Watering strategy for plants in pots to big? Coco

[MassMedMan]

I run coco. I feed in veg when they're dry. Sometimes i'l go a week or two without feeding.....

I know everyone is going to tell me that yer not supposed to. But, I get tired of listening to folks, who mostly parrot, and just do it. I've done it for a year or so now with no negative results.

So, I'd dry them out. As a gardener,, there is a lot of value in drying them out. Long before I grew cannabis, I grew garden plants and while I don't grow them all in coco. They alllllll get dried out from time to time.

Heck, I don't feed daily in flower,,

But that's just me and im not a by the book kind of grower.

 

[KingJoe83]

I run coco. I feed in veg when they're dry. Sometimes i'l go a week or two without feeding.....

I know everyone is going to tell me that yer not supposed to. But, I get tired of listening to folks and just do it. I've done it for a year or so now with no negative results.

So, I'd dry them out.

Heck, I don't feed daily in flower,,

But that's just me and im not a by the book kind of grower.

I feed daily in flower but that’s because they are dry and light to the lift . Some say never let it dry out but you need to let it dry out adequately enough your not straight hydro is my thinking still a form of soil soilless mediums is my thinking . Good topic boyz .

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• KingJoe83
• Feb 14, 2019
• 2000 watt 3x3 tent cherry bomb dutch delight flower time led purple monky balls white cookies x atf white widow x atf

Let the flower begin 3x3 tent 1-1.5 gal fabric pots

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• KingJoe83
• Feb 12, 2019

 

[MassMedMan]

I don't let them dry out in flower. But, early flower when they're not chugging nutes I've learned to conserve nutes.

But, that's just me.

 

[Derbybud]

So I really think you guys are looking at things a bit different. Coco is running hydro. The media has no nutrient value what so ever. It's there to hold the roots in place and hold water and nutes for the plant to use. If I'm running autos I plant seeds with tap roots straight into 3 gal fabric pots that has been rinsed and primed with 1/8- 1/4 strength nutes. I try to let the pots sit for 24 hours before I pt the seed in. Until the seedling is above ground/ coco I just mist the top of the coco to keep things damp. Once the seedling is up I water with nutes around the outer edge of the pot toward the seedling. As I get toward the seedling I barely water enough to keep things moist on top. I feel by doing this it causes the plant to stretch out its roots to seek food toward the outside of the pot. As long as the coco stays moist it wicks that feeding throughout the coco. I feed at a minimum once a day and sometimes in flower I've fed up to 5 times per day. I've grown plants that had such a root mass that I've had to core thru the roots to make room for new growth and water to actually penetrate the pot. If I've done things correctly I can reclaim maybe a solo cup of coco off the root mass after harvest the rest is in the roots so right that even after letting them dry out for a few months you still can't break out anymore.
I do believe that the first week or 2 you can over water them but after that you can't over water plants in coco. Letting coco dry out is damaging to your roots plain and simple. If you've grown plants doing that well great but try what I've posted and you'll have plants twice the size and more healthy.

 

[falstaffo]

As long as the coco stays moist it wicks that feeding throughout the coco.

do you think wetting agents are unnecessary then?

 

[MassMedMan]

Don't do what I do, yo. Im just saying. Im always pushing limits and testing theories.

I use reused coco also. Tried a few grows back and have not skipped a beat.

Another thing they'll tell you not to do. I hate following, never really been a follower,,, sometimes it's costly. But it's always interesting.....

Remember folks I was using LEDs when folks swore I/it was crazy and they couldn't beat good ole hps.... my test results proved otherwise.

It's easy to talk about doing things differently, another thing to do it.

Good luck.

 

[Derbybud]

do you think wetting agents are unnecessary then?

Not necessary

 

[Derbybud]

And think of coco as hydro all the time. Also think of a body builder or Olympic athlete. They never eat big meals. More smaller meals is the trick as it also draws in more oxygen with each feeding. And never feed a plant at lights out. That's when it's sending nutrients that the plant made to the roots. 20-30 min after lights on is the time for first feeding as that's when the plant is drawing nutrients from the roots.

 

[scrogster]

I’d just back off on how much you feeding them if access is sign I am
In coco in 3 gal pots I feed about 1 gal of two water with advanced nutrients ph perfect i ph to 5.8-6.1 I feed it daily .

I have never used ph perfect . I use botanicare , but I thought ph perfect was designed so you dont have to ph your feeding ?

 

[Grower2020]

Also remember you can never over water in coco coco always will Retain around 30% oxygen so don’t worry about drowning roots .

False. Coco can be overwatered and if you don't let the medium dry out a little bit not only will you drown the roots but you will also attract bugs that will feed on the algae on the top of your pots. If it's always wet it's going to grow algae and attract bugs

 

[Grower2020]

So I really think you guys are looking at things a bit different. Coco is running hydro. The media has no nutrient value what so ever. It's there to hold the roots in place and hold water and nutes for the plant to use. If I'm running autos I plant seeds with tap roots straight into 3 gal fabric pots that has been rinsed and primed with 1/8- 1/4 strength nutes. I try to let the pots sit for 24 hours before I pt the seed in. Until the seedling is above ground/ coco I just mist the top of the coco to keep things damp. Once the seedling is up I water with nutes around the outer edge of the pot toward the seedling. As I get toward the seedling I barely water enough to keep things moist on top. I feel by doing this it causes the plant to stretch out its roots to seek food toward the outside of the pot. As long as the coco stays moist it wicks that feeding throughout the coco. I feed at a minimum once a day and sometimes in flower I've fed up to 5 times per day. I've grown plants that had such a root mass that I've had to core thru the roots to make room for new growth and water to actually penetrate the pot. If I've done things correctly I can reclaim maybe a solo cup of coco off the root mass after harvest the rest is in the roots so right that even after letting them dry out for a few months you still can't break out anymore.
I do believe that the first week or 2 you can over water them but after that you can't over water plants in coco. Letting coco dry out is damaging to your roots plain and simple. If you've grown plants doing that well great but try what I've posted and you'll have plants twice the size and more healthy.

Can you post some pics

 

[Grower2020]

@Massmedman @KingJoe83 ok so I've worked out even in one gal pots with 50% perlite watering every day to run off within the first 10 days is a no go.

Cocp is really really slow to dry out, I put a 1 gal of potting mix beside a 1 gal of coco and watered both to runoff( no plants in them ) and the potting soil was dry before the coco had even lost the dark colour from the top of the pot.
So after a previous failed attempt starting autos in 6Gal pots watering to run off from the beginning like sooo many people claim must be done to prevent nute build up and claiming coco can't be overwatered no matter what because it holds 23% oxygen even when fully saturated (which I worked out was absolute bs) lol ( and even with 50% perlite you can still overeater coco which I have just discovered because I tried watering in 1 gal pot 50% coco 50% perlite and still have droopy leaves so that debunks that you can't over water coco) but my question is so I can get atleast a root ball happening without having either overwaterimg from watering to run off every day or nute build up from only feeding small increments multiple times a day .?
Since you guys obviously grow in coco and have pics of prime buds my question is " can I avoid nute burn if I'm only mixing my nutes at say 200-250 ppm including calmag using rainwater with a starting ppm of 9 and 200-250 after adding nutes , can I give like a quarter of a cup say 60ml per feeding and avoid nute burn within the first couple weeks ? Or because there is no runoff do i have to feed feed water ? Or just nutes every 60ml feed ? I really need to get this sorted out because I keep overwaterimg because I've been told runoff is necessary no ,matter what to avoid nutrient burn n salt build up? I really don't want to give up on coco but I'm having the worst start simply because they are getting too much water and I think I'll burn them if I don't, please sort me out so I can get things straight.
Thanks lads

 

[Skunksta]

Its a thead from 2019 my friend cant see many of them being about any more.