Coco Scrog - Multiple Strains

[SurfBuddy]

I have the home depot vegetable and herb kind.

Yes aunt bernice is in a 3 gallon grow bag, just like misty, and barbie.

Barbie and Aunt bernice are both seeds from my love lettuce last grow so they are as close to sisters as they can get.
After the last feeding the rest are a nice shade of green but these two are both yellowed. I would have to say that is a lack of nitrogen because of them being 75%sativa they may require more than the rest... any personal opinions on how to add just N???

Remember that you could be locking out N instead of having not enough N...

 

[jameswri85]

LOL, Good thinking!! I thought that to while I was watering my plants.

I have been kinda nute blasting them lately and I just realized I never gave them a plain water feeding... now I have so I will see what is still locked out after a day or so. I think I have also locked out the cal/mag, I am getting those rusted brown circles on a few leaves and even though I added cal/mag and foliar sprayed with cal/mag they are still appearing.

Thanks for the heads up!!!!

P.S.... Sorry stoned if I'm budding in here and I hope those extra feedings work out for you

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Remember that you could be locking out N instead of having not enough N...

I have the home depot vegetable and herb kind.

Yes aunt bernice is in a 3 gallon grow bag, just like misty, and barbie.

Barbie and Aunt bernice are both seeds from my love lettuce last grow so they are as close to sisters as they can get.
After the last feeding the rest are a nice shade of green but these two are both yellowed. I would have to say that is a lack of nitrogen because of them being 75%sativa they may require more than the rest... any personal opinions on how to add just N???

LOL, Good thinking!! I thought that to while I was watering my plants.

I have been kinda nute blasting them lately and I just realized I never gave them a plain water feeding... now I have so I will see what is still locked out after a day or so. I think I have also locked out the cal/mag, I am getting those rusted brown circles on a few leaves and even though I added cal/mag and foliar sprayed with cal/mag they are still appearing.

Thanks for the heads up!!!!

P.S.... Sorry stoned if I'm budding in here and I hope those extra feedings work out for you

It could be overfeeding that is locking out the N but I doubt that is the case since you are using the farmers pride line & it is really hard to do with organics. Lock outs shouldn't even be occurring with organic nutrients because it is the microbes that break down the organic matter into readily available food for the plants. Lock outs usually happen from overfeeding, or having your ph off. With organics you shouldn't be PH'ing because it will kill all the microbes.

The Cal mag deficiency is common when using coco since it uses calcium at a much faster rate, I may have to pick up some cal mag myself. I tried to avoid this problem by amending my mix with gypsum and so far I haven't seen any signs of a cal mag deficiency. Calcium is very important, if I didn't amend my mix with gypsum on my tomatoes then they would all go bad from blossom end rot, thank goodness we can still use buds after they get a deficiency !

Keep up with the cal mag foliar and mix in a little BPN micro.

As for adding just N, if she is still looking hungry for more nitrogen then just increase the Grow dosage. Last season my plants faded yellow a little soon so I will continue feeding grow two weeks into flower to keep them green a little longer.

I wonder if your promix is the same as mine? I have the hp (high porosity) and it drains insanely well, it is like dust when it's dry, I like that is comes with mycorrhizel fungi amended!

I have no problem with anyone butting in, I encourage it. Feel free to stop in as much as you like

 

[SurfBuddy]

It could be overfeeding that is locking out the N but I doubt that is the case since you are using the farmers pride line & it is really hard to do with organics. Lock outs shouldn't even be occurring with organic nutrients because it is the microbes that break down the organic matter into readily available food for the plants. Lock outs usually happen from overfeeding, or having your ph off. With organics you shouldn't be PH'ing because it will kill all the microbes.

Uh oh. Soooo my water is pH 8+ coming out of the tap, and I pH'd my water down, so I just killed all my microbes in my test high brix grow?
Drat.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Uh oh. Soooo my water is pH 8+ coming out of the tap, and I pH'd my water down, so I just killed all my microbes in my test high brix grow?
Drat.

Yes you could of killed them, ph up contains potassium carbonate & potassium silicate. Ph down contains phosphoric acid, citric acid & mono ammonium phosphate. Even synthetic nutrients which are salts can kill your microbes. You should top dress a little myco fungi and brew a tea to recharge your microherd. None of the three high brix journals I am subscribed to ph either!

 

[Stoned4daze61]

The Tahoe OG was an inch away from the screen when I checked on them today. I am starting to get excited

Can't wait to start training them through the screen for the first time!

I will be spraying some azatrol tomorrow and removing some damaged leaves from spidermites. I might try to snap a few pictures while I am at it.

On another note I've been real busy with my fruit & vegetable garden the past few days, just planted some raspberries, watermelons, cucumbers, and more tomatoes. Carrots will be next week. Also built a 6' x 8' trellis for the cukes & watermelons. Started harvesting my first strawberries of the season two weeks ago and tomatoes a month ago and they have been delicious Can't wait to try the blueberries. Time to smoke a bowl or two of this Bubba Kush and relax

 

[jameswri85]

Hey, thanks for all the good info!!

I'll keep up with the cal/mag and add a little micro to it.

The last feeding I almost doubled the transition feeding and they are still fading. Maybe I'll feed the two love lettuce's last and add in a bit more grow for them!

I don't think we have the same kind, I believe yours is orange? Mine is the green one.

I really need to amend my soil better next time. I really failed on it this time!....

Thank you for your advise!!

 

[SurfBuddy]

Yes you could of killed them, ph up contains potassium carbonate & potassium silicate. Ph down contains phosphoric acid, citric acid & mono ammonium phosphate. Even synthetic nutrients which are salts can kill your microbes. You should top dress a little myco fungi and brew a tea to recharge your microherd. None of the three high brix journals I am subscribed to ph either!

Three? DocBud, Vapedogg and who?

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Hey, thanks for all the good info!!

I'll keep up with the cal/mag and add a little micro to it.

The last feeding I almost doubled the transition feeding and they are still fading. Maybe I'll feed the two love lettuce's last and add in a bit more grow for them!

I don't think we have the same kind, I believe yours is orange? Mine is the green one.

I really need to amend my soil better next time. I really failed on it this time!....

Thank you for your advise!!

No problem glad I could share

The LA Con, Snow White, & Critical mass seem to be fading as well and they are getting the same feedings as the Tahoe & SLH. Yes mine is the orange bag! I think I'm going to make the transition to coco, I like how cost effective it is. You can't beat 2.5CF blocks for $11, the promix was a little steep at $8 for 3.8CF. I'm definitely going to amend with more perlite next time and see how it goes, my plants loved my promix hp with a little extra perlite added last grow.

I think maybe it could be the fact that coco doesn't contain all the different bacteria and fungi that soil does which is needed in the process of breaking down the organic nutrients. I added some myco fungi and worm castings but I don't think it was enough, I"m going to add a bag of vermisoil and humus next time.

Three? DocBud, Vapedogg and who?

IceMud! You definitely have to check his out too. He has a 6 plant High brix Scrog w/dual spectrum, his plants are a beautiful shade of green and have that high brix shine. He also started taking brix readings with his refractometer. He used to check his compost tea's ph and occasionally added some lemon juice I think but stopped after Doc deemed it unnecessary. They all seem to be getting fantastic results without PH'ing

 

[jameswri85]

I'm going to have to travel over to vapes and icemuds... I'm in on Docbud's but I somehow didn't know about icemuds.

When I was getting the promix to start this grow, they had the veg & herb kind on sale for $4/2.5 CF. I bought 4 bags... Used one and a quarter of them before deciding to switch to coco. I'll either try to return them or use them for some vegies & herbs!!! So far I have decided on some lime, worm castings, perlite, bat guano, and some BPN root magic for my amendments for next time. I think I am going to way overload it with perlite on the next one. I might go as high as 75% perlite, probably stay closer to 50-60% though.

I am also going to pick up aurora pots for containers, I have one right now that keeps drying out every other day while my other bags are still at seven, 2 days later.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

I'm going to have to travel over to vapes and icemuds... I'm in on Docbud's but I somehow didn't know about icemuds.

When I was getting the promix to start this grow, they had the veg & herb kind on sale for $4/2.5 CF. I bought 4 bags... Used one and a quarter of them before deciding to switch to coco. I'll either try to return them or use them for some vegies & herbs!!! So far I have decided on some lime, worm castings, perlite, bat guano, and some BPN root magic for my amendments for next time. I think I am going to way overload it with perlite on the next one. I might go as high as 75% perlite, probably stay closer to 50-60% though.

I am also going to pick up aurora pots for containers, I have one right now that keeps drying out every other day while my other bags are still at seven, 2 days later.

Wow that is a steal on the promix, would you mind telling me where you got it? I wouldn't mind picking up some bags for my veggie garden as well

It's kind of odd, I see some people who swear by 100% coco and others who swear by 50/50 coco/perlite. I kind of like perlite for some reason, the extra drainage seems to make my plants grow faster almost more like hydroponics. I think since the medium drys out quicker it allows more oxygen back into the rootzone.

How many gallon pots are you getting? I'm enjoying mine so far, I really like the look of the aurora pots, even more so then my superoot air pots

 

[Deege420]

hey man what would I be doing different if I decided to go coco instead of soil on these next autos? can i even do that outdoors?
and if u can stop back by my journal for the soil question that wld be great. Lol or u can just answer it here.... lmao I'm stoned. What would be a good alternate soil to Fox Farm?

 

[jameswri85]

It was at Home o' da pot, there were about 15 bags stacked on a cart marked for sale.

I also like perlite being in there because if the roots need some extra room they can just squeeze it smaller, and drainage of coarse!!

I keep debating between the 2 and 3 gallon sizes. I figure why not just go 3 for the extra room but then I think Celeste is already my tallest plant, really healthy, and only in a 2 gallon. I need to feed her every other day though. With the 3 gallon it won't dry out as fast but then that may promote extra growth that I don't have room for.... decisions decisions...

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Thanks!

I see what you mean about the extra growth. Maybe transplant a week before the flip? I would go as large as you can manage because that extra rootspace will = larger buds

They should only stretch for 2-3 weeks into flowering and then the rest will be packing on the buds

 

[SurfBuddy]

Of course! Icemud!

What about 2 gal pots with a soil additive that holds water so you don't have to water as often?

 

[MSquared]

No problem glad I could share

IceMud! You definitely have to check his out too. He has a 6 plant High brix Scrog w/dual spectrum, his plants are a beautiful shade of green and have that high brix shine. He also started taking brix readings with his refractometer. He used to check his compost tea's ph and occasionally added some lemon juice I think but stopped after Doc deemed it unnecessary. They all seem to be getting fantastic results without PH'ing

Hey there Stoned! Those 3 are doing a stellar job and all of us are growing in different ways using the hibrix method. All my plants have been in a hibrix soil since the begining and I can attest to its potential I have never phd as well. I also just use city water with an aquirum heater and 2 5" air stones in my water barrel. I have not had one issue with any of my strains using hibrix and unphd water.

I'm going to have to travel over to vapes and icemuds... I'm in on Docbud's but I somehow didn't know about icemuds.

When I was getting the promix to start this grow, they had the veg & herb kind on sale for $4/2.5 CF. I bought 4 bags... Used one and a quarter of them before deciding to switch to coco. I'll either try to return them or use them for some vegies & herbs!!! So far I have decided on some lime, worm castings, perlite, bat guano, and some BPN root magic for my amendments for next time. I think I am going to way overload it with perlite on the next one. I might go as high as 75% perlite, probably stay closer to 50-60% though.

I am also going to pick up aurora pots for containers, I have one right now that keeps drying out every other day while my other bags are still at seven, 2 days later.

I used promix for the longest time and had pretty good results, sometimes depending on the strain the results were stellar and some strains didn't care for it at all, but with hibrix soil not one strain has had any issues
The reason they were so cheap is HD was selling the promix line, but for reason stopped and they are selling off their remaining stock. So if you like promix get it while you can from them.
Be careful which lime you use and how much per gallon you put in. If you can get calcium carbonate (CACO3) at least 90%.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

Of course! Icemud!

What about 2 gal pots with a soil additive that holds water so you don't have to water as often?

Are you talking about the water retention crystals? It Couldwork but I feel that the plants prefer frequent wet/dry cycles if you can manage watering them enough. The roots get a lot more oxygen when the medium is dry which is necessary for photosynthesis. If it is a problem then I would say add some drippers. Last resort I would amend with things that retain moisture such as humus, worm castings, and/or vermiculite.

Hey there Stoned! Those 3 are doing a stellar job and all of us are growing in different ways using the hibrix method. All my plants have been in a hibrix soil since the begining and I can attest to its potential I have never phd as well. I also just use city water with an aquirum heater and 2 5" air stones in my water barrel. I have not had one issue with any of my strains using hibrix and unphd water.





I used promix for the longest time and had pretty good results, sometimes depending on the strain the results were stellar and some strains didn't care for it at all, but with hibrix soil not one strain has had any issues
The reason they were so cheap is HD was selling the promix line, but for reason stopped and they are selling off their remaining stock. So if you like promix get it while you can from them.
Be careful which lime you use and how much per gallon you put in. If you can get calcium carbonate (CACO3) at least 90%.

Damn straight they are, their plants are gorgeous! I will have to check out your grow as well .

I used two air stones in my 20Gal Reservoir last season to keep it from going stagnant and to hopefully bubble out some chlorine. I also have a submersible pump with a hose connected to water the plants easily. My water stays 70-75 without a heater. I haven't needed to use it yet this season and I may not use it at all since my plant numbers are smaller. I also already have my two air pumps currently in use for a tomato DWC and my Tea brewer!

Thanks for the heads up on the promix. I'll call my local HD and see if they have any, if not I guess I'll stick with my coco! If you were referring to me I already have dolomite lime and gypsum. I only used two tablespoons of the dolomite (garden lime) and a cup of gypsum in my 2.5CF bag

 

[Stoned4daze61]

I think I may of found the culprit of why my three plants in 1 gallons have been pretty much dormant since the transplant! I have had the plastic saucers under the pots ever since they were moved to one gallons. I'm thinking it acted as a reservoir and the coco kept wicking up the water before it had a chance to dry out. I dug through the coco a bit with my fingers and the roots have barely grown at ALL!
So I decided to remove the saucers two days ago and there has already been a little bit of noticeable growth. I'll keep my fingers crossed

On another note the Tahoe OG touched the screen today

 

[jameswri85]

I am going to move away from pro-mix. I wonder if I can still return it??

Now that I have been using coco I prefer that. I was thinking I could use about 50/50 coco/perlite and add in worm castings in a 2 gallon aurora pot, then about a week or two before flowering move it into a 3 gallon aurora no castings. That way they get a little extra N for veg, then they don't really need it for flowering.

I keep hearing HiBrix but still not sure what exactly it is?? Just a substrate with organic additives to build a good base?? Does sound very intriguing though!!

I'm hoping that a 2 gallon aurora pot set up with a wick would be perfect. I am hoping to try it out soon, I am just waiting until I get them happy again before going back to it. I got an organic lime to add in, not sure of the name (not hydrated lime). I can fill the reservoir and let it keep drinking, then I may not even need to swap up to the 3 gallon size. I added 1Tbs/gallon of soil.

 

[Stoned4daze61]

I am going to move away from pro-mix. I wonder if I can still return it??

Now that I have been using coco I prefer that. I was thinking I could use about 50/50 coco/perlite and add in worm castings in a 2 gallon aurora pot, then about a week or two before flowering move it into a 3 gallon aurora no castings. That way they get a little extra N for veg, then they don't really need it for flowering.

I keep hearing HiBrix but still not sure what exactly it is?? Just a substrate with organic additives to build a good base?? Does sound very intriguing though!!

I'm hoping that a 2 gallon aurora pot set up with a wick would be perfect. I am hoping to try it out soon, I am just waiting until I get them happy again before going back to it. I got an organic lime to add in, not sure of the name (not hydrated lime). I can fill the reservoir and let it keep drinking, then I may not even need to swap up to the 3 gallon size. I added 1Tbs/gallon of soil.

I approve of transplanting but I'm not sure moving up one gallon would be worth the potential stress. If you went up to 4 Gal then I would say go for it! 50/50 coco/perlite sounds like a great mix, I'm using coco for the first time and I should of amended more perlite.

I wouldn't worry about moving up 1 gallon, if you are worried about the worm castings just add a small amount. I know a lot of growers who prefer to continue feeding GROW nutes 2-3 weeks into flowering to prevent them from fading too fast. On my last grow I stopped feeding GROW right when I flipped to flower but my plants faded yellow to soon and I was loosing lots of fan leaves the last two weeks of flowering! Needless to say I will continue feeding GROW two weeks into flower, except in half dosages.

The buds in flowering don't need nitrogen but the fan leaves do and they are essential for photosynthesis.

Have you ever tried transplanting out of fabric pots? I've only tried it once and it didn't go so well, I needed help from a friend. It might be easier if the plant is fully rootbound but I don't like waiting that long. I only use fabric pots as my final container

Have you considered drip irrigation? I have one for my vegetable garden and it was quite easy to install, it would probably deliver more nutrients as well

Garden lime is okay to use, but if you are going high brix then you want calcium carbonate (CACO3). I believe it is because the magnesium/calcium ratios are not proper for high brix.

High brix is all about feeding the soil not the plant. You have to get everything in the right ratios or you will encounter problems. Here is a good rundown concerning high brix thanks to Docbud

There are four bases to achieving high brix soil:

1.)Foundational minerals. These are your rock powders, Limestone, Soft Rock Phosphate, Gypsum. Other things could conceivably be used as well, but those are cheap, reliable and available. The single most important mineral for High Brix is Calcium, followed by Phosphorus.

2.)Soil Energy. ERGS (Energy Released per Gram per Second). No energy in the soil, no growth of the plant. Fertilizers, organic material, salts....all increase ERGS.

3.)Soil Biology. These are the microbes, nematodes and fungi that inhabit the root zone and break down all the organic material and present it to the plant. We accomplish proper soil biology with humus and we boost it with microbial teas and root inoculates.

4.)Trace Elements. The "micro's." Magnesium, zinc, boron, iron, manganese, copper, molybdenum, sulfur, etc.

We don't put these things in the soil in the typical NPK ratio's that you see on plant food bottles. These things go into the soil in order to make the soil biology happy. For example, most of the phosphorus isn't available to the plant at all. Same with the calcium. But the microbes love it.

The plants, courtesy of the soil life, get anything they want, as much as they want. They never burn, they never lack.

That's the soil.

You supercharge the Brix in the plant tissue via Foliar Feeding. Phosphorus is the "shipping specialist" in the plant. Most things the plant needs come piggy backed as a phosphate, so increasing the phosphorus and calcium levels in the plant increases the sugar content in the leaves, which the plant sends down to the roots in the form of "root exudates." These root exudates feed and signal microbes and fungi that live on the roots, and they take the sugar and use it to form humic/fulvic acids so they can digest minerals and organic matter and feed the plant.

The foliar sprays act like a supercharger, while the soil acts like a gas tank. The microbes are the engine.....and the plants are the passengers who enjoy the ride.

That's High Brix.