Grow Mediums [Canna] Coco Growing Tips

[thedailydose]

thanks for the thread @blue !

struggling new grower here looking to find my sweet medium/method.. and im leaning towards trying out coco.
read that its hard to overwater and can double the yield from soil?! sounds like my perfect medium..

- can i get away with just using a ph pen? not sure if i really want to spend another $75-100 for a tester on a trial coco run..
- been reading that R/O is preferred for 0ppm.. but would tap water be ok?

- do i need coco made nutrients? i was thinking of just running megacrop + calmag
(i also have gh trio & sensi bloom A&B + overdrive + carboload)

my next grow doesnt start until dec/january but i just want to plan ahead.
i was thinking of running 3or4x 3gallon coco if i can get away with the questions above..

if not.. then i think ill just run 4x5 gallon soil until i can afford a tester pen & RO system.

 

[Olderfart]

thanks for the thread @blue !

struggling new grower here looking to find my sweet medium/method.. and im leaning towards trying out coco.
read that its hard to overwater and can double the yield from soil?! sounds like my perfect medium..

- can i get away with just using a ph pen? not sure if i really want to spend another $75-100 for a tester on a trial coco run..
- been reading that R/O is preferred for 0ppm.. but would tap water be ok?

- do i need coco made nutrients? i was thinking of just running megacrop + calmag
(i also have gh trio & sensi bloom A&B + overdrive + carboload)

my next grow doesnt start until dec/january but i just want to plan ahead.
i was thinking of running 3or4x 3gallon coco if i can get away with the questions above..

if not.. then i think ill just run 4x5 gallon soil until i can afford a tester pen & RO system.

I'm new at this, but my experience on my first grow in coco might be helpful for you to know about. I started without an EC pen, just ph drops initially, then ph pen (which died on day 3, so I have now ordered a better one), and got the EC pen last. First thing I found out after getting the EC pen is that my tap water which I thought would be excellent is out of bounds at over 360 EC. As a result of that and the need to use Cal Mag, I found out that my nute mix was far higher EC than I thought at over 1200. Later, I checked the runoff from my plants to see what the extra nutes had got up to, and two of the plants flushed down nicely right away, but the third one had an EC of over 2700 in the runoff. I think the reason for the excess was a screwup on my part in mixing the cal mag. After a couple of flushes with ~700-900EC nute mix, the third plant now has runoff that is less than 1000, so I am happy. It took multiple gallons of nute mix to get it sorted. Without an EC meter, there is no way I would have picked up the problem. Symptoms on the plant were still ambiguous, but would likely have progressed further down a bad road before I could figure out what was up, if I ever did without a meter.

As to whether tap water will be ok, you will not know without an EC meter. It might be just fine, or like mine NFG. According to CocoforCannabis site which has good information, your water needs to be less than EC300 or you run out of room to supply enough nutes and cal mag. You will not want to try coco without calmag, and it increases your EC significantly, so you need all the EC room you can get. Have a look at the CocoforCannabis website before you jump into coco, there is excellent information on there.

Anyway, the bottom line for me is that I would not try a coco grow without an EC meter, period. EC measurement is a lot easier technically than pH is, so you do not need to break the bank to get a unit that works. I'm pretty sure that mine was less than $30 Cdn, and unlike the pH meter, is still working very happily. If I had to, I would rather make do with cheap pH drops and an EC meter than I would with a ph meter and no EC meter. But then, I am very new at this, so take my opinion accordingly

Good luck with your decision and the grow.

 

[Steviestash]

I run in coco and don't have ec pen and never really use my ph pen

 

[thedailydose]

I'm new at this, but my experience on my first grow in coco might be helpful for you to know about. I started without an EC pen, just ph drops initially, then ph pen (which died on day 3, so I have now ordered a better one), and got the EC pen last. First thing I found out after getting the EC pen is that my tap water which I thought would be excellent is out of bounds at over 360 EC. As a result of that and the need to use Cal Mag, I found out that my nute mix was far higher EC than I thought at over 1200. Later, I checked the runoff from my plants to see what the extra nutes had got up to, and two of the plants flushed down nicely right away, but the third one had an EC of over 2700 in the runoff. I think the reason for the excess was a screwup on my part in mixing the cal mag. After a couple of flushes with ~700-900EC nute mix, the third plant now has runoff that is less than 1000, so I am happy. It took multiple gallons of nute mix to get it sorted. Without an EC meter, there is no way I would have picked up the problem. Symptoms on the plant were still ambiguous, but would likely have progressed further down a bad road before I could figure out what was up, if I ever did without a meter.

As to whether tap water will be ok, you will not know without an EC meter. It might be just fine, or like mine NFG. According to CocoforCannabis site which has good information, your water needs to be less than EC300 or you run out of room to supply enough nutes and cal mag. You will not want to try coco without calmag, and it increases your EC significantly, so you need all the EC room you can get. Have a look at the CocoforCannabis website before you jump into coco, there is excellent information on there.

Anyway, the bottom line for me is that I would not try a coco grow without an EC meter, period. EC measurement is a lot easier technically than pH is, so you do not need to break the bank to get a unit that works. I'm pretty sure that mine was less than $30 Cdn, and unlike the pH meter, is still working very happily. If I had to, I would rather make do with cheap pH drops and an EC meter than I would with a ph meter and no EC meter. But then, I am very new at this, so take my opinion accordingly

Good luck with your decision and the grow.

thank you for the input @Olderfart !

ive been testing my tap water the last 3 days (straight tap / 12 to 24hr evaporation) using a cheap blue ec/ppm pen from amazon ($15).
results has been better than expected! (just not sure how reliable the cheap pen is..) but ppm ranges from 175 - 200 which is cutting it close to the safe range (according to some coco threads)

also did a test on my solo cup plant thats been getting a feed of:
1L water + 2ml calmag + .5g MG = 763ppm (around day 30+)
(this looks to be in range ppm/feed according to this thread)

https://www.autoflower.org/threads/med-man-method-feeding-chart-ppm-ec.47856/

im thinking of letting it roll and see what happens..

I run in coco and don't have ec pen and never really use my ph pen

i would kill for a simple KISS grow! no ph. no test. and still produce? that would be nice.

 

[Olderfart]

I run in coco and don't have ec pen and never really use my ph pen

Yeah, but you know what you are doing. If my water hadn't been crap, and if I hadn't screwed up my cal mag, and if the grow lights were not entirely new to me, etc. etc. I too might have got away without the EC meter. As it turned out for me as a noob, I am glad to have the tool at least until I get my systems dialed, if I ever do.

In the meantime keep up the good work @Steviestash, I have looked at a grow or two of yours, and you seem to have this stuff nicely sorted.

 

[Olderfart]

thank you for the input @Olderfart !

ive been testing my tap water the last 3 days (straight tap / 12 to 24hr evaporation) using a cheap blue ec/ppm pen from amazon ($15).
results has been better than expected! (just not sure how reliable the cheap pen is..) but ppm ranges from 175 - 200 which is cutting it close to the safe range (according to some coco threads)

also did a test on my solo cup plant thats been getting a feed of:
1L water + 2ml calmag + .5g MG = 763ppm (around day 30+)
(this looks to be in range ppm/feed according to this thread)

https://www.autoflower.org/threads/med-man-method-feeding-chart-ppm-ec.47856/

im thinking of letting it roll and see what happens..



i would kill for a simple KISS grow! no ph. no test. and still produce? that would be nice.

Your cheap EC meter is probably close enough. If it reads more or less zero with distilled water, I think you can trust it for your purposes. You could also calibrate it with a simple salt solution - I expect there will be recipes and instructions online somewhere. I'll let others with more experience with MC chime in here, but I think at 30 days you could be a tad stronger on the EC than mid 700's. OTOH, if you do not see deficiencies, it ain't broke and don't need fixing.

Re. the KISS grow, others here seem to make it work, but newish growers like you and me are, IMHO unlikely to do it with coco. If your object is KISS with water irrigation only, you can't use coco. If you go with soil and want to do it without supplements you may be stuck with some sort of super soil setup which is either quite expensive if you buy the stuff pre-made, or a more hassle, work, and delay if you make your own. If you use supplements plus soil that requires them, I think you will still need to watch the EC and pH, although soil will be more forgiving than coco. In my limited time on here, it seems to me that I see as many or more new soil grows getting into trouble one way or another as I do coco ones, but I have not actually crunched numbers on it. Whatever you choose, there is lots of help available here.

I am trying coco because a) brick coco is cheap and effective if you buffer and rinse it well, b) it is available locally at the hardware store, c) it should work with the three part hydroponic nutes which I can get locally all winter, d) although fussier than soil, I think it also provides better control over the grow by eliminating soil complications (In coco, the only stuff in there is what you supply, which I think makes diagnosis of issues a bit simpler), e) it may be a bit less attractive to pests, f) if you add perlite in sufficient quantity, it is more forgiving re. watering, and finally, g) ProMix Hp Myco is not available here this time of year locally, and is too expensive to ship (This is what I used for my outdoor grow last summer, it worked fine, and it is a slightly more forgiving alternative to coco). As you point out, coco can outproduce soil, but that is not my focus. If they live, my three plants will produce more than I need. My grow is more about fun growing than packing away jars of weed. I need the pH and EC meters, but I more than paid for them with the money I saved on my lights and "tent". Or so, at least, goes my thinking. We shall see how the first indoor attempt works out - there is lots of room yet to discover that I am mistaken (to put it politely).

That concludes my long winded blather. Good luck with your winter grow, and keep us posted on what you decide to do and how it turns out.

 

[Giant Flying Wombat]

hey @blue gotta question for you...
I see its practically a crime to water without nutes, message has been heard!
What about misting right at the start, just before and after theyve shown their little heads?
Am I ok to be using water that has sat for 24hours? Or do I need to be chucking some of the good stuff in there too...

I did precharge the soil with a nute mix.

Appreciate your thoughts, and thanks for all the info, tremendous work

 

[Dank Nuggets]

I use coco and have for about 2 years I have a ph pen and a blue tunchon ec ppm metre but rarely use it i leave my tap water in a watering can overnight. Mix nutrients every morning for plants ph to 5.8 with half strenth feed gradually upping it till full strength same as a photoperiod some my say that may be to strong depends on strain alot but it works for me, as an average I pull 3 to 4 oz a plant sometimes up to 7oz, I do get the odd 3/4 of an oz of little short indica plants but that how it is, coco is defo the way forward before going full hydro to up your yields. Also much faster to sort a deficiency you might have once you spot it.

 

[MassMom]

After many trials and tribulations I will never use anything but coco and Mega Crop ever again. :smoking:
I use nothing but (left out overnight) tap water at the "tender stages". Just tap water to germ my seeds in a paper towel. Then I move them to root riots moistened with just tap water and a touch of Mykos, and I mist them with just tap water until roots are peeking out of the riots. I then plant them into a coco cups that have been pre-charged with tap water, rhizotonic, and calcium. (still no feed yet). When I lift the cup and it is starting to dry out I then start feed...I dunk water the cups in just tap water and Mega Crop. When they outgrow cups I replant them into their big girl coco pots and they get just tap water Mega Crop till the end of the grow. I dont use anything else, nothing. I am rather a rebel...I keep it pretty simple and dont even pH anymore. I have pretty good success so far, and I just stick with what works for me.

 

[Giant Flying Wombat]

I use coco and have for about 2 years I have a ph pen and a blue tunchon ec ppm metre but rarely use it i leave my tap water in a watering can overnight. Mix nutrients every morning for plants ph to 5.8 with half strenth feed gradually upping it till full strength same as a photoperiod some my say that may be to strong depends on strain alot but it works for me, as an average I pull 3 to 4 oz a plant sometimes up to 7oz, I do get the odd 3/4 of an oz of little short indica plants but that how it is, coco is defo the way forward before going full hydro to up your yields. Also much faster to sort a deficiency you might have once you spot it.

Sounds like your doing the right thing with those numbers :smoking: