Quick question on growing in coco

[Makeminefullgrown]

Hello all, I am growing in Fox Farms 70/30 buffered coco. It is buffered to 6.3-6.8ph.
Does that mean I should ph my inputs to those levels??
I’m kinda going off the beaten path and have amended the coco w/ various organics and follow up with top dressings and some teas for the microbial activity.
I probably should have really got a positive answer to this question before I started my grow……but I didn’t and my plants are into their 9th week of 12/12…..
I was given different advice by several others . One side would say that I should ph down to the typical coco levels of 5.7-6.0…….while the other side said I needed to be higher in the 6.2-6.8 range.
I didn’t know what to do so I ph’ed everything to 6.0-6.2 and the plants have done well by my standards.
I guess I don’t understand what “buffered to 6.3-6.8” actually means.
I think my plants have done well, but if I should be higher or lower on my inputs, I wanna know.
Thanks for the help.

 

[JoetheChro]

Stay where you are, just adjust ph levels in feed to the middle of that buffer number and keep it there.

You can test the run off PH of your grow by collecting excess water in pots/trays after watering. Any major changes after going through your medium will show up

 

[Skunksta]

Its like buffered soil unless you have a real strange/mad high pH at your source.
The soil/coco should buffer your feed to those levels when watered.
In straight coco i would advise what you have been told 5.8 to 6.2
But as your in fox farms and its pre buffered i would just keep it at the
recommended levels if its not broken dont try and fix it etc
Hope that helps some.

 

[JoetheChro]

I understand Fox Farms big in the US, in Europe one of ours is Canna from Spain. Their suggestion of what to fix PH at is governed by their own lab tests using their soil and feed. Any variation off of that can really throw levels and affect a grow. There is an old thread from years ago of someone taking Canna to task over it

To the OP, learn how to judge acidity levels of run off water instead of going on the old 5.8-6.2 adage, it’s no good going 5.8-6.2 if there’s a problem with PH level of medium

 

[Skunksta]

This is coco its very hard to change the pH of coco as a medium in my years using it.
Soon as its dry its back to its starting pH with no nutes.
DONT ever use how you grow in soil.
And use that method in coco , its hydro (kinda) treat it so.
Unless your coco comes pre buffered or pre loaded with nutes (rare)
And asks for different. You would ALWAYS try to be around 5.8pH
Run of in coco is no real help watch your ladies and follow the mediums/nutes recomended levels.
Calmag is also something i would look into if your not already feeding your ladies it.
Its Not needed as much in soil but as your in coco its a must.

 

[JoetheChro]

This is coco its very hard to change the pH of coco as a medium in my years using it.
Soon as its dry its back to its starting pH with no nutes.
DONT ever use how you grow in soil.
And use that method in coco , its hydro (kinda) treat it so.
Unless your coco comes pre buffered or pre loaded with nutes (rare)
And asks for different. You would ALWAYS try to be around 5.8pH
Run of in coco is no real help watch your ladies and follow the mediums/nutes recomended levels.
Calmag is also something i would look into if your not already feeding your ladies it.
Its Not needed as much in soil but as your in coco its a must.

You say true mate, I’ve wasted my time over the years just had a look used to check the EC too

 

[Makeminefullgrown]

This is coco its very hard to change the pH of coco as a medium in my years using it.
Soon as its dry its back to its starting pH with no nutes.
DONT ever use how you grow in soil.
And use that method in coco , its hydro (kinda) treat it so.
Unless your coco comes pre buffered or pre loaded with nutes (rare)
And asks for different. You would ALWAYS try to be around 5.8pH
Run of in coco is no real help watch your ladies and follow the mediums/nutes recomended levels.
Calmag is also something i would look into if your not already feeding your ladies it.
Its Not needed as much in soil but as your in coco its a must.

I’m still kinda confused….since I chose to go the organic route and amend the coco, I’m dependent on microbial action. One fella was saying that my ph needed to be in that typical soil window (6.2-6.8) to benefit the microbes….beats me.
I’ve kept things very close to 6.0, occasionally going up to 6.2 or down to 5.9.
I have watered it much different from a traditional coco grow….meaning I water every third day. If I’m limited with time, I’ll still try to water very slow and saturate the entire pot. If I have time I go beyond slow and mist spray the top before I pour anything. I’ll mist about 32oz for each 5 gal pot. Not only does this take forever but my old hands start to cramp after squeezing the spray nozzle 1000 times.
I try to get 1.5 gal on each w/ no runoff.
When I do get runoff and it’s more than a few drops, I ph it and it’s always always 7.4…no more , no less. So what does that tell you???
Keep in mind, the coco is chocked full of dry organics and i don’t want to leach it all out. But I’m wondering why the runoff ph is so high??
The plants, which are 3 different strains, have not presented any major problems over the entire grow and with only 2-3 weeks before harvest, I hope they can sail across the finish line.
The pics are from yesterday, which was day 58 of 12/12 light. My light is an HLG 320 LED in a 2’x6’ space. The buds are not the largest I’ve seen but the density is high, even with the bottom buds that don’t get as much light.
The only issue that makes me wonder about my ph are some twisted corkscrew sugar leaves……all 3 plants are showing a few, but nothing else popping up that is cause for concern. But I’m sure they could be better…..which is why I’m pondering what the ideal ph should be.
Given all this info, would you start raising the Ph up into the 6.4-6.5 range??

 

[Makeminefullgrown]

Stay where you are, just adjust ph levels in feed to the middle of that buffer number and keep it there.

You can test the run off PH of your grow by collecting excess water in pots/trays after watering. Any major changes after going through your medium will show up

Thanks for jumping in. I try to water slowly and get as much into the medium as possible without having any runoff.
But occasionally I will overdo it and get some. What confuses me is the input is generally 6.0-6.1 but the runoff is always 7.4 or very close to it.
Why would it be so high??

 

[JoetheChro]

Thanks for jumping in. I try to water slowly and get as much into the medium as possible without having any runoff.
But occasionally I will overdo it and get some. What confuses me is the input is generally 6.0-6.1 but the runoff is always 7.4 or very close to it.
Why would it be so high??

Well. I’m glad you’ve said (sorry for your grow though) this as I’ve had it before. Think I ended up second guessing myself with previous comment. I used to check EC and PH of everything I ran. I started in DWC so know about hydroponics and good water care. Understand it’s not a prerequisite for coco but checking the EC and amount of PPM could help

Depends on what is in the buffering or substrate mix and what foods you are using and in coco it is going to give fairly high readings due to something sciencey Checking the EC of run off will give you a better indication of how much of the nutrients are getting through

 

[JoetheChro]

As you said they look good so I wouldn’t worry too much

 

[Tokin Roll]

During the vegetative phase of weed plants your goal is to keep your nutrient solution at a pH of 5.8 to 6.0. This is the best pH for proper nitrogen absorption by marijuana plants in vegetation. Varying the pH occasionally in veg from 5.6 to 6.2 helps other nutrients that are best absorbed at slightly higher or lower pH levels.

You want to go a bit higher with your coco pH range during flowering to allow for better absorption of phosphorus and potassium. I like to aim for 6.0 to 6.2, with a range of 5.8 to 6.3.

Watering to runoff​

You should always water your coco coir to runoff. Aim for 10-20% to drain out the bottom of your container.

This ensures the roots get fully saturated and the runoff removes excess nutrient salts that could lead to nutrient burn if you’re over-fertilizing.

Never let your containers sit in this runoff. Use a plastic plant stand to elevate the plant containers. Use a round plant tray underneath each plant to get above the runoff to avoid issues.

A shop Vac of 5 gallon buckets and is perfect for sucking up runoff. It holds a lot more than other cheap small bucket vacs.

Hope this helps.

Stay safe, and Grow well my friend,
Tok..