how often should i feed/water my plants in coco?

[joeparak]

my first time growing in coco,i was wondering if i have to feed my seedlings from week one or is it to early?what i got is an all purpose 18-18-18 Yara Kristalon Green water soluble nute normally mixed 1tsp in a liter of water
and an other thing im growing Blueberry Bliss auto-fems will the seeds made by my plant turn out to be all fem and on the same gen-clock as the mother plant?or will they be photoperiodic?
ps:its the only one im planning to grow and ive got the seeds from some friend who went to Netherlands tho i live in iran n there is no seed bank/providers around here so taking seeds from my buds will be kind my only option

 

[coreywebster]

Funny you mention that Yara, I have been looking through all there range the last few days. Not sure 18-18-18 is the best ratio but regardless of that, I don't think they contain any Calcium or Magnesium. Which I believe you have to add to a separate tank. Or in your case mix it separately and add it to the mix before watering.

You can water coco either every day or let it dry out and water it when that occurs. But you don't want to be feeding seedlings early, the Cotyledons or seed leafs act as food for the plant, when they yellow off you can start to feed a light dose. Go very light to be safe and keep an eye on them, increase if they start to pale. Just be gentle with them, less is more.

Cant answer the question on seeds though.

 

[Creature1969]

I'm using Canna nutes and water/feed daily in 4 gallon buckets. I've found this to work best. I can skip a day or 2 if need be but I can see a difference in my plants when I do.
I also have a 1 gallon experiment going that needs water/feed 2x/day to keep her from yellowing.
I feed a super light dose of rhizotonic to seedlings from sprout in coco. Coco has no nutes, your water might enough for the 1st week or 2, I don't leave mine to chance.

Auto fems won't make seeds on their own. If one hermie's and pollinates itself or another, you end up with more auto fem seeds. Terisias mist or colloidal silver spray will force a female to produce male flowers/pollen. You don't want to smoke a sprayed plant.

 

[legalcanada]

i use lucas formula (7g Maxibloom per gallon) somettimes add 1g epsom and 1tbsp molasses and feed every watering. As seedlings i started 1/3 strength and worked up, haven't had any burn

 

[joeparak]

Funny you mention that Yara, I have been looking through all there range the last few days. Not sure 18-18-18 is the best ratio but regardless of that, I don't think they contain any Calcium or Magnesium. Which I believe you have to add to a separate tank. Or in your case mix it separately and add it to the mix before watering.

You can water coco either every day or let it dry out and water it when that occurs. But you don't want to be feeding seedlings early, the Cotyledons or seed leafs act as food for the plant, when they yellow off you can start to feed a light dose. Go very light to be safe and keep an eye on them, increase if they start to pale. Just be gentle with them, less is more.

Cant answer the question on seeds though.

i know its not either a good or complete nute ratio its the best i could get tho i says on the bag that it has some magnesium microelements..whatever that is!
could i mix the cal-mag mix and the nutes in the same bottle and use it tho?
so..no nutes till the round leaves drop/dry of right?

 

[coreywebster]

i know its not either a good or complete nute ratio its the best i could get tho i says on the bag that it has some magnesium microelements..whatever that is!
could i mix the cal-mag mix and the nutes in the same bottle and use it tho?
so..no nutes till the round leaves drop/dry of right?

Yes you can add the cal/mag to the water you will be feeding with, either before and stir or after you add your yara and stir well between adding either then use the whole mix to feed. If it goes cloudy at all then try adding the cal/mag to a small amount of water first then pouring that diluted mix in with your main feed.
You can give them feedings before those leaves drop but when they yellow is a good sign you can give them a light feed without taking the risk of giving them nutrient burn.

 

[joeparak]

Yes you can add the cal/mag to the water you will be feeding with, either before and stir or after you add your yara and stir well between adding either then use the whole mix to feed. If it goes cloudy at all then try adding the cal/mag to a small amount of water first then pouring that diluted mix in with your main feed.
You can give them feedings before those leaves drop but when they yellow is a good sign you can give them a light feed without taking the risk of giving them nutrient burn.

my cal/mag ratio reads 22% CaO 2%MgO 10% N 0.5% Fe anx 5% L free amino acids now im feeding it the yara thing as well and i wanted to know if the N in the cal/mag adds up and lead to N tox or is it safe to use?

 

[coreywebster]

my cal/mag ratio reads 22% CaO 2%MgO 10% N 0.5% Fe anx 5% L free amino acids now im feeding it the yara thing as well and i wanted to know if the N in the cal/mag adds up and lead to N tox or is it safe to use?

Yeah it will add to it, though I'm not sure how it adds up in this case. You will have calcium in your water supply though so its worth checking how much if you can find that out online. You can also use lime for calcium and magnesium. I'm not 100% on if that's possible with coco.

I will give @im4satori a shout out, far more knowledgeable on nutrients than I am.

 

[Colanoscopy]

Yeah it will add to it, though I'm not sure how it adds up in this case. You will have calcium in your water supply though so its worth checking how much if you can find that out online. You can also use lime for calcium and magnesium. I'm not 100% on if that's possible with coco.

I will give @im4satori a shout out, far more knowledgeable on nutrients than I am.

See loads of people have issues with PH when they use lime in coco. Wouldn't want to chance it personally.

 

[im4satori]

my first time growing in coco,i was wondering if i have to feed my seedlings from week one or is it to early?what i got is an all purpose 18-18-18 Yara Kristalon Green water soluble nute normally mixed 1tsp in a liter of water
and an other thing im growing Blueberry Bliss auto-fems will the seeds made by my plant turn out to be all fem and on the same gen-clock as the mother plant?or will they be photoperiodic?
ps:its the only one im planning to grow and ive got the seeds from some friend who went to Netherlands tho i live in iran n there is no seed bank/providers around here so taking seeds from my buds will be kind my only option

joe
18-18-18 is very hot fertilizer... measuring it doesn't tell much
youll need to weigh your dry fertilizers in grams to understand what your feeding

do you have a scale that can measure 1 gram with accuracy? a basic kitchen scale wont do this

is the product your describing as calmag (22% calcium & 2%magnesium %10% N) is it liquid ? if its not liquid are you for sure its water soluble?

personal I wouldn't use lime in coco... it might be possible im not sure but I wouldn't even try
if you cant source whats required for hydro youd be better off just growing in soil

looking at your fertilizer it would work well for soil but for hydro its going to be more difficult
the 18-18-18 already has a large portion of N by itself so the "calmag" as you describe it will add more N

do you have any other fertilizers available to you..perhaps something water soluble with a good bit of K would be nice
perhaps a bloom booster of some sort?

 

[im4satori]

can you provide a picture of the label showing the % amounts listed in the 18-18-18
to make sure its complete...meaning it contains all the essential elements required at some level

 

[coreywebster]

http://www.yara.co.uk/crop-nutrition/fertiliser/yaratera/01c4-yaratera-kristalon-green-lb/
Nutrient Composition

• N18%
  • Nitrate - N9.8%
  • Ammoniacal - N8.2%
• P2O518%
• K2O18%
• B0.05%
• Cu0.02%
• Fe0.14%
• Mn0.08%
• Mo0.008%
• Zn0.05%
• Chloride Free
• Form: Powder

I happen to have their webpage saved. All their soluble range is lacking Ca and Mg by the looks of it. Possible if he can get the one he has he can also get the calcium they sell too ment for tank B. But been in Iran, may be more difficult.
Sorry to butt in. Just figured I had the info at hand.

 

[im4satori]

for ph adjusting

certainly you have battery acid (sulfuric acid) available to you which can be used as ph down
in this case potassium silicate would work for both K and ph up if that's whats required

whats the starting ph of the source water?

 

[im4satori]

http://www.yara.co.uk/crop-nutrition/fertiliser/yaratera/01c4-yaratera-kristalon-green-lb/
Nutrient Composition

• N18%
  • Nitrate - N9.8%
  • Ammoniacal - N8.2%
• P2O518%
• K2O18%
• B0.05%
• Cu0.02%
• Fe0.14%
• Mn0.08%
• Mo0.008%
• Zn0.05%
• Chloride Free
• Form: Powder

I happen to have their webpage saved. All their soluble range is lacking Ca and Mg by the looks of it. Possible if he can get the one he has he can also get the calcium they sell too ment for tank B. But been in Iran, may be more difficult.
Sorry to butt in. Just figured I had the info at hand.

well at least hes got the micros in there
it could work provided the "calmag product" hes got is water soluble and he can find a bloom booster with K

 

[im4satori]

so here are some options for K or potassium

youll want a water soluble fertilizer where the 3 numbers for npk have a low N number and a high K number

for example;

0-4-11
or
1-6-13

or source anyone of these

potassium sulfate
mono potassium phosphate
potassium magnesium sulfate
potassium silicate
potassium chloride (least preferable)

 

[joeparak]

joe
18-18-18 is very hot fertilizer... measuring it doesn't tell much
youll need to weigh your dry fertilizers in grams to understand what your feeding

do you have a scale that can measure 1 gram with accuracy? a basic kitchen scale wont do this

is the product your describing as calmag (22% calcium & 2%magnesium %10% N) is it liquid ? if its not liquid are you for sure its water soluble?

personal I wouldn't use lime in coco... it might be possible im not sure but I wouldn't even try
if you cant source whats required for hydro youd be better off just growing in soil

looking at your fertilizer it would work well for soil but for hydro its going to be more difficult
the 18-18-18 already has a large portion of N by itself so the "calmag" as you describe it will add more N

do you have any other fertilizers available to you..perhaps something water soluble with a good bit of K would be nice
perhaps a bloom booster of some sort?

its liquid and water soluble tho its not really cal mag tho but it was the best i could get all other "cal mag" mixes got some nitrogen in them someone told me i could get an all-calcium liquid to use every other feeding
the other powder nute i got is 2 11 36 npk which is kinda close to bloom boosters line i guess?

 

[im4satori]

assuming your calmag is water soluble
per gallon
full strength mix
1.5 grams yara 18-18-18
1.5 grams calmag
1.5 grams Epsom salt

and one of these options

potassium sulfate 0.5grams
mono potassium phosphate 0.75 grams
potassium magnesium sulfate (let me know if you get it and I will do the math)
potassium silicate 0.75 grams (but this is going to push your ph way up)

 

[im4satori]

its liquid and water soluble tho its not really cal mag tho but it was the best i could get all other "cal mag" mixes got some nitrogen in them someone told me i could get an all-calcium liquid to use every other feeding
the other powder nute i got is 2 11 36 npk which is kinda close to bloom boosters line i guess?

that might work then

let me check it

 

[im4satori]

is there anything else listed in the bloom booster 2-11-26 other than npk

does it have calcium or magnesium?

 

[joeparak]

can you provide a picture of the label showing the % amounts listed in the 18-18-18
to make sure its complete...meaning it contains all the essential elements required at some level

tbh its all in farsi so..lol welcome to the sandslides its got 18 18 18 npk+2% MgO and some micro elements like Br Cu Zn Mn and Fe