Question about EC and Coco

Cannacranky · Jul 26, 2021

Hi folks,

I in the middle of my first time growing in coco (Super Skunk - week 2 of flower). This is also the first time that I've bothered with checking EC. I never checked it while growing in DWC and it never was an issue. Anyway, I just measured my inflow and got an EC of 2.6, my runoff EC was 1.02 and 1.05 in two plants respectively. I am a little baffled by this. Shouldn't my runoff be higher than my inflow? Also, the feeding chart (Fox Farms) says the inflow EC should be no higher than 2.0, but I am at 2.6. Is that a problem or should I push ahead? Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

rkymtnman · Jul 26, 2021

Cannacranky said:
but I am at 2.6

i'm not a coco guy but 2.6 is pretty high. are you seeing burnt leaf tips?

Cannacranky · Jul 26, 2021

rkymtnman said:
i'm not a coco guy but 2.6 is pretty high. are you seeing burnt leaf tips?

Nope. Both plants look very healthy to me.

rkymtnman · Jul 26, 2021

Cannacranky said:
Nope. Both plants look very healthy to me.

i agree. carry on at 2.6 then
not sure about your runoff ?. i'm a dwc guy: i didn't like coco very much

Cannacranky · Jul 26, 2021

rkymtnman said:
i didn't like coco very much

It's different, that's for sure. For me the jury is still out. Harvest will inform which way I go. I liked DWC, but it had its own pains. Thanks for answering the thread question.

rkymtnman · Jul 26, 2021

Cannacranky said:
It's different, that's for sure. For me the jury is still out. Harvest will inform which way I go. I liked DWC, but it had its own pains. Thanks for answering the thread question.

once i switched to drain to waste DWC, i haven't looked back. easy to setup, no more pH and EC worries and i can go away for 2 weeks at a time which is a big plus

Cannacranky · Jul 26, 2021

rkymtnman said:
once i switched to drain to waste DWC, i haven't looked back. easy to setup, no more pH and EC worries and i can go away for 2 weeks at a time which is a big plus

Then I can learn from you, sir. Any threads here on the topic of "drain to waste DWC"? Set up, maintenance, etc? I'd love to learn more.

rkymtnman · Jul 26, 2021

Cannacranky said:
Then I can learn from you, sir. Any threads here on the topic of "drain to waste DWC"? Set up, maintenance, etc? I'd love to learn more.

google a picture of a general hydro waterfarm. it has a 2 gallon res. if you cut the blue tubing on the side on the white line, that becomes your drain. i have a 30 gal res top-feeding them 1x a day. it trickles in from the top and the old stuff goes out the blue tubing to a floor drain.

Star Dog · Jul 26, 2021

Cannacranky said:
Hi folks,

I in the middle of my first time growing in coco (Super Skunk - week 2 of flower). This is also the first time that I've bothered with checking EC. I never checked it while growing in DWC and it never was an issue. Anyway, I just measured my inflow and got an EC of 2.6, my runoff EC was 1.02 and 1.05 in two plants respectively. I am a little baffled by this. Shouldn't my runoff be higher than my inflow? Also, the feeding chart (Fox Farms) says the inflow EC should be no higher than 2.0, but I am at 2.6. Is that a problem or should I push ahead? Any help or advice would be very much appreciated.

As above 2.6ec is high but you can get away with it for a while, seriously though it'll catch up with you probably weeks 4/5 1.0/1.4ec is about average for coco.

Your low ec?
Have you repotted lately by chance?

oill · Jul 26, 2021

Cannacranky said:
Nope. Both plants look very healthy to me.

I feed at 1.8 and normally get burn above 1.9.... maybe different nutes. Be careful of build up and make sure you get run off. It will build up quickly. I don't get how you would get such a low run off read with such high input. Normally for me the delta is low between the 2

Cannacranky · Jul 27, 2021

rkymtnman said:
google a picture of a general hydro waterfarm. it has a 2 gallon res. if you cut the blue tubing on the side on the white line, that becomes your drain. i have a 30 gal res top-feeding them 1x a day. it trickles in from the top and the old stuff goes out the blue tubing to a floor drain.

How often do you have to change the water?

Cannacranky · Jul 27, 2021

oill said:
I feed at 1.8 and normally get burn above 1.9.... maybe different nutes. Be careful of build up and make sure you get run off. It will build up quickly. I don't get how you would get such a low run off read with such high input. Normally for me the delta is low between the 2

I don't get it, either, but double checked last night with the same result.

Cannacranky · Jul 27, 2021

Star Dog said:
As above 2.6ec is high but you can get away with it for a while, seriously though it'll catch up with you probably weeks 4/5 1.0/1.4ec is about average for coco.

Your low ec?
Have you repotted lately by chance?

Low EC (runoff) last night was 1.6

xtsho · Jul 27, 2021

Why are you checking runoff?

oill · Jul 27, 2021

xtsho said:
Why are you checking runoff?

Run off can give you an idea of how much nutes the plants are using... and the ph drift in the medium. If you are feeding too strong or your medium is too dry your run off will be high.

It's kinda misleading read coz it can drift due to dry back or strength or many other reasons... I don't donit regularly personally

rkymtnman · Jul 27, 2021

Cannacranky said:
How often do you have to change the water?

if i'm home, i don't fill it up all the way. 1x a week. if i'm gone, 2 weeks.

Cannacranky · Jul 27, 2021

rkymtnman said:
if i'm home, i don't fill it up all the way. 1x a week. if i'm gone, 2 weeks.

One more question. I am curious about what it takes to change water. The PITA about DWC for me was that in the standard setup I had to actually move the plants out of the buckets and into a temp space while I cleaned the buckets and changed water. That was a major PITA during later flowering. And it meant I could not use a trellis net. I love the way that the GH setup your described looks, but I worry that it will leave me with the same problem I had before, namely that I would like to keep the plants stable, in one place, from seedling to harvest.

rkymtnman · Jul 27, 2021

Cannacranky said:
One more question. I am curious about what it takes to change water. The PITA about DWC for me was that in the standard setup I had to actually move the plants out of the buckets and into a temp space while I cleaned the buckets and changed water. That was a major PITA during later flowering. And it meant I could not use a trellis net. I love the way that the GH setup your described looks, but I worry that it will leave me with the same problem I had before, namely that I would like to keep the plants stable, in one place, from seedling to harvest.

that's the great part: i never really "change" the water the entire bloom phase. i just feed to runoff daily. and i have that blue hose attached to a drain hose that goes out to a floor drain next to my h2o heater.

i don't use a net but i never move my waterfarms either. i veg in a small 2x2 so thats a different story.

Cannacranky · Jul 28, 2021

oill said:
Run off can give you an idea of how much nutes the plants are using... and the ph drift in the medium. If you are feeding too strong or your medium is too dry your run off will be high.

It's kinda misleading read coz it can drift due to dry back or strength or many other reasons... I don't donit regularly personally

Thanks man.

Cannacranky · Jul 28, 2021

rkymtnman said:
that's the great part: i never really "change" the water the entire bloom phase. i just feed to runoff daily. and i have that blue hose attached to a drain hose that goes out to a floor drain next to my h2o heater.

i don't use a net but i never move my waterfarms either. i veg in a small 2x2 so thats a different story.

Time to binge on a few videos on the topic. Thanks very much for this.

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