Loco for Coco

[Ganjier]

Figured I would start a thread on coco questions instead of spreading questions all over the place. This is for people who have grown in coco in the past or are currently to help us current coco growers.
My first question is, is there a point in time where you start to cut back on cal mag in late flower? Or cut back on nutes at all? I am at day 45ish and am feeding at a ppm of 950-1100. My runoff is super high, but I have been told not to measure runoff in coco or you will go crazy. As long as the plants look fine, the runoff is fine. I also water/feed every other day in 3 gallon pots which people call me crazy. Some people say feed 2-3 times a day and a minimum of 1. I have never had to.
I also have read that you feed right up to harvest, but do you cut back at all? Thanks.

 

[pute]

Not my cup of tea...I might just learn something.

 

[Ganjier]

Well jiminy cricket! We need more coco growers in here!!! LOLOLOL

 

[Ganjier]

I fed up until harvest last grow. I wasn't disappointed to say the least. But I may just try a weening off nutrients and cut out cal mag the last week. I am undecided.

 

[Lesso]

Figured I would start a thread on coco questions instead of spreading questions all over the place. This is for people who have grown in coco in the past or are currently to help us current coco growers.
My first question is, is there a point in time where you start to cut back on cal mag in late flower? Or cut back on nutes at all? I am at day 45ish and am feeding at a ppm of 950-1100. My runoff is super high, but I have been told not to measure runoff in coco or you will go crazy. As long as the plants look fine, the runoff is fine. I also water/feed every other day in 3 gallon pots which people call me crazy. Some people say feed 2-3 times a day and a minimum of 1. I have never had to.
I also have read that you feed right up to harvest, but do you cut back at all? Thanks.

Question 1. Do you cut back cal/mag and nutes late in flower?
No. I'm not a believer in flushing at the end of a grow in a hydro garden. Coco should be treated like hydro imo. I know from experience that you negatively impact yield and resin production by cutting nutrients at that last push phase. I've done side by side on clones..... Either no difference or worse.
I also never let coco dry out. So I water with drippers everyday. If you let it dry out you will need to fresh water flush halfway through flower between day 28 and 35 because salt builds up quick in coco. Could be why your run off is so high.

 

[T_Dub]

I’m not an expert, but I tried coco once in 5 gallon containers. It drove me crazy. I ended up watering once per day with full GH nutes and CalMag every time, but the amount of runoff required to get the runoff ppm to an acceptable level frustrated me as it seemed wasteful. My memory may be faulty here, but I was probably feeding 2 gallons per day per plant and vacuuming out 1 gallon of runoff nutrients daily per plant. I went back to soil because I was worn out from handling only four plants. (8 gallons of nutrients mixed daily and 4 gallons of runoff…..I’m so glad that’s over!). My understanding was that if the ppm of the runoff climbs too high from the residual salt, you’ll experience nutrient burn. I was religious about measuring runoff ppm and flushing until it was within range.

Interestingly, I see coco and perlite mixes as the recommended medium with “sub irrigated planters”. So if you were to change your growing style to a planter like a “Gro Bucket” or “Octopot”, your coco medium should stay moist as there is a nutrient solution in the reservoir at all times. I plan to test this out with my next grow (coco in Octopots and GroBuckets). I’m hoping it proves to be a lower maintenance program and free of fungus gnats too.

Since coco lacks any nutrients at all, I would likely choose to feed until the end. But that’s simply my uneducated opinion.

Best of luck….I hope someone with more coco knowledge jumps in.

 

[RosterMan]

I’m not an expert, but I tried coco once in 5 gallon containers. It drove me crazy. I ended up watering once per day with full GH nutes and CalMag every time, but the amount of runoff required to get the runoff ppm to an acceptable level frustrated me as it seemed wasteful. My memory may be faulty here, but I was probably feeding 2 gallons per day per plant and vacuuming out 1 gallon of runoff nutrients daily per plant. I went back to soil because I was worn out from handling only four plants. (8 gallons of nutrients mixed daily and 4 gallons of runoff…..I’m so glad that’s over!). My understanding was that if the ppm of the runoff climbs too high from the residual salt, you’ll experience nutrient burn. I was religious about measuring runoff ppm and flushing until it was within range.

Interestingly, I see coco and perlite mixes as the recommended medium with “sub irrigated planters”. So if you were to change your growing style to a planter like a “Gro Bucket” or “Octopot”, your coco medium should stay moist as there is a nutrient solution in the reservoir at all times. I plan to test this out with my next grow (coco in Octopots and GroBuckets). I’m hoping it proves to be a lower maintenance program and free of fungus gnats too.

Since coco lacks any nutrients at all, I would likely choose to feed until the end. But that’s simply my uneducated opinion.

Best of luck….I hope someone with more coco knowledge jumps in.

TDubs You are on point with your coco
I use to grow that way vac and all