Novice grower - Starting out with coco and need help

mulga bill

Active Member
G,day all. I recently purchased a brick of coco,i soaked it in ph 6.0 water 3 times added some dolomite lime, potted it up let it sit for a couple of weeks. next i started some seeds in jiffy pots and planted into pots when ready. Plants have been going well for the past 2 weeks. There does not seem to be any problems with them, they look a little light in color so added a little fertilizer to their water this morning ph,d to 6.0.This is the first full watering of the pots for a 10% runoff.I was surprised to see the runoff water a dark brown,when i tested it the ph was 7.5. Where have i gone wrong and how do i fix it? I believe this is the tannin still coming out of the coco.? Will this cause any further problems ? Should i flush the pots until the runoff becomes clear ? Any advice would be most welcome.
 
Hi,Budking, Boy that was quick. I hardly had time to make a coffee.Will follow your instructions, I dont particularly want to flush just now if not really needed,but i will from veg to bloom .Thankyou very much for your time and expertise. I am very exited to be growing again and am relieved there is no real problem. Thanks again Budking.
 
You don't need to add dolomite lime to coco. That's possibly why your runoff is at 7.5. I'd flush with 1/4 strength nutes to try to leach the lime out. I'm not sure if the lime will cause any problems later on as I think it adds calcium to your medium. You may have a magnesium issue later on. Peace!!
 
Hi,Shaggn.Adding the lime to the Coco before starting the grow came from another Grow site,they claim that adding lime to Coco prior to growing is virtually essential ! Yes,it does add calcium which,as i understand,aids the uptake of the various minerals etc in the fertilizer? also that lime lowers the ph not raise it ? When you say flush with 1/4 strength nutes,do you mean i should flush the pot 2-3 times or just the once ? I will indeed look out for any issues with magnesium. Thankyou for your time and help Shaggn.
 
Hi,Shaggn.Adding the lime to the Coco before starting the grow came from another Grow site,they claim that adding lime to Coco prior to growing is virtually essential ! Yes,it does add calcium which,as i understand,aids the uptake of the various minerals etc in the fertilizer? also that lime lowers the ph not raise it ? When you say flush with 1/4 strength nutes,do you mean i should flush the pot 2-3 times or just the once ? I will indeed look out for any issues with magnesium. Thankyou for your time and help Shaggn.
The lime will raise the coco ph as its very alkaline. Shaggn probably meant flush several times in an attempt to leach the lime out of the soil. Alot of folks here grow in pure coco and treat it like hydro. Maybe search for Cultivators coco thread and ask him if the lime will continue to be a problem.
How to grow in Coco - Feed schedule
 
Hi, Dr Fish, Of course you are correct, very early in the morning. Bunkbudz, thanks for your suggestion, i will have a look at Cultivators Coco thread. Re, flushing understood. Thankyou both for your input.
 
Since they are small, you can pull them out of the pots and wash the coco/lime off and replant them with strait coco. Coco captures calcium and doesnt give it up easily, that is probably why it was suggested to use lime to pre treat the coco with extra calcium. I personaly run strain coco only and give it a 10 mg of cal-mag per gallon at each feeding. Some say to use perlite but that just screws up the water/air ratio in the coco. Just run it strait.
 
G,day Budking. The Coco i am using in this particular grow has about 10% perlite added,+ the lime.The roots are already quite extensiveand i am a little reluctant to remove plants completely from the pot as suggested. I decided to flush the pots after all and wait a couple of days,re-test the runoff and see what the result is.As far as the perlite goes, from here on in i will be using straight Coco also.You say to mix 10mg per gal of cal/mag ? miligrams or mililitres ? Over the past couple of months i have been looking at many grow sites.There is so much conflicting information.I will persevere with this grow,try to remedy any mistakes i have made and see what happens. I am sure ,with the help you blokes are giving me i will triumph in the end.Another question.With your experience,is it ok to foliar feed marijuana ?I have an Auto (white Widow) growing in straight Coco,in quite a large pot.The pot still has plenty of moisture in it yet,i am reluctant to water it to soon,for fear of any over-watering problems that might occur.The plant clearly needs the fertilizer increased a little,some of the fan leaves are starting to get a bit pale green,while the leaves on the branches are still a good green color (darker green ). Would it be ok to foliar feed this plant ?If so, do you know how i should go about it ?
 
Dang, sorry, 10 milliliter, 10mL per gallon. If your leaves are fading and getting pale they probably need more food. With coco it is very hard to over water. I have my veg set up on a flood and drain, coco in fabric smart pots. My pump floods every day for 15 minutes and I have no issues. Even when coco is fully saturated it holds air. You will learn something new, adapt, change methods, that is part of this hobby. what works for you may not work for me. Learn from everyone, don't take things as gospel, some are good, knowledgable growers, some are full of shit...lol. Stick with it and you will do good. Check me out on youtube, putting together a new room.

Bud Kings new room! - YouTube
 
G,Day Budking. Yeah i thought it would be ml per gal.I ended up upping the nutes a little and what a difference a couple of days make with these autos !She seems to have settled a bit now (unlike me ) and is going crazy. I will have to learn how to post photos. In the last 3 days she has grown 13cm,i kid you not .She is at day 30 and is now 50cm tall ! Yes i am adapting very rapidly and with a little help and support from you and others i hope to get to a good harvest.Yes i have also found a lot of contradictory information, so i decided to stick to the 420 site only,stay focust and use the kiss method. Yes mate i will have a look at your new room,i spent the last couple of days re-doing mine a few things were just not working for me but, all is good now. Thanks again Budking, will catch you soon and give you an up-date on my progress.
 
Dang, sorry, 10 milliliter, 10mL per gallon. If your leaves are fading and getting pale they probably need more food. With coco it is very hard to over water. I have my veg set up on a flood and drain, coco in fabric smart pots. My pump floods every day for 15 minutes and I have no issues. Even when coco is fully saturated it holds air. You will learn something new, adapt, change methods, that is part of this hobby. what works for you may not work for me. Learn from everyone, don't take things as gospel, some are good, knowledgable growers, some are full of shit...lol. Stick with it and you will do good. Check me out on youtube, putting together a new room.

Bud Kings new room! - YouTube


10 ml per gal seems like a lot no? I think my botanicare CalMag seeks 3-5 ml per gal.... you're saying you put double that, or maybe your CalMag calls for that amount? maybe it's less concentrated? Maybe I'm feeding too little!
 
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