That was another reason i wanted to switch i overwatered one of my first autos and got root rot and killed it. Lol idw to do that again. Thanks going to switch to coco for sure!
What ppm levels should i be at for each stage of life? Ppm is brand new to me. LolIf you're ordering online, I have had very good luck with Cyco Coco Pearl. It's a bit more $$ at $48 for a big bag off Amazon.
TheCoir looks fine as well. It' is prebuffered, which means it's loaded with Cal/Mag so you shouldn't need to add extra unless the feed schedule says to. Nice article here:
What is Coco Coir? - Washing Vs Buffering
What is Coco Coir? - Washing Vs Bufferingwww.shogunfertilisers.com
Lots to read up on for coco. However, once you know the basics it is pretty easy.
I would highly recommend testing your water before you decide how to proceed. The ppm/EC of the water will dictate how much fertilizer you can add to it. My tap water is 210ppm or so. i started by cutting it with jugs of distilled water from the store 50/50 to bring it down to a more useable range. I finally invested in a RO machine as the price at the store rose considerably, and I hated lugging gallons around.
I usually run seedling strength nute mix through the coco to wet it initially, rinse out the coco dust, and to test the runoff and see how much "stuff" they put in it. The Cyco Pearl comes out at around 700ppm initially. I rinse it until the runoff drops to around 400ppm or a little less. The seedling strength is 300-350ppm. You will have to adjust nutrient strength based on your chosed fertilizer line and what the plant tells you.
I ran a solo cup of coco with Advanced Nutrients Sensi line and had tip/nute burn around 450ppm. I am currently running Jacks 321 at around 700ppm without issue. So, numbers are a guideline.
Coco basics:
Always fertigate. Always nutrients mixed in, never water only.
Adjust pH to between 5.8-6.2
Water to runoff everytime. Suggested volume is 20%. So, if you fertigate 500ml in you should be looking for 100ml of runoff. If you get less, water more!
Nutrient strength guidelines are for photoperiods. Autos do great between 50-80% strength.
The EC/PPM guide number is your starting water + nutrients. If your guide says 500ppm and your water is 200ppm, you can add 300ppm of nutes.
In the seedling stage you may not need to water for a few days after the initial soak, after that, once a day, and eventually you may need to water 2-3-4 times a day depending on how much the plant wants. I'm at about day 40 currently, watering 2x a day and about 1000ml each time.
Ok so ppm meter for sure before anything else. Thanks!
The thing about PPM is that the so called ppm meter just measures EC (electrical conductivity of the liquid) and then converts it to ppm (which is never really ppm except if the only thing in the liquid is sodium chloride). This would be fine except different manufacturers use different conversion factors, so unless you know which factor someone's meter is using, you can't use their ppm numbers directly.
Oh boy i have a lot to learn. My meter has EC and ppm readings so thats a plus. I think ill start with only 2 seeds first run with coco just in case. LolThe thing about PPM is that the so called ppm meter just measures EC (electrical conductivity of the liquid) and then converts it to ppm (which is never really ppm except if the only thing in the liquid is sodium chloride). This would be fine except different manufacturers use different conversion factors, so unless you know which factor someone's meter is using, you can't use their ppm numbers directly.
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IMO, you are better off just sticking with EC. Most meters, even the cheap ones, can be set up either way. Any time nute manufacturers or other growers use EC, you do not have to worry about which conversion is behind the number. Most nute companies use EC because it is not ambiguous.
One wrinkle is that some meters report in millisiemens, some in microsiemens when the former reads 1.0, the latter reads 1000. Just shift the decimal point if needed.
Mix the ratios according to the Fox Trio instructions, and use an EC meter to adjust the mix to target EC levels by adding plain water. If your water is hard, you will need to at least dilute it with distilled or RO water, or find another source. My tap water sucks, so I use surface water from a creek, or later in the winter, melted snow.
The EC target you choose will depend to some degree on whether you top irrigate or sub-irrigate. If sub-irrigating, you need to keep EC levels even lower than with top irrigation. I have, I think never kept them low enough with my autopots, so I always ran into lockout issues. I am now going to automated top irrigation more or less as described by Cocoforcannabis.com. It worked a treat on my solo grow last winter.
