Coco Thread!

[groovelick]

When I say buckets what I mean it was the tubs that they get cut flowers delivered in no handles (the 99p was for the lot not per bucket). Similar in size to my pots just no holes in them so first run throu with 6.5 I dont want a behemoth in me tent

[Guest Tutu]

Ok coco virgin, planning on hempy bucket, got some 6.5L and 10L buckets form morri's (11 and 12 respectivly for 99p) so If Ive read every thing right.

I drill a hole in each bucket about 2" from bottom, attach a mesh to hole, fill to just above hole with pebbs, fill bucket with coco, bung plant in (is it ok to use PM granuals?), I plan using PM coco A+B HW obivously I'll need to pH the feed (what pH should I aim for). feed once a day till I get 10% runoff from the hole (how much feed do hempys take say 6 x 10L buckets).

Previously Ive done dirt in 11L would the 6.5 be better as I only have 1m2 of grow area (I've scroged so familar with that)

Have I missed anything out (I use essence so skip that as a sugestion)

No need for the mesh, Granules are good for hempys, PH is the same as normal coco growing 6.2 I think PM advise. They have a grow schedule in the support section follow it it's good.

4 10l buckets sounds better to me for that size won't take long to fill out the space, a scrog net is good but not essential. I have a 70l hempy needs 15-20l's a day I'd say you'd need roughly 2l's a day per pot but you are the only one who can judge that.

If no EC meter give us a shout and I'll make up some tonight to give you an idea of ml's/litre.

I drill 4 holes in my bucket at the same height opposite sides in case one blocks in your size pot I would drill 2 about 3/4" in size.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Tutu

[Guest papaduc]

Be careful when you try to drill the hole through them pots you got groove, they shatter like fuck. But they do the job. I'd stick a piece of duct tape over the bit you're going to drill before you do it.

As for nutes, I think hesi are the easiest to use if you're not going to buy an EC pen. They're a one part feed and you just go by the mil. I couldn't foresee anyone having problems feeding with them. But if you feel confident, or other people say it's just as easy using a two part with no pen, then do whatever.

I agree with tutu. 4 10L buckets would be better than those 6s. Two 30L ones would be even better and mean less watering. You'll be surprised how quick they fill them out, and potting up isn't needed.

[Guest Tutu]

I agree with tutu. 4 10L buckets would be better than those 6s. Two 30L ones would be even better and mean less watering. You'll be surprised how quick they fill them out, and potting up isn't needed.

Potting up certainly is not needed it still has it's place I find (I can't fit the big pots in the little veg room).

Problem with 2 is the grow area is square I think 1 would be better than 2, 1 30l pot would be fine.

I missed a couple of days watering and got droops and light burn on the tips I should probably have used a bigger pot.

I'm going to set my hempys up with dripper and res next time I think, might do normal pot culture or add airstones to the the hempy res ala airdome for the autopots.

Issue with airstones is my grow room air will be 30c which is rather warm to be pumping through the root system.

I might run the airstones for 1 minutes every 30 minutes.

I'll still run DTW whichever as it's the key to my success I'm sure.

Edited October 10, 2010 by Tutu

[Guest p&q]

All right lads,

Good to see this thread still rumbling on, 36k views and over 600 replys,in just under a year,who,d av thought it eh.

Hats off to all you coconuts out there for keeping it going,look forward to having a good read thro it sometime this evening.

p&q

[mygarden]

Hi All,

I'm gonna try coco for my next grow from seed. I've read up to page 36 of this thread, and I'm working out what I need to buy and which nutes to go with.

So far I know I need:

Coco medium

clay pebbles (for base layer)

PH pen

EC pen

calibration fluid for both

ph down

Formulex (already have)

I think I'm gonna go with Growers Ark nutes (A&B), due to the fact I already have a bottle of their Root Tonic, and Owderb had such great results with it, plus my local grow shop has it. I'll also get some PM granules. I'll probably also add liquid silicon.

But I'm confused with all the additives that are available. Is there anything else I'll need to get a good healthy crop from seed?

ps - Does anyone know if there's a feed schedule for GA anywhere? I've searched but can't find one. I'll follow Owderbs in flower, but not sure about what to give from seed.

Edited October 15, 2010 by mygarden

[Guest p&q]

Hello mate

It can be rather daunting looking around for additives,your correct theres so much out there,my advice would be to keep it simple.

Base nutes for veg and flower and a boost should be plenty.

Personally I use hesi nutes,they also have a one part feed,its in an orange bottle and can be used in veg and flower.

Usually I just buy the starter kit thats availabld top up anything that runs out.

With this kit youll get:

tnt complex (veg)

Coco bloom (flower)

Powerzyme

Rootstim

pk 13/14

Supervit

All for around £50.

They also have a grow scedule thats pretty much bang on reguarding amounts and when to add,something I found most helfull when starting in coco.

Might also be worth having a look thro the nutrients section aswell.

Whatever you go for youll love growing in coco mate.

Atb.

p&q

[mygarden]

Hi P&Q

Thanks for your reply. Yeah, I thought about Hesi, and the money saved on buying an ec pen would help. 50 for all that seems a good deal. Maybe I'll go with that for my first attempt at coco. Plenty of time to try others when I have more experience.

My seeds are ready and waiting for the current crop to finish in about 3 weeks. I'm going with Female Seeds Iced Grapefruit and Bubblegummer, plus a few cuttings from my current lot of Magic Bud and SLH.

One more Q - Can I start them off in Root Riot cubes them pot on into coco? Or would I get better results in coco from the start?

[Guest p&q]

You sure can mate

People have also had sucsess planting straight into coco.

p&q

[mygarden]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what's a hempy bucket?

[station]

It is a passive hydro set up witch is made of bucket with a hole or 2 about 2 inch's from the bottom with something like clay pebbles in the bottom to just above the holes and coco or similar on top.

The bottom section holds a res of feed, the water and nutes are taken up by capillary action to the roots by your growing medium.

Station

[Guest papaduc]

I would never start a seedling in a root riot. It's completely pointless. In fact, I wouldn't use a root riot for anything anymore. It's not that they're bad or anything, but for what they're used for, there are far better methods. They're like stabilisers on a bike, once you can ride you really want to scrap using them.

In my experience, both cloning and seed planting more efficient when you use different methods to root riots.

Plant straight into a mix of coco and perlite or use the paper towel method then move them into the coco.

With regards to nutrients, I also use Hesi and have found that you really only need to buy the orange bottle, the TNT stuff is virtually pointless and I have stopped using it. I use the orange bottle feed and the supervit, that's it. You can play about with the NPK ratios by getting a flower booster like pk 13/14 or something like hammerhead (what I'm using now) which is PK 4/8 if you want. It's not essential by any means. You will run a full grow start to finish with no problems by just getting the orange coco feed.

One addition to the supplies that you really shouldn't be without though is hydrogen peroxide. It's priceless for loads of things, from feeding to cleaning down. I get the 35% food grade stuff.

[mygarden]

Papaduc - How do you use H2o2 in feeding? I ask 'cos someone said (OT I think) that it kills any biological activity in the growing medium.

I have some food grade stuff and I diluted it to 3% and used it on plants that had been overwatered. It's supposed to counteract it by supplying the roots with more oxygen, but it didn't work.

[Guest papaduc]

Biological activity is not important in a coco medium. What is important is keeping your res clean and free from pathogens. This is why I wouldn't be without a bottle of food grade hydrogen p.

I use a pump to power a hoselock wand, so when it's not in use water sits in the pipe and the pump itself, if I leave it for a day or two, it can smell slightly acidic when I pump it through, but not when I use hydrogen. It must obviously keep it fresh.

Thing it does more than anything else is give me peace of mind. It's worth it for that alone. I also use it when I take cuttings to soak the coco with. Again, peace of mind is a key thing.

It leaves no residue and is not harmful if/when ingested, so therefore it's good enough for my plants. It's a lifesaver when you don't want to use bleach or other harsh chemicals. I use it for dipping the scalpel when taking clones.. spraying clones to stop fungus.. cleaning the room & equipment... germinating seeds... it's just a very a good thing to have handy. I'd always advice anyone in hydro to definitely get a bottle of that before most things.

[discharged]

When I say buckets what I mean it was the tubs that they get cut flowers delivered in no handles (the 99p was for the lot not per bucket). Similar in size to my pots just no holes in them so first run throu with 6.5 I dont want a behemoth in me tent

Morrisons?