Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Quick, small update.
There were a few spots of a Calcium def. appearing on leaves that didn't have the problem before.
Nute levels were increased slightly, along with 2 tsp of CalMag.

First batch of collected runoff was 5.7. Total runoff collected also measured 5.7.

Keep in mind, these are like 6 gallon pots, coco coir medium with perlite. So as I'm draining the runoff, I noticed what looked like a little bit of plant debris in my drain pan, then I looked closer...

I've never had roots popping out of the bottom like this. When I've cleaned out the pots from previous grows there were a few root hairs that grew into the slots in bottom of the pot, but never this thick, and never visible. This also shows how I inserted a screw between the pot and attached drain tray to allow me to dump my runoff.

Although, as the plant gets bigger, and starts flowering, I'm not going to be able to tip the pot over like I do now. I plan on drilling a small hole in the tray, and inserting a short tube to allow drainage into my runoff collection container.

Obviously seeing root growth this strong is a good sign, so I'm hoping I can still match my previous yield from 2 plants, which was a little over 3 ounces, and do it with just 1 plant.

Or with a little luck, maybe join the quarter pound club! But either way, 1 ounce, or 4 ounces, I'm happy.

 

[LabMan]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Just came across your journal. It's a little late in the game, but I am excited to follow your flowering.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Just came across your journal. It's a little late in the game, but I am excited to follow your flowering.

You're just in time brother. Today is day 10 of Flower, and she just started sprouting tiny calyxes and pistils on all 4 of her outer tops.

Welcome aboard the journey!

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Day 11 Flower.

Runoff was 5.9.
I have found on two occasions now, nicely size roots appearing after watering, just under the top surface of the coco, which I have to continuously recover with coco to keep them protected.

Nothing serious, or exciting to report otherwise.
Current distance between LED and highest top is 17" 43cm
And of course, pictures!

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Supplemental update. Strawberry Blue is now growing pistils big enough to take pictures of easily. Pistils were noted on pretty much every branch, all large enough to take pictures of.

And although it was a feminized seed, it's still exciting seeing those pistils appear.

As of right now, assuming everything goes well, considering her size, insane root growth, and thickness of her stem and branches, I'm going to guess I could see somewhere between 70-100 grams.

I am definitely, definitely glad I switched from soil to coco. So far, with the PH issues aside, it has been a very enjoyable experience.

 

[Tomster420]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Looking good bud!

 

[LabMan]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Looking good man. What do you like about the coco that you didn't like about soil? Just curious, I may try coco one of these days. I have been thinking of trying hempy.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Looking good man. What do you like about the coco that you didn't like about soil? Just curious, I may try coco one of these days. I have been thinking of trying hempy.

Keep in mind that I am using about 4 quarts of perlite in my coco, and no vermiculite. (Some like using vermiculite in addition to perlite, but I had drainage problems in soil that I absolutely didn't want to deal with)
In my experience with coco:

Cons:
Huge compressed brick, I had to use a screwdriver to break it up.
Sorting through coco to remove some small rocks and crystalized salts.
Needing an extra 5 gallon bucket to soak and rinse the coco.
Needs to be watered more than soil, and if you water daily like me, it'll use more nutes.

Pros:
Compressed brick means it's easier to ship than soil, and thus easier to purchase online without insane shipping costs.
Holes in the bag don't mean your product leaks into the shipping box.
So far it has been IMPOSSIBLE to overwater. I have flushed it once in the kitchen sink as I started flower to get rid of excess salts.
I treat it almost like hydro, and run a diluted nute mix (currently using about 1/2 strength) through it DAILY, and she is never overwatered.
The natural PH of coco is closer to 5.8, so it's very easy to maintain the correct PH, and requires very little PH adjustments.
Roots seem to grow like crazy
And even though it uses more nutes than soil using my method, the plant seems to benefit greatly, as this plant has just started flower and is the biggest plant that I've ever grown.
Bugs don't seem to like coco, so gnats won't be a problem. I have seen gnats in my grows before with soil, but haven't seen any since switching to coco.

My water PH is normally 7.2. After adding nutes and calmag the PH drops to 6.2.
If my previous runoff was a little too low, I can often skip PH adjustments and just use the 6.2 mix.
If my runoff was a little too high, I just PH to 5.8, I only use maybe 1/8 tsp - 1/4 tsp of PH down to get my PH in the correct range. So the small bag of PH down that I have will last me a long time.

With all things considered, and soil vs coco, If I had to do it all over again, I'd still switch.

 

[Jesstar]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Definitely trying coco next round..

-J.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Definitely trying coco next round..

-J.

It's definitely worth it. A single 5kg (11lb) block is more than enough to fill 2 - 5 gallon/ 19L containers, possibly 3.

I did a few soil grows before the coco, and actually this grow started as soil too, but in trying to get my problems sorted, I blamed the soil and switched to coco (which it was just a bad PH meter all along).

 

[Jesstar]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

It's definitely worth it. A single 5kg (11lb) block is more than enough to fill 2 - 5 gallon/ 19L containers, possibly 3.

I did a few soil grows before the coco, and actually this grow started as soil too, but in trying to get my problems sorted, I blamed the soil and switched to coco (which it was just a bad PH meter all along).

Yeah I remember when you did the switch. I thought then I'll watch and see how you go and here is the answer..

I'll be trying my hand at Coco SIPS when I get the chance. Can't wait.

-J.

 

[LabMan]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Thanks for the info man. I might try my hand at coco in the near future.

 

[Pablo Tesla]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Why are you not using an ec meter?
It's a must when growing in coco.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Yeah I remember when you did the switch. I thought then I'll watch and see how you go and here is the answer..

I'll be trying my hand at Coco SIPS when I get the chance. Can't wait.

-J.

Doing the switch sucked man. Digging up the plant, cleaning soil off bare roots, trying not to break them, that was definitely stressful. But so far it's been pretty smooth sailing, and I still have no regrets.

Thanks for the info man. I might try my hand at coco in the near future.

They sell coco in smaller packages as well, if you ever wanted to do a coco/soil side by side grow, and see which one works best for you. Every grower develops their own habits, systems, and techniques, and plants tend to respond better in some growing methods than others. It's worth a shot man, you never know unless you try

Why are you not using an ec meter?
It's a must when growing in coco.

I'm not using an EC meter because I don't have one, basically is all it comes down to lol. Granted, it does absolutely make life easier, but I don't think that it's absolutely required to achieve great results. However, I do have to pay much closer attention to my plant to watch for nute burn, or deficiencies, and constantly adjust my nute mix based on the facts I have in front of me. So far its been working out quite well, and root growth is the best I've ever had. The roots are circling inside the drip tray, and I have roots visible in the soil after watering that I have to keep covering, so as far as things go right now, I'm doing ok without it. But I do plan to purchase one in the future.

 

[SweetSue]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

I'm glad it's working well for you Antics. The soil you started with, by your own admission, was deficient. In this game it's whatever you are comfortable with and you're demonstrating how to succeed with coco. Good work. It's wonderful to see the transformation.

 

[Weaselcracker]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Hi Antics. Really nice to check out your main lair after bumping into you here and there. I'm wanting to switch to coco too. I even have the coco- just waiting on circumstances. A question for you- might be hard to answer I don't know. Are you able to quantify how much more water you're going through with coco than soil?

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Hi Antics. Really nice to check out your main lair after bumping into you here and there. I'm wanting to switch to coco too. I even have the coco- just waiting on circumstances. A question for you- might be hard to answer I don't know. Are you able to quantify how much more water you're going through with coco than soil?

That's a little difficult to answer, since the plant uses different amounts of water based on size, and soil holds different amounts of water depending on the mix..

Also keep in mind that I'm not a pro by any means, and I am still constantly learning things, and changing things to be more effective.

But if we assume a plant is about 5 weeks old, and I used about 5.5 gallons of soil to 1 gallon of perlite. I am also using about 5.5 gallons of coco to 1 gallon of perlite.

With soil, I would mix 1 gallon of full strength nutes, and use that to feed two plants. But I didn't water until runoff because my soil held so much water. I was watering like this every 4-5 days, but could have probably waited a little longer, maybe an extra day or so.

In coco, I was mixing a gallon a day with half strength nutes, and pouring it all in, with a lot of runoff (In reality 1/2 gallon was fine, with plenty of runoff). Now I have changed the watering schedule to 1/2 gallon twice a day. 1/2 gallon probably gives me the correct amount of runoff now as well.

5 days with soil, I used about 1/2 gallon of water.
5 days with coco, I use about 5 gallons of water.

5 days with soil I used 1 full strength dose of nutes.
5 days with coco, I use 5 doses of 1/2 strength nutes, which comes out to 2.5 full strength doses, plus 1 full strength CalMag dose.

But coco is basically hydro, so it tends to use more nutes and water, but also usually translates to higher yields. At least that's what I'm hoping to see.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Update.

No calcium deficiency advancement. Everything appears kosher.
First batch of collected runoff 5.8
Second batch of collected runoff 5.7

Nothing else new or exciting to report currently.

 

[Weaselcracker]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

That's a little difficult to answer, since the plant uses different amounts of water based on size, and soil holds different amounts of water depending on the mix..

Also keep in mind that I'm not a pro by any means, and I am still constatly learning things, and changing things to be more effective.

But if we assume a plant is about 5 weeks old, and I used about 5.5 gallons of soil to 1 gallon of perlite. I am also using about 5.5 gallons of coco to 1 gallon of perlite.

With soil, I would mix 1 gallon of full strength nutes, and use that to feed two plants. But I didn't water until runoff because my soil held so much water. I was watering like this every 4-5 days, but could have probably waited a little longer, maybe an extra day or so.

In coco, I was mixing a gallon a day with half strength nutes, and pouring it all in, with a lot of runoff (In reality 1/2 gallon was fine, with plenty of runoff). Now I have changed the watering schedule to 1/2 gallon twice a day. 1/2 gallon probably gives me the correct amount of runoff now as well.

5 days with soil, I used about 1/2 gallon of water.
5 days with coco, I use about 5 gallons of water.

5 days with soil I used 1 full strength dose of nutes.
5 days with coco, I use 5 doses of 1/2 strength nutes, which comes out to 2.5 full strength doses, plus 1 full strength CalMag dose.

But coco is basically hydro, so it tends to use more nutes and water, but also usually translates to higher yields. At least that's what I'm hoping to see.

Thanks man. Great answer. Your former soil watering schedule sounds the same as mine is now. Coco invites runoff. My soil really doesn't because I overwater, unless I'm at the perfect plant/pot size ratio. In my area we run everything from rainwater collected in cisterns- so water isn't unlimited.

 

[Antics]

re: Antics Perpetual Learning Experience

Thanks man. Great answer. Your former soil watering schedule sounds the same as mine is now. Coco invites runoff. My soil really doesn't because I overwater, unless I'm at the perfect plant/pot size ratio. In my area we run everything from rainwater collected in cisterns- so water isn't unlimited.

With a limited water source, depending how many plants you grow in soil, you might be able to get away with a coco grow, but just growing fewer plants with a slightly longer Veg time to still yield enough to make up for growing fewer plants.