Grow Mediums How often do you usually need to water in coco?

[Bantersaurus]

I'm considering siwtching to coco for my next run, but I don't want to be watering 2+ times a day. If I go with just 100% coco, will watering once a day be sufficient? Can I use a hard container like a plastic pot with 100% coco to really retain moisture?

 

[Builder0101]

If you are growing in pots I am not sure why you would lose the advantage of air pruning roots. I water once a day. Just because you can water more than once a day does not mean you have to.
This plant gets once a day water.

 

[Mañ'O'Green]

I don't grow coco but we have many that do. You can find a wealth of information by doing a simple search like this:

Click on FORUMS then do an ADVANCED search

Then type in coco watering, check box for titles, search..................

I could never find my marbles without search and it does tricks too.

 

[Need4Weed]

You can water every other day in veg.

 

[Jimmythenugg]

Water every day.
Can water multiple times but imo it MUST be done once a day. If you risk coco drying out (and it does, fast) then the air will prune roots so, once a day!!!
Veg or flower!

 

[Bantersaurus]

I don't grow coco but we have many that do. You can find a wealth of information by doing a simple search like this:

Click on FORUMS then do an ADVANCED search

View attachment 1179089

Then type in coco watering, check box for titles, search..................

View attachment 1179090

I could never find my marbles without search and it does tricks too.

I searched, but I felt like this specific topic - finding a good coco mix to minimize fertigation - didn't really come up.

Anyone have any experience growing in 100% coco?

 

[Shiva's Mistress]

I'm considering siwtching to coco for my next run, but I don't want to be watering 2+ times a day. If I go with just 100% coco, will watering once a day be sufficient? Can I use a hard container like a plastic pot with 100% coco to really retain moisture?

Can be less than once a day, but I'd also recommend once a day or more.
I find that when dry it's a bit of a problem to water, as the water won't go in evenly.
So good to keep it (at least) a little bit moist.

Kind of depends on if you're running your coco kind of like a soil mix, or like a hydro mix.
For a soil mix type setup, of course you'd need amendments, maybe organic amendments like YouTube "Mr Canucks Grow" style.
Then can water less often.

For a hydro style setup, then your hydro solution needs to keep the coco fairly moist, to avoid salts building up.
Can do a big once a day soak (preferably to run off), or a regular drip feed, for example.

One nice thing about coco is that it is hard to over water, it just won't hold it.
So I find watering more often than usual, but paying less attention to how much it needs or doesn't need.
As opposed to soil constantly checking the water levels, watering when dry but be careful not to over water too.

A nice compromise is using maybe 30% - 70% coco, along with soil.
The soil can be a good buffer, for moisture and also ions (Ca and Mg) and pH, too.
Of course that will also need some nutrient supplementation, either synthetic or organic.

 

[Chronic_passion]

If you want a less hands on approach then buy some AutoPots. You only need to fill the reservoir then. They'll look after themselves and 100% great with coco.

 

[parsing_trees]

Coco can work great watering once per day. I've previously done watering 2-6x/day with automated irrigation, but now I prefer to use passive approaches -- bottom-feeding for SOGs of smaller containers, hempy buckets for larger individual plants. For both, I water once per day, and then a reservoir provides some water to the roots until the next watering. With bottom-feeding, the reservoir is the shared tray, with hempy buckets it's the bottom two inches or so of the bucket, below the drainage hole. As long as all the water is absorbed within a day or two (or flushed out/re-oxygenated when watering the hempy bucket the next time), it shouldn't stick around long enough to become stagnant and cause root rot or pests.

I posted another thread about how I've been growing in coco -- Minimal Runoff Coco Grows.

 

[Jimmythenugg]

Anyone have any experience growing in 100% coco?

30% - 70% coco, along with soil.

Not 100% coco, but I started with the 70/30 coco/pearlite as above, but I've started to add about 10% home made compost & worm humus. Both add a little more water retention (no bad thing) plus adding the biolife charges roots and allows me to feed better organic nutrients.