House & Garden Coco Feeding Schedule Questions

[NunyaBis]

Greetings.

First, a bit of a preface :

I've been planning for my first ever grow, and I've decided to axe my RDWC plans and grow in Coco Coir with smart pots instead, the possibility of a leak was just too worrisome in my current situation.
After some fairly exhaustive and confusing research, I've decided to go with House & Garden's Cocos line of nutrients and supplements. I liked the fact that they had a calculator and feeding schedule on their website, and I have local access to their coco-specific nutes, unlike a bunch of other brands that only stock either their soil or hydro ones in my local stores. They also seem to be highly regarded and rated, generally speaking.

Alright, here's where I get confused - The questions :

As I mentioned, they have feeding schedules and a calculator on their website :
>> Nutrient Calculator
https://www.house-garden.us/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/8-week-feed-chart.jpg

If you use the calculator, it lists your "weekly directions" (mix a then b into the water etc) and gives you a "total run" thing on the right which, unsurprisingly, lists totals required for the entire grow. Hell yeah, planning ahead!
But, I can't help feeling this was designed for a drip / continuous feed system or some sort of recirculating system, where you just mix up a batch, leave it in the reservoir, then let it do its thing and mix a new batch next week. I, however, am going to be hand-feeding these with a watering can / pitcher.

So after all that, here's me finally asking the big question : how do I hand-feed the plants? Am I supposed to give them all the nutrients in 1 sitting once a week then just keep the coco moist with pHed water for the rest of the week? Do I give them nutrient solution every single time I "rehydrate"? (not using the term "Water" on purpose to avoid confusion) Sort of "spread it out throughout the week" kind of thing?

I guess the next question I should ask is do the numbers / concentrations on the feeding instructions from their site look correct? I've read most nutrient companies tend to have you overfeeding, by a lot in some cases, so I'd love some input on this.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[iwltfum]

I would start by ignoring all "total run" figures. That's just going to confuse and disappoint you.

But to answer your question- You can really do it either way. I think alot of people would find it easier to feed once a week instead of every watering, but I think you'll find a general consensus that the more you spread the weeks nutrients into the weeks waterings, the beter results you'll get. When I was running hydro in drain-to-waste coco, I would keep a big trash can in the room with pre-made nutrient solution (aerated with an air pump and stone). It held enough for a week or so. So I was going after the best of both worlds scenario there. And it seemed to work out well.

Of course you'll have to consider and play around with the dilution rates. If you're feeding once a week, then you'll need a slightly stronger solution then if you're feeding every watering.

Another thing to consider would be the fact that anytime you transplant or plant a seed into coco, it takes a while for it to need watering consistently. You might water a young plant 3 times in the first 3 or 4 weeks of it's life - depending on the pot, humidity, air flow, ect. Generally, with straight coco, you want the plants roots to fill the pot out before you start vigours multi-daily, daily, or every-other-day waterings.

Alot of moving parts, but you'll figure it out. You have a good start and you're asking good questions.

Cheers
Tfum

 

[Cultivator]

Welcome.

Please read through some of my journals. They all have detailed info on coco growing.

In coco you need to feed nutrient daily for best results but only enough liquid so that the pot is almost dry 24 hours later if doing 1 feed per day manually.

Nutrient schedules are a guide only and you will have to adjust it depending on the size of the plants, strain, environment and the quality of the water.

Always work your feeds out by EC(PPM), that way you know exactly the strength of feeds you are putting into the coco. Coco is a great medium for growing and is forgiving as long as you feed small and often.

Here is a Coco Feeding Schedule that works well. If you cant get any of the items just substitute for similar product from a different company but follow the EC values and you will be fine. Then when you are comfortable growing you can play around with it.

Cultivator's NinthPlanet LED 4400W


If you are struggling to understand the list just be sure you have a quality root stimulator, a quality base nutrient and a quality flower boost.