Changed from DWC to Coco coir.

[bumper55]

I've changed my growing setup from DWC to Coco coir.

2 wk clone appears healthy, but my questions are:
1. Does plant growing in coco grow slower than when in DWC.
2. GH Flora trio chart for coco coir seems to use less nutrients than growing in DWC. A 1/4 teaspoon first week and a 1/2 teaspoon per gallon the entire growing period.
3. I'm using drain-to-waste feeding and the smart pot is 2 gal. The first time I feed with a gal. of nutrients I measured the run off and determined that the pot holds about a qt of the gallon fully soaked with no runoff from the bottom. I found I can water daily with a qt. of nutrients without any bottom runoff. Can I water with a quart daily or what is the best way to feed the plant? Suggestions are always appreciated and thanks ahead.

[9fingerleafs]

hello my friend, i see youre an old timer so im guessing you know your stuff. i personally grow in soil but i can give you my opinion and share a few things. first of all i think what makes hydro such a fast growing medium is that is non dependent to bacterial and fungi processes and by-products (like soil). so theoretically should be the same coco and DWC. it makes sense that you feed at lower doses because a lot of that water will evaporate tru the pot. and about the watering practices, if you already buffered your coco and its super stable then one quart a day with no run off should be fine, but if its not buffered then you should water till runoff to make sure you get rid of the nutrients exchange excess happening in the coco (coco releases potassium and takes in calcium) and take it into consideration (lots of calmag at first then lower dose as the coco gets more stable)

either way heres all the info you gonna need (hopefully) the website is run my our friendly fellow forum members Dr.Coco and Dr.Photon
https://cocoforcannabis.com/toc/ hope this helps (:

[bumper55]

Thanks for the link, it's going to help a lot. I I treated coco before I planted with Cal-mag and Hydroguard as you mentioned and I continue to prepare the nutes with both and the addition of Armor Silicon additive.

[Toker1]

DWC is faster in veg than any other form of hydro. Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe only aeroponics outperforms DWC in veg. The roots are free to take up as much space as they need and are not confined or fighting through a medium to stretch out.

[Toker1]

If you don’t mind the slower growth rates and the potential for pests to nest inside your medium, then sure...I can see that. I’ll stick to DWC. Been working for me all these years so far.

[DrPhoton]

Toker1

DWC works well because oxygen, nutrients and water are abundant. Which means the plant does not have to spend energy developing roots to search for these valuable materials. Its the reduction in required root production that enables faster growth, as plants can spend this energy in growth elsewhere, other than roots.

Coco coir combined with frequent fertigation provides all of these valuable materials, without the complexity involved with DWC. Which is why this is adopted by most commercial horticulture facilities that must deal with large quantities of plants.

The more and more fertigations applied, the closer and closer you get to DWC. But there is a point where any further fertigations applied adds little to no value. Which is why the fertigation method we provide is superior. As we allow the plants access to all they require but enable the best practicality that is possible when using coco coir.

The other benefit with high frequency fertigation in coco, is the ability to maintain ideal nutrient ratio and concentration. Which is only possible with drain to waste systems. DWC has to keep its solution contained with recirculation, with which the solution concentration and ratio changes as the plant absorbs what it needs through active processes. There is no ideal way to control this shift of nutrient element ratio unless the solution is replaced entirely.

[Doubledealing72]

I did the same thing bumper. Started in Dwc, kept getting root rot. Switched to coco and never looked back.