My plants have a very light green/yellowish tent to them. This is my first run at coco and I'm afraid to hit them too hard with nutes and burn them. I'm using canna notes/coco. I use calimagic to supplement the r/o water. How often do you guys feed in coco? Do you cut with your coco with perlite?
Canna says to give them the same amount in ml of a/b veg and bloom nutes the entire life of the plant. Should I start less than half strength and work my way up or just give them 5 ml of each throughout?
i have been using coco for over 10 yrs. one thing i learned early on is, less is more. if ur in coco , using coco specific nutes, you don't need the high ppm's. i rarely go higher than 8-900 ppm. forget about supplementing with cal-mag, if using coco specific nutes. i can't say i recommend canna nutes. i stopped using them years ago, when i noticed they started diluting their coco line. i highly recommend house and garden coco line. once the plants are mature, i feed at least once a day, full strength nutes. i use 10-15% perlite, allowing for a good 10-20% run-off. run-off is key in coco. it washes out old nutes with new. feeding is strange, you use the same nute mix from veg to flower. here's a cut and paste from g. low's, integral hydroponics. he use to post at the now defunct, "gardens cure," forum.
COCO COIR
is a product derived from the husks of the coconut.
Visually it looks like peat.
It's air capacity is about 30%.
Coir is most suited as a run to waste medium.
Coir can become saturated and it is not truly inert medium.
This means that the nutrient will change over a short period (due to the nutrient collecting micro and macro elements as it passes through the coir.
Coir tends to release potassium and to withold calcium.
For this reason it is desirable to use a nutrient that is blended specifically for coir.
Coir has a remarkable capacity to protect the plants root system in times of heat.
It also tends to promote vigorous and healthy root development.
Plant growth tends to be very consistant with coir.
Coir is very tolerant of over and under watering, which makes it a very forgiving growing medium.
Coir has a very strong cation exchange ability, which means it can hold and release nutrient elements based on the plants needs.
Coir tends to retain nutrient salts. because of this, less nutrient (lower ec) is required.
On a less positive note, coir can also contain high levels of sodium (salt)....
If your growing in coir be aware that this can be a potential problem.
Either purchase a pre-flushed coir product or flush ph (5.5-6.0) stabilised water through the coir prior to use.
Measure the ec of the water and then measure the ec of the run off.
When they are the same, it is ready for use.
Large amounts of potassium are naturally present in coir.
Potassium competes with calcium and magnesium... buffering and plant nutrition needs to compensate for this!!
For this reason there are several nutrients that are specifically formulated with the coco coir's unique characteristics in mind.
By using a nutrient specifically formulated for the coir based system, you are ensuring that your plants are receiving the best possible nutritient package.
Cause they want to look like SATAN!