Coco/Perlite, first few days of watering?

[JSH1973]

One thing I still find a little confusing is the watering of the first few days... as in...
If you mix the Coco (Canna Coco Pro+) out of the bag with the perlite and put it in the pots/bags, do you water it any at all or just very little.... Like a 1/4 litre before putting in the sprouted seed and then the first few days after that?
I'm at home all day thanks to Corona so I can keep an eye on them and give it a drizzle every 3-4 hours if necessary.
Soil seems a lot easier at this early stage.

 

[Steviestash]

Just give it some water don't over think it

 

[JSH1973]

Just give it some water don't over think it

Well, that was what I was going to do, give the coco a coffee mug full in the middle and drop the sprouted seed in, cover it lightly and stick a plastic pint glass upside down on top for humidity, then wait.... And then start small but frequent 2/3 times a day drizzle for a few days..
I think reading to much have me over thinking... Guess it happens to all Noobs

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

What you need to learn about watering will come with practice. Here are the basic rules: Never let the soil dry out. Soil and or coco can become hydrophobic if allowed to dry. This means it repels water. This in turn will create dry pockets in the soil and roots there will die. If your soil - coco have accidentally dried out use a surfactant to help re-wet it. I like yucca powder. Don't let soil remain soggy by watering too much too often. Root rot, damping off, molds, fungus gnats and other problems start in soggy soil. When you do water water the entire pot. How to learn when to water starts before you plant the seed. Fill your container with fresh soil/coco and weigh it (heft it) this is the lightest weight and consider it a dry pot. Now slowly water until the soil/coco will no longer absorb the water and run-off begins; weigh the pot (heft it) this is the maximum water, the wettest the pot can get. The difference between wettest and driest is the maximum water weight, for ease of explanation lets just say the water weighs 20 pounds. When the pot loses 10 pounds (half of the water weight) it is time to water again. There is an art to watering.

Now for coco. Coco is a form of Hydroponics and you water with nutrients every time you water. It is called fertigation when nutrients are mixed in the water. The idea behind coco is a substrate that you cannot over-water. It simply drains out the bottom pulling air into the roots. This allows you to fertigate several times a day presenting fresh in balance nutrients to the roots all day. Do not fertigate sooner than two hours after lights on or after two hours before lights out. During the night the roots will be exuding substances to feed the microbes so they will produce more nutrients the plant is look for. If you fertigate too soon after the lights come on the plant will not have a chance to take in the nutrients the microbes made before you wash them out. Then at night the plants do not like to go to bed with wet feet. Just because it is hydro does not mean it does not have a rhizosphere it does. Always fertigate to 15% run-off every day in coco. Don't let the pot sit in that drainage remove it to waste (feed your outdoor plants with it).

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

Ps the Canna Coco Professional Plus has an initial pre-charge so go light with your nutes in the beginning.

 

[JSH1973]

Thanks man.
I did read the above earlier but I thought it sounded a bit much to wet the whole 3 gallon canvas pot for just a tiny seed/seedling and obviously don't want to start my growing career with a swamp..

 

[JSH1973]

Also... I did read about the pre-charge of the Pro+ and kinda understood to forget about CalMag in the beginning and only 1/4 or less of nutrients to begin with.... Did I understand that correctly? LOL
Grow start is coming up next week hopefully :smoking: