Ase's Perpetual Fun With Coco

The Final Update

There were a couple things I set out to do when making this thread and I think I achieved more than I expected. It's amazing to think of where I was at two years ago, wondering how to even grow these plants. I really strive for perfection and I got really frustrated at one point that I couldn't get 4 perfect plants in a grow. I almost walked away from journaling once or twice and things became very repetitive for me (I'm a little hard on myself can you tell?). Creating my new journal was a very smart thing as I already have a good mix of new faces and old faces. It is very intimidating starting to dive in to a 100 page thread. I felt like I was being limited on what I could teach because I already have probably shown how to do it 3 or 4 times and didn't want to repeat.

I also have done some tweaking but there is no major changes that I have done in the last year. I have fiddled around on revamping my feed schedule and determined that the most important thing I've been able to show people is the Quadline. That training method has really taken off. I'm going to really focus on that going forward as that is something anyone can do in any medium. It's applicable to everyone.

All in all most of my grows yielded between 13-14 ounces and every grow kept getting better and better quality as I fiddled more and more. My new journal will have all those tinkerings in it but I really feel like I am at a point now where there is little experimenting left. It's a good time to close this one out as this was my "fine tuning" journal. I just don't know where I can improve to get better results. I need to focus more on genetics now and making sure I am only growing the best of the best. I have the tents and space to grow mothers and clone them and I need to take advantage of that to make sure all of my grows end up with 4 perfect plants. Main problem is that I still have about 50 strains to try in my seed box and you never know what you are going to get if it isn't a clone of a plant that is already doing incredible. I may start doing some breeding and I will start growing CBD strains so I can add topicals and creams to my repertoire.

This journal has allowed me to get close to quite a few of you guys. I feel like if I was in your guys' neck of the woods that I would go out of my way to try and meet up to say hello and I am totally not like that. I really appreciate everyone who followed along and stuck this long journal out. I've really enjoyed being involved in other peoples journals. My ultimate goal for starting this thing was to pass on the knowledge that I have discovered and I get way more excited for everyone else's updates than doing my own at this point. It's like a proud papa. I really thought maybe one or two people might try out my ways but I never thought I'd get this kind of a response. I appreciate all the questions people have asked and keeping this thing fun. I'd say that the people that follow this journal and interact with each other in other threads are a pretty cool group of people. It's great to see everyone helping each other out and encouraging each other all time. Hopefully anyone who was a part of this journal at least learned something while they were here. That's a win in my books.

Hope to see you all in my new thread : Ase's Multi-strain Quadlining in Coco
 
Ase your journals are a win in all of our books who follow along. I'm more of a guy who hangs in the background mostly but I'm always taking notes and screenshots and looking back thru them I believe I've taken more screenshots off of your journals than anyone's else's. I'll be lurking in the background as long as your doing journals. Thanks for all your help.
Derbybud
 
Asesino85 said:
The Final Update

There were a couple things I set out to do when making this thread and I think I achieved more than I expected. It's amazing to think of where I was at two years ago, wondering how to even grow these plants. I really strive for perfection and I got really frustrated at one point that I couldn't get 4 perfect plants in a grow. I almost walked away from journaling once or twice and things became very repetitive for me (I'm a little hard on myself can you tell?). Creating my new journal was a very smart thing as I already have a good mix of new faces and old faces. It is very intimidating starting to dive in to a 100 page thread. I felt like I was being limited on what I could teach because I already have probably shown how to do it 3 or 4 times and didn't want to repeat.

I also have done some tweaking but there is no major changes that I have done in the last year. I have fiddled around on revamping my feed schedule and determined that the most important thing I've been able to show people is the Quadline. That training method has really taken off. I'm going to really focus on that going forward as that is something anyone can do in any medium. It's applicable to everyone.

All in all most of my grows yielded between 13-14 ounces and every grow kept getting better and better quality as I fiddled more and more. My new journal will have all those tinkerings in it but I really feel like I am at a point now where there is little experimenting left. It's a good time to close this one out as this was my "fine tuning" journal. I just don't know where I can improve to get better results. I need to focus more on genetics now and making sure I am only growing the best of the best. I have the tents and space to grow mothers and clone them and I need to take advantage of that to make sure all of my grows end up with 4 perfect plants. Main problem is that I still have about 50 strains to try in my seed box and you never know what you are going to get if it isn't a clone of a plant that is already doing incredible. I may start doing some breeding and I will start growing CBD strains so I can add topicals and creams to my repertoire.

This journal has allowed me to get close to quite a few of you guys. I feel like if I was in your guys' neck of the woods that I would go out of my way to try and meet up to say hello and I am totally not like that. I really appreciate everyone who followed along and stuck this long journal out. I've really enjoyed being involved in other peoples journals. My ultimate goal for starting this thing was to pass on the knowledge that I have discovered and I get way more excited for everyone else's updates than doing my own at this point. It's like a proud papa. I really thought maybe one or two people might try out my ways but I never thought I'd get this kind of a response. I appreciate all the questions people have asked and keeping this thing fun. I'd say that the people that follow this journal and interact with each other in other threads are a pretty cool group of people. It's great to see everyone helping each other out and encouraging each other all time. Hopefully anyone who was a part of this journal at least learned something while they were here. That's a win in my books.

Hope to see you all in my new thread : Ase's Multi-strain Quadlining in Coco
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Thanks @Asesino85 for all the stuffs you ve shared. I feel like we have things in common. I m also always trying to do my best in anything I m interested in. I also feel like I want constant improvement! I don't know if you read the last pages of my grow but I ve shared interested links. To resume : Rockwool!

Seems to be a good idea to try cause from what I ve seen it promotes huge roots and big trunks and stems. I can't wait to start my next grow to try it. People often stop at the lil rockwool cube where the little clone was rooted in. However it seems to be a good idea to user a bigger then and allow the plant the grow thick and huge first 4 inches of root. Using coco mat on the bottom of the pot also seems a good addition!

Maybe you could also try something else like SOG? I ll try that also after seeing a video of small little plants with absolute huge buds size of arms! This also allow to save some time if you want a faster grow... I never thought of trying it before but it was cause I didn't have all the lights and stuffs needed. So I couldn't invest in multiple seeds... But now that the hardware is there maybe it a good opportunity to try something new


Anyway hope I didn't talked to much. Just felt like I want to share a bit my thoughts as it s not the first time you say things that reminds me my own way of thinking

Cheers and see you in your new journal!
 
I said it before - this journal has been the single best resource for me truly learning how to grow. It’s the cornerstone of my education in growing. I don’t know how many times I went back to page 40 in the old journal (the feeding explanation). Everything from my feeding to my training to my plant stands and on and on has been influenced in some respect by what you did in here.

The group of like minded coco growers we’ve formed reminds me of an NFL head coaching tree. We’ve all headed out on our own to make our individual marks using the foundation you helped teach us. We’ll all put our own spin on it and influence people who might never come across this journal. If you’re the Bill Walsh maybe I can be a Mike Holmgren and help develop a few good growers of my own.
 
Asesino85 said:
One of the most frequently asked questions in growing period is about nutrients. You could constantly chase your tail trying to find the right way to use nutrients. In my opinion nutrients are necessary but not as important as environment or light. Both environment and light can change the amount of nutrients your plant needs but the nutrients can't say the same about effecting the other two. It is still important to get the nutrients schedule correct but the hard part is everyones grow area is different, requiring different needs for the plants. Learning about nutrients is something worth doing. It's eye opening. I tried to follow people's schedules and realized I never fully understood what I was giving my plants and at what stages they needed boosts or decreases in certain nutrients.

With that being said I use GH products for now. It's the 3 part series as a base with cal-mag. I run a few additives as well. I might add one or two more to the lineup but am really happy with all these. They are affordable and I get very good results.

IMG_207034.JPG


Here is my feed schedule. If I decide to veg longer then I will just follow week 5's veg nutrients until ready. With that being said, you have to learn how to read your plants. different strains use different levels of each nutrient. Some of them drink more than others. This is just my rough guide.

I also pre-treat any coco that I use with a soaking of 1-1-1 N-P-K and a PPM of around 350 with cal-mag being about 150. Aways pretreat your coco and soak it. Coco is a medium with nothing in it. If you give your plant nothing it will not like it! This is one of the most common problems when transplanting or even from growing the seed from the beginning. The plant needs calcium and it can't get any unless the coco has some sort of nutes loaded into it. I also sprinkle Great White on the roots when I transplant to help the roots not miss a beat when transplanting and hopefully causing little stress when transplanting.



I water with nutes everyday and I usually mix up 5 gallons each time and then use that to water for a couple days. In the beginning I try to keep the coco relatively damp and not saturated. I am a firm believer that roots want to go exploring and if they are have enough water then they won't. A larger root mass means a larger plant and more bud potential. I run a drain to waste system by hand feeding but I don't always want to see runoff. In the first weeks of veg I get very little runoff ever. As the plants get larger and enter vigorous veg I start to get runoff every few waterings. By the time they are late veg/early flower I am watering twice a day. The first watering I don't want runoff and usually if I give the same amount a while later it will cause just a little runoff. This happens daily, by now the roots have filled the pot and the plant should be focusing on bud swelling.

Once a week I water to runoff of about 30% just to flush out any buildup of salts. I usually will only water once the next day to keep things from over-saturating. You will not kill your plants by overwatering in coco but you can do damage to the roots if they are constantly soaked. The very last week I flush the plants about 7 days before I want to pull them and use Florakleen and ph to 5.8. I measure runoff until it is the same as what is coming out and then from there on out I water as needed with regular, unPH'd water until the end. The Florakleen breaks down any remaining salts and the water flushes them out. By PH'ing to 5.8 it allows the plant to grab anything else it needs before I lock it out with regular water so it can finish.

The best way to determine how much to water is to pick your whole plant up right after you give it a full watering (with some drainage coming out the bottom). Use that as your gauge for how much the plant needs. I like to keep my plants to where they are asking for water a little bit everyday. The pots are usually pretty light when I pick them up. I noticed in my last grow the saturation of roots happened at the bottom of the pots mainly. I am using Hydroton this time to prevent that.

My water is a ppm of 34, which is great. I make beer as well and we are known for having some of the best water. In coco it is essential to always keep cal-mag levels at a certain base. Plants in coco use a lot of both. I fill my 5 gallon bucket with water and then add cal-mag until my PPM is 200. After that I add nutes to hit the PPM for the week using the N-P-K ratios listed in the table. These ratios are based on what the plant needs at given points in the 9 week flower lifecycle.

This is why understanding your nutes is important. The guides on bottles do an OK job of getting a plant to grow minus the fact that you should always cut back 1/2 or 1/3 on what is recommended. Their ratios are also ok but won't produce the best results. The Lucas Formula is the same thing. It's a good idea to learn using these guides but ultimately they aren't ideal. I've combined everything I've read and tried and this is the best for me and what I use.
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Hey Ase,

I have been reading through your journals the past few days and I must say the information you provide is very clear, succinct and extremely helpful. It has helped me navigate a few issues so far and for that I am grateful. I have been growing outdoor for years but have never really put too much effort into it, and the result are usually a testament to that. I recently decided to give it a proper go and got a small indoor setup going. My tent is 32”x32”x 60”. I am running an ES 180v.2 with an ac infinity 4 inch inline fan and carbon filter. Two oscillating fans inside the tent and a dehumidifier outside. I have been able to dial in My temps and humidity to 80 degrees lights on, 75 off, and 50-55% respectively. However I have struggled with nutrients. I am using the GH 3 part series and GH CalMag but have not used any other additives. I really liked your less is more approach in your second journal and was hoping to follow your lead as a starting point and adjust off of it as needed. in your post above you reference your Feed schedule however the picture With the table is no longer available in the post. I hope it is not too much to ask, but Would you mind sending me a copy of your feed schedule? I am going to get my next run going in a few weeks and am going to try coco.

I realize this is an old journal but couldn’t figure out how to send you a private message so I figured I would message you here instead. I plan to start a journal when I get my next run going.

thanks again for taking the time to post all of the info you do. It has set the bar high and given me something to shoot for!!
 
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