Not having much luck with coco

[TheFertilizer]

Got another sprout so far. I am wanting to make sure they are good and established before putting them in the coco so if I over/under water (which I probably will) I won't outright kill them. Wasn't sure how long they are good for in the dome though. Main thing I want to preserve now is the tap root. I am worried once it meets the flat plastic of my tray (no holes in mine like the one showed) that it will prune itself off and start growing side-branching roots. I really wanted the tap root to drive straight down into my hempy pot's reservoir, so I think I will do as Mick Foster recommended and plant them as soon as I see a tap root out of the bottom.

Thanks for all the tips so far everyone. Little bit of a learning curve from sewing into soil, but not super different.

 

[Aroxol]

That tray in my pic is a grodan gro-smart tray. You can find them for between $3-10 and they’re absolutely killer. It locks the roots in and forces them to develop similar to how they would in a pot. Or you can load up water right to the base of the orange tray and roots will grow into the water to prep DWC. I love them and you’ll def get much better Root structure than just setting them on a flat surface.

 

[jacksonbrown]

The top is coco, the bottom reservoir is perlite.

That is the problem.... you need to actually mix it up about 70/30 Coco/Perlite not just have two separate layers.

 

[TheFertilizer]

That is the problem.... you need to actually mix it up about 70/30 Coco/Perlite not just have two separate layers.

They're hempy pots, the bottom is supposed to be pure perlite and forms a resevoir.

But as far as the top layer, think adding perlite would be better? I still have time to repot them I guess. I read a lot of people saying the root development with pure coco was better than with perlite and coco mixed.

 

[jacksonbrown]

They're hempy pots, the bottom is supposed to be pure perlite and forms a resevoir.

But as far as the top layer, think adding perlite would be better? I still have time to repot them I guess. I read a lot of people saying the root development with pure coco was better than with perlite and coco mixed.

From what I know, the bottom layer is filled with pure perlite up to the point of covering the drain hole, then you add a the next layer of Coco/perlite mix on top of that. You still need to get oxygen to the roots which is more difficult with straight coco.

 

[Lowrider72]

I agree Ferts, I went from Coco after years to 70/30 mix for just this reason.
Only prob I have had is seeing first roots in clone cups.....theres white perlite everywhere...hahaha.

 

[Stunned]

You still need to get oxygen to the roots which is more difficult with straight coco.

Excuse me?
There is zero problems with oxygen getting to the roots in straight coco if you water/feed daily

 

[MickFoster]

A hempy bucket is a bucket with a hole 2" from the bottom filled with either 100% perlite or a perlite/vermiculite mix, not coco. Perlite isn't absorbent - it does have a pitted surface that holds some water but it doesn't absorb and hold moisture like coco - thus the reason for the 2" reservoir. I never understood using perlite underneath the coco thing - the coco holds enough moisture by itself, it doesn't require a reservoir.

 

[TheFertilizer]

A hempy bucket is a bucket with a hole 2" from the bottom filled with either 100% perlite or a perlite/vermiculite mix, not coco. Perlite isn't absorbent - it does have a pitted surface that holds some water but it doesn't absorb and hold moisture like coco - thus the reason for the 2" reservoir. I never understood using perlite underneath the coco thing - the coco holds enough moisture by itself, it doesn't require a reservoir.

I dunno man, I read from hempy himself he started using straight coco on top and perlite at the bottom. The point is it's supposed to replicate there being a water-table, or at least that's what hempy claims. To me it seems more like having a DWC on the bottom of a drain-to-waste setup. In any case, hempy seemed pretty insistent that you needed perlite for the reservoir, and coco was cheaper than perlite, so I got both.

 

[Lowrider72]

Excuse me?
There is zero problems with oxygen getting to the roots in straight coco if you water/feed daily

Sorry mate but that is not correct.
Coco has a tendency to become saturated, it saturates before you get your run off. This pushed air out.
Unless your timer watering , in which case its controlled dose and not flushing properly.

I promise you if you let your pots dry a little, and breathe better, your growth will explode. I learnt the hard way.
70/30 coco always out performs straight coco for this reason, creates air pockets in the coco. Is also why they make coco chips now...
If your watering coco daily, your wasting nutes. Im in 9L pots but done up to 50L and all the same, roughly every 3-4 days...dependant on growth stage.

Also perlite reduces BOG, anyone who has grown in coco long enough has made this mistake...potted up too soon to a larger pot, plants not quite ready, bogs down in too much moisture.
Everyone has done it, but it slows growth of roots, where you cant see it...slowing uptake.

Sorry to get a bit off topic....

Carry on good Sir....

 

[PE636]

Sorry mate but that is not correct.
Coco has a tendency to become saturated, it saturates before you get your run off. This pushed air out.
Unless your timer watering , in which case its controlled dose and not flushing properly.

I promise you if you let your pots dry a little, and breathe better, your growth will explode. I learnt the hard way.
70/30 coco always out performs straight coco for this reason, creates air pockets in the coco. Is also why they make coco chips now...
If your watering coco daily, your wasting nutes. Im in 9L pots but done up to 50L and all the same, roughly every 3-4 days...dependant on growth stage.

Also perlite reduces BOG, anyone who has grown in coco long enough has made this mistake...potted up too soon to a larger pot, plants not quite ready, bogs down in too much moisture.
Everyone has done it, but it slows growth of roots, where you cant see it...slowing uptake.

Sorry to get a bit off topic....

Carry on good Sir....

Just curious about your experience with coco....I water daily in veg and twice in flower. Have done so with and without perlite, never any bogging or problems like you mentioned. I've tried letting it dry a bit in the past and seem to get burnt tips and slower growth. I didn't get a chance to look through all your stuff but noticed plastic containers? Have you tried fabric pots at all? Just wondering if you find the same deal with them?

Sorry mate but that is not correct.
Coco has a tendency to become saturated, it saturates before you get your run off. This pushed air out.
Unless your timer watering , in which case its controlled dose and not flushing properly.

I promise you if you let your pots dry a little, and breathe better, your growth will explode. I learnt the hard way.
70/30 coco always out performs straight coco for this reason, creates air pockets in the coco. Is also why they make coco chips now...
If your watering coco daily, your wasting nutes. Im in 9L pots but done up to 50L and all the same, roughly every 3-4 days...dependant on growth stage.

Also perlite reduces BOG, anyone who has grown in coco long enough has made this mistake...potted up too soon to a larger pot, plants not quite ready, bogs down in too much moisture.
Everyone has done it, but it slows growth of roots, where you cant see it...slowing uptake.

Sorry to get a bit off topic....

Carry on good Sir....

 

[MickFoster]

I read from hempy himself he started using straight coco on top and perlite at the bottom. The point is it's supposed to replicate there being a water-table, or at least that's what hempy claims.

Can you provide the link where hempy states this please?

 

[Lowrider72]

Just curious about your experience with coco....I water daily in veg and twice in flower. Have done so with and without perlite, never any bogging or problems like you mentioned. I've tried letting it dry a bit in the past and seem to get burnt tips and slower growth. I didn't get a chance to look through all your stuff but noticed plastic containers? Have you tried fabric pots at all? Just wondering if you find the same deal with them?

10 years in coco mate.
Fabric pots....pfffttt.... Try wave form aerated pots to stop root binding and improve aeration.
I put those 9L plastic bucket pkants up against alot of fancy potted plants of the same age any day.
There is a possibility you drive your plants too hard hence the burn.
I have had plants sooo dry they wilted and still came back after a water without a touch of burn.... So I dont know what your doing....

on with the show....

 

[PE636]

10 years in coco mate.
Fabric pots....pfffttt.... Try wave form aerated pots to stop root binding and improve aeration.
I put those 9L plastic bucket pkants up against alot of fancy potted plants of the same age any day.
There is a possibility you drive your plants too hard hence the burn.
I have had plants sooo dry they wilted and still came back after a water without a touch of burn.... So I dont know what your doing....

on with the show....

No worries I wasn't looking advice lol Ya forgot to answer my question though!

 

[TheFertilizer]

Can you provide the link where hempy states this please?

Nah sorry, was a long night Googling so I can't find it. It was a pretty dated post buried on one of the other forums.

 

[Stunned]

I can understand including some perlite in the mix to help with aeration
But, I'v never heard anyone say it was good to let it dry out
My understanding with growing in coco was to keep it wet at all times
If you were going to water/feed every 3 or 4 days, why not stick to soil?
The whole point of growing in coco, I thought was to recharge the media with fresh nutes daily
The new dose of liquid is of course fully oxygenated so the roots are always happy.

Any coco media I have used never really needed anything to help it provide oxygen
The stuff is so fluffy and or course, it provides plenty of air pockets
Saturation of coco is nothing like saturation of other media types that I have seen
It literally pours right through it, but holds enough for the roots to take in for a day

Maybe I'll try adding perlite with my next grow just to see
But I doubt that I would change a fundamental like daily feeding

 

[Lowrider72]

I can answer your questions but this is Fertilisers thread, so I will leave it up to him if he wants it.
LR72

 

[Aroxol]

I’ll jump in for a sec to help mediate. You can have strong wet/ dry cycles with coco, or you can choose not to - both work equally well. It can be beneficial to do dry cycles before a transplant to make roots go a bit ham, for example this is my buddy’s typical roots in coco with wet/ dry.

With weed there’s 50 ways to leave your lover, or if preferred omore than one way to skin a cat. Straight coco works, straight perlite works, mixing them works, wet/ dry works, etc.. Mix it up, don’t get too comfy with one method, makes it boring, part of the fun is trying new stuff.

 

[Lowrider72]

Thats some nice root porn...