whats your coco feeding/watering/flushing cycle?

[stinky]

hay everyone

 

have a few clones in coco that have had a few problems

overfed , p/h problem and root bound

i have transplanted them from there 1/2L pots to 200mm pots with some perlight in the bottom

than i flushed them with half strenght nutes to settle them in (small pots were flushed prior to transplant)

 

i guess what i would like to know is

 

how often do u feed your plants?

 

do u feed one day than water the next?

 

or do u just use nutes all the time?

 

how often do u flush?

 

how much water/nutes per serve? eg 1lt 5lt or mabe 500ml

 

pot size?

 

 

thanks

stinky

[Wrangler556]

If conditons are right, and pot drainage is good, I often water my coco plants every 2-3days. If something is off, they can go as much as 7 days.

 

Best way is let them dry out, pick up the pot and notice how heavy it is when light, then water, and feel again so you get an idea of when they need a water going off the weight, coco weighs bugger all when dry, so its a noticeble difference.

 

PH I keep between 5.7 - 6.3, somewhere in that range is fine for me.

 

In veg I keep about 1.4EC, and 1.6-1.8 in flower, the amount of mix I give them varies, but basically water till it comes out the bottom, and make sure the pots don't sit in that water, always empty the trays.

 

In Veg I usually feed 3-4 times with nutes, then a plain water in between as a mini flush. If you water with plenty runoff, and give em a plain water every now and then, I find it shouldnt need a proper flush till into flower, then I might flush every fortnight or so.

 

That works for me

 

Wrangler.

[Innocent criminal]

hay everyone

 

have a few clones in coco that have had a few problems

overfed , p/h problem and root bound

i have transplanted them from there 1/2L pots to 200mm pots with some perlight in the bottom

than i flushed them with half strenght nutes to settle them in (small pots were flushed prior to transplant)

 

i guess what i would like to know is

 

how often do u feed your plants?

Every second day in bloom or full veg, every 3 or 4 days for backburner mums.

 

do u feed one day than water the next?

I go by the plant, if it looks overwatered I skip a feed completely, if it starts to curl or burn I give a few large waterings (50% run off) of plain pH balanced water. I only really flush when plants look badly stressed or when changing additives (eg. finishing PK), then 7 to 14 days full flush for finish.

 

or do u just use nutes all the time?

I tend to vary my nutes a lot, as I am mixing very small batches for small groups of plants I can tailor the mix to suit on a daily basis, if a plant hints at being overfed or hungry I will vary its next feed to suit, to combat salt build up I water with about 20% run off to ensure fresh nutes right through the medium.

how often do u flush?

with all the feed changes, they would get 6 regular flushes from seed to bud (at every potting up, then bloom/PK/ final flush) plus any additional flushing required because of stuff ups.

 

how much water/nutes per serve? eg 1lt 5lt or mabe 500ml

I give 1.5 or 2lt per 10 lt depending on how well the plant is feeding (always 2 if changing nute strength).

 

pot size?

I sprout or clone in Jiffy's, start veg in 6", then up to 8" and currently using 10lt buckets for bloom (1 skunk#1 in 18lt ).

 

 

THC

Edited July 23, 2009 by TheHeadCing

[stinky]

thanks wrangler and thc

 

thanks for takeing the time to ansewer as i know it can be a pain in the arse to answer lots of questions in one go

some good info there and i am sure it will help me/others in the future

 

to other coco users feel free to add your 2 cents

it is interesting to see what others do as no two people grow the same i think(simeler but not the same)

 

stinky

[bloodshot_eyes]

I use the frequent small waterings method as is suggested for coco in the book "integral hydroponics" Basically when small the plants get hand watered at first as needed. Once they start to take I put them on pump and timer 3 times a day (lights on) for 1 minute (3 minutes a day) This stays the same all through the rest of the grow. I aim for 10% runoff everyday by measuring whats in the runoff container and comparing it to a ruler that is in the res tub. I don't check everyday, just kind of average it out over how ever many days its been since I last checked. I run a two pot Run-To-Waste system and just before the feed ring on each pot there is a tap. This tap is all that changes throughout the grow. Basically if I'm getting too little run-off the tap gets turned up. If I'm getting too much run-off the tap gets turned down. Its takes a little trial and error to dial in but is very simple really.

The method I mention here is basically from the "never let your coco dry" mindset. Others say that you should let the coco dry out a bit then water again more like with soil. I think the best thing about coco is that it doesn't really matter, its a very forgiving medium.

[darken]

perfect questions Great answers. Good little bit of reading and info