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A thought on watering coco/perlite.

uncledoug

uncledoug

New member
I've been following threads on here that talk about watering coco/perlite. Lots of different views, water with nutes every day, water with nutes then next day with Ph water etc. I am doing nutes for 2 days then Ph/cal-mag on 3rd day. I have been thinking about doing a combination of these by watering with nutes for 2 days then Ph water on 3rd day. after flushing on day 3 and removing the drainage water, water again using nutes. If flushing is only done to remove salt "which some say isn't necessary with coco" then it seems to me this method would be beneficial. I would be interested in your opinion on doing it this way.
 
Morning Doug, I think the exact practices will very from situation to situation and trial and error is going to be the most concrete answer to questions like this. Most growing conditions differ slightly for everyone and this is why (I think) we get such a variety of answers. I like to read as much as I can and try to make small changes systematically while observing their effects. I know this doesn’t help you at all hahaha but just a thought on how I make similar decisions. Good luck I’m sure you will find exactly what works best for your environment and schedule.
 
It seems like you are aware of my recent research and posts about this.
First, I have watered both alternating nutes and pH/CalMag and going two days nutes between pH/CalMag. I am now watering everyday with slightly more diluted nutes because I learned enough to know that the pH/CalMag flush is not needed and actually detrimental to plants in Coco. The practice of alternating water derives from growing in soil which can hold on to salts and create toxic root environments. This does not happen in Coco because all excess salts are flushed with any water moving through the medium. Alternating water stresses plants as they have to adjust.
Your plan seems to be dramatically increasing the amount of water applied. I think it should not be a problem and would probably be better than simply flushing them with pH/CalMag. I would like to offer that I believe it is unnecessary, but if it sets your mind at ease it is probably a good option.
If others are interested, I will be happy to re-post here my longer explanation of watering Coco from the other thread.
 
A couple Quotes and Links

The thing is that is that these hydrocarbons are not all being used and build up in your coco. By giving the coco 20% run to waste you are flushing these hydrocarbons away as they are attracted to the elements in your nutrients and are pulled through the media. Because of this we can quickly bust another myth
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Coco DOES NOT require flushing with plain water !!. By dropping your EC your actually upsetting the balance between your plants and coco cause havoc with nutrient uptake.
Click to expand...
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=289331

That little bit of run off ensures that each and every time you water your plants (3-5x per day) you're also washing away excess salts, salt build up can be a problem in coco and you often have to flush it out to get rid of all the excess salts. Once you get that little bit of waste run-off from each watering you are effectively flushing it out every time you water, this means that you don't have to do a manual flush until the end of flower when you do the 'final flush'.
Click to expand...
https://www.icmag.com/ic/showthread.php?t=241341
 
I have some other (academic) resources that I can share on this, but hesitate to post as they are copyright protected.
PM me if interested
 
If you want to look up a reference for yourself...

Soilless Culture: Theory and Practice
Michael Raviv, J. Heinrich Lieth, and J. Heinrich Lieth
2008

I recommend Chapters 4 and 8
 
Hi Camp. Yes I've been following your thread and have been using some of it in my grow, thank you, When I started my 1st ever grow I was watering using what I read and didn't know there was a difference from soil and coco, you told me of the difference and my plant took off when I started watering everyday. I am now switching to nutes every day, still at 50% of manufacture recommendation. I've made some mistakes along the way but so far she is still growing. My newest problem is no pistils and I'm at the start of week 6, Contacted Nirvana and they suggested switching from 18/6 to 12/12 so I'll try that. Anyway thank you for the links and other sources of info. Being new can be challenging.
 
So happy your plants took off!
I will post the nute schedule I am using here when I get home. It is posted now on my thread.
So many people having trouble with Autos!!!
 
After working further on my nute schedule it ends up not being very different from Nebula's schedule for GH in Coco. It is about 50% for the base nutes, but closer to 100% for some supplements. I am easing base nutes ever so slightly from the strength that I had been running when I was 2 days on one day off.
For example I where I had been giving 3ml, I cut to 2.25. This is basically an abundance of caution...
I just gave them their 5th straight dose of nutes! Plants are growing like crazy (they are in mid-stretch).

My new Nute schedule is attached. I have updated it from the one I posted on my thread because I hadn't paid enough attention to early growth nutes on that. I have gone over this one several ways and am now following it. That said, it is a work in progress and will likely be refined.
Campesinos NEW Nutes.png.jpg
 

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It is certainly interesting and complex. And I am just dealing with "soil-less" science. I certainly hope you include that within your research!
 
DANGERDAN
Your work has inspired me to put all my thoughts and research on this into one article. I will include links and references as you do with yours.
It looks like it is going to be pretty long, but I am enjoying it so far. I have it organized into 5 points which I will address individually. They are:
1. Mix Coco with 40-50% Perlite
2. Water your plants at least once per day (do not let your coco get dry)
3. Provide nutrients in all water (do not alternate nutes with “plain” water)
4. Use fabric pots: Size depends on several factors but mainly watering frequency
5. Be aware Relative Humidity may run high
 
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