30 Plant Grow Project

[Windsblow]

So do you water, water, feed? I am going to put them on auto drip system and I would need to feed at every watering. How would you go about that? Lighten up on the nutes?

So when you so you start at 250-300 is that including all TDS (cal/mag, fert)? Or is 250-300 TDS just the ferts then I add my cal/mag?

 

[Windsblow]

The first several are my vegging plants at 2.5 weeks. The last couple are under HPS and are 12/12 from seed the one up close it a bastard male I'm gonna kill.

I have a couple in Veg (first two) that have been droopy, yellow first leaves and growth has slowed. I am not sure if it is from my nutes or heat stress from leaving town a letting my wife tends to them. LOL
Any Suggestion or advice?

 

[TheLastWood]

In the begining I water water feed but eventually I water feed water.

In theory, when your ppm is at the right level, you could feed 2x a day with no burn. Obviously at low nute levels, but its about washing out the old nutes and replenishing them. Remember, not trying to cram the nutes in, you want a nice constant level, hence the daily watering and having ample runoff.

Looking at the plants in your pics you can probably feed water feed water at about 400 ppm.if u see tips burning back off but I think you will be fine. That's why I always start low and then build up.

They do look a little heat stressed, see the leaf edges curling upwards like that?

Also whenever I mention ppms it will include all nutes. I only measure ppms after everything is added in.

There lookin good tho! Remember, lower leaves being shaded will die, don't worry about them.

 

[TheLastWood]

In the begining I water water feed but eventually I water feed water.

In theory, when your ppm is at the right level, you could feed 2x a day with no burn. Obviously at low nute levels, but its about washing out the old nutes and replenishing them. Remember, not trying to cram the nutes in, you want a nice constant level, hence the daily watering and having ample runoff.

Looking at the plants in your pics you can probably feed water feed water at about 400 ppm.if u see tips burning back off but I think you will be fine. That's why I always start low and then build up.

They do look a little heat stressed, see the leaf edges curling upwards like that?

Also whenever I mention ppms it will include all nutes. I only measure ppms after everything is added in.

There lookin good tho! Remember, lower leaves being shaded will die, don't worry about them.

 

[Windsblow]

For sure that is heat stress. My wife didn't know to pull the light up and the grew really fast over a 3 day period.

I am only watering every other day becuase they seem to be still wet. I grew in soil and fear overwatering but maybe I am missing the point of coco and should water everyday regardless.

So if I put them on a autodrip system how do I deal with the feed schedule? Do I just lower the PPM and put them on auto?

Again thanks for all your help you are the man.

 

[TheLastWood]

Coco is very hard to overwater, when its full of water it won't absorb anymore so you can't really overfill it. You need to water once a day because its getting hot out and I bet if you start watering daily in 3 or 4 days they will look happier. It will help with the heat stress too

 

[Windsblow]

What about auto drip? Do I just lower the TDS's?

 

[TheLastWood]

Yup are you going to be recirculating or drip to waste? How are you going to manage the runoff? Will they be in saucers or a flood table? Make sure you don't leave the water in the pots, to aboid salt build up.

In soil, you would feed, the nutes would stay in the soil for up to a week, and everytime you water, the nutrients will become available and some will be washed away. It has a nutrient holding capacity.

Hydroton in an ebb and flow, holds very little nutrients. The water is the mode of transportation, and the host for the nutes. When the table floods, the old oxygen is pushed out, nutrients are delivered. The table drains, sucking in new oxygen, at this point there are very little nutrients in the medium compared to soil. This is why you feed so often.

Coco is kind of, the best of both worlds. It holds more nutes than hydroton, but is easily leeched of salt buildup, and even when wet, holds a lot of air.

The more often you feed, the lower ppm you use. when there out of seedling stage and in full veg mode you can feed 300 ppm daily to start. You shouldn't see any burn, you may need more

 

[Windsblow]

I am just drip to waste. Wouldn't recirculating that nasty water cause problem especially evap issues.

So on a auto drip I would just feed lightly every watering?

 

[Windsblow]

So I moved all my plants to 12/12 and have sexed a few and have a few more to do. I have got mixed results with the coco. I think it's a little harder than soil and I think I put them in too big a pot to soon. They seem to not dry out as fast as I would like and they act like they are over watered.

I will post pics of them soon.

 

[TheLastWood]

How are they lookin overwatered?

 

[Windsblow]

Just seem droopy leaves, yellowing bottoms leaves and slower than expected growth and the coco doesn't dry out like I was expecting. I think I had put them in too large a pot and they can't drink all that water.

I will put up some pics soon.

 

[TheLastWood]

You may need to step up the nutes. If you went with what I recommended, you might need more. I always start low, especially when telling someone else, I wpuld hate to be the reason you burned your plants lol.

 

[TheLastWood]

I water 1/2 gal up to 3 gal pots daily.

It doesn't hold excess water like soil, if its still wet from the day before and you water again its ok. If you are watering 1x a day there is no way you are overwatering.

Even when wet coco holds a lot of oxygen. Unless its waterlogged, like a pool of water, for 24 hours or more, then your not overwatering.

 

[Windsblow]

I water 1/2 gal up to 3 gal pots daily.

It doesn't hold excess water like soil, if its still wet from the day before and you water again its ok. If you are watering 1x a day there is no way you are overwatering.

Even when wet coco holds a lot of oxygen. Unless its waterlogged, like a pool of water, for 24 hours or more, then your not overwatering.

My pots take at least a gallon before I start getting run off. I have upped the ppm to around 600 now in hopes to wake them up.

 

[TheLastWood]

Each pot takes a gallon a day? Thqts extreme considering there 3l pots. (> 1gal.)

Whenever you are adjusting ph or ppm, be sure to do it gradually. Sudden swings in ph or ppm are stressful.

You are absolutely right tho, coco is a little tougher to learn than soil. But once you get the hang of it I'm sure you will be impressed.

 

[Windsblow]

My pots might be bigger. They aren't as big as a 5 gallon bucket but they are as big as the #5 pot as the grow shop. so they might be bigger than 3 gallons now that I think about it. I am going to like coco as soon as I get used to it and get my drip system up and running.

 

[Windsblow]

Heres my update. The 2 stretched plants are my 12/12 from seed and the rest of them are my regular veg to bloom.

The largest one is growing like a weed, all viney like. It can hardly hold it own growth and look over watered but is growing fine other than that.

The others are either very stretched (which I am not sure why they were in the same room as the others) or they haven't grown much since topping.

They look pretty healthy but I would like to see more secondary growth out of them.

 

[kevin murphy]

nice pic update lad...

 

[lambofgod]

I think your looking at a K def.

Potassium (K)
Potassium is involved in maintaining the water status of the plant and the
tugor pressure of it's cells and the opening and closing of the stomata. Potassium is required in the accumulation and translocation of carbohydrates. Lack of potassium will reduce yield and quality.
Potassium deficiency:
Older leaves are initially chlorotic but soon develop dark necrotic lesions
(dead tissue). First apparent on the tips and margins of the leaves. Stem and branches may become weak and easily broken, the plant may also stretch. The plant will become susceptible to disease and toxicity. In addition to appearing to look like iron deficiency, the tips of the leaves curl and the edges burn and die.
Potassium - Too much sodium (Na) displaces K, causing a K deficiency. Sources of high salinity are: baking soda (sodium bicarbonate "pH-up"), too much manure, and the use of water-softening filters (which should not be used). If the problem is Na, flush the soil. K can get locked up from too much Ca or ammonium nitrogen, and possibly cold weather.


That seems to describe it well. Every time I do a 12/12 from seed, I end up with stretchy plants. That is, it seems plants 12/12 from seed seem to get slightly larger then the regular way.
maybe you have too much calcium built up. Are you watering with cal/mag often? I use cal/mag in coco, once a week. Coco has the tendency to build up Ca.