, nothing organic, all Canna/GHE and post up some results.

 

[Bush Dr]

This is kind of what I've done once, the plant in question was turbo charged, I've never seen a plant grow so big, so fast

The plant was put into flower in a 3.4 Litre pot, the timer was set wrong so instead of 3 feeds/cycle it got 6, it loved it ..... a week later the pot was getting distorted by the roots, so I put that into a 6 litre pot of coco and stood that on top of a 2" layer of hydrotons that were my the 'filter' layer ..... by the end of the third week there were roots coming out all over the place in the hydrotons, the 'filter' effect had stopped because there was so much coco getting squeezed out here and there

So I put an air line in to bubble it clean ...... it never occurred to me that I'd provided a new source of oxygenated feed until I read your post, so I guess I had coco/aeroponics

Time I looked at a big clone to do this to when the current crop is finishing ... thanks for answering a long standing personal mystery

Bush

 

[dirtyshawa]

yeah, i really want to do a DWC with this rubbermaid think i might by a flood tray, drill some holes at the bottom corners of the rubbermaid, few in the bottom center, and a few about an inch up along the sides of the hydroton. the air flows well through the coco even when wet and we all already know the hydroton is great for aeration now i just have to regulate the circulation with in the container. air flow is great in the coco but, i think the hydroton layer can be tweaked a bit. thinking along the lines of a hempy container hybrid, but, lots of small holes around the hydroton bottom layer. i'll probably throw a fan at one end to keep things moving.



dirty-

 

[ShroomDr]

what is a coco mat and where do u get them from?

its just a flat piece of coco fiber, (woven or epoxied together, i dont know) most of the time it is 1/4" thick. Botanicare makes the 1" mat i referenced, a 4'x4' sheet is $50 or $60 (RIDICULOUS).

I bought the 1" so the 5Gal of coco on top of the mat, wouldnt compress as bad as if it were the 1/4".

I would rather have a coco mat on the bottom than a layer of expanded clay pebbles

 

[dirtyshawa]

Why coco mat instead? i mean, i'll be running the coco to waste so, does it matter?

this is my first run with coco and take into effect i'm running these particulars in a rubbermaid, i have 3 and 5 gal pots and all that but, thats for the clones. could u elaborate on your opinion.

 

[ShroomDr]

its just preference for me, id rather have 100% coco

 

[GroovyFeeling]

using coco 90% hydroton 10% and then a layer hydroton in the bottom.