Coco and ph levels

My question is, what happens to cocos ph levels in theory, as the plant takes up nutrients? I think for example, cannas a+b arent they acidic? So can you conclude that ph levels rise up slowly, and can go beyond hemps preferred levels? Or is it that simple?

It depends on your water, having some alkalinity in your tap water is great for buffering your nutrient solution's PH. A lot of nutrients are acidic, but I still need to use PH down to get my nutrients to 6.2-I use citric acid as a "ph down." That PH will drift over time, but the great thing about coco is you can feed with it multiple times per day, so each time you feed, you "readjust" the PH of the media by pouring nutrient solution through it. So even if the PH drifts out of range, it will still stay within range long enough for excellent plant growth simply by feeding multiple times per day.

Same for me, i have to use ph down after ive added nutes to tapwater. So ph goes up in the medium after the nutes are gone? So could it be wise to adjust ph always to 5.5 and then it goes through that good 5.5-6.2 range?

Trickster52 said:

My question is, what happens to cocos ph levels in theory, as the plant takes up nutrients? I think for example, cannas a+b arent they acidic? So can you conclude that ph levels rise up slowly, and can go beyond hemps preferred levels? Or is it that simple?

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If you are constantly feeding to runoff what is the reason for concern?

twentyeight.threefive said:

If you are constantly feeding to runoff what is the reason for concern?

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I want to optimize my watering, so i think this is essential information.

Trickster52 said:

I want to optimize my watering, so i think this is essential information.

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Worry about what’s pH you are feeding at. If you are feeding at least once daily to runoff there is no need to worry about some small fluctuation that might happen in 24 hrs.

twentyeight.threefive said:

Worry about what’s pH you are feeding at. If you are feeding at least once daily to runoff there is no need to worry about some small fluctuation that might happen in 24 hrs.

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Yes. But i also want to know what happens to medium ph as the plant takes nutrients. Which way does it swing, up or down?

Trickster52 said:

Yes. But i also want to know what happens to medium ph as the plant takes nutrients. Which way does it swing, up or down?

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It has no relevance if you are caring for your coco properly.

twentyeight.threefive said:

It has no relevance if you are caring for your coco properly.

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Strongly disagree. I want to learn and know stuff. If i had solid understanding how ph acts in the medium, i could optimize my ph setting, watering schedule, know what is affecting what, know different factors and variables. Its always good to know how shit works, you know?
There isnt just one way to treat coco, that i know for a fact.

For example, ec meter is not a necessity with coco, its not even hard to go without it. It can help you if you really want the data, but by all means not important.

Other myth is you have to water coco everyday. Yes you can water everyday if you want, but you dont have to. Neither is wrong.

Third one is you have to water to 10-25% runoff EVERY TIME. No you really dont have to everytime. And it does not do anything bad, if you dont water to RO everytime. Again, 10-20ro every time or not, neither is wrong.

All i want to say theres different setups, different growers, and different styles how you can do things in coco.

And if i had this information, i could play and try different things and do things how it suits my needs.

Still i would be very grateful, if somebody had any insight on this subject

Trickster52 said:

Yes. But i also want to know what happens to medium ph as the plant takes nutrients. Which way does it swing, up or down?

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If you over feed, then your pH drops as your EC increases.

If you underfeed, then your pH increases as your EC drops.

The coco itself if properly fertigated holds a pH pretty much the same as its input solution was as long as water and nutrients are being uptaken at the same rate.

this can be checked with a slurry pH test for the coco using distilled water and a sample of the coco etc.


however though as @twentyeight.threefive has said if you are feeding coco correctly at the optimum EC and pH then you don’t need to concern yourself with the exacting things that are going on.

The biggest thing with coco is if you feed heavy and not frequently enough you actually cause more problems in coco with coco holding on to Ca and delivering back K due to cocos nature.

The pH of the medium will be determined by the plant to an extent.

For example.

you’re feeding at 1.6EC and it’s too heavy and causing burn, this means your coco is starting to get high salinity. High salinity of nutrients = low pH more often than not.

your coco doesn’t get depleted of nutrients after every feeding.

the moist coco is still holding nutrients and water.

the plant dictates at what rate the H2O is taken up and how much of the nutrients are taken up based on environmental factors along with plant health and growth stage.

I think you are trying to worry about too much.

Veg 6.0pH
Flower 6.0pH

I’ve never had problems with this pH range.

You SHOULD water coco daily. Sure, you can skip a day here & there, but----and this is just my opinion based on doing so----it can adversely affect the root zone, you risk too much root material decaying and breaking down which is great for soil. What you're kinda forgetting is coco isn't soil, coco is hydroponics, and so by having a bunch of decaying matter within your coco you're potentially inviting pests. I think it also defeats the purpose of coco growing by treating it like soil.

I think the answer you're looking for, is that rootzone pH decreases as salts build up over time and/or as your coco dries out. You can always do a slurry test to prove or disprove this.

Thank you very much for your answers, im very grateful.
Its just a bit irritating that people say; you dont need to know this, dont worry about that. Im not worrying anything. Im just wondering and want to discover different possibilities. IMO, theres no one way to do this shit.

And last two comments maybe have confirmed my thoughts and observations somewhat right. Idk, i have to sleep on it. But again, thank you.

I bet some you guys lose your shit when you hear about my friends style. He grows in coco, add nutrients straight to tap water and then feeds. Doesnt even check ph (lucky bastard), and offc he didnt have any clue about ec xD Doesnt clear off RO.
Sometimes theres no RO at all.
And yeah, he waters every other day.
Never had problems, always top notch bud.
Ok onetime he had mites or something, but nothing to do with his growing style.

Somebody did put it nicely when saying: coco is a lazymans hydro. I agree. If you water every other day, its still more often than soil, isnt it?

Yeah unless you’re using tiny pots for soil you’re watering coco more often. I got 10gallon pots (soil obviously)going for the first time and fuck it’s like I barely water. In a whole ass 45 day veg I only had to water three times

Trickster52 said:

Strongly disagree. I want to learn and know stuff. If i had solid understanding how ph acts in the medium, i could optimize my ph setting, watering schedule, know what is affecting what, know different factors and variables. Its always good to know how shit works, you know?
There isnt just one way to treat coco, that i know for a fact.

For example, ec meter is not a necessity with coco, its not even hard to go without it. It can help you if you really want the data, but by all means not important.

Other myth is you have to water coco everyday. Yes you can water everyday if you want, but you dont have to. Neither is wrong.

Third one is you have to water to 10-25% runoff EVERY TIME. No you really dont have to everytime. And it does not do anything bad, if you dont water to RO everytime. Again, 10-20ro every time or not, neither is wrong.

All i want to say theres different setups, different growers, and different styles how you can do things in coco.

And if i had this information, i could play and try different things and do things how it suits my needs.

Still i would be very grateful, if somebody had any insight on this subject

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LMAO. I see you have it all figured out. Good luck then.

Trickster52 said:

Yes. But i also want to know what happens to medium ph as the plant takes nutrients. Which way does it swing, up or down?

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It depends on the chemestry of your nutes and also the life stage of the plant (ie: which nutes are they taking up in flower vs veg).

You're not wrong for wanting a more intricate understanding of the media exchange. Coco is an interesting medium and will hold on to certain elements over time.

Trickster52 said:

Thank you very much for your answers, im very grateful.
Its just a bit irritating that people say; you dont need to know this, dont worry about that. Im not worrying anything. Im just wondering and want to discover different possibilities. IMO, theres no one way to do this shit.

And last two comments maybe have confirmed my thoughts and observations somewhat right. Idk, i have to sleep on it. But again, thank you.

I bet some you guys lose your shit when you hear about my friends style. He grows in coco, add nutrients straight to tap water and then feeds. Doesnt even check ph (lucky bastard), and offc he didnt have any clue about ec xD Doesnt clear off RO.
Sometimes theres no RO at all.
And yeah, he waters every other day.
Never had problems, always top notch bud.
Ok onetime he had mites or something, but nothing to do with his growing style.

Somebody did put it nicely when saying: coco is a lazymans hydro. I agree. If you water every other day, its still more often than soil, isnt it?

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Sounds like a great growing method. You could throw ten darts at a board blindfolded and hit the bullseye every time, doesn’t mean you should always try it blindfolded.

twentyeight.threefive said:

LMAO. I see you have it all figured out. Good luck then.

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Thank you

Just pH what you put in and call it a day. Been doing it for years.

Why do cannabis growers overthink and make things more complicated than they need to be?

xtsho said:

Just pH what you put in and call it a day. Been doing it for years.

Why do cannabis growers overthink and make things more complicated than they need to be?

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Exactly.

OP states he wants to optimize his feedings but doesn’t really want to. Optimizing coco to it’s fullest potential is achieved through multiple small fertigation events throughout the day.

I guess the OP wants to optimize his feedings in coco while treating it like soil.

Trickster52 said:

Im not worrying anything. Im just wondering

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the only way would be to monitor the pH in your coco throughout a 24hr day in veg and bloom. sounds easy enought to figure out if you really wanted to.