Coco roots…again ffs

twentyeight.threefive said:

My plants have been fed daily after like the first 7 days from sprout. Coco was soaked when the seeds were planted and never had an issue. Aerated nutrient solution introduces fresh oxygen every feed.

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yeah I’d of probably got away with it if I was using an air stone. You know I hadn’t even thought about using one since hand watering. I just used to think of the air stone more for moving nutes about so they don’t end up sitting at the top of the water lol . Might have to find where I put the dam thing and start using it. Or just order one cheap enough I suppose.

I don’t want to jinx it just yet but the one I watered quite a lot sooner than I usually would. Well noticed even more new fresh white roots poking through. Not going to check things until potting up, but fingers crossed man. Would be a good start to the new year for sure.

hard to say for sure what plants looking better as both very different phenos. One is more saliva leaning and the other indica. watered the one I been watering a lot soon yesterday, other will be watered when lights come on. probably gonna pot it up though and pot the other up tomorrow. still Under cfl but gonna switch the hps on when they get a second watering in the new pots. Then wont be long and can really see how they are doing root wise.

I tried to grow in straight coco and ran into problems. I switched up to Mother Earth coco with 30% perlite. HUGE difference in the outcome.

I support the dudes on here saying to mix perlite. It keeps the medium from compacting, ensures oxygen gets to the roots, and helps with proper water drainage so that you can water every day (which I only do once they get closer to flip).

Just my 2 cents.

Quintana said:

I tried to grow in straight coco and ran into problems. I switched up to Mother Earth coco with 30% perlite. HUGE difference in the outcome.

I support the dudes on here saying to mix perlite. It keeps the medium from compacting, ensures oxygen gets to the roots, and helps with proper water drainage so that you can water every day (which I only do once they get closer to flip).

Just my 2 cents.

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Oxygen gets to the roots just as well in straight coco. Dissolved oxygen is in the nutrient solution which gets to the roots every time you fertigate. I feed daily from before they are two weeks old from sprout.

I mix up a bucket of nutrient solution for DTW coco twice per day-the water itself sits for about 12 hours before I add the nutrients just to give it time to warm up to room temp because it's ice cold out of the tap. I used to use an airstone, but not anymore, and I notice zero difference in growth. I do mix it up extremely well by hand just prior to feeding though. I also much prefer 100% coco to coco/perlite, and just an FYI...some bags of coco/perlite have failed cadmium testing in state tests. I'm not sure about the brands and I can't be sure it's the perlite that's causing it-just as likely the cadmium is being added during the processing of the coco on site. I think the biggest reason people have issues with coco during the seedling stage is that they are underfeeding-try .8 EC to start, water to runoff every other day for 10 days, then switch to daily and see how it goes. I like to give a bit of wet/dry cycle at first to encourage root growth, but I see lots of people water to runoff from day 1 with no issues.

Rurumo said:

I like to give a bit of wet/dry cycle at first to encourage root growth, but I see lots of people water to runoff from day 1 with no issues.

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This is exactly how I started my current run. Although I started a little lower at 0.4 EC from sprout. They were quickly brought up to 0.6-0.8 EC though.

Quintana said:

I tried to grow in straight coco and ran into problems. I switched up to Mother Earth coco with 30% perlite. HUGE difference in the outcome.

I support the dudes on here saying to mix perlite. It keeps the medium from compacting, ensures oxygen gets to the roots, and helps with proper water drainage so that you can water every day (which I only do once they get closer to flip).

Just my 2 cents.

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Using 100% Coco with perlite at the bottom for hempy bucket...Coco is at it's most oxygenated when it's saturated, that's the difference in soil and Coco. Soil needs dry periods, Coco will develop many problems if left dried out.

Quintana said:

I tried to grow in straight coco and ran into problems. I switched up to Mother Earth coco with 30% perlite. HUGE difference in the outcome.

I support the dudes on here saying to mix perlite. It keeps the medium from compacting, ensures oxygen gets to the roots, and helps with proper water drainage so that you can water every day (which I only do once they get closer to flip).

Just my 2 cents.

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I agree with this namely for the seedling clone stage, final pot size, feed regime etc can make it beneficial to add perlite or not its down to the individual scenario.

If i was hand feeding I wouldn't add perlite after the 1st stages with automation I'd want perlite.

inth3shadowz said:

Using 100% Coco with perlite at the bottom for hempy bucket...Coco is at it's most oxygenated when it's saturated, that's the difference in soil and Coco. Soil needs dry periods, Coco will develop many problems if left dried out.

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Yeah, I am a compulsive waterer. Coco is ideal for my lifestyle. Ha!

twentyeight.threefive said:

Oxygen gets to the roots just as well in straight coco. Dissolved oxygen is in the nutrient solution which gets to the roots every time you fertigate. I feed daily from before they are two weeks old from sprout.

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Interesting, not quite sure what I must have been doing wrong then. The only thing I changed up between my grows was adding the perlite to my coco mix.

ninja1 said:

yeah I’d of probably got away with it if I was using an air stone. You know I hadn’t even thought about using one since hand watering. I just used to think of the air stone more for moving nutes about so they don’t end up sitting at the top of the water lol .

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The nute solution will be maximally aerated just sitting there.

Quintana said:

Interesting, not quite sure what I must have been doing wrong then. The only thing I changed up between my grows was adding the perlite to my coco mix.

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That's implying that perlite didn't change the water/air ratio he's talking pish as usual, it does that's a fact.

Star Dog said:

If i was hand feeding I wouldn't add perlite after the 1st stages with automation I'd want perlite.

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This is what I’ve found aswell from last run.

automating the feeding seems to compact The coco down quite a lot and even more so when using a smaller pot of coco when the roots are dense, so this time I’ve added around 30% perlite for quicker drainage but I’m also going to increase from 2G (8L) to 3G (11L) for flowering






personally I don’t aerate my nutrient solution in my reservoir but I do have a pump circulating the nutrients 24h a day with the pump sat on the bottom of the res pumping vertically up towards the lid of the reservoir.

I use 100% coco, because the perlite is unnecessary. Have a big bag of #4 and #8 perlite. Always used perlite until I saw that info and have been running some with all coco and some with 70/30 coco/perlite. This run I just used coco, because the perlite doesn’t make a difference. I honestly wanted to use it to use it up, but didn’t see the point. I throw seedlings in the final pot right after they get up out of a cube, feed them daily to runoff, keep the top of the pot moist, and feed full strength Jack’s/PowerS/Tribus from the jump. I’m running my first diary on here. No overwatering or burning. Plants will take off.

I’m really appreciating this thread, I plan on switching to coco next cycle after I redo my room. Spending way to much money on soil not being near a hydro store and having to get it on Amazon $35/1.5cuft of roots original. Ain’t but 3 5 gallon pots. I can get a brick of coco that expands to the same for $10 and I did hydro before so I know masterblend or jacks is cheap too.

Star Dog said:

That's implying that perlite didn't change the water/air ratio he's talking pish as usual, it does that's a fact.

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The water/air improvement was pretty much what I had concluded. The medium didn’t seem as compact either and I noticed more uniform root development. I just get perlite now as a standard because it works for my setup.

I was pressing down my coco super hard, absolutely no idea why. With that if I didn’t water when it was bone dry I’d have over watered plants. my own fault for pushing it down and fucking it’s ability to hold oxygen. I’d get crops down but veg was so slow. Mates cuttings came and potted up and saw lose fluffy coco and worked out what I’d been doing wrong.

fast forward now, I watered daily from day 1 and lost a plant due to over watering. Have seen others say it’s possible when the roots aren’t established. Anyway I think that knocked me a little back into my old way of treating coco. Under cfl I would see decent roots as coco was staying wet for longer. Switch to hps and suddenly the roots wasn’t looking as good. Which is why I thought gotta be letting them get a little too dry.

anyway I potted one up today, other I’ll do when i wake up. These two still have only been under cfl but I been watering them every other day. That’s under cfl with no fans on. if I did no doubt it’ll be daily. now I know I ain’t under hps yet but the roots look better than last time I potted up. All I’ve been doing is watering sooner which I’m gonna of course do when I put the hps on next watering.



Now these aren’t the greatest looking roots I’d admit but hear me out. They look better than the last time I potted up. Last time I was watering the pots a lot lighter. seeing these roots also reminded me when I potted up last time I let the pots get light because I wanted to pot everything up at the same time, when I potted up the roots actually looked a little like the way they’d gone in the bigger pot where I wasn’t sure. So sorta confirms my mistake of letting things get to light.

anyway potted up one other can get done when I wake up. Think this time they are in one litres. I’ll leave em under cfl for now but move to hps next watering. only the 250w as probably won’t even finish these two.

Just switched on the hps and outtake fan. Should see them needing a watering sooner now. Will be checking the roots when I next pot up. probably give em another week in these pots then see how the roots are looking. All I’m doing is watering sooner than I have been in the past. Plants and roots certainly looked happier for that.

ninja1 said:

Just switched on the hps and outtake fan. Should see them needing a watering sooner now.

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They need to be fed daily.

the plant in the first photo I was watering a lot heavier than the other. The other I still wasn’t letting get as light as when I had those roots turn poor looking.
the plant I have been watering with the pot heavier has worse looking roots even though the plant itself looks fine.
Now the one I let get a bit lighter I’ve been watering and the roots are looking lovely and the plant is huge. It’s drinking daily and really I need to pot it up but just been tired from work.

I am gonna let the poorer roots looking plant get bit lighter in weight as clearly it’s worked for the plant now drinking daily. That girl I will stop being lazy it’s and pot up today/tonight into a 6litre.