First time grower using coco

[mared juwan]

tetra, I've used nothing but ph'd tap water so far because I just transplanted into the coco 12 hours ago. I plan to start the nutes next watering. Since this is really just an experimental grow to see if I can pull it off and I got the seeds for free, I'm going to go ahead and use the Monkey Juice even though everyone says it is crap.

 

[TetraHyC]

You got it mix. the nutes 1/4 strength

 

[TetraHyC]

Don't go over board on the nutes. I've been though that.

 

[TetraHyC]

House and Garden coco nutes are very good, you might want to try them next time. I've tried a lot of products. Never tried the monkey juice.I like mineral based nutes, not organic.

 

[mared juwan]

So if the bottle recommends 2 mL/L as it's least aggresive dose, go .5 mL/L? How fast should I step it up? And I've seen some people only feeding every other watering. Is this best in your experience?

 

[TetraHyC]

I like a lighter feed every watering. I have all hydro experinece, no soil at all. So I treat it like it was hydro.

 

[TetraHyC]

I go 50/50 perlite/coco I like to feed alot

 

[mared juwan]

How often do you water? When I transplanted my seedling 12 hours ago I watered them until 15% runoff and all that good stuff but the coco is just barely damp now. I don't want to overwater but I obviously don't want the opposite either. Will plants this small give me signs that their thirsty like curling leaves before there is critical damage?

 

[TetraHyC]

The plants really don't need food till you see the first true leaves,but getting some light nutes in the media won't hurt.

 

[TetraHyC]

Coco holds a lot of moisture, the sprouts should be ok with once a day watering.

The top may look dry but theres still moisturte down low. don't overwater or you might get a fungus problem.
do you have a small fan to blow air around them

 

[mared juwan]

Yeah, I got a tower fan which gets good circulation to the plants and the light. When I say it's barely damp, I'm sticking my finger pretty deep down in there. I know it's not a good idea to keep doing that, poking the roots and all. I'm sticking my finger in the sides of the bag where the roots can't possibly have reached yet. I'm going to get one of those soil moisture meters soon.

 

[TetraHyC]

Yea, give it a feel. so you can get a feel for it. You won't hurt the roots. Hands-on learning can't be gotten any other way.

 

[TetraHyC]

One of those cheap 3 way meters will help. Never used straight coco, always mixed between 25%-50% perlite

At 50/50 I can feed 15min every 2 hours (drip)

 

[mared juwan]

That how I'm looking at this whole project. Just a learning experience. Nothing worth doing can be done perfectly by a first-timer, right? Think about it. I hope to break that rule but won't hold my breath. I'm going to water again at 4pm right before my lights go out until 8 and give them their first little taste of nutes.

 

[TetraHyC]

You are going to do just fine man, Don't let the stumbling blocks get you down.
If you get in trouble, give a HELP shout out in the plant problem forum,you'll get lots of help quick.

 

[mared juwan]

+rep for encouragement, thanks.

 

[bkstylz]

Okay, so I got all my plants transplanted into the Coco last night and they seem fine so far. Breaking up the block was a real pain in the balls, I'm hoping they will have the bag kind at the hydro store. The block was just enough for the nine 2gallon bags so the plant that never opened it's leaves won't have a place to go if it does survive. It actually looks better like there is new green growth ready to burst out of that yellowish film. The following is my first attempt to upload a pic so bare with me. If it works I'll put up some more.
quote]


You got to peel the coco off of the blocks....it is real easy that way.

 

[TetraHyC]

Okay, so I got all my plants transplanted into the Coco last night and they seem fine so far. Breaking up the block was a real pain in the balls, I'm hoping they will have the bag kind at the hydro store. The block was just enough for the nine 2gallon bags so the plant that never opened it's leaves won't have a place to go if it does survive. It actually looks better like there is new green growth ready to burst out of that yellowish film. The following is my first attempt to upload a pic so bare with me. If it works I'll put up some more.
quote]


You got to peel the coco off of the blocks....it is real easy that way.

Don't you just throw the brick in a bucket with water ??

 

[UserFriendly]

you're supposed to soak the large bale in something like 7 gallons of water for 15 minutes. After that it will crumble apart easily.

 

[mared juwan]

Yeah, I just made it harder than it had to be because I used one of those plastic storage containers that has the swing open plastic flaps for a lid that interlock in the middle. If I had used a bigger tub it would have been way easier.