Grow Mediums What Truu knows about Coco
- Thread starter Truu
- Start date
Whats up coco-nuts. Its a boring day sitting at the house on a cold rainy day. So as a person who likes to do productive things during the day, I think I may write up a little guide to what I'm doing with coco. I'll lay this out in a step-by-step procedure as to what I do with my nutrients, and temps. I'm hoping this will help guide beginners in to taking the first steps with coco, as I know sometimes it can be a little confusing going from soil to coco.
I'm basing these thoughts off a 75-90 day autoflower grow. Typically I let mine go for 90 days.
The preparation of our coco.
I use CoCoTek by General Hydroponics, compressed brick. 5kg on amazon for 25$.
I add in some RTI Extreme Mykos (30$ on amazon for 2lb bag, last me for 16 gallons of potting), a beneficial bacteria helps greatly with root growth in the first few weeks.
I will rinse my coco with fresh water until my run off comes out clear. After the rinsing, I put my coco in to some 1'x3' ebb and flow tables I bought a long time ago, and I let it dry for 2-3 days, or until fluffy. Make sure you stir your coco once a day to allow for even drying. After the coco is about 50% dry, I add in my Mykos. 1/2 lb for 4 gallons. Mix up your coco and mykos together, and let sit for a couple more days. Once its about 70% dry, it becomes easier to work with. This is when I pot my coco. Once it's potted, I hand water with a 200 ppm nutrient solution of, grow, cal-mag, rooting hormone, silica, at a ph of 5.7. I will ad 10ml of epsom salt to the nutrient solution after I reach my 200 ppm with nutrients. Water your coco until you get around 10-20% runoff, and I usually do this twice before I put seed or clone into coco.
Starting seeds with coco.
Seeds - After my second pre-buffer watering (as mentioned above), I will take a spoon and scoop out about 4"x 4" cubed down in the center of the pot. I will then place 2 tbs of mykos at the bottom of the hole. Re-cover with the coco. Then I take a toothpick and make a small hole for the seed. Usually a 1/2" down, cover lightly with coco, just enough to block most light. When seeds have started to show tap root, I place in to coco. I will then take a PH balanced 5.8 water spray bottle and spray the top of the coco twice a day until seed pops out and shell comes off. Once the shell is off I will hand water the coco as normal, every other day for first week. If coco is drying out fast, spray top of coco twice a day. Humidity needs to stay around 70% for first 3 weeks at least. I water for the first week at around 300-400ppm of grow, cal-mag, rooting hormone, silica, at a ph of 5.7 temps around 84-86. A slightly more acidic pH will help to promote root growth. Second week is either the same or a bump up of 100 ppm, just bump up to feeding every day. Feed rooting hormone for first month.
Weeks 2-4.
These are important times for me. This is when the bottom is doing more growing than the top. Establish a great root system now and be thankful later. Feed lightly, multiple times a day. By week 3 im feeding 2-3 times a day for about 30 seconds. Judge your feeding times by feeling the coco and lifting your pots judging by weight. By week 4 flowering stretch has kicked in with autos and we want to try and be up to 4-5 feedings a day for 30-45 seconds around 650-800ppm of grow, cal-mag, rooting hormone, silica, tsp of epsom per gal at a ph of 5.8 temps 80-82f. After week 4 I stop feeding rooting hormone.
Weeks 4-7.
This is the stretching period. Lots of growth going on, lots of nutrient uptake as well. This is when you should try and find that sweet spot the plants like. Don't be afraid to increase feeding slightly until you see a slight burn on the tips. During week 5 give your plants a good flushing of either plain water, or water with clear-ex, or any other salt remover. This will help prevent salt build up later in flower. Dont forget to water with nutrient solution after flush. I also try to keep the roots pretty wet at this point. By now they are fully established and they love fresh nutrients running across them. Some strains will love lots of feedings a day, I've gone up to 8x a day for 45 seconds. Some like longer feedings, and less feedings per day. Its your job to find what makes them happy, and learn to read them. By now I'm usually feeding ~800ppm bloom, cal-mag, blossom booster, silica, 5-10 ml of epsom at a ph of 5.8-5.9. Humidity down to around 55% temps around 77-79f.
Weeks 8-10.
I usually taper my feedings down during these weeks. Adjust feedings to let coco dry out a little bit more than what you have been. Typically im at around 2-3 feedings a day at ~750ppm of bloom, cal-mag, booster, silica, 10ml of epsom at a ph of 6.0-6.1.. Humidity down to 50% temps around 75.
Weeks 10 - harvest.
I will feed my ripener the last 2 weeks before flush. Typically this is weeks 9-10 or 10-11. I bring the ppm's to around 600-700, Watering Just enough to keep the coco moist but allowing lots of drying. This really helps to pack on those trichs and seems to bring out the nice oils. I usually give my plants a good 10 day flush before harvest. Keep humidity around 30-40% to prevent bud rot. I will water with plain water at 2-3x the size of the pot once a day. During the last 3 days I will let her dry out as much as possible.
What you should be checking with daily maintenance.
-Always adjust pH to desired setting.
-Do plants show signs of sickness or hunger. If so correct asap.
-Can I remove any shade leaves.
-Are they drinking enough or to much.
-Is there any noticeable growth since yesterday (you should be able to tell, if everything is working correctly.)
-Check reservoir for any signs of growth.
-Did temps swing abnormally, did they stay in desired range with lights off.
-Proper air flow.
*Make sure to give your plants a small weekly flush.
I know for most of you this is nothing new. But I was hoping to help encourage people who may have thought coco is to much for them, or to help those who always wanted to take the first step. I hope this will help in some way for those looking for answers.
:Sharing One:
I'm basing these thoughts off a 75-90 day autoflower grow. Typically I let mine go for 90 days.
The preparation of our coco.
I use CoCoTek by General Hydroponics, compressed brick. 5kg on amazon for 25$.
I add in some RTI Extreme Mykos (30$ on amazon for 2lb bag, last me for 16 gallons of potting), a beneficial bacteria helps greatly with root growth in the first few weeks.
I will rinse my coco with fresh water until my run off comes out clear. After the rinsing, I put my coco in to some 1'x3' ebb and flow tables I bought a long time ago, and I let it dry for 2-3 days, or until fluffy. Make sure you stir your coco once a day to allow for even drying. After the coco is about 50% dry, I add in my Mykos. 1/2 lb for 4 gallons. Mix up your coco and mykos together, and let sit for a couple more days. Once its about 70% dry, it becomes easier to work with. This is when I pot my coco. Once it's potted, I hand water with a 200 ppm nutrient solution of, grow, cal-mag, rooting hormone, silica, at a ph of 5.7. I will ad 10ml of epsom salt to the nutrient solution after I reach my 200 ppm with nutrients. Water your coco until you get around 10-20% runoff, and I usually do this twice before I put seed or clone into coco.
Starting seeds with coco.
Seeds - After my second pre-buffer watering (as mentioned above), I will take a spoon and scoop out about 4"x 4" cubed down in the center of the pot. I will then place 2 tbs of mykos at the bottom of the hole. Re-cover with the coco. Then I take a toothpick and make a small hole for the seed. Usually a 1/2" down, cover lightly with coco, just enough to block most light. When seeds have started to show tap root, I place in to coco. I will then take a PH balanced 5.8 water spray bottle and spray the top of the coco twice a day until seed pops out and shell comes off. Once the shell is off I will hand water the coco as normal, every other day for first week. If coco is drying out fast, spray top of coco twice a day. Humidity needs to stay around 70% for first 3 weeks at least. I water for the first week at around 300-400ppm of grow, cal-mag, rooting hormone, silica, at a ph of 5.7 temps around 84-86. A slightly more acidic pH will help to promote root growth. Second week is either the same or a bump up of 100 ppm, just bump up to feeding every day. Feed rooting hormone for first month.
Weeks 2-4.
These are important times for me. This is when the bottom is doing more growing than the top. Establish a great root system now and be thankful later. Feed lightly, multiple times a day. By week 3 im feeding 2-3 times a day for about 30 seconds. Judge your feeding times by feeling the coco and lifting your pots judging by weight. By week 4 flowering stretch has kicked in with autos and we want to try and be up to 4-5 feedings a day for 30-45 seconds around 650-800ppm of grow, cal-mag, rooting hormone, silica, tsp of epsom per gal at a ph of 5.8 temps 80-82f. After week 4 I stop feeding rooting hormone.
Weeks 4-7.
This is the stretching period. Lots of growth going on, lots of nutrient uptake as well. This is when you should try and find that sweet spot the plants like. Don't be afraid to increase feeding slightly until you see a slight burn on the tips. During week 5 give your plants a good flushing of either plain water, or water with clear-ex, or any other salt remover. This will help prevent salt build up later in flower. Dont forget to water with nutrient solution after flush. I also try to keep the roots pretty wet at this point. By now they are fully established and they love fresh nutrients running across them. Some strains will love lots of feedings a day, I've gone up to 8x a day for 45 seconds. Some like longer feedings, and less feedings per day. Its your job to find what makes them happy, and learn to read them. By now I'm usually feeding ~800ppm bloom, cal-mag, blossom booster, silica, 5-10 ml of epsom at a ph of 5.8-5.9. Humidity down to around 55% temps around 77-79f.
Weeks 8-10.
I usually taper my feedings down during these weeks. Adjust feedings to let coco dry out a little bit more than what you have been. Typically im at around 2-3 feedings a day at ~750ppm of bloom, cal-mag, booster, silica, 10ml of epsom at a ph of 6.0-6.1.. Humidity down to 50% temps around 75.
Weeks 10 - harvest.
I will feed my ripener the last 2 weeks before flush. Typically this is weeks 9-10 or 10-11. I bring the ppm's to around 600-700, Watering Just enough to keep the coco moist but allowing lots of drying. This really helps to pack on those trichs and seems to bring out the nice oils. I usually give my plants a good 10 day flush before harvest. Keep humidity around 30-40% to prevent bud rot. I will water with plain water at 2-3x the size of the pot once a day. During the last 3 days I will let her dry out as much as possible.
What you should be checking with daily maintenance.
-Always adjust pH to desired setting.
-Do plants show signs of sickness or hunger. If so correct asap.
-Can I remove any shade leaves.
-Are they drinking enough or to much.
-Is there any noticeable growth since yesterday (you should be able to tell, if everything is working correctly.)
-Check reservoir for any signs of growth.
-Did temps swing abnormally, did they stay in desired range with lights off.
-Proper air flow.
*Make sure to give your plants a small weekly flush.
I know for most of you this is nothing new. But I was hoping to help encourage people who may have thought coco is to much for them, or to help those who always wanted to take the first step. I hope this will help in some way for those looking for answers.
:Sharing One:
Wile e Peyote
Who, what, why and where
max reps to you dude followed this but cheated a little bit and bought a small wilma system just chopped my first plant cheers again for all the great info 
Im just going to be growing one sour diesel what size pot would you recomend so i can use your method and handwater it everyday?
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