C-LOJ Back With Another COCO Grow!

[ConqueringLOJ]

Bud city!! only half way through and already looking so plump! great job C-LOJ

Hey Surfin! Thanks for looking in and for the compliments! The last half of flower is definitely my favorite time...It is really cool to see everything come together!

 

[420fied]

Hey man, good luck with your grow.

I may not be around much in the future, so I just wanted to wish you luck.

May all of your buds be dense.

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

Hey man, good luck with your grow.

I may not be around much in the future, so I just wanted to wish you luck.

May all of your buds be dense.

Hey 420! Thanks brother! I'm bummed to hear that you won't be gracing these forums in the future. I hope everything is ok. Take care and keep it green!!

 

[8751]

you should def post some post-harvest root shots. i tried those plant warriors... mabey its one of those things that you have to do a specific way for it to work properly, but i had serious trouble watering them. in the end i submerged each pot to thoroughly soak the medium around the cone. when i transplanted into smart pots, i did not see the root porn commonly seen with airpots or smartpots. there was significant root circling, and not the large root structure seen with other air pruning devices.

plants are looking lovely

 

[N.W.Green]

are you using any kind of beneficial bacteria/mychorzia

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

you should def post some post-harvest root shots. i tried those plant warriors... mabey its one of those things that you have to do a specific way for it to work properly, but i had serious trouble watering them. in the end i submerged each pot to thoroughly soak the medium around the cone. when i transplanted into smart pots, i did not see the root porn commonly seen with airpots or smartpots. there was significant root circling, and not the large root structure seen with other air pruning devices.

plants are looking lovely

Thanks bro! Yea, I'll take some post-harvest pics of the roots...I have been interested to see if there is any truth in the advertising of these Plant Warriors. I haven't had any trouble watering them. But, It will be interesting to see if the roots take on a structure different to those seen with regular pots. We'll see!

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

are you using any kind of beneficial bacteria/mychorzia

Hey N.W.! good to see you! For this grow I haven't used any beneficials. Just daily waterings with House & Garden Cocos A&B. Next week molasses will also be added to the waterings until the harvest.

 

[Propa Gator]

When fertigating with good formula mineral salts like H&G Cocos, 'beneficials' are incidental. If organic material in soil was all plants had to eat, beneficials are the main or only way for these sources to be broken down to soluble mineral salts that can be drawn with water up the roots. Sugar(molasses) feeds these organisms that feed plants. Hydroponic 'nutes' make this process moot. Organic soil growth needs have bled over into hydroponics persistantly. Successful hydro grows with the use of these critters doesn't mean that they were necessary nor even helpful. I've never used molasses. Sugar doesn't go up the roots, which have their osmotic filter 'dance-card' full. Plants create all the sugar they use via photosynthesis.

Humans need beneficials because we eat organic food. Our intestinal colonies work and die symbiotically, and 90% bulk of normal feces is dead E Coli. Plants have simpler nutritional needs. TMI?

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

When fertigating with good formula mineral salts like H&G Cocos, 'beneficials' are incidental. If organic material in soil was all plants had to eat, beneficials are the main or only way for these sources to be broken down to soluble mineral salts that can be drawn with water up the roots. Sugar(molasses) feeds these organisms that feed plants. Hydroponic 'nutes' make this process moot. Organic soil growth needs have bled over into hydroponics persistantly. Successful hydro grows with the use of these critters doesn't mean that they were necessary nor even helpful. I've never used molasses. Sugar doesn't go up the roots, which have their osmotic filter 'dance-card' full. Plants create all the sugar they use via photosynthesis.

Humans need beneficials because we eat organic food. Our intestinal colonies work and die symbiotically, and 90% bulk of normal feces is dead E Coli. Plants have simpler nutritional needs. TMI?

A little bit TMI Propa-G! ha! Thanks for your input. You always seem to be keeping me informed with some great information. Much appreciated brother!!

 

[shaggie-420]

some frosty bitchz! looking good brother
i use beneficial and mycros in my coco.... i think there has been a noticeable difference
the reason you dont use in the hydro setups is because there is a constant flow of nutes so the benis and mycros dont have the chance to grab on and live in the roots as they are just washed away... now if u do Top feed hydro than it can be beneficial as your putting them in to the roots from the top IMO sorry had to put my 2 cents in

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

some frosty bitchz! looking good brother
i use beneficial and mycros in my coco.... i think there has been a noticeable difference
the reason you dont use in the hydro setups is because there is a constant flow of nutes so the benis and mycros dont have the chance to grab on and live in the roots as they are just washed away... now if u do Top feed hydro than it can be beneficial as your putting them in to the roots from the top IMO sorry had to put my 2 cents in

Thanks for weighing in Shags! Maybe one of these days I'll give beneficials a shot. I'll do some research on them. But for right now I am enjoying my minimalist grows. Too many variables gets too confusing for me. I need to keep it simple, and it seems to be working.

brother!!

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

UPDATE...Day 36 Flower

Today, my girls have been flowering for 36 days. They are really filling in nicely, and I am liking what I see! I hope they really pack on some weight during these last 3 or so weeks before I chop 'em! They got their first taste of molasses in their water today...I hope they like it, because they're getting it until harvest
Pretty much, this grow has been going really smoothly. The biggest issue I've run across is just trying to keep my RH below 50%. So, today I hung one of those DampRid bags in the cab. Hopefully that will do the trick. I want NO MOLD!!!


Here's some pics:

The group..

A big PorkHammer cola..

One of the L.A. Cheese girls..

Well that's it for now. I'll have some more frequent photo updates as they get closer to harvest. Thanks for lookin!

 

[Bertie]

Looking sweet man.

I was all set to start a soil grow (organic) in the next few days. I bought a huge sack of perlite today, but the guy in the hydro store was nudging me towards the coco. I told him I'd think about it and will decide tomorrow.

I think you've made my mind up brother.

He showed me some organic coco nutes (along with chem coco hydro) and also said mixing with perlite was the way to go. Is there a reason you havent tried the perlite combo? Are coco specific nutes for use in the coco coir only, without perlite?

I'm just trying to learn as much as I can on coco as I've got a deadline in 24 hours. I'd like to go organic if yield isnt really going to suffer. Its for personal, but its still gotta last me.

 

[420fied]

They look gorgeous my friend. You're going to get a nice harvest.

 

[Propa Gator]

Looking sweet man.

I was all set to start a soil grow (organic) in the next few days. I bought a huge sack of perlite today, but the guy in the hydro store was nudging me towards the coco. I told him I'd think about it and will decide tomorrow.

I think you've made my mind up brother.

He showed me some organic coco nutes (along with chem coco hydro) and also said mixing with perlite was the way to go. Is there a reason you havent tried the perlite combo? Are coco specific nutes for use in the coco coir only, without perlite?

I'm just trying to learn as much as I can on coco as I've got a deadline in 24 hours. I'd like to go organic if yield isnt really going to suffer. Its for personal, but its still gotta last me.

I will try to answer some of your concerns, Bertie. C-LOJ and I go back a ways, from where he switched over to coir. He liked my results in my journal: Gator's Cage, which is long, fairly comprehensive, and completed.
We don't use perlite because it is useless with coir; it doesn't absorb water, just a surface coating. I have several sacks of it that have taken precious storage space from me for years. If I ever(ha) dig dirt from the backyard to fill pots, it might be handy for 'loosening' a compact mess of clay & sand.
If your grow-shop keeper pushes coco coir, it's probably expanded bags, likely with beneficial organisms added for organic fertilizer breakdown. I use the cheapest compressed coir, and add nothing organic at all ever. H&G Cocos works as well for cannabis in coir as any brand works in any media, and better than most. Your shoppy might call it chemical, to influence you to spend more on organic voodoo stuff. It is mineral salts in water; exactly the only stuff that cannabis(or any cultivar) can draw up with water to live and thrive. Organics must be degraded down to component salts first, before a plant can use it. These organisms won't hurt your grow, though they're useless if you fertigate with H&G Cocos or other hydroponic-specific brand. Adding inert perlite won't hurt much, because the un-displaced coir remaining in your pots has a lot of capacity for water... but it won't help.

 

[Bertie]

Thanks PG, I've had a quick flick through that link to your journal (eyes are sore, been researching all night)

I know I can grow quite well in soil, but I've always wanted to have a go at hydro, so like the idea of coco, as I read its a good hydro beginner medium.

The first time I saw hydro was an NFT set up. Folded panda as channeling placed on timber sheets, with the pulled up lips folded in on themselves and nipped close to the clones stem with clothes pegs (so no light got in). That was the best part of 20 years ago, but surprisingly, he was using 3" pots of coir and perlite for the clones (with 10 - 15mm of perlite on the bottom) which were then placed on the channel. He had to use a few of those plastic pan scrubbers to help stop loose bits of perlite getting back to the reservoir.

I read The ABC of NFT (forget who wrote it) cover to cover many times, but never dared make the switch from soil. I'm in another country now though, and while I've devised a way with some off the shelf nutrients, I have to get 'dialed in' again (I think the term is now), I guess maybe now is the time to give it a try. Why not?

Anyway, before i go and get some and fork out for the nutes....

I've no idea where I read this tonight, but someone, somewhere, mentioned that you get plenty of stretch in coco, is this what you find? I ask because I'm short on height, and planned on a SoG. I've got a pair of 400HPS's in cooltubes set up in a 6' x 2' space, but like I say, I'm struggling with height.

10" fully rooted clones banged straight into 12/12 was my intention, as I've had plenty of success with that in the past, albeit in soil. I used to leave 12" between the clones in soil, but believe i can get them as tight as 9" apart in hydro. Just a bit worried about the bolting too much at the start of flower in coco.

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

They look gorgeous my friend. You're going to get a nice harvest.

Thanks 420! I am really looking forward to this harvest. These girls have grown great so far, I can tell they're gonna finish GREAT! Thanks for looking in buddy!

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

I will try to answer some of your concerns, Bertie. C-LOJ and I go back a ways, from where he switched over to coir. He liked my results in my journal: Gator's Cage, which is long, fairly comprehensive, and completed.
We don't use perlite because it is useless with coir; it doesn't absorb water, just a surface coating. I have several sacks of it that have taken precious storage space from me for years. If I ever(ha) dig dirt from the backyard to fill pots, it might be handy for 'loosening' a compact mess of clay & sand.
If your grow-shop keeper pushes coco coir, it's probably expanded bags, likely with beneficial organisms added for organic fertilizer breakdown. I use the cheapest compressed coir, and add nothing organic at all ever. H&G Cocos works as well for cannabis in coir as any brand works in any media, and better than most. Your shoppy might call it chemical, to influence you to spend more on organic voodoo stuff. It is mineral salts in water; exactly the only stuff that cannabis(or any cultivar) can draw up with water to live and thrive. Organics must be degraded down to component salts first, before a plant can use it. These organisms won't hurt your grow, though they're useless if you fertigate with H&G Cocos or other hydroponic-specific brand. Adding inert perlite won't hurt much, because the un-displaced coir remaining in your pots has a lot of capacity for water... but it won't help.

Thanks for the explanation Propa-G! I concur... I think that perlite is just an extra additive that isn't necessary with the coco medium. Coco has great water-retention/air ratio as well as buffering qualities that keep it a friendly and forgiving hydro style. The addition of perlite does not benefit coco as it does soil.

Thanks buddy!

 

[ConqueringLOJ]

Thanks PG, I've had a quick flick through that link to your journal (eyes are sore, been researching all night)

I know I can grow quite well in soil, but I've always wanted to have a go at hydro, so like the idea of coco, as I read its a good hydro beginner medium.

The first time I saw hydro was an NFT set up. Folded panda as channeling placed on timber sheets, with the pulled up lips folded in on themselves and nipped close to the clones stem with clothes pegs (so no light got in). That was the best part of 20 years ago, but surprisingly, he was using 3" pots of coir and perlite for the clones (with 10 - 15mm of perlite on the bottom) which were then placed on the channel. He had to use a few of those plastic pan scrubbers to help stop loose bits of perlite getting back to the reservoir.

I read The ABC of NFT (forget who wrote it) cover to cover many times, but never dared make the switch from soil. I'm in another country now though, and while I've devised a way with some off the shelf nutrients, I have to get 'dialed in' again (I think the term is now), I guess maybe now is the time to give it a try. Why not?

Anyway, before i go and get some and fork out for the nutes....

I've no idea where I read this tonight, but someone, somewhere, mentioned that you get plenty of stretch in coco, is this what you find? I ask because I'm short on height, and planned on a SoG. I've got a pair of 400HPS's in cooltubes set up in a 6' x 2' space, but like I say, I'm struggling with height.

10" fully rooted clones banged straight into 12/12 was my intention, as I've had plenty of success with that in the past, albeit in soil. I used to leave 12" between the clones in soil, but believe i can get them as tight as 9" apart in hydro. Just a bit worried about the bolting too much at the start of flower in coco.

Bertie, Thanks for looking in on my journal. I definitely agree with Propa-G's explanation about adding perlite to coco...It is not necessary, coco excels on its own.
Also, whoever wrote that plants stretch in coco is full of sh!t...I have never experienced that. In fact, I've seen some of the tightest node spacing from all my grows in coco. I believe plant stretching is more light and genetic driven than anything else.

I hope you take coco for a test drive on your next grow. I think you'll really like the results!

 

[Bertie]

Thanks man. Its good to know they dont stretch any more than normal.

Will be giving coco a try. Hopefully these White Rhino seeds are viable, and I'll be able to start a journal.

Will be following this one to the end. Man, they look so sweet n sticky. Not long to go now.