Can you add perlite 3 weeks into veg?! 100% Coco is too moist

[bsturman92]

Alright so I'm about 2.5 weeks into veg and I'm having over watering problems on some of the plants. I am getting a 10% runoff with every water/feed and plants begin to droop for a day or two before picking back up. I'm in 100% coco coir and it holds moisture for a long while and really does not dry up very fast. I'm using 3gal fabric pots and giving about 1/2-1 gal to each plant every 2 days or so (for 10-20% runoff) fan leaves seem a darker shade of green and very heavy. So I am wanting to know if I can still add perlite to the pots to allow better water/air flow. If so how would I go about doing it? Grab the plant and pull it out? Maybe rinse off roots? The coco seems to compact a bit when I water and takes multiple days to dry up. Everyone says to keep it wet and water daily. But mine seems to stay wet and makes plants droopy after feeding for couple days. Advice?

 

[rillos]

I don't use perlite since i'm a hydro grower but isn't the purpose of perlite to increase and help drainage so I wouldn't see how that would help. I could be wrong though.

 

[HydroDyna]

I don't think perlite will help here.

 

[mussh]

if you have a larger pot to transplant them into, it shouldn't be an issue.
just prep your pot with 70% coco and 30% perlite.
let your current pots dry out a little and then VERY carefully, transplant into the larger pot.
just take your time and you can do it!

also consider a hempy bucket. check my current grow and you will see me using 75% coco and 25% perlite.

I feed my plant once a week and give it a ph drink after four days. it could go a week with only one watering if I really had to.

 

[madmarv0525]

I'm not sure about 100% coco but I have a coco mix that I have been treating like soil letting it get a bit dry before adding more water. I have read that the dry cycle helps the roots grow faster. Hope that helps.