Going from HPS to LED. Worth it?

[Chunky Stool]

unlikely for P to cause lockout in coco, as P actualy regenerates the coco's ionic charge. P is actually good for flushing coco.

The PH is in a reservoir set at 6, never had a problem with pH and if I did have a pH issue, all plants will be affected the same.

Is that how people run such high PPMs? I never pushed my coco plants hard. At the time I had plants in a variety of mediums and treated them all like soil. (not recommended)

 

[Chunky Stool]

$8??!?!?

I pay $3

I could get them cheaper if I had a business license.
Paying retail sucks...

 

[Porky101]

I could get them cheaper if I had a business license.
Paying retail sucks...

Ye retail does suck

When you say such high PPM's...how high is high??

From my extensive experience using coco, anything under 0.6EC the plant will starve to death and die. 0.6-1.0 will be fine for newly rooted clones and seedlings....1.0-1.4 transition from seedling to small plant, then I keep them at 1.4-1.6, any higher and I get burn...

 

[Alexander Supertramp]

Dude, CC just told you the same thing. In DWC, you have oxygenated water, but if you are hand watering and watering too frequently, you can suffocate the roots, which was my point all along.

Coco is near impossible to over water. You would almost have to continuously run water through it to do so. And that water would have to be pretty O2 poor at that...

 

[Chunky Stool]

Ye retail does suck

When you say such high PPM's...how high is high??

From my extensive experience using coco, anything under 0.6EC the plant will starve to death and die. 0.6-1.0 will be fine for newly rooted clones and seedlings....1.0-1.4 transition from seedling to small plant, then I keep them at 1.4-1.6, any higher and I get burn...

Thanks for the tip! I saved the info for my next coco run. I'm really tempted to do it this time. Going from FFOF shouldn't be too unpleasant for the plants since they are rootbound and the soil is mostly depleted. I was thinking about running 6 or maybe 9 plants in 5 gallon cloth pots of 100% coir (bottom feed). It's either that or mix a new batch of organic soil, which isn't a big deal since I've already got everything I need.
What would you do? Right now I've got a surplus of herb so huge yields are a low priority. I'm finishing an organic grow now & quality looks off the hook. Yield looks like it will be mediocre at best.

 

[boilingoil]

Ye retail does suck

When you say such high PPM's...how high is high??

From my extensive experience using coco, anything under 0.6EC the plant will starve to death and die. 0.6-1.0 will be fine for newly rooted clones and seedlings....1.0-1.4 transition from seedling to small plant, then I keep them at 1.4-1.6, any higher and I get burn...

These have been feed .7ec or 350ppm their whole life. Do they look like they are under feed

 

[Porky101]

Thanks for the tip! I saved the info for my next coco run. I'm really tempted to do it this time. Going from FFOF shouldn't be too unpleasant for the plants since they are rootbound and the soil is mostly depleted. I was thinking about running 6 or maybe 9 plants in 5 gallon cloth pots of 100% coir (bottom feed). It's either that or mix a new batch of organic soil, which isn't a big deal since I've already got everything I need.
What would you do? Right now I've got a surplus of herb so huge yields are a low priority. I'm finishing an organic grow now & quality looks off the hook. Yield looks like it will be mediocre at best.

Your biggest threat in coco is cal/mag deficiencies...you need to figure out how much Cal-Mag to add to your feed....

How good are you at spotting cal/mag deficiencies?? the key is spotting them early. Choose one leaf at the bottom and monitor it...as it gets mag or cal or both deficient, raise the amount you feed it....

Cal/mag deficient leaves never recover from my experiance, but they will stop dying. Once it stops dying then you know you have the right amount of Cal/Mag.


Besides that, Coco is so easy. Just water it as often as possible and the plant will EXPLODE. I use a drip feed drain to waste system that waters for 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off all day and all night.

If you feed all the time, you need to manage the waste water. I have a pipe feeding the water to a drain.

GL

 

[Olive Drab Green]

Coco is near impossible to over water. You would almost have to continuously run water through it to do so. And that water would have to be pretty O2 poor at that...

It's impossible to overwater all at once. If you water too frequently, you drown the roots. Do your research, all of you, and we won't have to have these stupid conversations anymore.

 

[Porky101]

These have been feed .7ec or 350ppm their whole life. DoView attachment 3826282 they look like they are under feed

As I said, in my experiance, if I feed that low, my plants run out of food.

I can only put it down to different sources of Coco and strains of plants and growing styles..

I have no doubt your plants are fine at that PPM (which is awsome)...but mine starve to death it seems...

Do you pre-charge your coco with nutes?? I dont...

 

[Porky101]

It's impossible to overwater all at once. If you water too frequently, you drown the roots. Do your research, all of you, and we won't have to have these stupid conversations anymore.

I dont need to research on google for other peoples experiances, I water my plants in coco for 12 hours a day. (15 minutes watering and 15 minutes break).

All my plants are still alive despite being watered almost continuously. Incredible aint it?? I mean, how could I possibly defy Google????

 

[Chunky Stool]

Your biggest threat in coco is cal/mag deficiencies...you need to figure out how much Cal-Mag to add to your feed....

How good are you at spotting cal/mag deficiencies?? the key is spotting them early. Choose one leaf at the bottom and monitor it...as it gets mag or cal or both deficient, raise the amount you feed it....

Cal/mag deficient leaves never recover from my experiance, but they will stop dying. Once it stops dying then you know you have the right amount of Cal/Mag.


Besides that, Coco is so easy. Just water it as often as possible and the plant will EXPLODE. I use a drip feed drain to waste system that waters for 15 minutes on and 15 minutes off all day and all night.

If you feed all the time, you need to manage the waste water. I have a pipe feeding the water to a drain.

GL

I ran Mills A-B, which was designed for coco -- and works fairly well in soil too. Never had to add cal/mag until I switched to SeaGrow Bloom (4-26-26) in week 5. I've got a lot of tubing and can probably scrounge up a pump. Hmm...

 

[Porky101]

I ran Mills A-B, which was designed for coco -- and works fairly well in soil too. Never had to add cal/mag until I switched to SeaGrow Bloom (4-26-26) in week 5. I've got a lot of tubing and can probably scrounge up a pump. Hmm...

Coco is hydroponics. DWC and Coco drain to waste is pretty much the same provided you are always feeding/watering your plants....the difference is COCO clings onto Calcium and Magnesium. CalMag deficiencies will cause death if not treated....


Its pretty easy...just setup a self watering system and decide how to water coco...you can water once per day or all day...its very versatile..the only thing is, NEVER let Coco dry out...you will have a dead plant

 

[Chunky Stool]

Coco is hydroponics. DWC and Coco drain to waste is pretty much the same provided you are always feeding/watering your plants....the difference is COCO clings onto Calcium and Magnesium. CalMag deficiencies will cause death if not treated....


Its pretty easy...just setup a self watering system and decide how to water coco...you can water once per day or all day...its very versatile..the only thing is, NEVER let Coco dry out...you will have a dead plant

What about bottom feeding? I suspect the nutes would need to be dialed in perfect to avoid buildup. A lot of guys use 100% coir w/cloth pots on drain tables & love it.

 

[Porky101]

What about bottom feeding? I suspect the nutes would need to be dialed in perfect to avoid buildup. A lot of guys use 100% coir w/cloth pots on drain tables & love it.

Bottom feeding is fine too....probably better tbh...wont get as many pests that way....How would you do bottom feed drain to waste? you would be wasting a lot of nutrients if you flood the table and then dump it?

I am probably going to build a drain to waste table sooner or later, its a lot easier dropping a plant on a table compared to having small pipes everywhere...

 

[Chunky Stool]

Bottom feeding is fine too....probably better tbh...wont get as many pests that way....How would you do bottom feed drain to waste? you would be wasting a lot of nutrients if you flood the table and then dump it?

I am probably going to build a drain to waste table sooner or later, its a lot easier dropping a plant on a table compared to having small pipes everywhere...

I think they run it like regular hydro instead of DTW.

 

[boilingoil]

As I said, in my experiance, if I feed that low, my plants run out of food.

I can only put it down to different sources of Coco and strains of plants and growing styles..

I have no doubt your plants are fine at that PPM (which is awsome)...but mine starve to death it seems...

Do you pre-charge your coco with nutes?? I dont...

Already pre-charged, and with coir stay away from the pith and use fiber and chunks and you can water how often you like.
Been growing in coir for 10 years now and from my experience the only problem with water retention is having high amounts of pith in you're mix.

 

[Porky101]

Already pre-charged, and with coir stay away from the pith and use fiber and chunks and you can water how often you like.
Been growing in coir for 10 years now and from my experience the only problem with water retention is having high amounts of pith in you're mix.

Do you pre-charge it yourself or do you buy it pre-charged?

I have never charged the coco, I just add more cal/mag to my feed...(0.6EC of CalMag) otherwise I get cal/mag deficiencies...(Using RO water) .

 

[boilingoil]

Do you pre-charge it yourself or do you buy it pre-charged?

I have never charged the coco, I just add more cal/mag to my feed...(0.6EC of CalMag) otherwise I get cal/mag deficiencies...(Using RO water) .

Pre-charged, I only add a cal-mag product for the first few watering's after that ,there is enough in my hydroponic formula to see them through.
It's hard for me to believe that you water every 15 min and have trouble with deficiencies. What's you're nutrient profile like?

 

[ttystikk]

Funny. All you guys bitching about coco in a lighting thread.

LED kills HID. Finished. By the time LED is cheaper than HID, weed will be too.

Place your bets, gentlemen.

 

[boilingoil]

I'm old school, hell, I still have old parking lot lighting converted to grow lights that I still occasionally use. Worked for growing weed back then and still works for today.