Don't let the coco dry out, not even a little bit. The more you water, the better. You physically can't overwater as long as you have drainage. Read this if interested (originally posted on another site, under the username Mojo):
mojo's Basic Coco Grow Guide
I wrote this one night on another shore, after getting so frustrated at answering the same questions and arguing about watering for the billionth time. I stand by every word of it.
All of the following is my opinion based on experience. None of what comes after this is as important as the individual grower. I'm not going to get into any "become one with the ganja" bullshit. But you have to be in tune with the plants. if you've chosen coco coir as your medium for your very first grow ever, after this first grow you'll know what being in tune with the plants is all about.
Learn to read what your plants are trying to tell you. Use the fan leaves as a barometer to gage how they're really feeling about what you're doing and learn to trust what they're telling you. Case in point, I'm harvesting plants right now and during the grow, I started picking up some yellowing. It didn't really look like a N deficiency but I tested the pH of the reservoir and it was at 5.8 so it had to be nitrogen. I bumped up the nitrogen level and re-fed. Next couple of days and after bumping the nitrogen up again, the leaves were getting worse. My gut was telling me I should have gone with my gut the first time. This really looked like a pH lockout problem. I re-calibrated my meter and it had been off. I had been adjusting pH to an out of range number and the plants couldn't use what I was giving them. Once I found the error, I knew I had too much nitrogen in the pots so I added ro water to the res to reduce the ppm. I then brought the pH of the reservoir to 5.8 and I switched on a feed cycle. Problem solved and the undamaged parts of the affected leaves greened up again within a matter of days. Go with what the plants tell you.
Coco is a neutral medium and by that I mean that aside from its limited ability to adjust pH to optimum levels, it provides nothing to the plant. All the nutrients your plant needs to grow will be provided by you. What coco does do though, its fibers create millions of tiny spaces between themselves. Think about coco as being a very porous, open cell sponge. It releases water very quickly and as it drains out of the bottom of the pots, it pulls in fresh nutrients and oxygen. The medium holds water, oxygen, and nutrients in perfect ratio for the roots in these tiny spaces.
How to grow in coco.
This is a basic primer and it should be successful for anyone wanting to try coco as a grow medium.
This is not the definitive guide to growing in coco. These are the basics, and by that I mean, if you follow these general guidelines you should be able, with the help of this new forum, to grow your way to a successful harvest. There are those that will play with this or that and add this or that and that's fine. But if you begin to have problems, fall back to this level and you can probably rescue the plants.
I hear people asking the same questions over and over again about growing in coco and I thought I’d give a shot at trying to put down a fail safe regimen for them to start with. I’ll let you know from the start that I’m a “less is better” sort of guy so these will be the basics of growing in coco and for the most part, it’s exactly how I grow. What I do is no secret and I’m no better at it than the newbie will be if they follow it.
Above all else, pay attention to the plants. Download the sick plant guide and study it. There’s a lot you won’t have to worry about in coco but study it just the same. If you do the following, you shouldn’t wreck any plants, hehe.
Water:
I use water that drains from my dehumidifier as my reverse osmosis water source but I will refer to it as RO for the sake of simplicity.
I mix my ro water 50/50 with tap water. Using some tap water gives my plants the trace minerals they need. Using the above mix, the use of Cal-Mag+ shouldn’t be necessary.
Always pH the water after you’ve added the nutrients as they tend to lower or raise the pH themselves. Don’t forget to agitate the water to disperse the nutes before you check the ec/ppm.
Nutrients:
Be sure the nutrients you start out with are meant to be used in coco. Coco is special, hehe. Remember – coco specific nutrients
Discount the ec of the plain water when adding nutrients. By that I mean, if someone tells you to feed at a certain ppm or ec, they are talking about that ec or ppm as the ec or ppm of nutrients only and without taking the ec of the trace minerals in the tap water into account.
I use Canna A&B, Rhizotonic and Cannazyme (once in a while)
PK 13/14 is used two weeks into flower and again a couple of weeks before harvest. You don’t have to do this but I do.
Canna A&B is the backbone of the grow. You begin giving it at small levels after you see the first true leaves on the seedlings and you keep giving it right up until you start the flush to prepare for harvest.
I first give the A/B at about 0.5mL/qt right after I see these leaves and continue to give it at levels up to 6mL/gal for the rest of the grow. Up until this point, the plants just get plain water pHd to 5.8. Even at this point, they need very little in the way of nutes and too much will kill them.
Don't use epsom salts with coco. As a matter of fact if something says it has salt in it, and I don't care what order the letters are in, lol, don't put it into your plant's pot. And I'm not trying to start a debate on what's left over from nutrient solutions. SALT! We water to runoff to get rid of that.
Medium:
I’ve used both Canna coco coir and B’Cuzz coco. I use both right out of the bag as with these two brands, rinsing is not necessary. I don’t have any experience with other brands but I know these two to be safe to use without rinsing.
I use 100% coco. No additional components are needed and actually I think anything else added to coco just complicates the medium unnecessarily.
Lighting:
I use an 8 strip T5 fluorescent along with a 250w cfl for moms/clones/seedlings. I then put them under MH for veg if I decide I want to veg the plants beyond what I do with the fluorescents.
My veg cycle is 20/4 and I use this because of a report I once saw where different light cycles were used for veg and the results were recorded. I’m happy with the results and recommend the schedule to anyone else who’s not sold on what they’re doing. I’ve gotten great yields using this and I’m not changing. The plants seem sturdier and the yield using 20/4 seems to be above average with what I’ve seen around the forums.
I flower under HPS. I’ve got 2 400w and 1 600w available and I use them all during flowering. You can see them in some of my pictures and I don’t have them vented right now. I grew in a closet at one point and needed the glass and flow of air through the lights to keep the temps down. Now that I’m out in the middle of the room, venting is not necessary and the lights are open to the room. I just keep the lights a proper distance from the plants to avoid light burn.
Environment:
I use a window ac unit to cool the room. I also use a dehumidifier to keep RH where I need it to be. As I said, I use the runoff from this dehumidifier to water with. I use a fan to blow up into the forest, lol, and circulate the air. I’ve got a huge carbon filter in the closet I use for the moms/clones/seedlings with a 475cfm fan pulling air. It pulls air from the main room, scrubs it and puts it back into the same room. The door to this main room is sealed from the rest of the house and the smell from the grow room is minimal, even while inside the grow room itself. The door to the closet is also sealed from the main room and I use darkroom vents to keep the thing light proof. This way the two rooms can operate independently from each other.
I keep the ac set at 72F and the temps at the tops of the plants stays about 78F-80F. Exhaust from the carbon filter coming out of the closet, along with the breeze from the ac and the air from the fan, keeps everything moving in the room.
Watering:
I hand watered up until my current grow and I still consider this to be the premo way to go. When you hand water, you spend time with the plants and you learn them inside and out. Sort of like washing your car. That’s when you find all the dents and dings, hehe. I recommend all new growers hand water. It really gives you a feel for the grow that you won’t get any other way. And feel means a lot. As a pilot for the last 40 years I learned early on that on a flight that lasted any longer than a couple of hours, I needed to fly the last half hour manually and off autopilot to regain a feel for the plane. First time I waited to disengag the autopilot until I was on final after a 6 hour flight, it got pretty exciting and I think I touched down three or four times on just that one landing, lmfao.
At any rate, back to the subject of weed, lol. Once you get growing down, then go to a system of watering that will make it a little easier. Like a drip system. I use a recirculation drip system and just maintain the res where it needs to be and it waters for me twice a day.
Never let the coco dry out!!! Always water till you get at least a 15% runoff!!! In my book, these two things are imperatives. You can’t over water in coco. I don’t care what you read elsewhere, it just can’t be done. You may be able to water more than is necessary, but you’re not going to kill the plants by over watering like would happen in soil. The coco is like a sponge in that it will only hold so much water and then it releases the excess and lets it drain. Using gravity as a passive means of transit, the new water pulls the old out as it drains, pulling along with it the old used up remnants of the nutrients you fed them last time you watered. As the water pulls the stale nutrients out of the bottom of the pot, it pulls in fresh oxygen and nutrients from the top. This way, every time you water, you’re exchanging the water in the pot. Fresh is good!!!
This is by no means an exhaustive study of growing in coco but it’s enough of a start that someone should be able to grow without the final result looking like Hiroshima the morning after.
If you disagree with any of the above, that’s your right. Don’t tell me though that the above doesn’t work because it does. It’s worked well for me and it will for others. At the very least it will give a person a place to start. If they want to complicate things by adding a bunch of stuff like eagle beaks, snake eyes, bat balls (and bat shit), and pancake syrup later on just cause they’re bored and need to work on some problems for a while, they’re free to do that. I’ve not found a reason to add anything so I haven’t. I can’t for the life of me understand why oxygen, water, NPK, mild temps, and adequate lighting aren’t enough. They have been for me. But I’m just a simple old grower with simple needs. I don’t need the excitement complicated grows will add to my life. I’m in my heart attack years, lol, and simple’s good for me.
I’ll add to this as I see a need and if I didn’t make something clear enough, but to recap things a little.
1. Water ever day at least once till you get at least a 15% runoff.
2. pH the feed water to 5.8.
3. Use 100% coco till you get the hang of things and can handle a problem or two.
4. Use nutrients that were made to be used in coco. Specifically coco! Canna, Hesi, etc.
5. Start feeding with plain tap water at the seedling stage and very slowly work your way up to what the plants will tolerate.
6. Keep temps around 76F-82F.
7. Keep humidity in check during flower to control mold.
8. Provide adequate lighting to keep plants from stretching too much and to maximize yield.
9. Flush the pots if you suspect a problem.
Don’t make rapid adjustments to either pH or ppm. Slow is good but then unless a crop duster has just sprayed your plants with agent orange, you’re gonna have time to fix things. It’s kina like sailing across the Atlantic in a sail boat. Nothing happens fast. You wake up, find out you need to change course and then decide if you want to do it today or tomorrow, hehehe. The jet flying over you needs to make corrections in a more timely manner due to speed. We’re in a sailboat here folks. Don’t give yourself hemorrhoids trying to do things quicker than is needed.
Follow the above and you should be enjoying the fruits of your labor in no time at all. If you screw something up, flush it away.
OK, I’m done. No piling on! I don’t have the energy to fight nor do I want to. Nothing I have said here is meant as a condemnation of other methods or even of different ways of growing using this method. I realize others who are successful, have their ways of doing things and I applaud diversity, lol. I have in no way tried to minimize any other way of growing and please don’t tell me about why you use syrup, guano, and lizard urine (just kidding). To me, they’re not worth the expense, the risk, the trouble, or the time it takes to figure it out.
Good water, good nutrients, good lighting, good temps and good air! That should cover it unless you want to get into keeping the dogs from eating the plants, lol.
Edited:
During the seedling stage and while they are still in the solo cups, the roots really need to develop. You get them to do this by letting the coco in the solo cups almost dry out. I mean to the point that when you lift the cup, it feels really light. This makes the roots go to the bottom of the cup to look for water and in doing so, the root system really develops. Normally, a couple of days after you see root tips poking out of the bottom holes in the cups, it's ok to transplant them into a larger pot.
I go directly from solo cups to my 3 gallon pots. I don't see any reason to go from bucket to bucket unless I'm trying to keep the plant's size down and I'm not. I bend em and tie em down if I have to but the bigger the plant, the better the yield in my opinion.
I go ahead and put the plants on the watering schedule they're gonna be on for the rest of their journey, lol. One of the good things about going ahead and planting into the larger pots is that the seedling's root mass, if you can call anything that underdeveloped a mass, hehe... Anyway the seedling's root mass is at the top of the pot. I water twice a day, once when the lights come on and again 10 hours later, or two hours before lights out. The top of the pots dries out a little quicker in between waterings and the roots spread out and down looking for that extra water.
Coco's so efficient at holding moisture in equilibrium that no matter where the roots go, the moisture level is the same. So they just keep spreading out in their search for more water.
At least this has been my observation. I'm not an expert in horticulture and I haven't really had a chance to actually talk to the roots and ask them, but I'm relatively sure this is what's going on.
About re-potting.
On the day of the big move, I'll get the larger pots ready and scoop out a place in the coco for the new plants. Once I've done that, I pick up my mister (the spray bottle, not another guy, lmfao) and spray the coco the roots will be touching when I put the root ball into the new coco. As long as it's moist, the roots will settle in nicely.
After the seedlings are in the new coco, I'll water the surface of the coco right on top of the seedling's root mass. Water very gently! What I'm trying to do besides the obvious is to get enough moisture right on top of the roots that they go ahead and grow into the new coco. Watering right on top of the root ball also helps any coco at the root level that's not contacting the coco to settle in around the root fibers. Once the root tips grow into the new stuff, the plants don't know the difference between the new and the old. They're on their way. Takes only a day or two so I go ahead and put them on their new watering regimen from the start. Notice I said regimen and not regime, lol. Two totally different words with different meanings, hehe. Can anyone say "W E B S T E R' S".
This would be the time to use the root growth stimulator my friends. Nothing more than that. No real NPK dosing till they get established which takes two or three days. Then add NPK at minute (meaning small... Not 60 seconds, Jesus!) levels. I mean start out watering at 0.5mL/gal with your regular nutes. The plants don't need much right now and as a matter of fact, the only real damage you can do right now is over feeding!!!!! They're not going to be using much of anything. I mean anything! So back the lights off and give them some breathing room. If you're using CFLs or other fluorescent lighting, doesn't matter, back it off!!! Right now, if you put the seedlings into a closet and forgot about them for a couple of days, they'd smile when you remembered where they were, and go on about their business. Less is more right now!
If you're watering by hand, first off this is a good thing, as you're really gonna get to know your plants when watering by hand. If watering by hand, it's ok at this point to water every other day if you want. The plants aren't using enough of anything to run out of it in two days. This will help the roots a little as they try to spread out. Those like myself who are using a drip system, for convenience' sake can go ahead and start watering like they're going to do the rest of the grow and the roots will be fine.
Edited to include the lighting report:
Here's the post on lighting that got me started on the 20/4 schedule.
I got the information a long time ago and was ignorant enough that it seemed as good a place to start as any. As I said, I've gotten really, really good results using 20/4 so I don't have any reason to think I need to change. If you're not completely sold on what schedule to use or even if you just think you'd like to try it, do so. I didn't do the work in the study and I can't remember who wrote this. Seems to me it was some rogue grower who used to be a part of some group or something that was interested in maximizing growth and yield.
Once again, I don't know the credibility of the author, but the results have been there for me.
Here's the report. The mum lines referred to were "mom" lines according to what gaiusmarius told me once. I thought they were talking about mums as in the flower called a mum. As I remember it, gaius laughed at us for wondering. Must be a British thing, hehe.
In the words of the author:
Lighting Schedule
We did a lot of experiments with light times a few years back using known sativa and sativa dominant clone lines.
With Vegging under HID lights.
20/4 produced the sturdiest growth and the most bulk. Best final yield, taken as 100%
22/2 Less of both growth and bulk. Yield 88%
18/6 Sturdier than 22/2 but slightly less bulk. Yield 87%
24/0 Much lighter in all aspects than 18/6. Yield 79%
16/8 The weediest plants. Yield 67%
Plants vegged to final pots under fluorescents at 20w per sq ft on 18/6 yield 49%
Have not tried 36 hrs dark but did try 48 hrs from 18/6 veg. The final yield was down between 15% and 20% by varying the pure sativas with the biggest loss in final weight and caused the odd herm, [sativas] it did reduce the flowering time by 5 to 8 days.
For the mum lines we have, 20/4 to 12/12 gives the best crop weight and bud quality, really that’s all I’m interested in.
End of report:
Edited:
In this guide, I talk about coco specific nutrients as if they're the only way to grow in coco. They're not, as has been pointed out by others. I'm going to talk about them as though they were required though. Many growers are so familiar with what they've been using in other mediums that they're able to use what they're familiar with. They know the plants so well they're able to spot deficiencies and alter their feeding regimen to take care of the problem. In my opinion, it's best to start out with nutrients that are designed for the medium so these trace elements and minerals are supplied by the coco nutrients they're giving.
So I'm going to continue to refer to coco specific nutrients like they're gospel. When the new grower becomes experienced enough to argue with the basics, they ought to be knowledgeable enough to handle any problem before it becomes a crisis. Makes sense to me. So go grow, learn as you go, and then come back and start arguing, lmfao. That is if you feel like arguing - but I bet you'll be able to see why I've written this guide as I have and you won't feel the need to make ripples in the water.
Peace
mojo
