First time grower with some questions, how do they look?

[John Holmes]

First time grower here on about 10 days in.just started watering till runoff. I have a question.. on growweedeasy it says to Switch from nutes and regular water each watering, is that correct? IM using coco with perlite 30% in 5 gallon smartpots. And how long do you guys think i have to wait to start LST these girls?

 

[PE636]

Don't use plain water in coco. Looks good though. Lst can start whenever you wish it's never too soon really if you're careful.

 

[Swagymcfly88]

I have no idea on how to feed with coco but as for training u can start early in the next 2 or 3 days soonest I train is day 12, if its growing fast some plants I've waited till day 22 to start training cuz they are short and stubby

 

[John Holmes]

Hmm, alright. Im using flora trio nutes, cause the Tutorial for flora trio says to use water Every other time. If im skipping that maybe i should lower the recommended dose too? Its already lowered. Heres a picture

 

[Barney86]

Sup buddy coco growing is an absolute doddle.
All you do is take the ratios from the manufacturers recommendations and divide it by 10 for seedlings. First 10 days at least.
Then upto quarter strength till the bottoms start to go yellow.
Then go to half strength. You shouldn't need more than that.
Always feed to run off every day at quarter strength for small plants.
Half strength for bigger plants.
Ph 5.7 for veg. Around 6.2 for bloom.
Easy peasy
When you're at quarter strength you can also re-use the run off for a week no worries as long as your giving them a good drenching at least once a day. The ph and ppm won't be effected untill they get to a fair size.
If you've got a ppm meter that's 100ppm for seedlings. Then 400ppm till the yellowing. Then somewhere 600-800 If it's needed.
Don't need much nutes for coco because you gotta feed it so often.

 

[PE636]

I think that is referring to other soilless media like promix etc. The consensus as far as I'm aware is always nutes in coco. It's what I use generally. Definitely start low with the nutes, easy to add more, hard to get back out of the plant. I recommend getting a ppm/ec meter so you can dose accurately. I don't really go over 500ppm.

 

[John Holmes]

Okay cool! Thanks alot! I watered them yesterday but theyre still really heavy though, ill just wait until theyre dry?

Is a ppm meter really really useful, ive already spent alot of money and it feels like im getting getting a lil water over my head lol.

Thanks for the help guys

 

[PE636]

You really don't want to let it get too dry. At this point you can probably go a couple days if you've soaked it well but generally coco should be watered daily or even more once the roots are established.

 

[Barney86]

Don't let coco dry out mate. If you do, the salts from the nutrients will build up and effectively boil the roots. That's why we say water to run off every day. It makes sure all the old unused nutes are washed away. This is also why we feed at much lower strengths than soil etc.
Just the way coco works mate. It's hydroponics. You can stick it over a bucket with a pump on 24/7 dripping back into the bucket if you wanted to.
It's wicked stuff. Just don't let it dry out and it'll behave as it's supposed to

 

[Barney86]

And the ppm meter is an essential imo mate. As is ph meter.
The cheap £10 Amazon ppm pens are good though. Mine lasted nearly 4 years without needing calibrated and was pinpoint accurate.
The cheap ph pens are garbage though. Gotta spend a bit for a decent one of those unfortunately. Mine was £50 and really reliable ones don't come much cheaper than that. Bluelab are officially the best but they cost a fortune. 100ish I think. I wouldn't pay that either.

The ppm pen not only tells you how strong the feed is but also tells you how strong to make it

 

[John Holmes]

Ahh okay.. so ill water it right away then? Even though its not dried at all. Ill follow ur instructions above! i just ordered some cal+mag, how much do i dose w that? couldnt find a doseage guide with it..

Thanks guys

 

[John Holmes]

Btw is EC meter and ppm meter the same thing?

 

[Purpsmagurps]

5ml a gallon, get a hm digital ec/ppm tds pen that is WATERPROOOOF

 

[John Holmes]

I guess you put the ec meter in the runoff water btw?

 

[Barney86]

Ahh okay.. so ill water it right away then? Even though its not dried at all. Ill follow ur instructions above! i just ordered some cal+mag, how much do i dose w that? couldnt find a doseage guide with it..

Thanks guys

Depends on your water supply mate. If it's r/o you'll need it straight away. If your using tap water you might need little or none.
My tap water is only 48ppm but I don't need it untill late veg. Then it's only very small amounts.
We can all be really different how much and when we need it.
Lots of folk will swear you need it at 200-300ppm but you don't. 50ppm should be enough to get you started. It won't hurt anyway. If the mids go blotchy or rust spots appear then go up by 50ppm in till it stops.
You really don't need much in coco mate. Little and often and nothing will go wrong

 

[Barney86]

I guess you put the ec meter in the runoff water btw?

Yeah mate. If there's a drop or rise then the coco will be much further off in the same direction.
If it goes up the nutes are too strong.
If it goes down the nutes are too week.
You won't be able to see it for a few weeks though untill the roots are established.
Not something you need to obsess over but if something is looking wrong then that will tell you straight away if it's that or the ph.
Not much else it can be

 

[John Holmes]

Yeah mate. If there's a drop or rise then the coco will be much further off in the same direction.
If it goes up the nutes are too strong.
If it goes down the nutes are too week.
You won't be able to see it for a few weeks though untill the roots are established.
Not something you need to obsess over but if something is looking wrong then that will tell you straight away if it's that or the ph.
Not much else it can be

Alright, so i followed this program and used a quarter of everything. Got the pH to 5.7 and started with wetting the surface of the medium and then continued to drain it as evenly as i could. I would say i got 10-20%runoff, not sure but it seemed like it. One of the plants looks drooping, not sure whats the problem with it if it even is any. Barney, when you mentioned that the bottom becomes yellow, do i continue this until the bottom stem becomes yellow? Then i switch to half dose and continue along that path? I just ordered a EC meter aswell!

Think i got it now thanks alot guys

 

[Purpsmagurps]

test ec of it going in, dont worry about runoff.

 

[Barney86]

Alright, so i followed this program and used a quarter of everything. Got the pH to 5.7 and started with wetting the surface of the medium and then continued to drain it as evenly as i could. I would say i got 10-20%runoff, not sure but it seemed like it. One of the plants looks drooping, not sure whats the problem with it if it even is any. Barney, when you mentioned that the bottom becomes yellow, do i continue this until the bottom stem becomes yellow? Then i switch to half dose and continue along that path? I just ordered a EC meter aswell!

Think i got it now thanks alot guys

Up it to half strength soo n as you see the bottoms start to yellow mate. It'll be 2-3 weeks from now most likely.
Then you should just be able to hold it there for the rest of the grow.
No point going stronger than they need, Just a waste of nutes.
Feeding on the lighter side avoids most things that cause problems too so you shouldnt ever really need to piss about flushing and correcting the media.

 

[John Holmes]

Up it to half strength soo n as you see the bottoms start to yellow mate. It'll be 2-3 weeks from now most likely.
Then you should just be able to hold it there for the rest of the grow.
No point going stronger than they need, Just a waste of nutes.
Feeding on the lighter side avoids most things that cause problems too so you shouldnt ever really need to piss about flushing and correcting the media.

Bro, when do you think i should switch to 600w? Im using HPS but dimmed down to 250w right now. Also, when i drain the plants it takes a while for the runoff to appear, even longer for it to completely pour out, do i let the pot stay on the plate 5ish minutes until all runoff is out? I read somewhere that you should not let the pot stay in the runoff at all, but its really annoying to empty it serveral times..