Watering question with seedlings in solo cup with Coco?

[dakotamoon]

I'm trying really hard not to overwater the solo cups, I give them a little sip - twice daily, very little runnoff. It seems there is a fine line, with Coco .. seedlings roots need to search for water, but with coco .. there is always water there.

 

[Jack420]

Ur fine can't over water Coco it it need to stay wet wait till u get in flower n u have to feed a gal daily to ur plants

 

[SamSmith]

When watered properly coco retains water and air equally throughout the medium. The roots will expand and grow out to fill a solo very quickly. Keeping it wet is less of an issue than it drying out. I only stay in solos for a week or so in veg.

 

[gr865]

I'm trying really hard not to overwater the solo cups, I give them a little sip - twice daily, very little runnoff. It seems there is a fine line, with Coco .. seedlings roots need to search for water, but with coco .. there is always water there.

When you say seedlings, how long since sprout?
You can over water new seedlings. I find that prior to sprout I just use a tiny bit of solution every couple of days till sprout, then I use a mister an try an water every couple of days but keep the coco damp with the mister. Once it put on true leaves I give them a decent soak then only water when the cups are lite. You do want to sort of take them to the edge but not totally dry. Your right that you need the roots searching for the water even in coco.

Here is a pic of the roots in cups planted from seed 15 days after sprout, just prior to planting in the three gallon coco smart pots.

Here is a pic of the clones. They were taken from there mothers on 10/03, had planned to put them in one gallon coco smart pots on 10/17 but had to wait due to our trip to Florida to feed folks after the hurricane.
I had my friend keep them, he put them under a low watt CFL, did not feed them well. He brought them back when we returned from Florida on 11/08.

He had kept them under the CFL for about ten days, then on 10/24 for some reason, he put them in his flower tent. I did not know he had done this, was disappointed with the growth then I saw flower starting. I spent the next three weeks trying to get them to revert back to veg. You can see the little buds in that picture.
On 12/01 I transplanted them into one gallon smart pots.

They have finely reverted back to veg and I kept three of them for mothers to get clones for my next grow. Will be taken clones from them next week, then into my new DIY EZ Cloner, then after they take root they will go into one gallon coco smart pots, veg for 10 days to two weeks, then put them into flower. Hopefully a 16 to 25 plant SOG.
Here they were a week ago, still have signs of flower.

So, from what I have learned about coco over the years is, keep them damp not wet as seedings, water to runoff after transplanting, then as they begin good growth you will need to water them at least daily an begin to increase the water frequency as needed. Two times a day then three and so forth. I am at day 53 of flower and watering 8 cycles a light period. 1st cycle 90 seconds w/runoff, the next 6 cycles 30 seconds with minor runoff and the final cycle 105 seconds and get good runoff/flush of that days prior solution. This has served me well.
Here is a pic of one of the 5 in flower. Day 49

Good luck on your grow buddy, hope you get many strong buds.

GR

 

[dakotamoon]

Thanks, My brain is still stuck in "soil" mode. Two of my plants are 16 days old, the other 2 are 9 days old. The largest CBD Critical is going into a 1.7 gallon pot this weekend, the other 3 will be ready next week. Thanks Chris.

 

[dakotamoon]

I haven't gotten into clones yet, but my neighbours want cuttings for this spring! Can you show pix of your DIY EZCloner? Thanks Drew

 

[gr865]

Have not used it yet, just finished it.

 

[MickFoster]

I use a 70/30 coco/perlite mix and feed 1/4 strength nutes to run off every day from sprout.

 

[dakotamoon]

Thanks Mick, I'm using Canna Coco which I love, and the instructions from Canna are: Don't add vermiculite/perlite or any other substance to Canna Coco, it's formulated to work just as it is.

 

[ChronicCanuk]

I use canna coco/perlite at a 70/30 mix also works perfectly fine, always has. It can't hurt adding perlite for extra oxygen my plants sure don't complain.

 

[MickFoster]

Thanks Mick, I'm using Canna Coco which I love, and the instructions from Canna are: Don't add vermiculite/perlite or any other substance to Canna Coco, it's formulated to work just as it is.

I use canna coco also and I add 30% perlite. You can't have enough oxygen in the root zone in my opinion.
I'm currently running hempy buckets with 100% perlite - nothing simpler.

 

[dakotamoon]

I'm fascinated by hempy buckets, but this is only my 2nd grow, so that's for later. I had a nightmare with some cheap Coco that was so full of salt and bugs that it killed $60 worth of seeds. So for now - I'm following Canna's instructions to a "t"! I know a lot of Coco users - also put perlite in their mixes, but I'm trying to follow manufacturers instructions this time out.

 

[SamSmith]

There are also a lot of growers who don't use perilite in there coco. I never have. Cultivator has some pretty good threads on coco growing.

 

[MickFoster]

Hempys are easier than coco - no calcium or magnesium deficiencies, no bugs, no pH problems, and less feedings. Some people drill a hole 2" from the bottom of a bucket like a hempy but use coco instead and call it a hempy but it's not really.

 

[dakotamoon]

There are also a lot of growers who don't use perilite in there coco. I never have. Cultivator has some pretty good threads on coco growing.

I am using Cultivator's feed schedule, he or she is an amazing resource. Mildly humorous - I was at our local hydro store - and they had a really nifty calendar with half naked women on them, My wife saw that right away when I came home.. her comment: "That is proof positive that only MEN grow pot", I'm sure Sue would appreciate this .. if she sees it.

 

[gr865]

I'm fascinated by hempy buckets, but this is only my 2nd grow, so that's for later. I had a nightmare with some cheap Coco that was so full of salt and bugs that it killed $60 worth of seeds. So for now - I'm following Canna's instructions to a "t"! I know a lot of Coco users - also put perlite in their mixes, but I'm trying to follow manufacturers instructions this time out.

Canna's feed schedule is a bit heavy, I use it as a guide, but I use A&B at 250 to 300 ppm in veg and 400 to 450 in flower. I use Cannazym at 10 ml, Rhizotonic @ 7.5 veg and early flower, then 3.5 ml the remainder of flower, Boost @ 7.5 early flower and 11.5 ml mid to late flower. Don't forget Drip Clean @ 0.6 ml. These are all per gallon. I use Liquid KoolBloom instead of PK13/14 and the last week prior to flush I use Dry KoolBloom @ 1.25 grams per gallon.

Get a bit of tip burn from the KoolBloom but it's minor.

 

[Ironcity73]

Have not used it yet, just finished it.

How's the cloner working out? How did u make it?