Coco Coir Watering Schedule

[Mr Pot]

Hey guys,

I'm currently growing a few plants in coco and I read a lot of things about this medium but I'd like to see experiences and tips when it comes to watering schedule. I'm treating coco like I'd treat soil, I water them when they feel dry and that'd be more than 1 and 1/2 gal every 3-4 days W6 of flowering. Of course I've increased gradually my quantities and so far I'm not having any trouble - my buds are looking way bigger than my last run (in fact I believe they're bigger now than they were when I harvested last time) but I kinda feel like they could be even bigger at the moment.

Went online and saw what I wasn't expecting. People treat coco coir like an hydroponic system (and it is one) and they say that it will hold 30% oxygen even when you overwater your plants, therefore you should water daily (some people even water twice a day when they're older) and never let it dry out. The thing is I've let them dry. For an entire grow. And it did worked out - haven't really harvested yet but so far I'm getting better results than last time, I've never overwatered my plants and they growed tall, strong and vigorously since day one from seed (check my grow journal to see more details).

I'm definitely switching to SCroG next run and that led me to a DWC system topic in GWE but I'll probably discard it because temperature here it's an issue and plants roots wouldn't like that. That opened an opportunity to dig into a world of top watering in coco and recycling water with nutrients in order to lower expenses. I'm running two or three plants tops and I can't tell if 3 x 5 gal bucket would fit my 2.6' x 2.6' tent with a trellis that easily or even if it would be too expensive to have such setup and water everyday with a gradually increased watering schedule. My intuition says that it'll rise the overall quantity of nutrients I use but that'd definitely payoff with some bad ass tasting buds.

That being said I'd like to ask you guys for experiences with coco watering schedule about frequency and water/feed schedule. Do you water daily or like I do? Do you pure water in between feeding when watering daily? How fast your quantities rise in different stages of growth?

I'm trying to stimulate a discussion and gather personal account for ex post analysis, any information will be valid.
Mr Pot

[Flockshot]

My coco watering system is pretty simple.

First I weigh my 5 gallon fabric pot when it is "bone dry", and get a number.

Second, I weigh the same pot "soaking wet", and get a number.

The difference between the two numbers is the amount of water (in pounds) that my pot will hold.

After watering, I will not water again until the pot has lost 1/2 of the water that the pot will hold. (with mature plants it is about every 4th day for me)

[oldjarhead100]

hey flockshot thats a interesting method , ok so I've been in coco for all of my inside grows, I only use enough water to last my plants 3 days ,I wont automatically water every 3 days I check it with a meter. I try and do nute,water,nutes this works for me .I dont keep them wet all the time I water let dry and water again, But again there are 6 ways to do one thing in our hobby so its up to you to pick what works for you

Your buds will definitely get bigger ,my last grow of Gorilla Glue at the beginning of week 8 I gave them water and molasses in 3 days they doubled the size of the buds

[Mr Pot]

You mean 2 gals of plain water for the in between flush? That's tricky, right? People say that watering everyday won't promote salt buildup and that's a bit controversal. I'm doing this and they look pretty good so far. It really is an interesting method.

[D.A.A.S.69]

I go along with Flockshot and OJH ,about watering in coco, it's just about the same.
To me ,it's no comparison, they grow much faster when the coco dries, than watering everyday.

[Flockshot]

I have looked at the everyday watering videos on YouTube. First, you have to water every day, and secondly look close for the fungus gnats on some of those videos. It is probably a good method, but the simpler the better for my taste.

I have my plants on metal shelving material, over a tupperware tub that was made to go under a bed. I can water to my hearts content and then I just pump the water out of the tupperware tubs with a hand operated bildge pump.

I use 2 gallons when I feed and I use 2 gallons when I add my addatives (insted of plain water). I never use feed and addatives at the same time.