Grow Mediums Watering times, frequency's, schedule etc. discussion

[Slater]

Welcome to the Watering times, frequency's, schedule etc. discussion

Been meaning to get this thread going for bit and open up this discussion. Try and get the information all in one place, help for the newbies and for me to get better understanding of how every one approaches this... recently did a load research into this and a lot of trawling through thread after thread on all the sites to find info. Got a bit tedious and lonely spending an age reading for nothing.

So whats your method of watering coco or soil-less medium
hand water, dripper sytem, holistic watering, flood and drain etc.
how many times
how do you work that out
Are you feeding at a lower EC
Are you letting the medium dry out some or keeping it wet
How much run off do you like or none at all

Basically what works best for your set up, we all have our ways so lets share some shed talk

Whats my set up
Tent grower
Coco with the full Remo line up and Mammth P.
Run to waste dripper system with 6x12ltr pots (about 3 gallon), 4 drippers per pot.
40/50ltr rez, automated with timers and pumps

I'm running photo periods at the moment so this is geared towards a 11/13 light schedule

Watering 3 times in the day, 1st hour after lights on, then every 4hrs finishing 2hrs before lights out.

I'm watering to no run off so I'm giving them just enough. The rez last 4-5 days and on the last I top it up with RO to make a 50/50 nute solution with whats left and then run all that through the pots removing any salt build up. Let them dry out for a day and then reset the rez for the next 4-5days ... seems to be working so far. Not encounter any lock out... yet
When I do the final flush (last 3-2 weeks) I drop down to a watering once a day or every other day with good run off. This does depend on how much they are drinking.

How I work out how much to water...
Every time I get to end of the rez and flush it through I time it until I see run off (around the 1.45 mark for a 12ltr pot with my pump). I then knock about 10sec off and divide that by the amount of times I wish to feed making adjustment of few sec's here and there. I often make the first feed longer than the others and reduce them in time - 1min , 25sec, 20sec... Each week these times change as the plants up take different amount of water depending on temp RH etc.

EC/nute levels
I use the full Remo line up with mammoth P
last grow I held back on the nutes and thought I got great success. Doing the secound run and hammering with nutes this time, full strength and man the girls are thanking me. Swelled to nearly twice the size. I recon I've added a 1/3 to the weight of this run... still a few variables I have to into account like I upped the pot size by 4ltrs.
I'm still working this one out but really it come down to strain... if was running auto's I would be most definitely running a lower EC than photo's (about 3/4 strength newbies).

This system seems to be changing each grow as I'm still as you would put it dialing it in. I'm about to start another run and this time I going to up the feed to 4 times through the day but with a little run off on one of those waters.

 

[Trichome farmer]

Welcome to the Watering times, frequency's, schedule etc. discussion

Been meaning to get this thread going for bit and open up this discussion. Try and get the information all in one place, help for the newbies and for me to get better understanding of how every one approaches this... recently did a load research into this and a lot of trawling through thread after thread on all the sites to find info. Got a bit tedious and lonely spending an age reading for nothing.

So whats your method of watering coco or soil-less medium
hand water, dripper sytem, holistic watering
how many times
how do you work that out
Are you feeding at a lower EC
Are you letting the medium dry out some or keeping it wet
How much run off do you like or none at all

Basically what works best for your set up, we all have our ways so lets share some shed talk

Whats my set up
Tent grower
Coco with the full Remo line up and Mammth P.
Run to waste dripper system with 6x12ltr pots (about 3 gallon), 4 drippers per pot.
40/50ltr rez, automated with timers and pumps

I'm running photo periods at the moment so this is geared towards a 11/13 light schedule

Watering 3 times in the day, 1st hour after lights on, then every 4hrs finishing 2hrs before lights out.

I'm watering to no run off so I'm giving them just enough. The rez last 4-5 days and on the last I top it up with RO to make a 50/50 nute solution with whats left and then run all that through the pots removing any salt build up. Let them dry out for a day and then reset the rez for the next 4-5days ... seems to be working so far. Not encounter any lock out... yet
When I do the final flush (last 3-2 weeks) I drop down to a watering once a day or every other day with good run off. This does depend on how much they are drinking.

How I work out how much to water...
Every time I get to end of the rez and flush it through I time it until I see run off (around the 1.45 mark for a 12ltr pot with my pump). I then knock about 10sec off and divide that by the amount of times I wish to feed making adjustment of few sec's here and there. I often make the first feed longer than the others and reduce them in time - 1min , 25sec, 20sec... Each week these times change as the plants up take different amount of water depending on temp RH etc.

EC/nute levels
I use the full Remo line up with mammoth P
last grow I held back on the nutes and thought I got great success. Doing the secound run and hammering with nutes this time, full strength and man the girls are thanking me. Swelled to nearly twice the size. I recon I've added a 1/3 to the weight of this run... still a few variables I have to into account like I upped the pot size by 4ltrs.
I'm still working this one out but really it come down to strain... if was running auto's I would be most definitely running a lower EC than photo's (about 3/4 strength newbies).

This system seems to be changing each grow as I'm still as you would put it dialing it in. I'm about to start another run and this time I going to up the feed to 4 times through the day but with a little run off on one of those waters.

Good conversation point here slater interested to see what people have to say iv been hand watering coco for the last 5 months or so and it becoming a pain so looking to go to maybe autopots.or some other automated system

Sent from my HUAWEI CUN-L01 using Tapatalk

 

[Slater]

Good conversation point here slater interested to see what people have to say iv been hand watering coco for the last 5 months or so and it becoming a pain so looking to go to maybe autopots.or some other automated system

Sent from my HUAWEI CUN-L01 using Tapatalk

once you automate you will never look back. I run a mini flood and drain set up in my veg tent, I praised the heavens for that.
I find with the time freed up of not watering I can sit back watch and try read those plants better. Its amazing how much time it gives back to you... the main reason for the set up Is so i can go away for few days and not worry.

 

[Trichome farmer]

once you automate you will never look back. I run a mini flood and drain set up in my veg tent, I praised the heavens for that.
I find with the time freed up of not watering I can sit back watch and try read those plants better. Its amazing how much time it gives back to you... the main reason for the set up Is so i can go away for few days and not worry.

I like the flood and drain idea just dont have the headspace for that right now [emoji106]

Sent from my HUAWEI CUN-L01 using Tapatalk

 

[Need4Weed]

I'm on my 3rd coco grow and I hand water too. I've thought about going automated, but I don't have equipment, (or the knowledge).

 

[Slater]

I like the flood and drain idea just dont have the headspace for that right now [emoji106]

Sent from my HUAWEI CUN-L01 using Tapatalk

let me get a pic of my veg tent for you... 1m in height

 

[Slater]

I'm on my 3rd coco grow and I hand water too. I've thought about going automated, but I don't have equipment, (or the knowledge).

its feeding time at the zoo got to do my G'room duty's, I shall go and get some set pics for you. Back in a bit.

 

[Slater]

@Need4Weed here's my set up
I did shop around for parts and go through a few different set ups until I settled on this design... so spent way more money than I should have.

Pump, fish tank heater (optional, I grow in the loft so my water temps drop at night. The heater keeps the tank at a steady 19c) and air stone in the rez.
If you look at the top of the pipe there is stream of water coming out, this is important... If don't put one at the top of the pipe as it leaves the tank your tank will syphon it self into your tent because the drippers will be lower than than the water level when the pump switches off... a friend just found out the hard way

Comes in to the tent through a filter... a must to stop the drippers from clogging... a powerful pump helps with that as well

the main pipe comes in and completes a loop, this helps keep an even pressure on all the drippers, firing all of them at the same time for an even watering.

My run off tray sits on a tank that can hold 52ltr, why so big... well 2 grows back I had digital timer go down on me, switch it self on and drain a full 40ltr into my tent above my bed room in the middle of the night... I was so lucky the 2 thin run off trays I had under the pots just mange top hold 20ltrs each and saved my bacon. The water was at the rim of the trays and about poor over.
In the tank I've installed a pump that is hooked up to a waste pipe so i can pump all the waste away... no more up down the ladder with buckets of water and I can now do a decent flush on the plants.

 

[Need4Weed]

Nice set up @Slater - very clean looking! I like how that tray keeps your pots high enough to not set in water. Is that a 6 plant set up? I think 4 is as high as I'll go, (only a misdemeanor if I get caught).

 

[Trichome farmer]

@Need4Weed here's my set up
I did shop around for parts and go through a few different set ups until I settled on this design... so spent way more money than I should have.

Pump, fish tank heater (optional, I grow in the loft so my water temps drop at night. The heater keeps the tank at a steady 19c) and air stone in the rez.
If you look at the top of the pipe there is stream of water coming out, this is important... If don't put one at the top of the pipe as it leaves the tank your tank will syphon it self into your tent because the drippers will be lower than than the water level when the pump switches off... a friend just found out the hard way

View attachment 874650

Comes in to the tent through a filter... a must to stop the drippers from clogging... a powerful pump helps with that as well

View attachment 874647

the main pipe comes in and completes a loop, this helps keep an even pressure on all the drippers, firing all of them at the same time for an even watering.

View attachment 874646

My run off tray sits on a tank that can hold 52ltr, why so big... well 2 grows back I had digital timer go down on me, switch it self on and drain a full 40ltr into my tent above my bed room in the middle of the night... I was so lucky the 2 thin run off trays I had under the pots just mange top hold 20ltrs each and saved my bacon. The water was at the rim of the trays and about poor over.
In the tank I've installed a pump that is hooked up to a waste pipe so i can pump all the waste away... no more up down the ladder with buckets of water and I can now do a decent flush on the plants.

View attachment 874648

thats looks awsome man great thinking on the loop the keep the pressure up