1000w Coco Multi-strain Medicinal Grow

mane2008

Well-Known Member
I believe you do have to water more in coco, but it would all depend on the amount of drainage material you cut you soil with as well. I'm in 2 gallon pots (pure coco) and I'm hand watering once every 2 days now in late flowering. In a 3 gallon pot it would probably be like every 3rd day.

I like the fact that with coco you know exactly what your plants are getting like in a hydroponic system. What hydroponics are missing is a place to set up a beneficial bacteria/fungus colony in your media. Coco is the best of both worlds in my opinion.
:leaf:
Nice thanks for giving me a better clarification of it. SO do you feed-water-feed?
Might have to try it out soon.
can't wait for that smoke report
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
Nice thanks for giving me a better clarification of it. SO do you feed-water-feed?
Might have to try it out soon.
can't wait for that smoke report
I've been doing something like that. I feed at full strength, then half/molasses, then a water top off before feeding heavy again. I may end up going feed, water/molasses, feed soon because keeping track of the perpetual when they all need shit at different time and at different intervals it gets a bit hard to keep up with.
 

420Marine

Well-Known Member
Hey bro thanks for the heads up..would love to see shot of your setup again now that it sounds squared away...should look a lot different with all the drying stuff up.
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
Bud Porn Hijacking!!!

Sensi Star. Day 40. Just in case you wanted to know what trichomes look like :mrgreen:
View attachment 1425353
Very, VERY nice my friend!

I'll be getting some good shots of the bud before I start breaking it down and jarring. Went and got some 1 quart wide mouth mason jars. I wasn't exactly sure on which ones to get and I'm hoping an ounce fits in one jar easily.. did I get the wrong sized jars?

I understand that drying slowly is the best but is there a point where it's taking too long? Today is the 3rd day that they've been hanging but they seem nowhere near ready to be jarred.

:leaf:
 

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
Depending on the heat and the humidity it can take up to 10 days to properly dry the bud before curing. Usually, 6 to 7 days for me.

I check the stems every day, giving them a little crimp. When I feel them start to "snap, crackle, pop" but before they break in half, is when I jar them. It is a finesse thing that will take some time to get right. You don't want them too wet in the jar or curing will take months. You don't want them too dry, or that will upset the process as well. Gotta hit that Goldilocks (bitch was fine!) Zone.

Figure, from cut to smoke, with a good cure, might take up to a month before being properly ready. A week of dry and a week of cure is really all you "need" but if you can take that cure to two or even three weeks, that'd be much better. Hopefully you wind up with a little inventory and can allow some of that stuff to cure for a REALLY long time.

A lot of people use those same jars. You don't want to pack the buds in tightly, so they will eventually hold an ounce each (up to 2.5 ounces probably), but during curing you'll need more jars than for storage. I've seen people use two quart and one quart. Both work. Hell, I've used 1/2 pint jars before... Just don't over fill them. That is the key. You need air around the buds.

Something I usually do is put some of the popcorn buds in a paper bag with a bunch of shredded up corrugated cardboard. This will usually get the buds dry enough to smoke in 3-4 days time. Giving you about 90% of what the finished cured product will be. If you think drying is going a little too slow remove a lower nug from each of the branches and split the stem with the scissors. This will increase the surface area the stems can evaporate from and has sped drying for me by about 25%.

Looking forward to the stash shots. Gotta get yourself a humidor and fill it with pre-rolled joints now!
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
You always put my mind at ease man, it does look like it's going to take 6-8 days for this stuff to be ready for jarring. I'm aware that the stem crackling rather than cleanly snapping is the right time to start the jarring but I always read in here that people's buds are ready in like 4-5 days. My friends nuggage is smokable in 4 days but his drying conditions are a lot warmer than mine. I'm drying in a cabinet above my closet and there is 0 air movement in there, not sure if that's going to be an issue but I don't see or smell and mold happening. It's light proof and stays pretty cool in there. I crack the doors open a few times a day to relieve any built up moisture/humidity and it makes my room STANK. It's like opening a dream.. I wish it was big enough to chill in, it would be my new happy place.

I actually have a pretty nice humidor but I'm worried it will make my buds smell/taste of cedar.

:leaf:
 

shell

Active Member
Hey fellow coco friend, post some pictures when you get a chance. How much longer do you think you have?
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
Hey fellow coco friend, post some pictures when you get a chance. How much longer do you think you have?
I've pulled all but the big ass purple lady, my coco friend :D

Maybe I was a little inexperienced, or just went too nuts with the trimming but it took a total of 6 hours to manicure 4 plants. I wish I had a scale and could give you guys the wet weight since it would be a decent indicator of yield, but alas, no sauce.

I've already placed another Panchota and Kryptonite in the chamber to continue the perpetual, still have room for ~4 plants to be placed in the next 4 weeks, then the 2 oldest come down and 2 more get added after that, loving this use of space in a perpetual.
 

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
LMAO!!! Welcome to the worst part of growing... Trimming! 6 hours sounds about right. Hell... I've spent 6 hours on a single plant. Over time you will develop mad crazy scissor skills. I really recommend Fiskars, the pointed ends make it very easy to do the intricate work. Although, with the worst part of the grow comes the best part. Scissor Hash!!!!!!! It has this just funky, weedy, kind of mmmm mmmm to it. Light that shit on fire!
 

420Marine

Well-Known Member
damn crash, that does sound good..ahh quite a bit longer for me and my girls. One question though..the kid at the hydro shop said use rubbing alcohol with scissor hash..perhaps he meant that to use after cleaning it??? Sounds like that would fuck you up..and not in a good way to be smoking rubbing alcohol.
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
You're not kidding with the scissor hash man~ I was able to get some off of each plant and sample, and dear god was it good. I was tripping on how long it smokes for too, like 6 good rips of a little piece. I think it was helping ease the shoulder pain, probably making me go slower as well. I was in the zone for hours straight while listening to music, trimming, and puffing scissor hash.

:leaf:
 

mane2008

Well-Known Member
You're not kidding with the scissor hash man~ I was able to get some off of each plant and sample, and dear god was it good. I was tripping on how long it smokes for too, like 6 good rips of a little piece. I think it was helping ease the shoulder pain, probably making me go slower as well. I was in the zone for hours straight while listening to music and puffing scissor hash.

:leaf:
nice man :). I'll be taking a sample of the AI on tuesday.
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
damn crash, that does sound good..ahh quite a bit longer for me and my girls. One question though..the kid at the hydro shop said use rubbing alcohol with scissor hash..perhaps he meant that to use after cleaning it??? Sounds like that would fuck you up..and not in a good way to be smoking rubbing alcohol.
Use a razor to get the hash off the blades, you'll have to scrape them clean quite often or shit gets gummed up real fast. VERY flavorful, reminded me of some Moroccan hash I had a couple years back.
 

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
I have a few friends from Iran, Persians (on a side note, exactly as depicted in South Park), and a buddy of mine had some honest to goodness hash brought in from Afghanistan. Like, a big tub of the shit...

I had no idea what it was, I was like 22, fairly naive when it came to those things, and thought it was just your standard hooka stuff. Fucking destroyed me. I hit that shit hard and slid away. I bugged out. It was bad, I'm still scared of hookas...

Then they tell me it is made by taking the buds and just rubbing them between their hands. They collect the trichomes off of the mature flowers (because they are seeded) and then rub their hands together to collect the oils. You'll notice this as you handle your buds. That sticky shit on your fingers is finger hash. If your hands were nice and clean to begin with then you can safely smoke it. Little finger oil never hurt no one :)

It has this fresh, potent flavor. The scissor hash I collected trimming about 6 ounces of Lemon Skunk was the most interesting shit I've ever had. It was like... sour lemons and pine trees and just straight weedy skunk flavor. Funky and delicious.

Ahhh.... harvest day. In anticipation of my next go around I made a purchase. I got "the look" from my girl friend today.
IMG_4729.jpgIMG_4730.jpgIMG_4731.jpg
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
Wow man, charras out of a hookah would be an intense stone for sure. :eyesmoke:

The second picture is basically what I'll be running next round. Add the Koolbloom and pH down and you'd need nothing else. I'm still comparing and contrasting Liquid Karma, Nirvana, Trinity etc.. but I will have a product like that (have a trinity sample atm). I've yet to see a bad review of Bud Candy and most people have said they notice a real difference in their plants' smell and resin production.

Been using the little extra space in the flowering room to veg some plants faster. I want to get the Banana Kush up and running in the system sooner rather than later. My buddy harvested his (same cut I have) and without any curing the bud was pretty tasty already and looked quite frosty.

:leaf:

Edit*
Bud Candy is actually cheaper than Sweet, when was the last time you've seen AN cheaper than Botanicare products?
 

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
Wow man, charras out of a hookah would be an intense stone for sure. :eyesmoke:

The second picture is basically what I'll be running next round. Add the Koolbloom and pH down and you'd need nothing else. I'm still comparing and contrasting Liquid Karma, Nirvana, Trinity etc.. but I will have a product like that (have a trinity sample atm). I've yet to see a bad review of Bud Candy and most people have said they notice a real difference in their plants' smell and resin production.

Been using the little extra space in the flowering room to veg some plants faster. I want to get the Banana Kush up and running in the system sooner rather than later. My buddy harvested his (same cut I have) and without any curing the bud was pretty tasty already and looked quite frosty.

:leaf:

Edit*
Bud Candy is actually cheaper than Sweet, when was the last time you've seen AN cheaper than Botanicare products?
I'm actually sorta pissed at myself for getting the Sweet right now. I had been toying with the idea, and just impulse bought it. I'm running that Lemon Skunk plant through and thought it'd help with that and the Warlock which is throwing out some serious citrus.

The Hydro store dude told me that Bud Candy increased the resin production in his own garden by 40%. Which is CRAZY!!!

I'm a bottle collector... As you can see... And those pictures don't show the Fox Farms, Canna, Earth Juice, or Sensi Bloom I have around. I think the Bud Candy is probably worth the money.

The 0-10-10 Liquid KoolBloom has been great this grow but I think in the future I'm going to stick with a higher phosphorus bloom supplement. That's what I find appealing about the Hydroplex. At 0-10-6 the ratio change is better suited to Coco, IMO. I'm sitting on some AN Big Bud right now that I'd purchased and have yet to use.

Next time around I'd like to be using the CNS system (did you know they don't make the coco/soil any more? Just hydro now) supplement with Cal-Mag, Liquid Karma, and Pro-Tekt, and then bloom with Hydroplex, Nirvana, Bud Candy, and Sweet. The CNS Bloom and Ripe really remove the need for any crazy bloom booster but running a little less of them so you can run a little Hydroplex seems to be a good idea to get the phosphate ratio dialed in with the potassium ratio which needs to be a touch lower for the coco media.

I yanked the Sour Kush today because it stopped growing about 2 weeks ago. Just gave up on life.
I'll never grow that DNA strain again. That Breeder is SOOO hit and miss. Some of their shit is bomb, some of it is shwag. They really need to get their shit together over there. The Sour Cream is still chuggin along though, should be my latest harvest I think based on the look of the garden.

Before you pull down that Panchota you should definitely take a lot of pictures. As much Macro as you can. It has been cool using my digital camera to count the cloudy trichomes :)
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
I was just checking Botanicare's site and BG Hydro (local hydro warehouse) and they don't claim to have discontinued their production. It would be a sad day if they did. The local hydro warehouse has CNS17 Coco at $20 and some change for a gallon, going to pick some up in the near future and stock up if they indeed stopped production.

http://www.bghydro.com/BGH/ItemMatrix.asp?GroupCode=NLAACNSC&MatrixType=2&selelement1=undefined&selelement2=undefined&selelement3=undefined&selelement4=undefined&selelement5=undefined

I'll be getting a ton of pictures of that dark lady in the corner, by the looks of it should be a decent yielder. I'm concerned that the buds aren't densening up though, they look quite full but to the touch the buds are still really spongy. I'm guessing it has a little less than 2 weeks left and I hope it hardens up sooner rather than later.
 

Snow Crash

Well-Known Member
I contacted Botanicare and they informed me that they do make both formulas and that the store owner was not right.

Ugh... I'll need to trade in the Hydro Grow, Bloom, and Sweet. I'm going to get a bottle of that AN Bud Candy and some Roots Organic (mixing coco, Roots Organic, and Perlite together) in place of pure coco for this next go around. The idea is to still feed frequently but at a 6.5 pH (less pH down), and with about 1/2 the amount of nutrients.

t0rn,
Have you put much more thought into moving towards organic soil mixes?
I know you're doing a lot of cloning. How much coco do you have left to get through before you need more media?
What are your thoughts now that you've harvested a few plants in pure coco? Do you have any ideas to make the process a little easier on you?
 

t0rn

Well-Known Member
t0rn,
Have you put much more thought into moving towards organic soil mixes?
I know you're doing a lot of cloning. How much coco do you have left to get through before you need more media?
What are your thoughts now that you've harvested a few plants in pure coco? Do you have any ideas to make the process a little easier on you?
I had originally got 2 50L bags of coco and that amount is sustaining the garden completely at this point. I did get some that came in the Giesel plant, so maybe 2.5 gallons more. When I was done harvesting the plants I took the pots outside and emptied the coco into a large Rubbermaid container outside. I broke all of it down and tossed out as much root stuff as I could get out. I then flushed it for about 30 min with the garden hose on low and let it dry out in the sun. I know I didn't flush everything out but I have reused the coco now with all of my transplants and I can say that they're having 0 transplant shot into the reused coco even on the clones. I was getting some Mag issues before with fresh coco.

I wasn't necessarily thinking of adding any soil mixes to coco and pearlite seems a little overboard as I'm of the opinion it's near impossible to over-water with coco and the drainage is adequate. I was however toying with the idea of supplementing an organic nute line along side of the synthetics to help bolster the micro-organisms I'm adding. Say as a base nutrient, going half strength CNS17 and half of the Pure Blend Original compost tea. Although, at this point I'm adding Trinity and Molasses throughout the grow and it should be enough organic material to keep them sustained. Maybe synthetic base nutes and a comprehensive organic micro nute line to complement it?

I'm looking at your nutes and wondering if you've been adding beneficial bacteria, fungus and the whatnot. See if your guy will hook you up with a sample of Great White, Myco Maximum, Oregonizm XLor something of the like.

The only complaint with coco I'm having atm is the top layer getting very fibrous with roots and watering becoming a chore because the top layer doesn't want to move water through it very quickly. I'm having to water all of the plants very briefly to get the top layer wet and then water thoroughly to make sure all of the coco is getting wet evenly.

:leaf:
 
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