New Grower Mephisto and Night Owl in Living Organic Coco

[slowandeasy]

Ok, I see a few problems besides the previous listed. When your seedling are very young it is important to have the right Moisture level. Starting in 5 gal pots directly is not recommended. If you do plant directly in that much Coco you need to water your Coco a day or 2 BEFORE you plant the seeds. Moist levels are the most important part of early life of a seedling. You want roots to SEEK moisture. In the pics you are watering DIRECTLY at the stem. That is counterproductive. Water around the OUTSIDE of the pot. Coco is like a sponge. Keeping the outside boarder MORE moist will promote outward and downward growth of roots. Watering at the base of the stem gives your plant no reason to seek moisture...it's already right on it. When I start seeds in cups, I bottom dunk my Coco. This promotes downward growth of roots. And prevents over watering.

Next problem. Watering 6.5-6.8 pH in Coco is too high. I know you are trying to follow Organic soil pH and not adjusting pH to it's proper range. Once you feed synthetics you want to feed a pH of 5.8 to 6.4 each time you water. Trying to use straight water at 6.8 pH will cause yellowing like you have now. If you want to try this, I would say using an Organic Calmag. It might help a little to buffer your water so you can lower the pH and give a little more food. But in my vast experience. You would benefit from starting a couple new seeds and following a different method. Even if you want to stick it out. A couple new seeds done correctly from day 1 will show you the difference and not take up a ton of space. But you would have a better idea of what a healthy plant should look like. Good luck, slow

 

[slowandeasy]

I don't remember where he asked for Opinions on his grow medium, I love coco and you would have a hard time convincing me to go back to soil.

Nice looking setup and I will be following along.

Actually he specifically asked people for advice, including @MrOldBoy and myself. Being honest and helping someone might not always include rainbows and sunshine . @MrOldBoy is 100% correct . This is exactly why many new growers of the younger generation dont do well, you already know everything about everything! @IDontExist is being smart and asking for advice from more experienced growers. That is what a good grower does. Find other good growers and learn from each other. Don't get meeting. I love Coco and I doubt anyone ok this site has grown more plants in Coco than I have. But Coco is not meant for Organics. And yes you can and should yield well in Coco, it grows massive plants. But if someone wants to do well in Organics, Coco has nothing on Soil. Each growing style has is pluses and minuses. It is most important to find what works best for you. It might no be best for me and that's ok. That is the beauty of growing. But if someone asks me for help, I will be honest, even if it isn't the popular answer. Peace, slow

 

[IDontExist]

Ok, I can help you out. If you are willing to keep an open mind and take my advice, you will do excellent. First, problem. There is no such thing as a good dry Ammendment for Coco to support a full grow. I have tried more than 1 dry Ammendment with Coco, and unfortunately I don't support the use of organics and Coco as a result of my experiences. Coco is meant to be treated like Hydro. It likes to be feed often and slow dissolving Organics just don't have what it takes to sustain a complete grow. You can make it til the end, but not pretty like it should be. If you want to use Coco, ditch the Dry Ammendments and feed your plants daily with a good synthetic nute regimen. Coco needs a lot of Cal-Mag, and plants are best if fed very often, with Calmag in your mix always

The second problem I see is overwatering. You don't need 5 gal pots of Coco, that is too much for a small seedling. For Autoflowering strains and Coco, 2 gal is plenty if you use synthetics. You want to feed Coco often to get the most out of your plants . Organics are too slow dissolving, they just don't work well in Coco.

So, if you want to use Dry Ammendments, you must use a high quality Organic Soil. You are wasting your time trying it in Coco. I am just being honest and want to save you the headache of a less than perfect harvest. Personally I would start over. Either go all Organic with a quality Soil or go Coco with quality synthetics. Don't waste time doing Organics with Coco. You will be dissatisfied and frustrated. It just doesn't work well. Sorry to be honest, but I have to be frank. Good luck, if you need help just ask. Peace slowandeasy

Thanks for stopping in Slow, was hoping to see you here! I of course respect your opinion and know there are other respectable growers that would also say dry amendments and coco don't work but I'm basing this off Mr. Canucks Grow from YouTube who consistently pulls quality and quantity with this method, along with a bunch of his followers, some in this site.

I definitely know they were too wet to start and not watered properly, pretty sure this was my main source of stunting. Next time I'm going to start them in Solo cups or small pots at my house so I can really baby them the first couple weeks.

Things obviously aren't perfect but I'm certainly not at the point of giving up and starting over. I appreciate your honesty and advice, and hope that I don't persuade you not to give more by not following it all right away. I completely understand soil is probably a better choice than coco and I will for sure give that a shot. I have no loyalty to any style, medium, or equipment, except my Quantum Boards so I'm on board to learn and try new things.

 

[IDontExist]

Ok, I see a few problems besides the previous listed. When your seedling are very young it is important to have the right Moisture level. Starting in 5 gal pots directly is not recommended. If you do plant directly in that much Coco you need to water your Coco a day or 2 BEFORE you plant the seeds. Moist levels are the most important part of early life of a seedling. You want roots to SEEK moisture. In the pics you are watering DIRECTLY at the stem. That is counterproductive. Water around the OUTSIDE of the pot. Coco is like a sponge. Keeping the outside boarder MORE moist will promote outward and downward growth of roots. Watering at the base of the stem gives your plant no reason to seek moisture...it's already right on it. When I start seeds in cups, I bottom dunk my Coco. This promotes downward growth of roots. And prevents over watering.

Next problem. Watering 6.5-6.8 pH in Coco is too high. I know you are trying to follow Organic soil pH and not adjusting pH to it's proper range. Once you feed synthetics you want to feed a pH of 5.8 to 6.4 each time you water. Trying to use straight water at 6.8 pH will cause yellowing like you have now. If you want to try this, I would say using an Organic Calmag. It might help a little to buffer your water so you can lower the pH and give a little more food. But in my vast experience. You would benefit from starting a couple new seeds and following a different method. Even if you want to stick it out. A couple new seeds done correctly from day 1 will show you the difference and not take up a ton of space. But you would have a better idea of what a healthy plant should look like. Good luck, slow

When you say I'm watering the stem are you referring to the pictures with the Blumats or the older ones when they were seedlings? I set the Blumats up a bit earlier than I would have liked because I couldn't keep going over there to water and it was taking up too much of my partner's time. I plan to keep them at my place the first couple weeks so that hopefully won't be an issue in the future.

6.5 to 6.8 is what Mr Canuck uses so that's why I'm targeting that pH. I filled the reservoir and pHed to around 6.6, when I checked 3 days later I realized I left the lid off and the pH was almost 7.2. I dropped it down to just over 6.5 and closed to lid up, hoping it holds a more consistent pH that way. I like that new seed idea, might drop a Sour Crack into a Solo cup with some soil.

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

More than one way to skin a cat. Best way to get better at it is just what your doing. Researching and then giving it your best shot. You’ll learn some things, forget a bunch of shit. You’ll kill some plants and some will blow your mind. But at the end of the journey you’ll be a better grower for taking the time to do it your way and find a way to perfect it. Latitudes and attitudes is the same for people and plants, figure out yours and you’ll be top of the heap one day. Take little tidbits bits from everyone and discard what what doesn’t work for you. I grow monsters in hydro so can’t be of much help here. Looks like your plants are trying to figure you out as much as you them. They may be a bit slow but I’m sure they will get to the end with help from the AFN crew.

 

[slowandeasy]

Thanks for stopping in Slow, was hoping to see you here! I of course respect your opinion and know there are other respectable growers that would also say dry amendments and coco don't work but I'm basing this off Mr. Canucks Grow from YouTube who consistently pulls quality and quantity with this method, along with a bunch of his followers, some in this site.

I definitely know they were too wet to start and not watered properly, pretty sure this was my main source of stunting. Next time I'm going to start them in Solo cups or small pots at my house so I can really baby them the first couple weeks.

Things obviously aren't perfect but I'm certainly not at the point of giving up and starting over. I appreciate your honesty and advice, and hope that I don't persuade you not to give more by not following it all right away. I completely understand soil is probably a better choice than coco and I will for sure give that a shot. I have no loyalty to any style, medium, or equipment, except my Quantum Boards so I'm on board to learn and try new things.

Hey I don't care what you choose to do. And I understand you are trying to replicate something you saw on YouTube. I will give you one more bit if advice. I know you want to stick it out and I respect your decision. However, since you have multiple plants the best thing you could do is to try a couple with a different pH and a little Calmag. Each person's set up can be different. Unless you have the same lights, strains, climate, water, ect. Don't put all of your eggs in 1 basket. Learn from this grow. But don't blindly follow something just because it worked for someone on YouTube. Make some mistakes, learn from others, and see what happens. But my honest side will tell you that you are going to be disappointed. From my decades of experience, Coco's best results are from smaller pots and frequent feeding with Quality Synthetics 3-5x per day via Automated watering systems. If you want to use Organics and dry Ammendments, High Quality Soil in 7gal + of medium is ideal. Your pH is too high at 6.5-6.8 in Coco. Look at any chart and it will show you that is too high. Coco is not Peat. Coco is not Soil, Coco is hydro with a medium and benefits of treated like so. At a minimum try to water 1 or 2 plants with a pH of 6.0-6.2. see if the Color is better in a few days. Your plants look pale, a common sign of high pH in Coco. Good luck, ask if you need help. Peace slowandeasy

 

[slowandeasy]

When you say I'm watering the stem are you referring to the pictures with the Blumats or the older ones when they were seedlings? I set the Blumats up a bit earlier than I would have liked because I couldn't keep going over there to water and it was taking up too much of my partner's time. I plan to keep them at my place the first couple weeks so that hopefully won't be an issue in the future.

6.5 to 6.8 is what Mr Canuck uses so that's why I'm targeting that pH. I filled the reservoir and pHed to around 6.6, when I checked 3 days later I realized I left the lid off and the pH was almost 7.2. I dropped it down to just over 6.5 and closed to lid up, hoping it holds a more consistent pH that way. I like that new seed idea, might drop a Sour Crack into a Solo cup with some soil.

In the first pics your only wet looking spot is directly at the Stem and the rest looks bone dry. You need to water away from the stem. When you handwater Coco. You should go around the Outside of the pot. Nowhere near the stem. Roots seek moisture. Your plant will not produce thick white Roots. But will produce small and thin waterlogged roots and slow the plants growth. Coco is a huge sponge. Avoid watering near the stem. Even with the Blumats, but when they are small seedlings hand water around the outside by hand. It should not have a wet ring around the stem. It should be moist on the outer edges, the opposite of what a vast majority of people here like to do. Peace, slow

 

[PotDaddy]

It’s all good but from this sentence I decided to chime in:

” Any tips or comments are welcome and I appreciate anyone willing to follow along and maybe give me some advice”

He also mentioned the stress and 40 minute trip ......

My goal was aimed at making life easier so I gave my opinion.......

Opinions are like butt holes, everyone has one!

Peace,
MOB

Sorry He asked for tips but telling him to Dump what he already has is SILLY.

 

[MrOldBoy]

Sorry He asked for tips but telling him to Dump what he already has is SILLY.

Flat out wrong, with all due respect @wwonka ..... @IDontExist stated and this is a direct quote:

“Circulation was also too low for the first week and I’m pretty sure I dialed up the lights too slowly. As you can see everyone is a bit behind where they should be and 2-3 I strongly considered pulling and starting over. These pictures were taken 10-12, 17 days above ground.”

Based on his post ..... amount of monies invested into the grow and throw in the 40 minute trip .... suggestion was simply concurring with his statement, yes start over ......

For simplicity I would suggest a different grow method .....

So here we are a few days later and I’m wondering how this current Grow is going? Time is most precious, we all wanna make the most of it, right?

Peace,
MOB

 

[Frenjamin Banklin]

Considering the grower is far from his grow the best option for that would be something with a greater capacity for stored water and nutrients. We could all tell him to stop doing what he is doing and start doing it our way. Personally I think that DWC buckets with top off valves and a reservoir would be ideal for a remote location.

I think what MIGHT be the issue is that you did not offer advice per se based on improving his current situation. You said I can show you the way if you listen to me and follow my advice. That’s like someone asking a mechanic if something is wrong with their brakes, and him telling them their car is a piece of shit and he only thinks xxx cars worth it.

You clearly would like people to respect what you have to say about growing. But you might be going about getting that respect the wrong way. If you don’t find wisdom in what I have just said that is fine.

To @IDontExist if you are not aware you can block posts from people here on AFN if you feel they are a bit aggressive or you don’t. There is a live stoner area and grow battle area where a lot of great growers tend to hang out. If you see someone that grows in similar conditions as you you can tag them into your grow and ask them to check it out. The only etiquette is to not spam others threads with pics of your stuff unless you ask first.

It may take a few weeks until you find a like minded group that grows and thinks like you do but they are here lurking somewhere. Also you can always post in the infirmary just to ask for tips. Some of the pros can direct you to other members that they know are masters of whatever medium you.

relax
Be patient
Enjoy yourself

and grow some damn good bud.