New Grower Tangie’matic, Ripley’s OG, Stilton Special

[NiceOption]

Oh and the guy in my local shop said that the Plant Magic + is the best cal-mag for coco. I've nothing to compare it to but 3.5mm for every 4 litres seems to do the trick. It's pretty cheap and there were plenty of other options at a higher price so I feel like he was giving his honest 2p. GH Trio seems to do pretty well too. I'm gonna give AN a proper go with the full(ish) line next time to have something to compare it to.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you get on with the coco if you couldn't tell already...

 

[Froot n Fuel]

You don't need a lot to make the switch to coco. I don't have much kit at all and I'll be crucified for saying this, but I don't really check my PH. I think I checked it maybe two or three times during that whole grow and have never checked my run off, ever.
I have a manual PH tester, that green solution that you mix up in a little jar. I check it if I'm adding a nute I've not used before to see how it reacts, but that's all.
I pour out 4 litres of good ol' fashioned London tap water, chuck the GH nutes in and 7 drops of PH down. Never really had much of an issue.
Of course I could fine tune it but haven't found much of a need. Just get some fabric pots, coco and perlite and you're away. As I've said before I'd highly recommend the Great White but didn't use much during that grow, have added more to the FxS and it seems to be liking it, but you don't need to overcomplicate things. Coco is much more forgiving than soil. I'd go for the Canna Coco Professional but I'm sure they all basically do the same thing, the whole point of it is that it's an inert medium anyway.
Those compressed bricks work well and will keep delivery costs down but they're a bit of a faff to prepare. Luckily I have a hydro shop 20mins cycle from my house so I don't need to worry too much. I can stock up every few months and get an Uber loaded up with coco and perlite. I did have a driver cotton on to it once though!

here's me painstakingly measuring every drop of fluid i put near my soil, now juggling TWO ph pens, 4.0 and 7.0 calibration fluids and now testing of run-off...and you're there pulling off 9 zip Tangies and exemplary Mephistos with your cowboy methods

if Canna Coco Pro is what you use, that's what i'll go for. i'll likely reuse my air pots, hopefully i'll enjoy them more with coco than i do with soil. read about Great White a few times and looks like a winner to me, i get confused about these products that increase root development though and wonder if it would essentially replace the two products i use currently; DutchPro "Take Root" is used to prime my soil, and then i add Voodoo Juice maybe once a week to top up which supposedly helps roots grow and adds microbes. won't pretend to know much about that stuff.

Oh and the guy in my local shop said that the Plant Magic + is the best cal-mag for coco. I've nothing to compare it to but 3.5mm for every 4 litres seems to do the trick. It's pretty cheap and there were plenty of other options at a higher price so I feel like he was giving his honest 2p. GH Trio seems to do pretty well too. I'm gonna give AN a proper go with the full(ish) line next time to have something to compare it to.

I'm really looking forward to seeing how you get on with the coco if you couldn't tell already...

interesting, had a look at that CalMag (or Magne-Cal...) and that's got a rather high N content - something my ladies are usually bordering on toxicity with...but that's in soil. currently i use Density CalMag Pro, but i'm having a hard time finding anyone else using it. has no N in it and comes with added bonus of amino acids and sweeteners. seems okay but after my latest grow i don't think i'm qualified yet to review products either way

i'm excited about trying something new. a pot of coco will replace the Tangie once she's chopped, if Ripley's hasn't taken over my cupboard entirely!

 

[NiceOption]

here's me painstakingly measuring every drop of fluid i put near my soil, now juggling TWO ph pens, 4.0 and 7.0 calibration fluids and now testing of run-off...and you're there pulling off 9 zip Tangies and exemplary Mephistos with your cowboy methods

if Canna Coco Pro is what you use, that's what i'll go for. i'll likely reuse my air pots, hopefully i'll enjoy them more with coco than i do with soil. read about Great White a few times and looks like a winner to me, i get confused about these products that increase root development though and wonder if it would essentially replace the two products i use currently; DutchPro "Take Root" is used to prime my soil, and then i add Voodoo Juice maybe once a week to top up which supposedly helps roots grow and adds microbes. won't pretend to know much about that stuff.



interesting, had a look at that CalMag (or Magne-Cal...) and that's got a rather high N content - something my ladies are usually bordering on toxicity with...but that's in soil. currently i use Density CalMag Pro, but i'm having a hard time finding anyone else using it. has no N in it and comes with added bonus of amino acids and sweeteners. seems okay but after my latest grow i don't think i'm qualified yet to review products either way

i'm excited about trying something new. a pot of coco will replace the Tangie once she's chopped, if Ripley's hasn't taken over my cupboard entirely!

Haha yeah cowboy it certainly is. I do keep meaning to get a PH pen though... Honest!

Yeah, I've used the airpots for three grows now and they're still going strong. No need to replace them. What size are you using? Ive found 15l is a goodun.

I also can't pretend to fully understand the microbial additions, but they do seem to work and that's what matters really. I'd love to learn about it more in depth one day. I've been looking around at some horticultural short courses actually. I'd like to understand what I'm doing even if it doesn't really improve anything, I'd just like to have a better understanding of these things I'm spending all this time and money on.

Regarding the size of the harvests, I'm totally pleased and couldn't really ask for more but I do think it has a lot to do with the light. I know HID/HPS is outdated tech but they are extremely intense and 600w for 4 plants seems to work well. I wouldn't change them if it wasnt for the power bill which is quite frankly eye watering at the moment. So the FxS will be the last plant under that. We'll see how they do under cobs or a board. I've not settled on anything yet and have big travel plans coming up so need to save for that.
Wont be making any major purchases until late March probably as I'd really love to go to Spannabis too! Seems like a good place to make some final decisions on lighting as well.

I think you'll have a good time with coco. As i've said before, in my mind soil grows are for the pros and I wouldn't dream of trying it without understanding all the ins and outs. That said, plenty of people (you included) are having excellent results with it here on the new growers area. I think that just goes to show how green your thumb really is.

 

[NiceOption]

Haha yeah cowboy it certainly is. I do keep meaning to get a PH pen though... Honest!

Yeah, I've used the airpots for three grows now and they're still going strong. No need to replace them. What size are you using? Ive found 15l is a goodun.

I also can't pretend to fully understand the microbial additions, but they do seem to work and that's what matters really. I'd love to learn about it more in depth one day. I've been looking around at some horticultural short courses actually. I'd like to understand what I'm doing even if it doesn't really improve anything, I'd just like to have a better understanding of these things I'm spending all this time and money on.

Regarding the size of the harvests, I'm totally pleased and couldn't really ask for more but I do think it has a lot to do with the light. I know HID/HPS is outdated tech but they are extremely intense and 600w for 4 plants seems to work well. I wouldn't change them if it wasnt for the power bill which is quite frankly eye watering at the moment. So the FxS will be the last plant under that. We'll see how they do under cobs or a board. I've not settled on anything yet and have big travel plans coming up so need to save for that.
Wont be making any major purchases until late March probably as I'd really love to go to Spannabis too! Seems like a good place to make some final decisions on lighting as well.

I think you'll have a good time with coco. As i've said before, in my mind soil grows are for the pros and I wouldn't dream of trying it without understanding all the ins and outs. That said, plenty of people (you included) are having excellent results with it here on the new growers area. I think that just goes to show how green your thumb really is.

oh and that Magne-Cal stuff, i didn't even really look. I just blindly listened to the hydro shop dude and it seems to work. Havent seen any cal-mag issues. I did have a little high N on the younger 4AM, i didn't even think of the cal-mag being the culprit, but you're probably onto something with that.

 

[NiceOption]

One more thing about coco... sorry! You won't find the need to give her plain water, you'll be feeding all the way through so expect to go through your nutes a bit quicker. As i've been on the GH which is cheap and widely available it hasnt been an issue but if you want to run AN you might find it gets a bit more expensive. Pretty keen to try Mammoth P myself but I've been put off by the price in the UK.

 

[hope2grow]

One more thing about coco... sorry! You won't find the need to give her plain water, you'll be feeding all the way through so expect to go through your nutes a bit quicker. As i've been on the GH which is cheap and widely available it hasnt been an issue but if you want to run AN you might find it gets a bit more expensive. Pretty keen to try Mammoth P myself but I've been put off by the price in the UK.

I'm in the same boat with the mammoth P bro.. expensive stuff! A wee free sample would be nice!!

 

[Froot n Fuel]

here's my scabby Tangie
bigger buds are clenched fist sized, smaller are golf balls or thereabouts. smells like a rich coffee with orange syrup added.
i'm gonna snip a bud off tonight for a sample over the weekend. no sign of amber yet, been cloudy for several weeks already. very happy with resin and trich' production.

so below is a picture of my new Mephisto ladies...but as you can see Ripley is a bit of a bully to poor little Stilton who is hiding to her left. the Stilton is trained, spread out, and received more light than the photo suggests, but i was expecting her to get bigger. she's showing well developed pre-flowers already, which versus her overall development is a little earlier than i'd like. perhaps a smaller stature lady will be a blessing in disguise. Ripley is not done with her initial veg' yet...if she wants to stretch more once she develops pre-flowers, we are gonna have a big girl on our hands in here. she's 66cm now, which i think is where the CDLC peaked in height. her branching is twice as impressive as any of my ladies so far - feeding Sensi A&B at literally 1/8 strength so i guess the nutrient fairies have been adding the rest except CalMag, that's been getting added at 1ml per L.

believe it or not i will be squeezing another 12L air pot in here. my Sour Bubbly bean has been in damp paper in a DVD case in the airing cupboard (hope that's not just a Brit' thing) for 30 hours, hoping by 48 hours tomorrow morning i'll have a tail. if not, i'll select another bean from the collection, although they're all beans i've grown before.
actually no. if Sour Bubbly is a no-show, HubbaBubbaSmelloscope is due for restock this weekend. i want some bubblegum dammit.

 

[davisgirl]

Looking good! I’ve heard the Ripley’s can get huge!

 

[Froot n Fuel]

Haha yeah cowboy it certainly is. I do keep meaning to get a PH pen though... Honest!

Yeah, I've used the airpots for three grows now and they're still going strong. No need to replace them. What size are you using? Ive found 15l is a goodun.

I also can't pretend to fully understand the microbial additions, but they do seem to work and that's what matters really. I'd love to learn about it more in depth one day. I've been looking around at some horticultural short courses actually. I'd like to understand what I'm doing even if it doesn't really improve anything, I'd just like to have a better understanding of these things I'm spending all this time and money on.

Regarding the size of the harvests, I'm totally pleased and couldn't really ask for more but I do think it has a lot to do with the light. I know HID/HPS is outdated tech but they are extremely intense and 600w for 4 plants seems to work well. I wouldn't change them if it wasnt for the power bill which is quite frankly eye watering at the moment. So the FxS will be the last plant under that. We'll see how they do under cobs or a board. I've not settled on anything yet and have big travel plans coming up so need to save for that.
Wont be making any major purchases until late March probably as I'd really love to go to Spannabis too! Seems like a good place to make some final decisions on lighting as well.

I think you'll have a good time with coco. As i've said before, in my mind soil grows are for the pros and I wouldn't dream of trying it without understanding all the ins and outs. That said, plenty of people (you included) are having excellent results with it here on the new growers area. I think that just goes to show how green your thumb really is.

air pots, the plastic alien looking things with nipples and holes all over 'em...they're the ones i use and i wish i'd gone fabric, with soil, at least. try and water around the outside edge and 9 time out of 10 the pot will pee on ya. mine are all supposedly 12.5L air pots...but upon buying a 5th one from a different store online, i now have two different "12.5L" air pots...the newer addition is notably wider than the original 4 i picked up. i gave Ripley the larger one, naturally.

same, slowly gaining knowledge as i grow and read stuff - i'd like a better understanding of all the processes. i'm fortunate to get some time to do research at work quite a lot. when i started i didn't even know what NPK meant so have come a long way already and find it fascinating - what i do find frustrating is being unable to chat casually about it all with friends. the missus got bored of plant talk half way through the first grow. but i do have AFN

oh of course, i forget your lights are the bangin' 600W beast. actually, that reminds me! i got a very nice 15% light increase this week by removing the lenses from my cobs. 15% is a big upgrade! i'm going to be adding a blurple to the cupboard at some point too. i love my 3500K cobs, but every blurple i've seen seems to have the magic veggin' spectrum. just something cheap to supplement veg'. and long term, there'll be a 2700K autocob going in there too. big plans! what i'd really like is to switch to a tent, but hiding a tent if needed is way more hassle than switching off the cupboard lights when discretion is required.

soooo you won't be starting any new ladies until you've purchased new lights? i bet the 'leccy bill is pretty high running that...i actually managed to reduce my (admittedly already very high) electric bill or at least kept it the same, by switching off a large freezer and a second fridge we had running for almost no reason. those things suck a lot of power! but i've switched to 24 hour lighting recently, for temp control, and the 4 hours of darkness the girls were getting was never really true darkness - plenty of gaps in the cupboard that would have been bleeding light in, and i'm sure 24/0 is better than half-arsed 20/4. i reduced darkness slowly, it's actually 23/1 right now but i plan to take the timer out tonight. another reason i'd love a tent - better control.

maybe if this bean doesn't pop this weekend and i end up ordering a new strain...maybe i'll grab a bag of coco instead of running this last pot of lightmix. maybe.

very kind of you to say but i won't agree on the until i have a grow i'm really happy with. basically getting to harvest with decent buds, very few deficiencies along the way and no confused genders. trying to be optimistic that these current Meph ladies will do that for me, but confidence is still rather low right now.

oh and that Magne-Cal stuff, i didn't even really look. I just blindly listened to the hydro shop dude and it seems to work. Havent seen any cal-mag issues. I did have a little high N on the younger 4AM, i didn't even think of the cal-mag being the culprit, but you're probably onto something with that.

yeh, was something i read about here a lot during my research time, lots of CalMags have quite a high N content - that's why i don't run the AN CalMag with all my other AN stuff.

One more thing about coco... sorry! You won't find the need to give her plain water, you'll be feeding all the way through so expect to go through your nutes a bit quicker. As i've been on the GH which is cheap and widely available it hasnt been an issue but if you want to run AN you might find it gets a bit more expensive. Pretty keen to try Mammoth P myself but I've been put off by the price in the UK.

yes mate absolutely - it's criminal how little nutes i get through right now. it's pathetic adding 0.5ml of A&B to a 1.5L feed but this AN stuff must be really strong - i can't comprehend how soil growers put 2ml+ per L though their autos. but the stuff grows nice buds so hopefully it'll perform better in coco. i'd love to switch to Greenleaf Nutrients but i'm not forking out £70 shipping from the states and even if i did, importing that kinda product from the US just doesn't seem like the greatest idea. i hassled them on Insta about stocking in the EU but no response. Seen the question asked here too. guess they have found enough success across the pond

I'm in the same boat with the mammoth P bro.. expensive stuff! A wee free sample would be nice!!

Mammoth P has priced itself out of my grows. think i saw something not much bigger than a nail polish bottle priced at £60 as the cheapest option. and AN get slated for their pricing? RealGrowers Recharge looks like a nice product too, and is available in the UK in a pouch for £60ish - still too much imo.

 

[Froot n Fuel]

Looking good! I’ve heard the Ripley’s can get huge!

after i've seen first hand, i have to agree, she's a different beast altogether. AvT about to get restocked too and that tends to take the Ripley's growth traits and run with 'em. will be growing one of those as soon as possible too.