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COCO COIR How to right the runoff ship: pH/PPM Going In -> pH/PPM Coming Out

R

rangerjake

New member
I previously had an issue with very hard water and starting PPM being near 300 before nutes. This has been resolved using a combo of a different water source (90ppm) and rainwater (+/- 10ppm).

Over the past few days I have been diligent about checking my input pH and PPM and am trying to deal with some of the potential issues I am seeing.

First and foremost, the plants look fine. Happy healthy and no above surface indications of issues. This is good.

Here are results of feedings for my few plants over the past few days, each day is color coded:


Raspberry Cough: Day 27 of 75ish day Veg

Day 1--- H2O @ 90ppm Day 2 --- H2O @ 75ppm Day 3 --- H2O @ 100ppm

Going In: 6.2pH 790ppm Going In: 6.0pH 774ppm Going In: 5.4pH 880ppm
Coming Out: 6.4pH 897ppm no measure taken on runoff Coming Out: 6.4pH 875ppm

Blue Mystic: Day 27 of 75ish day Veg

Going In: 6.2pH 790ppm Going In: (1/2 strength feeding) 5.6pH 480ppm Going In: 5.3pH 100ppm w/out added nutes
Coming Out: 7.2pH 1775ppm Coming Out: 7.0pH 1700ppm Coming Out: 7.0 2000ppm

WW Autos: Day 27 (week 1 of flower)

5.9pH 535ppm Going In: 5.4pH 640ppm
Coming Out: 7.0pH 1430ppm Coming Out: 6.7pH 1116ppm


My analysis of the above is that Raspberry is doing very well. Those numbers seem spot on.

The WW Autos are a bit higher pH and PPM than ideal but the smaller containers (4gal of coco/perlite) are easier to correct and lower pH feedings succeeded in making a drop only 24 hrs later.

Blue Mystic is the most concerning for a few reasons. The obvious numbers indicate that it has the highest retained salts. The larger container (about 8gal coco/perlite) seems more stubborn to correct. Furthermore, the fabric pot has some white staining on the bottom couple inches of the sides which to me is indicating retained salts. Also the container seems to be holding much more water than the Raspberry which is the same quantity and mix of medium. On the Day 3 feeding the thing was still like a saturated sponge on the bottom half. That, to me, was very concerning.

I decided to not water/fertigate today. I think the thriving plants will not be overly stressed by a day off, and I want to give the Blue Mystic a day to drink or release the retained water.


I am interested in any thoughts people have about the best way to get Blue Mystic to the numbers of Raspberry. Half strength fertigation at low pH? A full flush? Any other thoughts about this data is helpful too.
 
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I have never had a problem with running plain, ph'ed water in one go, gallon after gallon, back to back to drop the ppms and raise/lower the PH till it is stable.

it does not completely remove all the salt buildup so you should look into something like sledgehammer two to three times during a grow.
 
rangerjake I've been watching some of the threads started by GWE people going through growing pains using coco and other soilless media with great interest. I went here to learn a little more about coco. https://www.cocoforcannabis.com/ Their suggestion is to use a higher percentage of perlite in your mix as your container size increases. I see why based on your experience; bigger pots apparently don't drain as well. They suggest a 50/50 mix in pots bigger than 5 gallon. Your record keeping and analytical approach is great, thanks for sharing....What proportion of perlite/coco have you got going now and is it the same in all your pots?

Mr.furley When you start new pots, do you rinse and condition your coco, or do you use pre buffered coco straight from the brick/bag, and does it matter which brand you choose? Also, I've read that it's important to rinse the fine stuff out when you start. How exactly does the rinse work? Do you rinse through a screen to eliminate fine particles or does high quality coco come cleaned and read to use? Thanks.
 
Thanks HappyDaze. I use cocoforcannabis as my roadmap for fertigation though I didn't use it prior to starting my grow. Wish I did, I would have def spent more time rinsing and buffering my mix. I just soaked my bricks, drained the excess water and mixed my perlite. I did water the mix with a calmag ph'd watering prior to putting the seedlings in.

I use a fairly significant perlite ratio in my coco. Prob 60-40. Strangely, it is the same mixture used in the 4 other pots in the room (3 80% filled 5 gal, 1 80% filled 10 gal) all of which drain easily. This seems to be a unique problem to the BM.

I'll say that for people who are thinking coco is the panacea of ease for growing, keep searching. But if you are into being in-tune to what you put into the plants and doing a little amateur science in monitoring ph/ppm I think it's pretty great as it allows very fast adaptation and alteration what happens in the growing medium.
 
HappyDaze
When I first get coco,
Either way, bag or brick after I mix 40% perlite, I place in a old five gallon smart pot and flush once really good with Ph'ed water, that's it! I remix up all the flushed coco into a rubbermaid and turn everytime I see it till it drys out. Then I use as need I also repeat this process in between each planting, I reuse my coco for as long as I can.

Coco can come from two sources, Inland and Coastal. The main two reasons for rinsing your coco is Coastal coco will contain salt from the ocean that needs to be removed.2) balance the mediums ph. That is all.

Before I continue I need to be clear You can grow in Coco 9 million ways, yes water every 2hr is one way but as I see it this is a pain in the ass, unless you have a recirculating self watering system which in my book is another pain in the ass. Some people don't have the time, space or money to do this. Me I have a life and don't spend that much time watering plus I haul water.
I believe in growing weed easy! I water every two to four days alternating plain pHed then nutrients only When my pots are light when lifted. If somebody needs a link to my plants I am more than happy to provide it.
Im old school garden gangster and I firmly believe roots grow bigger when trying to FIND water not just sitting in it all the time. I also believe that nutrient companies are in the business to sell you more if they can so I don't mix full strength every feeding rather I read my plants for their needs, do I have my share of problems? Yes everybody does but this is what works for me.

The more Perlite you mix the more frequent you have to water due to less water retention, some peeps grow in perlite alone, have it setup as a hydroponic drip system with oxygenated roots from an air injection pumps. You may as well grow in aeroponics at that point IMO. So it is important to know what coco to perlite mix ratio works best for your style and environment.

I have a completely different grow styles then that website and I will not mentioned it in this forum, Campesino and his threads was removed for using this website and forum as a stepping stone to build and advertisers his own website. Danofdanger still hangs in the shadows here only to further his knowledge on cannabis for his own personal gain
And will only enter discussions when tagged. You see We taught the two of them (Dr.Mj and Dr.Photon) what they needed to know about growing cannabis before meeting up here and starting they own site. I remember the first time grows questions from Campesino, Lol.
They are book smart scientist type that now have their own website preaching one kind of style and I will not support nor endorsed it, personally help fix more first time grows for over-watering, over-feeding problems from that websites style then it has help.

enough said about CFC.
Happy Growing.
 
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Haha, oh man. The internet forum drama :) I think the reality is that there is more than one way to skin a cat. My guess is you can follow C4C's methodology note for note and still encounter problems of one sort or another. Perfect example is my situation- using the same medium in the same environment and the exact same feeding for the first 3 weeks. And even after all that one strain is doing one thing, another strain another thing, and a third strain doing something different than the other two!

Seems like you are doing your research and due diligence HappyDaze. You've probably got a good idea of what to do and potential pitfalls and things to keep your eye on, like pH and ppm. Just go for it and work it out as you go.
 
Mr.furley I wasn't aware of the acrimony between the two forum sites, I hope I haven't been offensive. I'm just doing research before I commit to changing my grow style. I like your casual style and the results you get, so I'm tagging along for the ride. Sorta like a tractor drafting behind a Ferrari. I follow the same nute philosophy with DWC... KISS+less nutes= :). Fixing toxicity is hard, adding to the feed recipe is as easy as tipping a bottle in a lot of cases.

rangerjake I want to have fun growing, not be in a state of shear panic like some people are experiencing over their weed plants. "Panacea of ease for growing" Haha, you should copy write that... you could probably use it for a grow book title in a couple of months.

Thanks again for the feedback.
 
Sheer panic is not how I'd describe my situation. The problems I am having seem to be pretty usual. I have been on top of them and 6 weeks of flowering left for the Autos and that much time left to veg the photos I feel on top of things and am *gasp* having fun :)

The learning and tinkering are enjoyable for me. If it was smooth sailing and nothing was amiss or imperfect I'd be learning nothing and getting complacent. At least this way I am thinking, on my toes, doing my research, and full of ideas for how to improve my game next time around. Have no fear! Jump on in the water is fine.
 
When things are going smooth for me, I plant more friggin plants and that leads to what I'm doing now, looking for a "project". I need to wait at least one cycle before I try a coco grow, I need to refill my jars with some hydro weed first.
 
rangerjake
You are correct they are soooooooo many factors and they very from so many other factors, there is not one correct way of doing it right 100% of the time, something can easily be a miss especially with multiple strains.
I believe that knowledge is power and the more you try the better grasp you have on things, I do encourage trying new things.

HappyDaze
You have not offended in anyway, it is my own personal feelings in the matter that have got the best of me today and I have never laid it down on here publicly.
 
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