Tips for growing in coco

[Cannabliss]

Any coco Guru’s out there? I myself am looking for any tips gained through personal experience.  I have a floraflex 2gal refill I’ve been dying to give a go. 😀

[Nate]

I’m also interested in hearing about more experienced growers tips for coco. I’m starting my first run with an Autopots system, and I’m hoping it’ll keep me from having to water 2-3 times a day during flower.

[Brad104]

So glad you put up this forum.Ive been dying to try a run with coco myself,so good looking out @cannabliss

[Nate]

I had pretty good results switching to coco from soil, but it is a lot more work if you want to do any sort of high frequency fertigation plan by hand. That why I’m trying the Autopot system.

[Cannabliss]

<p style=”text-align: left;”>@Nate @Brad104</p>
No problem.  We need much more to open up. I’m trying to cover as many as the “main focuses” in order to be successful. We’re working with bare bones, so it’s up to us.

[Brad104]

Your exactly right @cannabliss if I can do anything at all to help you or anyone of us out I will bro.Im super glad there’s quite a bit of knowledgeable people here and that’s what is up.Ive never grew in coco but all I know is you have to have a big bottle of calmag! Other than it’s a great medium

[Cannabliss]

The ideas you’ve been posting have been awesome. Keep it up. I’m trying to think of some we can all enjoy & participate in.

[Somatek]

Tried to post this the other day but kept getting an error message, I wonder if they cap how many replies you can post a day?  Anyway, on with my long winded reply and I apologize in advance if I put anyone to sleep lol.

I use to use canna coco with either pro blend pro, earth juice or finally canna nutes w/bcuzz organics supplemented.  If there are any specific questions feel free to ask and I’ll do my best to answer.

Biggest difference between coco and peat grows is that coco doesn’t suffer from compaction nearly as much and wicks water much better as it’s not hydrophobic like peat.  Combined with the higher CEC in coco which makes hydration more important so nutes are available, it really does better when kept at a higher saturation level consistently instead of aiming for a solid wet/dry cycle like you would with peat.  When I grew for compassion clubs my standard set up was 64 one gal pots on a 4×4 with a 600w HPS grown in 50-75% coco and 25-50% perlite which I’d basically run as a recirculating hydro system hand watering them daily which gives you a lot of control along with a lot more work.  Autopots or sub irrigated planters seem like a good natural fit for coco grows, I don’t know much about the flora flex other then it looks like an evolved drip system where you don’t have to worry about clogged drippers.,

With higher soil saturation levels you also want to make sure your room is balanced; no big temp/humidity swings, enough lighting and especially a solid VPD with lots of air circulation withing the tent/room.  I’d try to keep the evatransporation high (combination of how much is transpired and evaporated from the grow) since the high CEC of coco will tend to hold nutrients more then peat.  Using fulvic acid might be worthwhile to ensure those hard to absorb minerals are chelated and more available, sometime a bit of preventative is worth it’s weight in gold seal hash…  That really depends on how confident in your diagnosis abilities though.

Speaking of prevention instead of reaction, if you’re keeping the soil moist so the nutes are readily available then it’s a good idea to consider adding BTi to your water or soil to keep fungus gnats out of the picture as they tend to like coco being moist all the time as much as the plants do.

[Cannabliss]

So grateful for your input. I’m still picturing 64 1gal pots in one tent 😯 😯  lol

From all the posts I’ve read online, it seems like DTW & autopots are the majority of what’s being posted. This may not reflect at all however on it being the most commonly used grow methods.

I love the idea of automated irrigation with coco at it usually needs the daily treatment. I wouldn’t have the time to stay on them like I would like to, being new to it & all.  That’s the main thing keeping me from just winging it.

[Somatek]

Look at sub irrigated planters, aka SIP, as a simple, fool proof wick hydro system to ensure consistent soil moisture levels.  I’ve been playing with them and fortified soils w/biochar and supplemental organic nutes/teas as a simple, low tech/low cost, easy way for beginners to learn to grow.

If you think 64 plants on a 4×4 table is a lot check out my thread “what’s your orientation” where  I talk about how I learned to grow in a vertical SoG with 700-800 plants in a 5ft diameter grow (I ran 4 at a time for a perpetual harvest every 2 weeks).  Twenty years ago growing legions of 12-18″ plants (at finish) was the norm due as the laws weren’t based on plant counts, forcing growers to learn to grow bigger plants.

[Cannabliss]

SWEET! Headed there now to check it out. Thanks.

[Nate]

One thing I’ve been wondering about once I start using the autopots is, do they need to be turned off at night? Or will it be self regulated due to the lowered transpiration rates/evaporation? Is there any danger in keeping them constantly wicking up nutrients?

[Somatek]

I don’t have direct experience with autopots personally, just a deep appreciation for wick systems after using S.I.P. so hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in.  Usually wick systems are self regulating though as they’re based on the evapotranspiration rate (technical term for the combined evaporation/transpiration rate in a grow chamber) which functionally stops when the lights go out.  So I imagine you wouldn’t need to do a thing.

[Somatek]

I don’t have direct experience with autopots personally, just a deep appreciation for wick systems after using S.I.P. so hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in.  Usually wick systems are self regulating though as they’re based on the evapotranspiration rate (technical term for the combined evaporation/transpiration rate in a grow chamber) which functionally stops when the lights go out.  So I imagine you wouldn’t need to do a thing but take that with a grain of salt

[Nate]

That’s kind of what I figured, I just thought I’d ask your opinion since you seemed to have some knowledge about wicking systems in general. I would imagine in the summer months, humidity might be somewhat of a concern, but now that we’re heading into the cooler weather (I’m in Nova Scotia), it shouldn’t be an issue. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on my humidity once the pots are turned on. I’ve got a 30 pint dehumidifier that I can set the RH% and just leave on, so it shouldn’t get too out of hand.

[Brad104]

I’m happy as hell that they are such great people on here who seems to be highly informed of the many arts of horticulture. I thank each and everyone of you, for real guys thanks

[Cannabliss]

I second that 👏🏼💯🏆🏆🏆
I wouldn’t be where I am with my grows today if it wasn’t for people like these fine ladies & gents sharing experiences.

I’ve seen redit posts from well known accounts just downing newbies for asking “dumb questions”

I’ve always been taught that “such thing does not exist, only stupid answers”

 

Though that may have lost it’s value over time lol

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