First time grower with coco and dynagro

Hello, I’m a first time grower in coco.

ive been using dynagro pro foliage at 2ml per gallon and calmag at 2ml per gallon, in RO water. My guess is that it’s a magnesium deficiency, but I tried adding epsom salt with no change and I’m afraid to just keep trying things. Ph is always 5.8-6.0. Temps are 77-78 at 60 percent humidity. I feed once daily to runoff. I’m using HLG quantum boards at 50 percent brightness, at about 27" from plant. I had it at 24" but when the leaf curling started happening, i Backed it off in case it was light stress. What does it look like the problem is? If there any more questions I can answer to help get an answer, feel free to ask. Thanks.

Feeding every day? I would try feeding every other time or every 3rd time. They shouldn't be dry in one day are they?

Bluemonkeys1991 said:

Hello, I’m a first time grower in coco.

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A must read for any coco grower. You should get a good idea of your current, and future issues after reading this.

TintEastwood said:

A must read for any coco grower. You should get a good idea of your current, and future issues after reading this.

Watering Coco - How to Water Cannabis Plants in Coco Coir - Coco For Cannabis

Coco Watering Guide. How to water cannabis in coco for maximum growth. Includes guidelines for coco watering frequency and a coco watering schedule.

www.cocoforcannabis.com

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So according to this, my once daily is probably too little feeding than. I’m in 3 gal containers and it takes at least a half gallon to get runoff. I was just following a schedule that says feed once daily in veg and 3 times daily in flower, but that actually makes the comparison I often see between coco/perlite and hydro, make a lot more sense.

I’m in 18/6, so I will try feeding 7 hours after lights on as well as at lights on to see if that improves conditions. so am I correct in thinking that underwatering could cause mag deficiencies, not bc the food is unbalanced but because there is just not available food for the roots to feed on?

Overwatered

hmm. It seems I’m getting mixed opinions. But according to that guide, if a five gallon container is taking more than a quart for runoff, than its getting too dry and I’m having to feed at least a half gallon to get runoff, in a 3 gallon container. The plant does look it’s worse towards the end of its light cycle, so that leads me to believe it could have to do with not enough water. Also, it usually looks it’s best a few hours after watering.

That coco for cannabis guide also said that letting the coco get too dry can lead to burn when feeding synthetic nutrients, and its starting to get burn on the tips of a few of the leaves, and I’m only feeding between 0.4 EC - 0.5 EC, which seems fairly low in comparison, I wouldn’t think enough to cause nute burn from just the nutes themselves tho. I could also be completely wrong in all these assumptions, while I have a science background, I’ve never grown plants before in my entire life.

I dont listen to any of that and water a little at a time until roots are established then I'll do a full soak when they are big and growing nice. I would always get overwatering and "wet feet" if I soaked the whole pot too early especially just using straight coco. I think the watering all the time is more like 4+ times a day so oxygen is replaced but once or twice a day isn't enough until roots are established. I grow in 2 gal and once you have a large root system you can't overwater

Bluemonkeys1991 said:

So according to this, my once daily is probably too little feeding than. I’m in 3 gal containers and it takes at least a half gallon to get runoff. I was just following a schedule that says feed once daily in veg and 3 times daily in flower, but that actually makes the comparison I often see between coco/perlite and hydro, make a lot more sense.

I’m in 18/6, so I will try feeding 7 hours after lights on as well as at lights on to see if that improves conditions. so am I correct in thinking that underwatering could cause mag deficiencies, not bc the food is unbalanced but because there is just not available food for the roots to feed on?

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What Gemtree said.


From a coco master - Post #31


...."with that said, multifeeds only work with A. an undersized rootbound pot and B. a thriving and thick root mass...if you throw and under developed root system in too big of a pot and try it , its a recipe for disaster...roots need dry cycles to thrive and expand...once root bound is when you want to start multifeeding...during early veg I use a wet and dry cycle and only start muti feeds in the final container...I do this to encourage dense roots mass as the dry cycle make the roots branch out in search of water...keeping them wet early on will not and will retard root growth ..once in final containers I start 2x a day and bump up as necessary to keep the medium wet...by flip im running 6x a day...this is with pure coco..if cut with enough perlite, once could multifeed from the jump with similar results"


Take a peek at...
DJM Cloning college - Post #41

Big difference between what a media can hold and what it should be holding for what you are doing.


Young plant need to root out. Coco should not dry down as the saying goes but lets not throw the baby out with the bath water...

With coco or any inert media like grodans or coco cubes the mindset is percentages of saturation. Watering and feeding are 2 different things really anyway


If your media takes 5 days to go from 100% saturation to 20% saturation you should be watering once week. As the roots grow more water will be taken in by the plant reducing dry down time.

You also want to feed as much as possible...without over watering, make your feed solutions with a higher EC if you have to water less within a 7 day period

TintEastwood said:

What Gemtree said.


From a coco master - Post #31

Coco Tree's

I think your yields speak for themselves. High RH while keeping rot at bay with proper air circulation is the key to larger yields. There is just too much evidence on the web to suggest otherwise...if you look for it as opposed to following the mantra that low RH is a mandatory. Heath...

www.icmag.com

...."with that said, multifeeds only work with A. an undersized rootbound pot and B. a thriving and thick root mass...if you throw and under developed root system in too big of a pot and try it , its a recipe for disaster...roots need dry cycles to thrive and expand...once root bound is when you want to start multifeeding...during early veg I use a wet and dry cycle and only start muti feeds in the final container...I do this to encourage dense roots mass as the dry cycle make the roots branch out in search of water...keeping them wet early on will not and will retard root growth ..once in final containers I start 2x a day and bump up as necessary to keep the medium wet...by flip im running 6x a day...this is with pure coco..if cut with enough perlite, once could multifeed from the jump with similar results"


Take a peek at...
DJM Cloning college - Post #41

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I’ve got roots that are coming out the holes of the pot on all sides, I would assume that means it has an established root mass, correct?

I doubt you have nute burn its probably just lockout from overwatering. Let them dry out a couple days till the coco is still a bit darker under the surface and feels mostly dry. I let them get bone dry all the time and nothing happens it can just cause some salt to build up but nothing a flush to runoff wont handle. Not the end of the world if they get real dry.

iShatterBladderz said:

I’ve got roots coming out of the pot on all sides. They were moved from 1 gallons to 3 gallons a couple weeks ago, and then topped about a week later. nearly all the growth pictured has occurred since being topped. what is a good indicator of an established root mass? I just figured if they’re big enough to be coming out of the pot all around that it is well established. Is there a better, more accurate metric to use?

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I go by how fast growth starts to pick up. They start growing inches a day once roots are established them coming out the bottom isn't a good indicator since they grow out the holes real quick.

This pot can go days without nutes. (fertigation)


This pot needs (must) have nutes multiple times daily.

So....when I repot the one below into a 2 or 3 gallon fabric - I can very easily overwater the biatch and have it stall out. (because the root mass is surrounded by constantly soaked coco.) Then it will start looking like what you have....resulting in an extra week for recovoery (dry out). Just sayin, not hatin.

Also - This solo is an extreme example - I left this in the solo way too long, but it does make the point. The same applies to any pot size.


80f - 60% - fertigation water 78f

TintEastwood said:

This pot can go days without nutes. (fertigation)
View attachment 4445060

This pot needs (must) have nutes multiple times daily.
View attachment 4445059

80f - 60% - fertigation water 78f

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Ah, my roommates plants look more like that bottom one. Mine are covering the sides of the medium, but they stick out of it rather than wrap around themselves like that on the outside. he’s growing in coco in the same size pots as well, with plants roughly the same age. We just have opposite work schedules so its rare i ever get to actually talk to him or ask for his help. Could cold water have a negative impact? I use an aquarium heater to bring it up to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, but I thought he had told me to keep it under 72 degrees. I might be wrong there though.

iShatterBladderz said:

I’ve got roots that are coming out the holes of the pot on all sides, I would assume that means it has an established root mass, correct?

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This was me btw. Sorry Chris if you see this, you were logged in on my iPad still.

Bluemonkeys1991 said:

Ah, my roommates plants look more like that bottom one. Mine are covering the sides of the medium, but they stick out of it rather than wrap around themselves like that on the outside. he’s growing in coco in the same size pots as well, with plants roughly the same age. We just have opposite work schedules so its rare i ever get to actually talk to him or ask for his help. Could cold water have a negative impact? I use an aquarium heater to bring it up to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, but I thought he had told me to keep it under 72 degrees. I might be wrong there though.

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It does hold more O2 at lower temps, but our coco pull in most O2 from the surrounding air via fertigation. Roots develop better/faster with warmer temps. Too warm could cause growth of bad kim-chi, keep it clean.

I'm still learning all the time, from - coco for cannabis - DJM - @Renfro - @diggs99 - and the school of hard knocks!

TintEastwood said:

It does hold more O2 at lower temps, but our coco pull in most O2 from the surrounding air via fertigation. Roots develop better/faster with warmer temps. Too warm could cause growth of bad kim-chi, keep it clean.

I'm still learning all the time, from - coco for cannabis - DJM - @Renfro - @diggs99 - and the school of hard knocks!

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Yeah, I’m always trying to read more information, but I always run into so much conflicting information it can be hard to decipher without having the “trial and error” experience to know what’s correct. My roommate watches a lot of The Dude Grow show, ive been watching a couple episodes here and there, and it seems a lot of good info is on there. I also use recharge, I don’t know if that makes bad growth less of a problem or not.

Is there a certain temperature where the risk of bad growth outweighs the benefit of the warmer water?

Never used coco but it resembles soil to me, meaning it looks like it's remaining saturated with water when it should be allowed to dry out. roots need to be exposed to oxygen in a wet/dry cycle. dwc pumps water full of air bubbles to provide oxygen. other hydro methods allow air to the roots in different ways, like ebb/flow. good luck.

TintEastwood said:

It does hold more O2 at lower temps, but our coco pull in most O2 from the surrounding air via fertigation. Roots develop better/faster with warmer temps. Too warm could cause growth of bad kim-chi, keep it clean.

I'm still learning all the time, from - coco for cannabis - DJM - @Renfro - @diggs99 - and the school of hard knocks!

Click to expand...

One thing that does confuse me though, is that I’ve been watering daily since not long after sprout, and they’ve been in their 3 gallon containers for about two weeks now. Would it have taken a week and half after transplant to start drooping? I haven’t changed frequency of watering at all. My mix is 30% perlite, I don’t think I’ve mentioned that yet.

Yea cause each time you water it gets new oxygen and perks up then the roots are suffocating after it uses it all up. They don't actually look that bad Ive had them really droopy with probable root rot starting. You can actually see the overwatering in the leaves its all those wrinkles by the leaf veins. Its like when you're in the tub too long and your skin gets wrinkly. The folded edges are it trying to transpire more water out and the taco leaves and yellow is mag. Let them dry out and give em some mag if needed and you're good to go.