FIVE WEEKS IN! Pictures + Question LOOK!!

[215zealot]

when i say club i mean Co-op, under prop 215 clubs can sell clones, card holders can grow 6 plants each, so we are at our max now. caregivers are allowed to grow 72 plants in my county.

 

[215zealot]

NEW PICS.

my buddy decided to slant the light, i told him i wasnt sure if he should, but it seems to look ok. he went out and bought a new HPS bulb with built in reflector this thing is 50x as bright as the other bulb, its awesome.

we have a couple questions.


1) are the lights correctly positioned?? the plants dont feel like their warm, plus i have a fan blowing on them 24/7.

2) should we transplant to bigger pots filled with hydro clay?? this coco coir is messy and everytime we water a bunch of dirt gets into the hydro tray.

3) Just bought a PH test kit and we also got some FloraBlend compost tea that we are slightly dosing the plants with.

anyone???? PICS ARE ONE FIRST PAGE.

 

[omnigr33n]

really?? you only water them twice a week??? I had a feeling i was overwatering because they were draining pretty fast. I will cut back on watering.

I read elsewhere that most people flood their trays every 3 hours, thats why i was doing that.

Don't drown your plants. You would rather plant be a little under watered than over watered.

 

[_Sir Smokes Alot_]

egh, r u going to keep them in that small of pots the whole time? I would transplant before u start to flower n put weight on those babies.

 

[215zealot]

yea i just transplanted the coco bundles into hydroclay pots, most of the hydroclay seems really dry though, like it doesnt even need to hold water right now.

 

[Growdude]

I think I would just lower the lights, they look a bit high, you can angle it I suppose it wont hurt.

 

[Metro]

Don't drown your plants. You would rather plant be a little under watered than over watered.

Coco is not soil! Coco needs to be watered frequently. It is very hard to overwater coco due to it's natural structure and air/water ratio. Daily or hydro type drippers are best. Twice a day, everyday hand watering works for me and works for the plants. Coco also needs cal mag supplement (especially with RO) as it will soak up and hold these minerals and gives up potassium and sodium that it was holding naturally.
Water until you get 15-20% runoff. Works for me.

 

[215zealot]

Coco is not soil! Coco needs to be watered frequently. It is very hard to overwater coco due to it's natural structure and air/water ratio. Daily or hydro type drippers are best. Twice a day, everyday hand watering works for me and works for the plants. Coco also needs cal mag supplement (especially with RO) as it will soak up and hold these minerals and gives up potassium and sodium that it was holding naturally.
Water until you get 15-20% runoff. Works for me.

Awesome this was the kind of answer i was looking for!

What would you recomend for Cal/mag supplement.

Thanks alot, i water 3-4 times a day but each time is relatively small and i only see like 5% run off.

 

[Metro]

Cal-Mag + from Botanicare. There are others but this is what I have been using and it's great. Remember to read the label as it is 2-0-0.
I use GH 3 part, so I omit adding any other nitrogen (in flower), as the micro is 5-0-1.
Salt build-up isn't a problem unless you're overfeeding and underwatering. Basically, it'll burn your plants. If nitrogen is involved, rams horn is the first tell tale sign. Coir can become saturated and it is not truly inert medium. This means that the nutrient will change over a short period due to the nutrient collecting micro and macro elements as it passes through the coir.

Large amounts of potassium are naturally present in coir. Potassium competes with calcium and magnesium... buffering and plant nutrition needs to compensate for this.This is why 15-20% runoff is a good rule of thumb. Plant growth tends to be very consistant with coir. Coir is very tolerant of over and under watering, which makes it a very forgiving growing medium.

I use about 1 1/2 inches of hydroton in the bottom of the pot for drainage. Then fill the pot with a mixture of 90% coco and 10% hydroton.

In growth use run to waste starting at about 1/2 recommended dose.
Also remember when starting plants in coco, you must use a very light nute solution,(even seedlings).

 

[215zealot]

thanks alot metro, so far i am sort of following your advice. i am running a very light nute solution, i supplement my regular nute dose with a little bit of FloraBlend Vegan compost that has extra cal/mag.

most of the roots of each plant are in the coco bundle, which is then surrounded on hydroclay on all sides.

i usually get lke 5-10 percent run off, should i be aiming for more??

 

[Metro]

10% should be OK but keep an eye on moisture. Hydroton does not hold water well at all. Water several times a day. As long as your plants are growing and not showing any problems, light nutes are fine. You should increase nute strength slowly.

 

[Kcar]

Hey Metro,
Is that a big T5 on a slant? I was thinking of doing that with mine.
in a veg/clone/mom box. Looks good!

Also, why run off to waste?
Thanks!

 

[Metro]

Yes it's one I got about three years ago. 6 - 4' bulbs. Great for veg. The closer you get, the busher they get. I have this one lifted so the plants can stretch just a bit. If you have 15% - 20% runoff, you'll never need to flush as the constant watering with runoff removes the salts. That's one of the great things about coco. It uses what it needs and releases the rest. Just make sure your nutes and PH are adjusted and water, water, water.
You don't know whats left in the runoff. It is considered waste and should never be reused. I know that some people have said that they use it out in their yard but I would not pour salts out in my yard.
Some people use recirculating systems with coco but again, if you do this, you have to watch the plants closely as you don't know what nutes the plant has used and what it cast off.
I'm not the greatest at explaining things - I smoke pot.

 

[Kcar]

So would you say that Hydroton would be better than Ready-gro
in a closed loop Ebb & Flow system?

I hope I'm not hijacking this thread. Just really interested!

Thanks
Kcar

 

[Metro]

We need to start another thread.

 

[WeedHopper]

NEW PICS.

my buddy decided to slant the light, i told him i wasnt sure if he should, but it seems to look ok. he went out and bought a new HPS bulb with built in reflector this thing is 50x as bright as the other bulb, its awesome.

we have a couple questions.


1) are the lights correctly positioned?? the plants dont feel like their warm, plus i have a fan blowing on them 24/7.

2) should we transplant to bigger pots filled with hydro clay?? this coco coir is messy and everytime we water a bunch of dirt gets into the hydro tray.

3) Just bought a PH test kit and we also got some FloraBlend compost tea that we are slightly dosing the plants with.

Dude it seems to me your Buddy is making all the decissions. Are they his Plants or both of yours?

 

[215zealot]

its a shared thing thing, we both put money into this.

 

[WeedHopper]

its a shared thing thing, we both put money into this.

my buddy decided to slant the light, i told him i wasnt sure if he should

So maybe next time you say the light dont move,,,it dont move!