New Grower Having Issues with Straight Coco, HELP! (Remo Chemo)

[Spencer Horning]

I have just switched from soil to straight coco for this round and am having some issues keeping the girls green and healthy. These are not auto flowers, they are all dinafem Remo Chemo, the large one has been vegging for 2.5 months and is not in coco, its in sunshine mix. Seems to be healthier. The rest have been vegging for about a month and are in straight coco. They are in 7 gallon smart pots, fed with Remo Nutrients (ive always had amazing success with Remo). I run a spectrum king 600 LED. I'd really appreciate some tips and advice on using coco as a medium. I am aware that coco needs to be at a lower ph, between 5.5 and 6 and I'm trying to keep my ph around 5.8. I water them every 3 days, about 3 litres each. Only feeding once a week.. I've been foliar feeding with magnifical and velokelp ph'd to 6.5 and it seemed to help at the start but now it's not doing much. They have purple stems too...

So at first I figured it was a calmag deficiency because I've heard that coco requires more calmag so I've added quite a bit between the feeding and the foliar spraying. Then I started to see some nutrient burn after the last feeding (pretty sure that's what it is) but the plants weren't looking green so I was confused how they could be overfed but not green. Rate of growth is good, water uptake is good, I'm also using lots of Mykos and azos beneficial bacteria in the root zone with molasses once per week to feed them. So ive been giving them only ph'd water for the last 8 days trying to flush any salt buildup that may be occurring. Usually this kills it in soil but I'm having issues keeping things green and happy especially the new growth. I Can't seem to tell if the issue is nutrient burn or nutrient deficiency. Pics attached, help greatly appreciated. Sorry if this is in the wrong forum.

 

[Dichoti]

I watered my girls in coco like I did soil. When the pot was light, they got more.
Feed with every watering, Too, because coco doesn't hang on to much.(or so I've been told)

 

[Dichoti]

Oh... One more thing... Cal-mag contains nitrogen, So in conjunction with the other stuff, It was probably too N-heavy.

 

[Proph]

Hello! Sounds like a few different issues are at play. Its hard to say which is the culprit. The things that stood out most to me, were the once a week feedings and watering every 3 day, 1 gal of water per 7 gal pot... Im not sure if you have read up on coco, but coco is basically a form of hydro. It needs to be watered daily for best results. And it needs nutes with every watering. I've never given growing plants in coco plain water. Coco by itself has no food source. Also, in coco, you should be watering/feeding until you get at least a 10% run off. And 3 liters of water will not come close to that if you are using 7 gal pots. It takes me more than a gallon of water to get run off in a 3 gal pot. I would try flushing the coco to about .5 ec and start feeding her every day, until you get run off, and use the recommended dosage for feeds.

 

[jingo]

You need to be feeding every single time you water. There is no need to flush any salts out when you're using Remo nutrients since they are organic and you can't really measure them the same as normal say like General hydroponic nutrients. I've use Remo only with autos and what I found is that if you start to see deficiencies You simply aren't feeding enough.

I would look at whatever level you were feeding at say 8 mil per gallon of the three basic Remo nutrients and go back to that. I found Remo nutrients seem to be happier and work better at a pH of 6.2, I don't know why it just seems to be that way for me. make sure you get plenty of runoff 10 to 15% each and every time you water and the plants cannot drink that run off Backup that has to be wasted and got rid of.

Your plants look healthy and I'm sure your pH meter is just fine, but I still recommend double checking the pH meter every time you're having any issues.

So I recommend finding your last stable level of nutrients with just the Remo nutrients and going back and feeding those with plenty of runoff pH'd to 6.2. also, remember one good heavy watering and feeding is all you really need to change your nutrients schedule in Coco. Nutrient mix in Coco changes pretty much as fast as you pour it in.

What I'm growing​

 

[AutoWonders]

Only time I water to run off in coco is the first time, just before planting germed seeds. After that, my 3 gallon smart pots get approx. 1 quart every other day. Somewhat weather dependent. My preference is "not to wait" until pot is bone dry before watering.

 

[Spencer Horning]

Thanks a ton for the feedback, really appreciate it. I'll be feeding them almost daily and feeding with every watering. Coco is a learned skill forsure. Great to have such a reliable resource of helpful growers out there, thanks again !

 

[Spencer Horning]

They have bounced back really quickly in just a few days since feeding/watering every day. Pics below. They are now much happier plants. Really excited to try this remo chemo and find a keeper pheno. Thanks again for the help!

 

[jingo]

They look much better! Remember the best yields come with daily watering to run off and the plants can't reabsorb that run off. Good luck with the rest of your grow

What I'm growing​

 

[chefdave]

You guys are spot on about coco. I'm in my first auto grow and pushed mine a little to hard (800ppm) but did a mini flush till ppm were around 600. Grew photos in coco for years. Coco needs daily watering and feeding to 10-15 percent runoff. Check runoff ph and ppm and your set. I keep my ph at 6 in coco. cal mag absorbs better at 6 or 6.1. Plants look great!! Keep it going Cheers Chef