COCO COIR Do they really take this much water?

[Tumbleweed]

Amnesia Haze
35 days since popping
5 gal cloth pots with Coco Loco
80°F, 55% RH
Mars Hydro TSW 2000 watt equivalent LED (300 actual wats)
Following Fox Farm trio schedule at 1/2 strength
Recently adding Rot Stop and Epsom salt to water while waiting a week to get Calimagic shipped, as they were showing magnesium deficiency. Also did two Epsom salt foliar sprays.

They seem to be responding from the Mg deficiency nicely. But they seem to want a gal of water every other day. Does this sound correct or am I starting to over water? They aren't that super light feeling where you KNOW FOR A FACT they are dry, but they are feeling close. I'm worried about going too dry because I read you will get nute burn if you let coco completely dry, and I did get signs of SLIGHT nute burn the one time I did go super dry.

I think I'm good to go, just wondering if 1 gal every other day seems like too much or rather normal? TIA

[bboyfromwayback]

Some plants get super thirsty (usually the big ones) especially during that flowering stretch. I know what you mean about not being extremely light which can be iffy sometimes but when a plant is flowering I don’t want it to go without so if anything I just won’t give it as much water. If they’re in veg I don’t care if they wilt slightly but not in flower.

[ChadWestport]

100% do not let coco dry out. Coco has a balance with the EC (electrical conductivity) of the soil which measures the amount of nutrients in the root zone as well as a delicate balance of cation and anions (molecular level bonding sites than make nutrients available). A big plus with coco is you can get an accurate reading for Ph, ppm and EC by checking the run-off of the water. This will guide you as to up or down your Ph and nutrient levels on the next feeding.

Big thing though, don't let your coco dry out. It's ok to be less wet than when it is freshly watered, but don't let it go dry.

[gbauto]

I've been dabbling with coco in my 4x4 pheno tent for a couple of years.
I use 3 gal bags in a 3x3 low-tide tray dtw running Jacks 3-2-1.
I also agree with wayback, watering amounts vary during growth.
I always feed to run-off, once-daily keeps the media wet until the next day.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/4kN4kcNdvSaUvNSh7

[Edwashere420]

I grow with coco coir too and I water every other day until I see runoff water. Depending on how big the plant is it can take more or less watering until runoff and I use nutrients with calimagic

[dilvish]

If what you are doing is working then continue watering as you do. Perhaps you simply aren't watering enough each time (10-20% runoff). make sure you have sufficient runoff and then re-water the same way every 2-3days as necessary. Coir shouldn't dry out that much faster than soil but it is worth keeping an eye on

FYI pics are very helpful when getting advice. Many growers on this and other forums can tell what is wrong when they see pictures

[Doubledealing72]

I water mine every 2 to 3 days when they 1st start. Once they are about 3 or 4 weeks old, I start watering every other day. Like most people said, it's better to keep the Coco wet. I water mine every 2 to 3 days when they 1st start. Once they are about 3 or 4 weeks old, I start watering every other day. Like most people said, it's better to keep the Coco wet Instead of Letting it dry.

[Ckbrew]

following post

[thefunkdrspot]

Couple of thoughts from my experience.. first the 3 gal fabric pots in my opinion are the sweet spot for growing coco. 5 gal bags take more to properly saturate because as you mentioned you dont want any part of it to dry out. Also ive seen no benefit to using 5 gal over 3 gal. It doesnt increase yield or potency and you just end up using more coco and nutrients.

No matter what size you go with you should cover the top of the pot to slow evaporation. One thing I dont see discussed often is the relationship between pot size, watering frequency and relative humidity. Your environmental conditions will play a huge part but when growing in small spaces like grow tents it can be a challenge. For me using coco in 3 gal bags has acted like a humidity buffer that both prevents the air from getting too dry or from getting too wet. When i used 5 gal bags in a smaller tent i found that when i kept the bag from drying out the relative humidity was a little high. When i switched to 3 gal i was able to keep them saturated without the humidity getting to high. Another example in my big tent i could use 5 gal bags without the humidity getting too high. But then when summer came around and i had plants in late flower i wanted the humidity to be as low as possible. Problem is in order to keep 5 gal bags properly saturated it requires frequent watering cycles or less frequent with longer duration, both of which caused the humidity to rise higher than i wanted.

Something else to consider is your ventilation and the environmental conditions outside your tent. If your outside air is dry and you have a ventilation fan going on high it could be drying out your bags faster than necessary. Or maybe your humidity in your tent is too high so you turn your ventilation up but if your tent is in your basement like mine and the air is cold that could lower your temps too much. Its really about finding a balance.

The solution for me has been 3 gal bags covered getting 10-15 seconds of watering every 4 hours. I have a grow tray on a stand with a cement mixing pan under it to catch any runoff. If i check my runoff pan and its bone dry i know to increase duration by a couple seconds. If i check and it has a bunch of runoff i know to decrease duration by a few seconds. What im shooting for is a runoff pan with a couple drops of water in it so i know im not under watering but im also not wasting anything. As long as you dont let it frequently dry out theres no need to maintain any amount of runoff with coco. Just enough to know its fully saturated. With this setup i can keep my humidity in check with minimal ventilation which right now is huge because when the lights are out the temp gets pretty low and id be worried about it getting any lower bringing in more cold outside air.

Fabric bags are cheap. You should get some in different sizes and use them side by side. Do 1 gal, 3 gal, and 5 gal all in the same grow and see for yourself which size works for you with your methods and your conditions. If theres one thing ive learned its that there are many ways to do things but at the end of the day its gonna come down to what works for you with your setup and conditions and the only way to find what works is to keep trying.

[Ckbrew]

Great info. How many plants do you keep in what size tent?

[thefunkdrspot]

I flower 4 plants in a 5x5 tent. You can do 4 in a 4x4 as well.

[changeofpace2014]

Amnesia Haze
35 days since popping
5 gal cloth pots with Coco Loco
80°F, 55% RH
Mars Hydro TSW 2000 watt equivalent LED (300 actual wats)
Following Fox Farm trio schedule at 1/2 strength
Recently adding Rot Stop and Epsom salt to water while waiting a week to get Calimagic shipped, as they were showing magnesium deficiency. Also did two Epsom salt foliar sprays.

They seem to be responding from the Mg deficiency nicely. But they seem to want a gal of water every other day. Does this sound correct or am I starting to over water? They aren't that super light feeling where you KNOW FOR A FACT they are dry, but they are feeling close. I'm worried about going too dry because I read you will get nute burn if you let coco completely dry, and I did get signs of SLIGHT nute burn the one time I did go super dry.

I think I'm good to go, just wondering if 1 gal every other day seems like too much or rather normal? TIA

I wished I had that kind of mileage - 3 girls require watering twice a day and that works out of 4 gal 1 1/2 days. morning, night, morning start over..

[YYCannabis]

I’m a deep water culture grower, so a little different from coco, but my plants will easily drink 1 gallon of water (or more) per day during flower. That’s why it’s always important for indoor growers to make sure their rooms are well vapor sealed to prevent mold and rot in the room.

[changeofpace2014]

Good intake and exhaust is necessary..I do notice more humid in the grow room area when there is extra water in the room..like when one has multiple solution buckets because of on plant needing something else. I tend to water a bit less at the end of a light cycle aka morning.

[gbauto]

Most definitely.
It's amazing how much water the girls transpire when they get going.

[changeofpace2014]

Yea my lovely wife has a pretty good green thumb but she still has difficulty getting her head around to the girls using that much water twice a day..