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Ph and R/o water using bio bizz nutes in Coco

nuggiespl

Member
My mix is 50 coco "Bio juice" 25 pert, 25 light warrior. I'm using Ro water, I started at 5.8 and have worked my way up to 6.2, I just started using a tea from my local shop. The other day I was talking to a experienced grower, he said just mix nutes up and feed no ph nothing. I have been adding 250ppm of cal mag, then nutes, then tea, and trying to adjust the ph but the meter jumps all over the place, and yes its calibrated weekly. I would like the idea of just mixing nutes and feeding no ph, I did get a stable reading at 5.8, with everything minus the tea. I have noticed when adding the tea thats what I think causes the fluctation. Since Ro water has no Ph the ph is what is added. Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated.
 

nuggiespl

Member
I'm using the bio bizz nutes, I have searched deep and wide and think I'm in uncharted waters. Which is why I should have stuck with coco specfic nutes, but 3 week into flowering to late now.

I don't think this was a good idea. I tried it on my moms and didin't work out but nothing a flush won't fix. Unless it was from the dramtic shift in Ph that caused these ill effects hmm any thoughts. I was around 6.2-6.3, when i tried method above it was around 5.8 Thanks in advance
Thanks any help would be greatly appreciated
 

~fvk~

the Lion is going Guerrilla...
So when did your problems start? After raising your PH? I don't know the science behind Bio Bizz nutes, but unless they have some sort of chelating agent in them, I don't think anything above 6.0 is a good idea. For me, coco has always been sensitive in a -+.2 range from 5.8. A little of either or, a little too long, would start to bring out deficiencies. You know, Mg and Ca. I'm sure my plants play a role in it too but it still goes to show that unless you're nutes are made for it, you can't just dump whatever in the coco and walk away.

Mixing it with shit that has peat in it (I think?) seems to throw things out of wack unless lime is incorporated... This is why I think if you have the means to be attentive to your grow or go automated... Pure coco is the only way to go. Your PH meter doesn't sound very reliable either but organic nutes are a whole other animal IME... You're not feeding them everyday right? Or at least VERY lightly? You can't just flush away organics...

There's a guy on here though, Sam Slambam right? He might be able to help you.
 

nuggiespl

Member
I feed about every 3-4 days or when ever pots get light. Although this last time I went 5 days. I always water with 10% runoff hand water. I will post pictures tonight. U can check put my other post 2.4 k Hindu skunk sealed room for a few older pictures. I started out with water at5.8 but plants were pretty yellow. So I worked my way up to 6.2 thinking bout going 6.3-6.5 since I read this may be better for organic nutes. I think I read it's easier for plants to buffer down than up, medium or nutes or tea , thanks in advance
 

HeadyPete

Take Five...
Veteran
hey i grow in straight coco and BioBizz. You don't need peat or perlite or anything with coco. It is perfect all by itself.

Yes that ph swing will damage plants. .1 either way is fine but that jump of .5 or whatever is too much. You need to change ph gradually over time.

I adjust the ph of my water after mixing nutes to 5.7. Everything is green and lush. Consistency of ph over time is very important.

I use Grow, Bloom, Top Max, GH Floralicious Plus and grotek CalMax Plus.

Bio Grow is very low in P. I switched to nitric acid ph down from phosphoric acid down and I started getting P def in some veggers. Big purple black blotches like bruises in the leaves. I fed 1/2 gro 1/2 bloom and problem corrected.

Moms get fed about twice a month at half doses. Sometimes this is too much.

I feed veggers every 10 to 14 days but I water everything every two days.

The flowering plants are on a scaled back version of the BioBizz sched to avoid nuteburn. They get fed this sched every second watering. Be sure to give the minimum 1ml/L of grow throughout bloom as it is needed by the plant, plus the majority of potassium comes from the grow component and your plants will be deficient in K if that is left out. I find that some plants get a minor N def at the end of stretch, but I am okay with that.

Coco needs to be watered frequently. It is very hard to overwater coco due to it's natural structure and air/water ratio. Daily or hydro type drippers are best. Every 2nd day hand water works for me and works for the plants. Coco also needs cal mag supplement (especially with RO) as it will soak up and hold these minerals and gives up potassium and sodium that it was holding naturally.

I use tap water after bubbling out the chlorine and it is fine. RO is not a necessity usually.

I will be looking out for those pix to further see how you are doing.
 
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nuggiespl

Member
I've been adding cal mag plus to around 200-230 and still seeing mag def. Thinking bout bumping up to 280-300. My tap water is in the high 8's with a ppm of 390, which is y I use r/o water thougt bout mixing 50/50 r/o and tap
 

HeadyPete

Take Five...
Veteran
Either bump up the calmag or add the tap at first, not both. Get your ph for straight coco to 5.7-5.8. Give your nutes time to mix when you adjust ph. Test after 5 mins because if you test too early the ph won't be finished changing.
 

~fvk~

the Lion is going Guerrilla...
Pete gave you sound advice. The coco isn't going to hold enough Mg for 5 days because of the way coco exchanges the K held in it's cations continuously for Mg. It's like quicksand man... Especially with non coco specific nutes.

Tap water works great for me and at the rate of your feedings/waterings, plain tap water would probably do you good too. I use a RO/Tap mix and also have a similar quality water supply. When I'm at full strength/daily multiple feedings, I range from 175-110 PPM. Once daily or anything under, I just use straight tap. I've run into really weird micro toxicities using it straight more than once a day otherwise I wouldn't even bother with RO.

You need to start "plain" watering in between your feedings to offset how coco eats through Mg and bring your PH back into range. Watch your new growth like clockwork to find the rate at which they're eating... And straight serve them.
 

nuggiespl

Member
I actually have what i think is decent bud growth for 3 weeks and 4 days into flowering. You are right I do need to water in between feedings, what would cause the 4-5 day's between watering its normally like 2-3 days tops, and with plants this size I would think they would be thirsty, although this just recently happened, it will be intresting to see how the react over the next few days.

I found this feeding schedule which I have been using, I have been reducing each recommended dosage by about 1-2ml. So tell me what you think as far as growth for amount of time they have been flowering and recipe.I remember reading a post on uk420 by oldtimer, somewhere in there someone emailed biobizz and their response was add 40% of the rec dosage for coco. The recipe I found seems pretty strong. Thanks in advance. Thanks headypete what u said make sense, and also anyone who has helped me this seems like a pretty friendly place, and think I just found a new home.

Keepem green.

P.S I'm working on that last part, this being my first go, just happy still alive. lol












 
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~fvk~

the Lion is going Guerrilla...
Your transpiration rate has cut down because you either cut out or are in the process of weening them off the N. That and your strech is over... Still, you don't want to treat it like a total soil grow unless you're trying to establish roots, which is obviously the last of your worries. The drier coco is, the harder it is for the plant to uptake nutrients properly. If there's too much available to it and it's drunk itself dry before the nutes are used, you get burn. If there's too little or even just the right amount and it still gets too dry, the plant will give out symptoms that are similar to a plant in soil/peat that is rootbound. I think it's safe to say your mix probably acts as more of what the most of us coco growers are used to. Anyways, your plant looks pretty good and I think that you'll come out of flowering fine but there's a couple things you need to do some tweaking to. Good luck man.
 
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