First coco grow, questions

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coloboc

New Member
Hello to all !
This is my first time starting a coco grow. Previously I grown in soil , indoor and outdoor at the same time. So now I am a little stressed to try coco because it is new to me. I want to buy a set of 15 L auto pot for 4 plants and try it. So naturally I have some questions. I may be repeating some one but it will mean a lot to me if I had all my answers in the same spot, so please indulge me a little and help me out.
1. My first question is how to sprout the seed, what medium should I use ? I understand that if I use rock wool till the roots are formed and 2-3 sets of leafs are formed and then transplant to a coco mix there mite be some issues due to medium retention and absorption differences ? Can I sprout an start in a smaller container using the same mix as the one I will be using in my pots ?
2. I have read that for auto pot a 50/50 ratio of coco and per lite is recommended, isn't that to much perlite in the mix, or this is the best way to go ?
3. I want to use the Canna Coco range for this grow, meaning canna coco A+B, canazym, boost, ryzotonic and pk13/14 will that be enough/ I saw that people strongly recommend to get some Ca-Mg also ? What for ?
4. About the E.C., if my tap water has a high E.C. lets say 0.5 and they say I need to have 1 E.C. in my tank it means that there will be only 0.5 E.C. of nutrients in the water vs if the water had an 0.1 E.C and the nutrient 0.9. How do I adjust the the volume of my nutes to my water ?
5. The pH of the water remains the same or it has some specific values for veg and flower ?
6. Do I need to flush my coco mix once in a wild, i how often ?
7. What temperature should have my water mix ?
8. Do I need some sort of solutions that will stabilize my pH an E.C. , aka a buffer solutions, if so what to get ?
Thank you very much for taking you time to read and reply !!!
 
I.ll give it a shot you can sprout seeds in coco I have done it in solo cups with good success,but prefer to use root plugs,or the paper towel method, if your using coco specific nutes I don't think you'll need Calmag however it would not hurt to have some on hand, or put some garden line in the coco ,I'm not familiar with the auto pots, in general I would not add that much perlite unless it was extreme ly fine coco pith powder, 20% is usually plenty,,your Ph should be 5.5 -5.9 5.8 being perfect but I like it to float around in the range to allow certain nutes better uptake, I don't know much about hydro & ec. When I ran coco as passive drain to waste hydro I always added a little less nutrient than called for on the bottle most strains flourish with less,nutes companys want you to but more asap so usually recommend running as high as possible ,but I just want healthy happy plants ,temps for water should be about the same as the optimal room temp 70 -80f is a safe range, but in a Dwc or other hydro I believe a little lower is better keeping it in the 67-75f range being best
Oh the reason for extra Calmag is that coco likes to absorb some calcium and can cause CA & mg issues but most tap water will have enough extra to take care of this ,remember to rinse coco well to remove any residual salt, again if your using coco specific nutes you should not need extra Calmag,hope this helps
 
1. iv always gone from Rockwool into coco no problems at all. as soon as roots develop. straight into there pots. but you can start with a small cup of coco from seed.

2. I use Wilma systems (dripper system) the more perlite you add the more your be watering the plants. I mix my coco with 25% perlite.

3. I use all the canna line, coco, and nutes. the only thing you really need is the A + B, PK 13/14 and some form of boost. I use ionic boost. my plants always come out great. the ca-mg is usually given to prevent calcium and magnesium deficiencies as they are quite prone to coco plants but the canna A+B has added ca-mg to prevent deficiencies but its always good so have some on stand by.

4. The EC of my water is 0.5 EC also. personally I just include it in the run of things. so I just feed at plain water until week 2 of veg then quarter dose A+B which takes the E.C up to about 0.8 then gradually increase. im currently on week 5 of flower and am running 2.2 EC or 1.7EC minus the waters EC.

5. PH should be kept at 5.8-5.9 right the way through from seed to weed. always add the nutrients to your water then adjust PH because the nutrients usually lower the PH abit. once you added the nutes. check the ph of the solution then add PH down bit by bit until its 5.8-5.9

6.This to me is a hmmm question. seems to be every person I see growing with coco says water till 30% run off with monthly flushes or your plant will burn and die or get lock outs bla bla bla. I flush coco when I change from veg to flower and the last week to get rid of the nutes. I feed my plants until im satisfied they have been fed. I dont do the 30% run off ever.

7. I have never heated my solutions as it attracts unwanted bugs/moulds/bacteria. I just keep it at the same temp as the room via the ambient room temp heating and cooling it.

8. you will need a P.H pen, E.C Truncheon a pipette, PH down and those blue surgical gloves as it bleaches your skin..

hope this helps. Please feel free to check out my grow to reassure you the above is sound advice. also there is the absolute beginners thread in my sig so if you have any more problems come on over and ask away there's quite a few people who will help..

hope this has helped. if it has don't for get the +rep :) cheers
 
My first few tries with coco were pretty good, but what works well for me now is a 50/50 coco perlite, or you can use pumus, the grey stuff that looks and feels a lot like perlite.
I use the cheap small perlite from the hydro shop, $16 for a four foot bag.

Anyway. I only had good success with coco, no deficiencies after I started treating my coco. My favorite is the cheap stuff, botanicare bricks that you soak in water to fluff up. They are super dense bricks.

Anyway, I treat the water before I add in the brick. I add 100ppm of calmag. I ph to 5.8, although when I water the plants, I do so with 6.0-6.2.

I also often add humic acid as plants love it.
 
Help !!!
My top leafs are starting to turn yellow and their steam are turning red.
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I use Canna Coco line and now I have a 1.1 EC
 
This looks like an iron or sulfur deficiency caused by lockout from the ph being too high. What is the ph of your medium. Anything higher than 6.7 and you'll begin to see these kind of lockouts. Checkout post #124 of my grow journal and you'll see a chart posted by KingJohnC on this which I found very helpful.
 
The maximum pH registered till now is 6.2. The thing is I prepare the nute solution to be 5.5 and the next day when I check the pH in the tank is 6.2-6.5 so now even if I drope it to 5.5 again I still have some solution with pH 6.3 at the bottom of my pots. I use Autopot system and I don't know how to make a stable pH
 
Red, and purple is always caused from magnesium deficiency. This can be caused from lockout, i.e. a salt build up in the roots. It can be caused by too cold of temps for the roots. It can be caused by overdosing with calmag, or lacking I forget, which nute that causes magnesium to lock out.

Most of the time it is easy to fix, by flushing well with ph 6.0 water. Then checking run off until it comes out 6.0. When you flush, flush from the top, then check the runoff for tds,ec. Be sure the run of isn't too high for putting in pure water.

After flushing, be sure to feed with calmag 100ppm every feeding.

Problem with coco is that it retains salts very easily, which is why when I grow in coco, I water with lots of water each time I water, but be sure to let the pot dry out.

You are doing something different, but still the roots can suck up nutes into the coco, where they can build up.
 
I Was reading another journal and they had some really good videos about coco grows. 1st Grow Ever - 3x Liberty Haze - LED & Coco I was given a plant that is in coco and in bloom for the last 8 weeks. I do not know a thing about it but the videos were helpful. :Namaste:
 
:popcorn:Reading the post in this yard I guess I will break down and get a meter to do my PH. I normally just do the drops for my soil but I have no true way to do 5.8 :hmmmm: I would check your PH first for your plants before you do anything. :Namaste:
 
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