COCO COIR High freq fert - Only seasoned growers please

[Tersky]

I have been seeing some troubling answers about high frequency fertigation and i think a lot of misinformation has been going around. I would like SEASONED GROWERS to help me out. I personally think high freq fert is an advanced technique that i honestly dont think is worth the time and i'll explain my reasoning in a min but i know there are some growers that have successfully done it, though i dont know of any off the top of my head. I have tried it with poor results. Here are my thoughts.

One thing i keep seeing brought up is that you cant over water in coco. This is not true. Sure it is harder than soil but it is still possible to overwater as coco retains water and roots sitting in water without a fresh supply of oxygen will drown roots. Also too wet a substrate can cause root rot.

Another thing i disagree with high freq fert is i dont believe it allows for optimal root development. Roots stretch out to search for water and nutes. If the soil is always wet then root development is not as important to the plant. By letting the medium dry, the roots are forced to search for water. When trying high freq fert i found my root development to suffer.

The last point i want to make is that for a new grower, they see water several times a day and they think they need to do that from the start which will drown new plants that have not developed a good healthy root system. Also, they dont learn to tell when their plants are thirsty which imo is a big part of learning how to read the plant. New growers that do high freq fert tend to come in with ph, root and stunted growth is what i noticed as their coco gets locked from improper salt buildup and dont understand nor know what to do.

So to all the old timers that do high freq fert tell me what your rules are for it. Do you start the high freq fert after the roots have developed? How much water do you use each watering? Id love to get some clarification for the new growers. I'm happy with the method that i use but hate seeing misleading info. Like i said only seasoned growers so if you have not been growing for more than a couple years or have only done a handful of grows please refrain from muddying the waters. I have seen a lot of new growers act like they know what they are talking about while still on their first and second grow. I once had a wise man tell me to take the cotton out of my ears and put it in my mouth when i was a young buck, and that was probably the best life advice i have ever gotten.

[SoOrbudgal]

Very well put Tersky . I would jump in but i am not a full coco grower. I will say that after i came into this site i learned more about watering and feeding marijuana. I also tended to underfeed and underwater do to my cautious side when i first had a few grows. Took me at least 3-4 photo grows to see it on the plants and figure it out.

[Tersky]

I say master the basics then try the advanced stuff! Hard to know if what you are doing is working if you have never had a good successful harvest is how i feel about it.

[bboyfromwayback]

Good topic! I’m interested in input from successful, high feed growers myself. Every time I’ve tried to get aggressive with feeding I end up dealing with nute burn or a lockout issue which likely hurts more than anything. My simple method has worked well but this site has taught me there’s room for improvement.

[Tersky]

Exactly why i wanted to bring this up!

[9fingerleafs]

Here’s my take. I’ve been growing full time for at least 3 years. For the last 18 months my family have had food and roof thanks to my production and I harvest at least a couple plants per week, so at least 100 harvest every year.
In my personal experience My conclusion is you don’t have the option to choose how often to water unless you water less than optimal every time. Meaning you cannot change how much water the plant needs. I often water small plants when the coco is still moist but I do it in a drenching/flush fashion; i pour couple of gallons thru a one gallon pot and catch all the runoff to keep drenching other plants. This flushed out low oxygen water and replaces it with fresh high oxygen and nutrient water. This can only be done in small pots that dry out quick enough. A big 7 gal pot cannot be drenched the same way because it will hold many times more water. Big potted plants need more water but still can be overwatered by drenching. When the climate is cold they need one gallon every two days. When the climate is hot and dry they need one and a half gallon per day. Usually in two waterings because it’s easier for me and because I don’t water until runoff with big flowering plants. If you are setting up an automated watering system you could in theory water just enough to last a few hours and repeat as necessary but doinin it by hand requires a lot of practice and you’d have no room for error or to be late for watering. If you try to force a plant into high frequency it will backfire because plants need more water as they grow. I hope this is not more confusing

[Texasbob]

Very good post! I grow in coco and I do add nutrients with every watering. My base nutrients are the fox farm trio with sensi cal mag. I also use cha ching, beastie blooms and open sesame in the flowering stages. I don't go by the charts or the schedule that ff has I honestly just look at my plants and alternate the nutrients. In other words I don't give the same nutrients in the same amount every feeding. I will go heavily on one and back off that one and increase another on the next watering. I really like the fact that you can see the results of your feeding almost immediately in coco (within 24 hours). I know this is probably sacrilegious but I have never really measured (exactly) how much nutrients I feed I just do what the plants tell me. You are completely right about overwatering being an issue, especially with new growers but in coco I think that newer growers would (with a little discipline) be less likely to have watering issues. Again this is a great topic!

[newbutoldgrower75]

Tersky thank you for this post, and the great advice. This is one question that is always on my mind as a newbie, so much misleading information out there on the net. Will be watching this post for other people's experiences.

[Tersky]

Yeah thats why i wanted this thread. There is a lot of confusing info to a new grower. I believe it is possible but takes more experience than most think. It's not that i dont think new growers dont have anything to contribute, i just have seen too many new growers experience issues as they dont know what they are looking for as far as deficiencies, lockout ect. Once someone has a good feel for how cannabis grows it is easier to change to a method that works better for you. Master the basics first then start experimenting IMO.

[newbutoldgrower75]

Tersky I completely agree with you. Getting the basics right is the first challenge..enviroment, lighting and watering/feeding. I posted about a watering problem I had, the amount the girls were drinking doubled within a few days from 2 litres each to nearly 4 litres each per day. My problem was if I gave them it to them all at once I would get a lot of run off and they would be thirsty again three quaters through the day. After working a few things out I have settled on watering half at lights on, and then half 7 hours later. I get 15 to 20% run off each watering. And the girls seem to be loving it.
I was struggling after not growing indoors for 15 years, even after all the research I had done, and there was a lot of research on a lot of different sites lol. That was my problem I think. It has been a lot easier since I found the GWE site and forum, its the only place I go for research and advice now. Everything makes sense, and tutorials are quite easy to follow with all the information and pics. And most of the people are great here as well.
Thanks again Tersky