Questions on Coco

[Dankerson]

That'll tell you if you have to wash it out and rebuffer. Careful if you do it in your bathtub. Lots of tiny pieces wash out of bricks. I've had bricks that are 700-900ppm and that's too hot for seedlings. I use domes until they pop up

Okay cool deal, so hydrate with RO. Check runoff ppms, buffer if needed, saturate with about 350ppm 5.8 pH nutrients and then plant seed with dome about a day later. Seems like an easy enough method. Appreciate all the advice!

 

[Dankerson]

If you haven't, check out cocoforcannabis dot com. Lots of good info there. Specifically, cation exchange and how that interacts with cal, mag, potassium, and sodium. I use the ready-to-plant bricks of coco from amazon or the local grow store. I re-hydrate with filtered tap, 5.8pH, and I add 2.5ml/gal of calmag to give a buffer for cation exchange. Some coco isn't buffered and will need more calmag. Dome and heat for germ. Look forward to the show!

JP1 makes a good point, be careful of extra sodium build up from either tap water or lower quality coco. RO hardened with calmag would give you more precise control.

Thank you! I can't wait to get it started, would love to make my grows a bit easier so we'll see how the auto pots do.

And yeah I've read up a bunch up on cocoforcannabis.com, love that site. Way more information than I need. Sounds like you have a similar process to @JP1 so that's probably how I'll do it! Was never a fan of transplanting anyways.

How often are you watering after the original plant? I'll only have to water up to about day 14 but not sure what to expect up till then.

 

[JP1]

How often are you watering after the original plant? I'll only have to water up to about day 14 but not sure what to expect up till then

Should be able to turn autopots on around day 21 from sprout. Some people will fertigate every day. I do it once the 1st week, 2x the 2nd week, 3x the 3rd week, then daily. Can't really overwater with coco other then the 1st week or so. It doesn't dry out as fast as people say

 

[Dankerson]

Should be able to turn autopots on around day 21 from sprout. Some people will fertigate every day. I do it once the 1st week, 2x the 2nd week, 3x the 3rd week, then daily. Can't really overwater with coco other then the 1st week or so. It doesn't dry out as fast as people say

Thanks again! Great info

 

[Lil Dab]

I rinse with RO and always buffer pretty much exactly what JP has said

 

[420autoflower]

Hello everyone! I am going to be starting my first coco grow here soon and had a few questions related to it to get me started. Most just about beginning phases of using it.

I am going to be using a brick of cannacoco that I rehydrate. I guess first question would be what would you rehydrate if with? I have straight RO if that's best. Or should I use a nutrient mix?

My second question is, what's the best way to start these with coco? I normally use jiffy pellets but I'm considering using solo cups with coco in it and then transplanting around day 10. I know this one is more of a 'what works best for me' situation but I'm curious what works for all you coco growers. I don't want to over/under water so whatever is easier to get the hang of would be better.

Hey Dank
Happy to know you’re dabbling with hydro bro.
I’ve never used coco in bricks before but have run at least 8 different brands over the years and have never rinsed any of it. I do saturate my coco with about 650 ppm of a basic N-P-K set at 6.0 and some other goodies but that’s about it.
Your Jiffy’s will work fine but I always start my seedlings in a Grodan 1.5” rockwool starter cube then drop that into a Grodan 4x4” cube after the seeding pops its head out. After I see roots coming through the bottom of the 4x4” about 10 days later I set the cube on a bed of coco/perlite or more rockwool. The 4x4” cubes will give you extra veg time and they don’t take up much space.
I fertigate with 350PPM once a day for the first week with a turkey baster and then bump them up to 600PPM by day 10. On day 21 I put them on automated fertigation and feed 3-5 times a day for 5 minutes with no emitters on my feed lines.

 

[Dankerson]

Hey Dank
Happy to know you’re dabbling with hydro bro.
I’ve never used coco in bricks before but have run at least 8 different brands over the years and have never rinsed any of it. I do saturate my coco with about 650 ppm of a basic N-P-K set at 6.0 and some other goodies but that’s about it.
Your Jiffy’s will work fine but I always start my seedlings in a Grodan 1.5” rockwool starter cube then drop that into a Grodan 4x4” cube after the seeding pops its head out. After I see roots coming through the bottom of the 4x4” about 10 days later I set the cube on a bed of coco/perlite or more rockwool. The 4x4” cubes will give you extra veg time and they don’t take up much space.
I fertigate with 350PPM once a day for the first week with a turkey baster and then bump them up to 600PPM by day 10. On day 21 I put them on automated fertigation and feed 3-5 times a day for 5 minutes with no emitters on my feed lines.

Hey 420!
Yeah I'm really excited to try it out, I have a smaller space overall now so I need to produce a bit more per plant to keep the needs met. Plus I've been wanting to get my pounder badge haha

Thanks for all the great info man. I've considered switching to the small rockwool cubes for starters as well so I might end up trying out your method here soon as well to see what I like. Do you max your feed out at 600ppm(500ppm scale)? I've seen conflicting stories of some people going full strength and others only running half like that so I have no idea what to run to be honest.

Do you use any ph dosers or monitors in your res? I'm hoping the 321 ends up being fairly ph stable but I won't know till I get it I guess.

 

[420autoflower]

Hey 420!
Yeah I'm really excited to try it out, I have a smaller space overall now so I need to produce a bit more per plant to keep the needs met. Plus I've been wanting to get my pounder badge haha

Thanks for all the great info man. I've considered switching to the small rockwool cubes for starters as well so I might end up trying out your method here soon as well to see what I like. Do you max your feed out at 600ppm(500ppm scale)? I've seen conflicting stories of some people going full strength and others only running half like that so I have no idea what to run to be honest.

Do you use any ph dosers or monitors in your res? I'm hoping the 321 ends up being fairly ph stable but I won't know till I get it I guess.

Yes, my 600ppm is based off the 500 scale (1.2ec).
I’m usually at 1.3ec by day 14 and I keep it there for a few weeks then gradually raise it to 1.5ec by day 35-40. The plants I currently have growing are about 65 days old and they’re being fed with nutrient strength at 1.6ec and I’ll bump it up to 1.8 in a week or so. My ending EC for the last couple weeks will be around 2.6 but I really don’t think you need to go that high.

I check my numbers with a Blue Lab PH pen and a generic EC pen. A doser would be nice but I’m maintaining 6 different reservoirs with this run and it would cost me a fortune to automate everything. I buy some of the cheapest equipment on the market and the average cost for my complete tent set up ranges from $170-$235. The dosers would more than double that amount and I can’t justify spending the coin.

Your Jiffy’s will work just fine but if you want to squeeze a little more veg time out of your plant to grow a monster the Grodan 4x4” cube would be a definite advantage.

 

[BII]

If pre-buffered, what is adding cal-mag expected to do? I presume it better to 'buffer' (and also charge with nutrients) new pre-buffered coco pots with base nutrients which are made for this (buffering feed solutions) vs. adding unpredictable cal-mag and potential overfeeding at youngest stages with Ca/Mg.

I presume(?) adding Ca/Mg in solution to pre-buffered coco will just result in that solution retaining much that same concentration/ppm, not any significant altering of the levels of coco-bound ions (Ca/Mg), which is what 'buffering' coco involves. Seems overkill, risky, to add cal-mag to try to 'buffer' pre-buffered coco. If concerned about 'buffering' your feed water (such as to stabilize pH in a reservoir) then add cal-mag to the feeds. Cal-mag solutions and supplementation are not going to 'buffer' the coco (which should be inert, not readily release, not be the plant's source of Ca/Mg vs. getting Ca/Mg from feed solution).

I use bagged Canna coco, do no pre-treatment, just saturate it with ≤1 g/gal. 2-part MegaCrop and transplant seedlings from the ~quart/liter yogurt plastic containers they were each sprouted in. After about 2 weeks, I start feeding full-strength nutes. I essentially never do drain-to-waste, never add cal-mag (have no need); also never even measure pH or ppm much less adjust.

 

[Dankerson]

Yes, my 600ppm is based off the 500 scale (1.2ec).
I’m usually at 1.3ec by day 14 and I keep it there for a few weeks then gradually raise it to 1.5ec by day 35-40. The plants I currently have growing are about 65 days old and they’re being fed with nutrient strength at 1.6ec and I’ll bump it up to 1.8 in a week or so. My ending EC for the last couple weeks will be around 2.6 but I really don’t think you need to go that high.

I check my numbers with a Blue Lab PH pen and a generic EC pen. A doser would be nice but I’m maintaining 6 different reservoirs with this run and it would cost me a fortune to automate everything. I buy some of the cheapest equipment on the market and the average cost for my complete tent set up ranges from $170-$235. The dosers would more than double that amount and I can’t justify spending the coin.

Your Jiffy’s will work just fine but if you want to squeeze a little more veg time out of your plant to grow a monster the Grodan 4x4” cube would be a definite advantage.

Thanks for all the tips man! They help a bunch and are much appreciated. I'm sure I'll get the hang of it once I get going and have a bunch more questions. You got me tossing around the rockwool starter idea now lol. What extras do you use when you start it? I had a rapid root bottle of rapid root that I threw away when I moved that I'm kicking myself for now

And cool deal I love my BlueLab pens so those should work great. I completely get it for the 6 res's lol I was able to get a bluelab ph doser today open box on eBay for like half the price, I could not justify one at full cost so I lucked out with that. It's the wifi one so it should help reduce the number of times I have to go in there.