NO RUNOFF GROW

[whodi]

4th run with coco and I finally found what works best for me

I use the h3ad/rez recipie with a lil twist, but for the most part it's spot on 6/9 with kool bloom additive only. I hand water once daily but not enough for runoff. I use botanicare coco bricks. I flush them very well before I use it.

This is a lil area where im testing trees for vertical growth and what works best for my needs. Strains are ak99, nl x ak47 , and NCDG (killa queen x nl/99) I have 8 plants around 1k, each are in 3-5 gallons worth of straight coco - i vegged month 1/2 under a 400 watt MH - using a single 6 inch inline fan for extracting heat. I got a 16 inch fan under the bulb blowing heat away from the plants and towards the ceiling.

They are just over 3 weeks flowering:

 

[Cozy Amnesia]

What was the problem that made you try this? Very interesting, they look nice and healthy.

I was going to ask you to report the runoff pH, but I guess that's not possible.

 

[whodi]

well i find my plants grow better when they arent constanlty drowned in water... so smaller feedings more often or just once a day is what is working for me.

Also, I hate runoff and got tired of taking bad advice from people so I decided to challenge the advice and now I love it. I don't have to mess with runoff... was a mess to clean up and now i save more nutes.

I'll do one plant runoff just to get the pH for you if it'll benefit your curiosity.

 

[purpledomgoddes]

nice garden! propers on nerve to try no-run-off grow...

run coco w/ no run-off too...

coco+perlite media.

5/8" nylon ropes serve as wicks, spread out in media, and extending out of 4 gal into 5 gal run-off/rez.

run 4 gallon square buckets lodged inside of 5 gallon circular buckets. they fit perfectly, w/out need for spacer.

bottom 5 gallon bucket serves as both run-off catcher, and rez.

What was the problem that made you try this? Very interesting, they look nice and healthy.

I was going to ask you to report the runoff pH, but I guess that's not possible.

have run this method few times. no problems. have ph, tds/ec meters, but no need to use them.

tap water w/ gh flora nova + hydrogen peroxide. dont test run-off/rez water, but will and gives results. here if ok w/ thread starter.

only issue s that mold has grown on ropes/wicks. h202 + iodine solved this.

have ran aero, dwc, soil and soilless before. w/ this method, never have to change a rez, ph the water (unless am applying specific nute/ph @ certain time during maturity). ph drift is generally good thing anyway, so let plant interact w/ run-off water the way it would in nature: adapt and evolve to environmental conditions.

NO RUNOFF GROW
4th run with coco and I finally found what works best for me

I use the h3ad/rez recipie with a lil twist, but for the most part it's spot on 6/9 with kool bloom additive only. I hand water once daily but not enough for runoff. I use botanicare coco bricks. I flush them very well before I use it.

This is a lil area where im testing trees for vertical growth and what works best for my needs. Strains are ak99, nl x ak47 , and NCDG (killa queen x nl/99) I have 8 plants around 1k, each are in 3-5 gallons worth of straight coco - i vegged month 1/2 under a 400 watt MH - using a single 6 inch inline fan for extracting heat. I got a 16 inch fan under the bulb blowing heat away from the plants and towards the ceiling.

props on experimenting. after running this method, really see how much water+nutes are potentially wasted in some systems.

the plants will drink lots of water during mid-flower, so having way to check bottom of bed/container/vessel is good idea. easy to check in 4-in-5 gallon buckets - just look. wick keeps bottom 2" of 4 gal wet 100% of time, so no real issues.

enjoy your garden!

 

[whodi]

post all the results/tests you want.. this is a thread to let people know that RUNOFF is not necessary and that you don't have to constantly drown your coco plants.

My coco rarely dries out with good environment. It'll dry out a bit but never fully; and the plants just seem like they breathe so much better. So that shows how well coco holds water and tons of water/feed isnt necessary.

 

[Bobby Stainless]

I do the same thing.

I only have a catch bucket in case I go a little overboard and get a few drips.

Except I run a 7.5/15 ratio. Feed the shit out of em!

 

[whodi]

I only water with runoff if I use higher strength of nutes, but i've found it isn't necessary to use higher strengths. Plants love lower ppm's and do well in coco with it.

 

[purpledomgoddes]

next run considering trying a coco mix that contains nutes, like other members' pre-ferted mixes.

pour it all into a raised bed. spread wicks in media, and extend them down into a huge 100% water container. should be able to go through entire season w/ out watering or feeding once. only top off water rez, if/when necessary.

gh flora nova bloom is very effective, but am no nute connoisseur. if entire cycle can be done w/ just a tub of water underneath of table w/ wicks drawing up the water, can focus on other garden variables in garden.

of course, could pre-mix a 55 gal rez, and extend ropes into it. just have to add aerator to rez to keep oxygenated for long period(s).

any member run a pre-ferted coco mix, and feed w/ water only throughout season?

 

[krunchbubble]

good grow whodi!

finally someone gets it, no runoff in coco will get you better yields, period. just keep the coco moist, not drenched and watch your yields skyrocket! its not soil, don't treat it as such.

also use drip clean by house and garden if your not going have runoff. drip clean creates an ionic bond with the salts, making it impossible to lockup.

my 25 girls with 3000k watts, on a drip system drinks 100+ gallons a week with no runoff.

 

[purpledomgoddes]

just checked out your garden pics.

couple accessories that have found beneficial to a vert set-up is overhead floros.

run dual 40 watt fixtures over each row of plants. they consist of 1 uvb 10.0 light and 1 daylight floro. reproductive gland production should be noticeably increased.

in this garden, run 1k's, and would rather have those overhead uvb+floros that another hid.

also run purple and red party lights. the red party lights, @ least in this garden, are very effective @ signaling a permanent shift to flowering. the purple mimics sunset. the intensity of the light is not important; but rather, the spectrum of light.

can easily and cheaply test this by acquiring cheap red party light (26w), and placing next to/over plant. should see evidence of a favorable response almost overnight (day).

 

[BlindDate]

Whodi.....It is impossible to "drown" your plants using coco. You can water them all day long and the coco will maintain the same amount of air pockets.

True...It is not nessessary to water till runoff (Autopots are a good example) but how else will you know if the coco is fully saturated? I suppose if you grow only a few plants you could get a feel for it, but when growing many what with size differences and slightly uneven feed lines, etc. Just get some runoff.

 

[BlindDate]

Oh...and one more thing:

run dual 40 watt fixtures over each row of plants. they consist of 1 uvb 10.0 light and 1 daylight floro. reproductive gland production should be noticeably increased.

in this garden, run 1k's, and would rather have those overhead uvb+floros that another hid.

also run purple and red party lights. the red party lights, @ least in this garden, are very effective @ signaling a permanent shift to flowering. the purple mimics sunset. the intensity of the light is not important; but rather, the spectrum of light.

can easily and cheaply test this by acquiring cheap red party light (26w), and placing next to/over plant. should see evidence of a favorable response almost overnight (day).

BULLSHIT!!!

 

[BlindDate]

Opps.....I should mind my maners and not say Bullshit, but rather "prove it". Lets see a side by side. Easy to do.

 

[whodi]

all i know is coco is interesting

 

[whodi]

And if it takes half gallon to get runoff, then i just water with .4ish

 

[caljim]

Looking good Whodee.

I've been waiting to see some no run off grows in coco. Best of luck, I,m grabbing a seat














l

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Thanks for this....I recently made the switch to Coco myself and the clean up involved with the run-off(for my sitaution anyway)is a huge PITA!I have bene comtemplating how best to try a non-run off crop to see if it's doable without major issues.

I have also been playing with the Head 6/9 formula...curious if you are feeding every time,or do you find that some days you just do some plain water feedings?

 

[Mister Postman]

I'm interested in seeing how this works for ya whodi. Since I started growing in coco I have always watered till run-off once the roots were established in the containers. Daily watering till run off for seedlings, new clones, and even fresh transplants has been a no-no, as it doesn't allow for the roots to head out in search of water, (without those roots being established you may pull up roots at the end of flower and find half ur medium unused. mushy-mud with no roots) but once the roots establish I always thought it was a good idea as it would wash out whatever salts may have built up within the medium, in exchange for fresh feed with each watering. I can see it working for you quite well though considering the 6/9 formula is a real minimal dosage to begin with IMO.. You gotta use some judgement with coco IME. The person who goes from clone to 1gal containers and flowers in them is going to have a different experience (they may tell ya it's impossible to drown a plant in coco), then those who transplant a few times, and finish in larger containers. It's all about the roots in coco IME, and to get them growing right you have to water properly at the start. It took me a failure to figure out what works.. It's not so much as bad info being spread, it's just what has worked for those folks in their situations..

Towards the end of flower will u be flushing them till run-off, or just switching to pure water feeds, and letting them eat off whatever may of built up in the medium over time? I'm curious if you plan to go the no run-off route the whole way through how early you'll need to start the pure water feedings to get them finished up or rather flushed properly for harvest..

That's one thing I love about coco personally. The ease/control of the final flushing. IME You can feed daily pretty much to within 14days of harvest, and still get them flushed out yellow before the chop. I thought this was VERY important for clean burn, and good flavor so I'm curious how you'll go about it, and how you'll find the final smoke quality to be.

Good luck!!

 

[whodi]

caljim, thanks for stopping by.. enjoy your stay

Lucy Diamond, thanks and yes, I feed every single day

Mister Postman, thanks for stoppnig by, I always enjoy reading your posts. I plan to water only near harvest and no run-off. I'm going to get a cup of coco and give it nutes for several days in a row, without run-off. THen , after a week or two, I'll pour straight water, without run-off in it. I'll then see how long it takes for the ppm's to drop... but that'd require run-off at least once or twice jsut to check. I could jsut water the cup until a bit of run-off, to check the ppm's before i start to give water only?

 

[whodi]

And folks, just because you don't water till run-off doesn't mean your plant's aren't saturated. Like many have said, watering is an art. It's all part of 'dailing in' your grow. You learn that if it normally takes half gallon to get minimal runoff, then just water a tad bit less.

6/9 is a lower ppm formula but most of the strains i grow love the lower ppm's. It's plenty for any plant, like h3ad stated.