stopping coco compacting during flowering...

[Dropped Cat]

I lost many seeds trying to germinate in coco, Cheese Dog by Connoisseur.

Go figure. I since use peat pucks or some such with 100%
germination.

Good thread

 

[Top.Shelf]

Enzymes shelf life is something to consider when buying zymes. Not to say they don't work they do, if they are not inert.

This is a really good page on zymes and coco growing/ growing in general. Also goes into why it's good practice to use a 70/30 mix of coco/perlite. Really good source of info, still digesting it all myself.

http://www.manicbotanix.com/hydroponic-grow-guide/coco-growing.html

With that being said, I personally have mainly used pure coco but notice it does compact by the time your mid way through bloom. Gonna try a side by side next grow of coco/ perlite and pure coco. I used to use the coco perlite mix with fresh clones so the coco would dry out quicker and they'd send roots out searching for nutes. Worked well iirc....

 

[noyd666]

big bucket needed.

 

[siftedunity]

I did but no longer do as i found little impact over the two crops i used them. I also use fresh coco every time. New clone goes into a 1 gal pot that lives its entire life in start to finish. You can either just stick a bare cutting in with gel (i used powder but like Technaflora gel better) or whatever or even nothing and it will root. You can hydrate the coco with nutrient solution or plain water for rooting clones i havent noticed much difference except if you use solution the clones never yellow at all so i do that now...

Of note you can use tiny containers like the ones you dip fries into ketchup in just poke holes. Or those trays that hold rapid rooters you can put coco in those and when the clone roots the roots hold it together and you can pull it right out no problem!

I preffer cloning with rapid rooters. Also same with popping seeds now i like them alot and have great results. Beans sometimes cost me alot, sometimes just a thank you either way i hate to waste, especially tickets to the lotto know what im sayin? So i dont risk a og seed wont like germ in coco and use the rooters. I use the rooters for the tougher to root ones that throw me attitude. My kali mist amd a couple others are happy to root in anything.

I used rockwool for quite a while. My shop said maybe no more rapid rooters coming here not to happy about that. Anyone else have plugs they like for seeds and cuts? Not rockwool... i said i wont use it again unless it was flock. I found perforated with a fork from many sides it performs better but still hate it. Rapid rooters are ready to go out of the pack. Pricy but better than watching seedlings die from dampening off in coco... hapened with a wack of ogs i tried and said ill try plugs.

Ill use either but as stated i spend a little more for the ease and surity of plugs but good rooters love rooting in coco.

I could use perlite a buddy does that. Maybe ill fool around with grow rocks and a few other products. Though i havent ysed my new canna bricks just my old coco so maybe ill try some spares in that see how it works the stuff im using now is a mix of fibre, chunk and flake i bet the canna flake mught work better ha!

those rapid rooters are shit, im sorry to say it man and I don't mean it offensively. you hve been so helpful in my thread : / when cloning ive done so many side by sides, like 150 cuttings and split them up into different control tests and the rapid rooters were always the worst. im surprised why so many people use them, and when they do root in them, the root system never seems that strong or explosive. the roots are really delicate.
rock wool and coco pucks are the best ones ive found. id say rockwool out performs the pucks for root hairs and explosive growth. sorry man I dnt mean to sound like a know it all but ive got cloning down, I get 100% after 7 to 10 days with any strain, sometimes 5 days. they are rooted looking the same as the day they came off the mother which is what I strive for. and damping off is a grower error. they are either too wet, too cold or both. id say, be more persistent with coco or rockwool. they are both so much better than those brown sponges. do loads of side by sides and perfect a technique. guess some people may not be anal enough to do all that though.

with some og seeds, they can be a pain, if I do the usual germinating in moist kitchen paper they don't germ as well. I find that they need to be placed in only slightly moist coco. and rather than bury them, just sprinkle like a lil bit on top of them so that you can still see the seed through the fragments of coco. thats how it works for me anyway. they are delicate compered to others at times. I had it with a lot of wifi seeds, they just wouldn't sprout. then when I did the other technique I was getting 100%

sorry for the rant.

 

[Weeded1s]

Rapid rooters hold moisture for longer so i think it just really depends on how often you want to check in on them. Coco plugs dry out to quick for my likeings.

 

[siftedunity]

Rapid rooters hold moisture for longer so i think it just really depends on how often you want to check in on them. Coco plugs dry out to quick for my likeings.

if they dry out too quick then you have not hydrated them enough. the thing with the pucks is that it takes a few hours for them to stop absorbing water. but ive used loads of different rooting mediums, I think they all dry out the same kinda rate. given that the temps etc are the same.
and its actually the drying out that encourages he roots to push out and follow the moisture.

 

[darthcultivator]

shoukdnt happen if you keep your coco wet. the inly time i ever had issues like this are when i let it dry out too far.

 

[glow]

I also am unable to conduct what i consider abuse to plants. Stabbing, striking (i know sativa growers that do thos to simulate tropical storms) or any of the rest of it. I know a guy who "gives them a tropical storm before flower" which consists of a air mover, a weird whip he made and a pressurized hoze he hooks up to the sink. I was like wtf where did you get this hes like "i watched a documentary about tropical countries and they showed a wild weedplant getting beat up by a storm" and that gave him the idea to fuck with his plants.

The things growes do sometimes its so funny

It's called MIS (Mechanically Induced Stress) in the scientific community or wind induced stress is call thermogenesis. Basically plant stem elongation (stretch) can be very effectively reduced through applying MIS. Works on the growth stress response principle where a plant either directs it energy towards growth or defense so trade offs in growth are made if a plant is forced to induce the stress response . Many growers have used it to good effect for many years. Works a treat. For example, moving high amounts of air through the crop during the stretch cycle (not cyclone amounts but enough to buffet the plants) reduces stretch. Google the research sometime. You'll find that it is recommended by many researchers to reduce stem elongation. You'll also find loads of very good studies that shows it significantly can reduce stem elongation. Your friend sounds like he's taking it a tad too far though

 

[glow]

He dosent do it to reduce stretch he does it to "simulate a tsunami" i laughed my ass off. Some people still think stressing plants makes them somehiw produce better.

But you are right hes pretty lit and his stuff is probably a little potent for him. He grows good dope but the beatings arent the reason. He just has some very potent genetics. Lol the whip is my favorite. I wish i could post the video of him drunk with a airhorn and his whip thing. Its fucked up to say the least but his face is visible the whole time... i was like why are you screaming at it and blowing a airhorn a foot away from it before i laughed so hard i cried for about 5 minutes i couldn't breath. Then came the air mover and the hoze i was like dude you are spraying water everywhere hes like it will evaporate... sure my area is dry but wow.

Hes not the brightest guy i know

Lol yeah he sounds like he's a bit of a fruit

 

[abuldur]

Blumats would reduce compacting but they are rather inconvenient.

 

[doob]

I have spent days/weeks messing with blumats, and I have better results from hand watering daily once haha. Damn things, frustrating fuckers.

I lost many seeds trying to germinate in coco, Cheese Dog by Connoisseur.

Go figure. I since use peat pucks or some such with 100%
germination.

Good thread

I soak seeds for 24 hours in plain tap water with rhizotonic in. Plant directly in pre soaked coco (plain tap and rhizo again) 10mm deep, 100% success rate with over 60 seeds from different breeders since i have used coco, so perhaps it was the seeds or method/environment?