The Captain's guide to Bunnings coco growing

[Mad Flavour]

Ok,as for your girls
In my opinion I think they are not happy Jan.
Is your PH spot on
Do U check runoff if so is it in range
Overwatered ?
Root Issues ?
Nute Burn ?
Wow 8 weeks
My suggestion is post it
And you will get your answers from real pros not little old me,420 is packed full of advice bro
Hope it all works out for you
Cheers bro

Thanks heaps for the reply brother. Hope your coco grow going a little better.
Yeah super slow growth here, I was trying coco mainly for how much faster / bigger yield it could get so I'm a little confused.
I'm keeping ph at 5.5 to 6
I'm not checking runoff - I only just ordered a PPM meter but have a ph meter, so next feed (maybe tomorrow) I'll check that runoff and report. Am I just checking ph?
Maybe it is overwatering, and nute burn.. I'm trying to follow the original advice of

Commence nutrient watering about 4 or 5 days after the seedlings pop their heads up, 5 ml of Nitrosol to 4 litres of water every couple of days.
After around 2 weeks I increase this to 10 Ml to 4 litres of water and gradually increase to 20 ml up to when I flip.

Temps and RH seem good, got a humidifier in there to keep it up around 65RH
Yeah I might start a new thread here and on reddit. thanks again for your post mate

 

[Ossi Ossi]

Those numbers on the nutes seem to be a bit high imo.
Back right off the nutes I reckon and start the process again maybe.
Here's my babies
Day 22 of flower
Good luck bro,it always works out in the end of you get to the problem promptly

 

[Ossi Ossi]

Ho

Thanks heaps for the reply brother. Hope your coco grow going a little better.
Yeah super slow growth here, I was trying coco mainly for how much faster / bigger yield it could get so I'm a little confused.
I'm keeping ph at 5.5 to 6
I'm not checking runoff - I only just ordered a PPM meter but have a ph meter, so next feed (maybe tomorrow) I'll check that runoff and report. Am I just checking ph?
Maybe it is overwatering, and nute burn.. I'm trying to follow the original advice of

Temps and RH seem good, got a humidifier in there to keep it up around 65RH
Yeah I might start a new thread here and on reddit. thanks again for your post mate

Thanks heaps for the reply brother. Hope your coco grow going a little better.
Yeah super slow growth here, I was trying coco mainly for how much faster / bigger yield it could get so I'm a little confused.
I'm keeping ph at 5.5 to 6
I'm not checking runoff - I only just ordered a PPM meter but have a ph meter, so next feed (maybe tomorrow) I'll check that runoff and report. Am I just checking ph?
Maybe it is overwatering, and nute burn.. I'm trying to follow the original advice of

Temps and RH seem good, got a humidifier in there to keep it up around 65RH
Yeah I might start a new thread here and on reddit. thanks again for your post mate

How's things going for you bro

 

[Mad Flavour]

Heaps better man. Raised lights, and got an EC meter to be more careful with nute amounts and ph. I don't think I was feeding correctly, I wasn't watering until I had run off, now I am and checking the run off ph and EC and all good numbers.
They really growing fast now and responding well to some ghetto LST
I transferred the biggest plant to a 7 gallon fabric pot, and was surprised at the amount of roots so I'm going to get them all in bigger pots ASAP
All still going by the original instructions

n

 

[Hairy Maclary]

Sorry Mad flavour, missed your post. Heres the stuff u want.

Hey everyone.

First off big thanks to the Captain for starting this thread, and special mention to Ossi for adding as well. I think that it’s amazing what you are doing for the people providing information about the process of growing, and insight into your own experiences going through the process. You both have every reason to sit back and not give a crap what anyone else does (as you seem to have the process down pact), instead you do the exact opposite and go out of your way to help others. Really commendable, and it really sums up my belief in the fact this beautiful plant brings out good and the best in people. Big props to you both...

Now that I’ve buttered everyone up, I do have a quick two part question (I’ll just make a quick note too this is my first grow of any kind. I’m not planning on growing much, maybe one or two plants at a time). The first is I’ve added a pic below of a Coir brick I was contemplating purchasing, is this an equivalent to the one you’ve put a pic of before in this thread captain? Or am I way off the mark? I’ve been advised by other sources to use a 60/40 combo of that and perlite.

The other part to this question I have is if I am way off and better off getting the one you’ve shown previously, is it the kind of thing I can use what I need too (for one to two plants) and store the rest off it somewhere to use at a later date? Or does it have an expiry date of some sort? And if it can be kept what is the best way to store?

Eternally grateful once again for everything you guys have done. If there is anyone reading from the Melbourne area that isn’t intimated to reach out to provide some assistance to me, would really really appreciate it. I have time, dedication and money to put towards the best grow I can, just not as much knowledge I believe I need/would like.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Trustyrusty]

So my Bubblegum feminized seeds finally arrived a few weeks ago (had to be re-sent) and this is seedlings after a couple of weeks. They are planted in the Coco Peat shown and I’m wondering: can I grow these up to transplant-into-bigger-pot stage (about one month away I suppose) without supplementary feeding?

Plan is to transplant into potting mix and then supplement feed through to end.

Growing outdoors. Watering with rain water. The upturned holders are to support the seedlings, one was lying down. They work better upside down - lost two seeds planted in them due to overwatering

Any advice much appreciated. Thanks

 

[Mad Flavour]

I managed a soil grow off this thread, turned out amazing for my 1st grow. I'm flowering my 2nd grow which I tried Coco and it's looking even better. But now I'm on 3rd round and it's a real struggle, so I thought I'd post back in this OG thread that got me started! Help?

• This is my 3rd grow - previous grows had a few hiccups during early stages but not this problematic this early on. I have the 2nd grow in a flower tent, this is veg tent that birthed the other 2 grows
• Seeds were planted start November, clones taken start of December
• The smallest 4th pot is the only clone that showed roots, don't think any more clones will make it
• 100 x 200 x 200 cm tent, small extraction fan, also an internal oscillating fan. Temp is steady about 28 degrees Celsius (Aus). Air circulation seems good, and I keep a bluetooth temp and RH meter in there and can't see any wild swings
• 100W LED Quantum board, thought it may not be enough so in the last 3 days have also turned on a 400W MH (not really improving situation - maybe burning tips more) lights are fair way away from these plants (I've experimented with the LED closer, dimmed, not with much change)
• Medium is coco, with perlite and vermiculite
• Feed is light amount of Amgrow Nitrosol (about 5ml to 4l of water). Using tank water, ph is between 5.6 and 6. Every few days I try and do a water only flush to make sure no buildups. I add a touch of calmag every few feeds
• I have a humidifier in the tent keeping it up at 70% RH
• Next thing I think to try is specialist coco nutes, I have been recommended "Hy-Gen" on another subreddit and have found an online seller..

Thanks for any tips, or better suggestions on nutes to try! Hope I can save these young girls to keep the perpetual harvest cycle on track!
Where are you Captain? You set us sailing on a great course but we're hitting some rough seas here!

 

[Trustyrusty]

What’s different from your first two grows?

 

[rynostein]

First, my setup. I use lights and fabric pots I sourced of Ebay. I have 2 grow chambers .6 x .8 metres side by side with a shared ventilation system. 8 inch exhaust fan sourced from Ebay.
Do not buy a cheap fan with a metal casing, they run too hot and may overheat your grow space.
Lights are 1 LED 240 watt quantum board colour temp 3600 for veg. 1 CMH 315 Watt 3000 colour temp for flowering. Having now been convinced of the efficacy of the LED quantum boards I will be replacing the CMH with another LED Quantum very soon, more than likely with a 480 watt. These Quantums are terrific, they can be dialled up or down with the dimmer, run very quiet and little heat.
Now, fabric pots. I learnt about these from this forum which I am grateful for, I also grow vegetables and fruit trees and fabric pots just beat everything no matter what you are growing. Use them.

What you need from Bunnings.
1. Coco, do not buy the added fertiliser variety, careful, they look very similar and you will need to read the labels carefully.
2. PH testing kit, PH up or down (depending on your PH tap water). My own tap water is very alkiline so I only need PH down.
3. eco flo dolomite- (cal Mag supplement)
4. Nitrosol.(for veg)
5. Power feed (for flower, red or pink bottle, both have similar nute profiles)
6. Small piece of shadecloth.
Important for coco, always, always ,PH balance your water, you want it around the 6 range.
Now, wash your coco throroughly through the shadecloth, rinse water through it till it runs clear, may take a while. Very important to do this as coco has a naturally high salt content. You are also getting rid of the fine particles in the coco which are detrimental.
Take a teaspoon of your cal mag supplement, mix it with Ph balanced water and soak the coco with it in a bucket for 24 hours. This will buffer the coco and avoid cal mag deficency through your grow.
You will need to have your plants sitting on something which can drain through, I have mine sitting on a metal grille I bought from Bunnings and they drain through to buckets underneath.
Whichever way you have germinated your seedlings ( I use the paper towel method) then plant tail down in the coco a couple of mm below the surface.
At this stage I just use a spray bottle with PH balanced water to keep the top of the coco moist.
Your seedling should pop its head up within a couple of days and show you their first set of leaves. Do not fertilise at this stage, furthermore do not over water, coco will retain water for an extensive time. What we want here is for the plant within the first few weeks to make a good root system, while many people say you cant over water coco from my experience that applies to mature plants not seedlings. Over watering early seedlings in coco will stunt them, every couple of days with water only is generally enough for seedlings, gradually increase the watering frquency as the plant gets older working your way up to 3 or 4 times a day when
flowering, always water till it drains through.
Commence nutrient watering about 4 or 5 days after the seedlings pop their heads up, 5 ml of Nitrosol to 4 litres of water every couple of days.
After around 2 weeks I increase this to 10 Ml to 4 litres of water and gradually increase to 20 ml up to when I flip.
After I flip them I add powerfeed but subtract Nitrosol, so I will start the flowering with 15 ml of Nitrosol to 5 Ml of powerfeed in 4 litres ph balanced water.
Over the next few weeks I gradually decrease the nitrosol and increase the powerfeed till near the end of the flowering I am only using a Powerfeed nute mix.
Your plant will probably love it at this time if you bump up the mix to 25 or 30 ml to 4 litres.
So the basics of this regime are that the plant wants lots of nitrogen for vegging and lots of phosphorous and potassium for flowering but is quite sensitive to to over fertilising.
.Just like most vegetables like tomatoes. if I wanted to grow great tomatoes I would and have followed the same plan. All this is from experience. The other thing is, look at your plants as much as you can and observe, you will get a feel of when they are suffering and will know what not to do.
Nitrosol and Powerfeed are also made from natural ingredients like organic blood and bone, fish meal, seaweed etc. You cant beat this trace element profile with any artifically created hydro nutes. The secret is in learning how to use these natural fertilisers as hydro nutes. And I can tell you they work just fine indoors and outdoors. I grew outdoors in soil (not pots, in the ground) for years using these same nutrients.
Hope all this makes sense. Feel free to message me about this.

Hi Capt, first time grower here and I’m so glad I came across your thread. One question, I’m keen to set up a drain to waste system and I was wondering if the nitrosol and powerfeed will be ok use in the reservoir? Im worried that being somewhat organic nutes they will go off quicker than say Taylor made hydroponic nutes...
Any help would be appreciated
Cheers

 

[Lowkeybrokie]

Thank you Captain goodvibes and everyone else involved you guys are a wealth of knowledge and its certainly been a while since any of the original posters or commenters have been here it would be good to hear from you guys and any updates on your adventures/misadventures!

 

[Bill284]

Thank you Captain goodvibes and everyone else involved you guys are a wealth of knowledge and its certainly been a while since any of the original posters or commenters have been here it would be good to hear from you guys and any updates on your adventures/misadventures!

@Ossi Ossi is still around.
Other great Australians aswell.
Try a current thread, search @Trala you will thank me.
Welcome to 420magazine @Lowkeybrokie , great name.
Here is a thread that will help you meet everyone.

Introduce Yourself

Your opportunity to tell the 420 community a little about yourself and your interest in cannabis with a brief introduction

www.420magazine.com

Stay safe
Bill

 

[burgurs]

First, my setup. I use lights and fabric pots I sourced of Ebay. I have 2 grow chambers .6 x .8 metres side by side with a shared ventilation system. 8 inch exhaust fan sourced from Ebay.
Do not buy a cheap fan with a metal casing, they run too hot and may overheat your grow space.
Lights are 1 LED 240 watt quantum board colour temp 3600 for veg. 1 CMH 315 Watt 3000 colour temp for flowering. Having now been convinced of the efficacy of the LED quantum boards I will be replacing the CMH with another LED Quantum very soon, more than likely with a 480 watt. These Quantums are terrific, they can be dialled up or down with the dimmer, run very quiet and little heat.
Now, fabric pots. I learnt about these from this forum which I am grateful for, I also grow vegetables and fruit trees and fabric pots just beat everything no matter what you are growing. Use them.

What you need from Bunnings.
1. Coco, do not buy the added fertiliser variety, careful, they look very similar and you will need to read the labels carefully.
2. PH testing kit, PH up or down (depending on your PH tap water). My own tap water is very alkiline so I only need PH down.
3. eco flo dolomite- (cal Mag supplement)
4. Nitrosol.(for veg)
5. Power feed (for flower, red or pink bottle, both have similar nute profiles)
6. Small piece of shadecloth.
Important for coco, always, always ,PH balance your water, you want it around the 6 range.
Now, wash your coco throroughly through the shadecloth, rinse water through it till it runs clear, may take a while. Very important to do this as coco has a naturally high salt content. You are also getting rid of the fine particles in the coco which are detrimental.
Take a teaspoon of your cal mag supplement, mix it with Ph balanced water and soak the coco with it in a bucket for 24 hours. This will buffer the coco and avoid cal mag deficency through your grow.
You will need to have your plants sitting on something which can drain through, I have mine sitting on a metal grille I bought from Bunnings and they drain through to buckets underneath.
Whichever way you have germinated your seedlings ( I use the paper towel method) then plant tail down in the coco a couple of mm below the surface.
At this stage I just use a spray bottle with PH balanced water to keep the top of the coco moist.
Your seedling should pop its head up within a couple of days and show you their first set of leaves. Do not fertilise at this stage, furthermore do not over water, coco will retain water for an extensive time. What we want here is for the plant within the first few weeks to make a good root system, while many people say you cant over water coco from my experience that applies to mature plants not seedlings. Over watering early seedlings in coco will stunt them, every couple of days with water only is generally enough for seedlings, gradually increase the watering frquency as the plant gets older working your way up to 3 or 4 times a day when
flowering, always water till it drains through.
Commence nutrient watering about 4 or 5 days after the seedlings pop their heads up, 5 ml of Nitrosol to 4 litres of water every couple of days.
After around 2 weeks I increase this to 10 Ml to 4 litres of water and gradually increase to 20 ml up to when I flip.
After I flip them I add powerfeed but subtract Nitrosol, so I will start the flowering with 15 ml of Nitrosol to 5 Ml of powerfeed in 4 litres ph balanced water.
Over the next few weeks I gradually decrease the nitrosol and increase the powerfeed till near the end of the flowering I am only using a Powerfeed nute mix.
Your plant will probably love it at this time if you bump up the mix to 25 or 30 ml to 4 litres.
So the basics of this regime are that the plant wants lots of nitrogen for vegging and lots of phosphorous and potassium for flowering but is quite sensitive to to over fertilising.
.Just like most vegetables like tomatoes. if I wanted to grow great tomatoes I would and have followed the same plan. All this is from experience. The other thing is, look at your plants as much as you can and observe, you will get a feel of when they are suffering and will know what not to do.
Nitrosol and Powerfeed are also made from natural ingredients like organic blood and bone, fish meal, seaweed etc. You cant beat this trace element profile with any artifically created hydro nutes. The secret is in learning how to use these natural fertilisers as hydro nutes. And I can tell you they work just fine indoors and outdoors. I grew outdoors in soil (not pots, in the ground) for years using these same nutrients.
Hope all this makes sense. Feel free to message me about this.

H Captain, Bunnings do not sell the eco flo dolomite anymore, do you have another suggestion?

 

[High Yay yay]

Amazing this community, WE ARE NOT ALONE!!! thanks for the info guys @Captain goodvibes and @Ossi Ossi Im following your tips, first time having fun with these babies in Australia.
I'm wondering if you add something else apart from the "NITROSOL" in the vegetative stage / after 5 days of sprouts? (I've seen flora trio - they have an extra nutrient apart from Nitrogen and phosphorus-potassium BUT SUPER EXPENSIVE the set)
Also impossible to find the eco-flo dolomite so I got a bag of calcium/magnesium from bunnings called Richgro Dolomite Lime Calcium 14% Magnesium 8% neutralizing value 70%. Do you add more of this calcium thing after the first soak prior to planting the babies?
Any other nutrient complementary that we should consider as newbies?
Thanks a lot!!!