Coco pH and flushing technique

[mulga bill]

G,day all. Five weeks into my grow i realized i had not checked the ph of the runoff in the pot.Upon checking the ph it was concerning to find a reading of around 4.5,how can this be? the plant looks great,its growing very fast at the moment,i thought a ph that low would surely show some problem with the plant? (white widow auto fem).I decided a flush was in order.After running 30lts of ph 6.5 water through the 10ltr pot,the ph was little better at ph5.0.Is there a right way to flush ? I slowly poured the 30lts of water through the pot until all was done. Is there a correct method of flushing Coco? Also, does water temperature play a part,i generally apply my water at 20degC.

 

[mulga bill]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,Day all. Can anyone answer my questions ?

 

[gr865]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,day all. Five weeks into my grow i realized i had not checked the ph of the runoff in the pot.Upon checking the ph it was concerning to find a reading of around 4.5,how can this be? the plant looks great,its growing very fast at the moment,i thought a ph that low would surely show some problem with the plant? (white widow auto fem).I decided a flush was in order.After running 30lts of ph 6.5 water through the 10ltr pot,the ph was little better at ph5.0.Is there a right way to flush ? I slowly poured the 30lts of water through the pot until all was done. Is there a correct method of flushing Coco? Also, does water temperature play a part,i generally apply my water at 20degC.

Are you running straight coco?
Are you running DrainToWaste?
If your running DTW you need to be watering to at least 30% runoff.
If you going to flush you should use a half rate nute solution and properly pH'ed solution.

GR

 

[mulga bill]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,day gr865. Thankyou for your reply. I am using straight Coco. I am running drain to waste. I have increased my runoff. ( i watered yesterday) I have read on another site (grow weed easy.com) that , the method i used was the correct way to treat a pot of Coco showing such a low Ph ! Everything i put into my pots is Ph,d, I use the drops as well as a (Bluelab) Ph pen. So how do i properly Ph the solution ?

 

[gr865]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,day gr865. Thankyou for your reply. I am using straight Coco. I am running drain to waste. I have increased my runoff. ( i watered yesterday) I have read on another site (grow weed easy.com) that , the method i used was the correct way to treat a pot of Coco showing such a low Ph ! Everything i put into my pots is Ph,d, I use the drops as well as a (Bluelab) Ph pen. So how do i properly Ph the solution ?

How often are watering/nutes, what is your method for watering?
What stage is your grow?

I am on a 3x schedule and about to go to 4x before I go to 12/12.

GR

 

[mulga bill]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,Day,gr865. I am hand watering into pot.I am letting pot dry,then watering with nutes, usually every second day.The plant is a White Widow, Auto Fem, By Seedsman. the plant is at day 37 .Despite the ph issues the plant is doing extremely well.I have it on a 24hr light schedule,i could not ask for a better looking plant health wise,but my concern is,will i get it to harvest with such a low ph in the medium.This is why i flushed in the first place,but after flushing there was only a little change of the ph for the better.Thankyou for your interest,every bit of input helps me.Also i might add,the plant at the moment is growing at the rate of 4-5cm per 24hr day ! and stands 80cm tall.

 

[gr865]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,Day,gr865. I am hand watering into pot.I am letting pot dry,then watering with nutes, usually every second day.The plant is a White Widow, Auto Fem, By Seedsman. the plant is at day 37 .Despite the ph issues the plant is doing extremely well.I have it on a 24hr light schedule,i could not ask for a better looking plant health wise,but my concern is,will i get it to harvest with such a low ph in the medium.This is why i flushed in the first place,but after flushing there was only a little change of the ph for the better.Thankyou for your interest,every bit of input helps me.Also i might add,the plant at the moment is growing at the rate of 4-5cm per 24hr day ! and stands 80cm tall.

In coco once a day is not enough, I would do every 12 hrs, then if needed increase from there, you cannot over water coco, if you space you waterings. You will get much better growth and health from your plants.

GR

 

[mulga bill]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,day gr865.Yes i was watering every day but time was against me thats why i changed back to the method i now use,yes i understand what you are saying,but at the moment i need to water the way i am,i thought 4-5 cm a day wasnt too bad ? As for the health of the plant i think i might have a calcium problem looming.Time will tell. Anyway, thanks again for your input.

 

[Annabanana]

Some Coco growers (The Cultivator, ledrfs) only water small amounts everyday. Always with nutes and never with run off - except when flushing before harvest. They water enough that it will be ready for more the next day (but never let it get totally dry). I'm not saying either method is the only method - just another option!

 

[gr865]

I do a flush depending on the rinsate readings, when I drain and clean my rez's, which is usually every one to two weeks.

Here is an example of my last flush.

Day 2, 12/12 Generative Period of 2 to 3 for stretch and bud formation.

Fabulous growth now, drinking a lot.
The defo I did on Wed. is filled in and we are started flower on Sat. night.

At the beginning of this flush I was feeding with 1.1 to 1.3 EC and pH of, most often it is in the 5.8 +/-
This morning I pull the ladies out of the tent for some pics and a little cleanup of the tray. After putting the plants back into the tent I began a rez empting flush. There was about 12 gallons left in both rez's and I ran the drip till they were empty. Then did a cleaning of both upper and lower rez's, mild clorox solution and a thorough triple rinse. I am very impressed with the EC and pH of the rinsate that passed through the pots and into the catch container, 1.15 EC and 5.69 pH, final reading before dumping.

Nute solution back in the rez's at 1.3 EC and pH of 5.79.

I am advocating or dismissing flushing but this is what I do and it works for me.

GR

 

[mulga bill]

G,Day,Annabana. Thanks for that info, all points of view help in some way. G,Day gr865,Clearly you are growing on a much different level than i am,The reading i have been doing is on manual watering of pots etc. I grew many years ago with reasonable success, we had absolutely no information at all,until Ed Rosenthall came on the scene.Anyway, i am currently on my first steps of a new journey and am loving every minute.At the moment i am re-farmiliarising myself with all the new and wonderful new strains of plants.I hope to look into hydro in the near future, you look to be doing very well, i am watching your present grow with much interest. As for flushing and the ph of the runoff in my position, it appears to be a difficult subject. I shall persevere.....I shall check out some of your attachments when i have a bit more time Thanks again gr865...

 

[gr865]

"I am advocating or dismissing flushing but this is what I do and it works for me."

That should have read, I am "not" advocating

GR

 

[mulga bill]

G,Day, gr865. I thought that might be the case. Thanks mate.

 

[wiley420]

I use strait coco an hand feed everyday once a day to 10-20% run off. Once a month I flush my pots with 10-12gals ph water followed by a feed. This has been working extremely well as my journal will show. . there's a lot of different ways that people use coco. So ya need to figure out what works best for u. But being coco u should be feeding atleast once a day.

 

[mulga bill]

G,Day,Wiley420, Thanks for your information, my next grow will be very different from my current one,and i will be putting your info into my next grow. Thanks again...

 

[TorturedSoul]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

I am letting pot dry

Could this be it? Coco coir can "act funny" when allowed to dry out. It has an affinity for certain elements. I suppose that's why, after initially rinsing the snot out of one's coco coir, the gardener then "pre-charges" the medium with his/her chosen nutrients. You might find doing a search for cation exchange capacity (in regards to coco coir) beneficial.

Seems like people who approach coco coir as a hydroponic medium do better and have less issues than those who look at it as soil/soilless in nature. Letting it dry out completely between waterings... I wouldn't be surprised if your calcium levels got a little wonky.

 

[mulga bill]

Re: Coco,Ph and flushing technique.

G,Day,TorturedSoul, Yes i have read the post about The cation exchange capacity of CoCo,and have been giving it some thought. To be honest with you i am not sure that i fully understand it.I will read it again (during the daytime) that might make a difference lol.Yes, you are right about my approach to CoCo, that is why i say my next grow will be different.I WILL be treating it as Hydro NOT like a soil grow! Yes again,you are absolutely correct about the Calcium i am in the process of dealing with that now.I am learning new things every day and loving every minute.I did grow back in the 60s and 70s and did reasonably well,(more by good luck than good management) and now with all these fantastic new (to me) Strains and Autoflowers i am beside myself with joy,these days i just can,t wait to get out of bed and see how White Widow is doing. Thanks for your time and input it is very much appreciated....An interesting footnote.

 

[gr865]

Gr

 

[mulga bill]

G,Day,gr865. I see your time of posting, southern hemisphere ? Checked out your vertical grow, very interesting, the way you tied up your plant to the frame looks like Espalier.

 

[gr865]

G,Day,gr865. I see your time of posting, southern hemisphere ? Checked out your vertical grow, very interesting, the way you tied up your plant to the frame looks like Espalier.

Yes very similar method, and results. Espalier is used to increase the fruit of a tree and this is increase the bud sites.

I am not in the Southern hemi, USA, in one of the worst states to grow cannabis. Oh well fuckem if they can't take a joke, LOL..

This method does require a longer veg time and a considerable amount of labor through the grow. But fuck I am retired, 69 years old, and an agronomist by trade, so this little grow not only provides me with the medicine I need but also one hell of a fun hobby.
There are some amazing vertical grows if you google them, fun to look at the pics and see how it is all done.
Here is a pic from a unsuccessful vert grow I did, everything ended up in the compost pile but did make some lovely plants.

I got over 5 zips from this plant, worthless shit but good quality. It was not the method of growing but my fuckup that made me dump them all.
Hope is get the answer you're looking for concerning the flushing, as I said I have no problem doing it. But I do it my way. and not with just plain water.

GR