Nutrient waste in Coco

xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
Soiless said:
I think i under stand the full scope of the system and how it works, was just curious because runoff seems to be a pretty important part in maintaining a rootzone clean from slat build up, from what i learned so far...
judging by the photo you attached in the other thread, I really dont know what to believe any more and who to listen to, but can't argue with results thats for sure, looking spledid over there.
gotta love these totally vast differences in information from source to source smh-.-
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The trick is to never overfeed. I run a low EC feed of just base nutrients and taper that down towards the end of harvest. The reason people end up with salt buildups and/or nutrient issues is because they overfeed and dump too many products on their plants. Products that the plants don't need or use which is why they build up and turn the coco/soil into an unhealthy environment for the plants which causes lockouts, deficiencies, and pH issues.
 
Soiless

Soiless

Active Member
xtsho said:
The trick is to never overfeed. I run a low EC feed of just base nutrients and taper that down towards the end of harvest. The reason people end up with salt buildups and/or nutrient issues is because they overfeed and dump too many products on their plants. Products that the plants don't need or use which is why they build up and turn the coco/soil into an unhealthy environment for the plants which causes lockouts, deficiencies, and pH issues.
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What would one consider a low EC feed for a setup like this? Flower/veg
And do you also drop some drip clean or anything of that nature in your res, to keep the tubing sorted?
 
gr865

gr865

Well-Known Member
xtsho said:
100% coco and blumats. No runoff.
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If it works for you that's great!
I tried Blumats in coco, worked with them a shitload to get the flow good during veg and well into flower. After I worked with them until it ran for a week without probs I took a trip, by probs I mean not allowing the plants to dry out. I was gone for 7 days had a 8 day rez, when I returned the plants were brown/dead. Checked the rez and only a gallon may have the used. I was in the 5th week of flower when I left. Everything ended up going into the compost pile.
It was after that that I decided to go auto. It took me a few years to get to my current system where I wanted it and I will never go back. I can run 1 to 18 plants with this system and if I switch to drippers I can run at least 24 plants.
Now I am not down on Blumats because I have friends who they work great for but they will not travel more than a few days at a time.
The folks at the Blumat website are great people to work with. I use a number of their products in my current system.

GR
 
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DrKiz

DrKiz

Well-Known Member
gr865 said:
If it works for you that's great!
I tried Blumats in coco, worked with them a shitload to get the flow good during veg and well into flower. After I worked with them until it ran for a week without probs I took a trip, by probs I mean not allowing the plants to dry out. I was gone for 7 days had a 8 day rez, when I returned the plants were brown/dead. Checked the rez and only a gallon may have the used. I was in the 5th week of flower when I left. Everything ended up going into the compost pile.
It was after that that I decided to go auto. It took me a few years to get to my current system where I wanted it and I will never go back. I can run 1 to 18 plants with this system and if I switch to drippers I can run at least 24 plants.
Now I am not down on Blumats because I have friends who they work great for but they will not travel more than a few days at a time.
The folks at the Blumat website are great people to work with. I use a number of their products in my current system.

GR
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This is exactly what I witnessed with other people. That or their whole reservoir ending up on the grow room floor.

Not getting down on it either, but an automatic drip system is much more reliable IMHO.
 
DrKiz

DrKiz

Well-Known Member
And a life hack for OP I just learned.

If you live in an area that rains, get a rain barrel or two and you’ll have enough clean water to pour through any DTW system.
 
gr865

gr865

Well-Known Member
DrKiz said:
And a life hack for OP I just learned.

If you live in an area that rains, get a rain barrel or two and you’ll have enough clean water to pour through any DTW system.
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What is OP?
Did that for years, found cleanliness to be an issue, both dissolved solids and pH issues, at least in my area. My city water also sucks, 800 ppm dissolved solids, lots of nitrates. I purchased a good RO water filtration system, <50 ppm and have not run short of water for drinking and cooking but also plenty for my plants.
The approx. 50 ppm in the RO water is added back Cal/Mag for flavor. It is some of the best tasting water I have had. Oh and my plant love it! :)
 
curious2garden

curious2garden

Well-Known Mod
Staff member
xtsho said:
The Tropf-Blumat is a sensor that supplies plants with drips of water via thin tubing. As the soil dries, its natural suction power triggers the opening of the Tropf-Blumat allowing the water to flow. When the soil is sufficiently moist, the Tropf-Blumat automatically stops. The process requires water pressure, which can be created using an elevated reservoir or over a connection to the mains supply.
Every plant and every container or group of plants is outfitted with at least 1 Tropf-Blumat which is set for the specific requirements of the individual plant.
For larger containers or surfaces, it is necessary to use several sensors or longer sensors. All Tropf-Blumats are connected together over a common supply tubing. The possibilities for set-up are diverse and can be changed as desired at any time.

www.blumat-shop.de

Function

www.blumat-shop.de www.blumat-shop.de
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Great explanation of Blumat's xtsho, thanks!
 
Soiless

Soiless

Active Member
DrKiz said:
And a life hack for OP I just learned.

If you live in an area that rains, get a rain barrel or two and you’ll have enough clean water to pour through any DTW system.
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I'm from Israel mate, shit be dry as hay over here, and I live in a flat :D

Thanks for the input guys, greatly appreciated, I'm having a hard time deciding on an automatic system because either one would be at least 100-150$ to set up, and I don't want to be disappointed with the one I choose.
Those blumats do sound tacky but the idea is cool, traditional pump and timer sounds much more reliable for obvious reasons.
I feel like for my first coco grow I might just go with hand watering, I'm very committed with my grows, I know I'll be fine with whatever :).
 
sarahJane211

sarahJane211

Well-Known Member
Soiless said:
how do you feel about the nutrient waste in Coco?
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In Coco,
Fertiliser is $3 for a 1Kg bag.
2 bags (different N-P-K) lasts me 6 month to 1 year growing 3-6 plants constantly.
Why would I worry about waste, doesn't seem like there's much money to save there.
...... unless you're growing 500 plants ...........
 
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Soiless

Soiless

Active Member
sarahJane211 said:
In Coco,
Fertiliser is $3 for a 1Kg bag.
2 bags (different N-P-K) lasts me 6 month to 1 year growing 3-6 plants constantly.
Why would I worry about waste, doesn't seem like there's much money to save there.
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Was talking specifically about feeding solution, the cheapest would be GH wich are ~85$/gal here, dry amendments are a different story, cant even get my hands on them where im from.
 
EvilScotsm@n

EvilScotsm@n

Well-Known Member
I've never understood why people do drain to waste with coco. Just sit a res under the plant for it to drain back into and recirc it with a pump and a light timer.
Turns it into basically a Wilma or oxypot.
No run off to deal with.
No hand watering and almost zero waste. Other than emptying the res out once a week or so.
 
A

Apalchen

Well-Known Member
Drain to waste doesn't really waste much water at all if done correctly. I've done runs with more run off and lately have been doing runs with very little run off and I don't notice any difference. I run lower feed levels when I'm not going for much run off. The idea with drain to waste in coco or rockwool is your only feeding the plant the amount of water and food it needs, if you can nail that you don't need much or any run off. Going to run off every once in a while is still a good idea in case of build up, or if your having issues you need to correct then you would want to get extra run off.

Recirculating systems actually waste more water because of full Rez changes. It would take a week or more for my 44 plants in Coco to make the amount of water waste it makes changing out the water in one DWC tote.

10% run off is the most I'd go with in coco unless your having issues and trying to correct.
 
Merkn4aSquirtn

Merkn4aSquirtn

Well-Known Member
I’m running one 5 gal with straight coir no perlite.
I throw 2 gal and get back almost a half gal
I only water once every 48 hours since I don’t have any perlite.
Sooo I’m getting .5 gallon waste every 2 days..
I’m wasting around 1.5 gals a week roughly.
I get more runoff with 1 gal of water in a 7gal with perlite.
I waste a lot less with no perlite but I wouldn’t recommend doing it, even tho the bitch is huuuge
 
2klude

2klude

Well-Known Member
I ran and MPB RDWC system for 6 harvest... talk about wasting nutes between rez changes.

Coco when dialed in really is an amazing medium and DTW doesn't have to be wasteful. I actually had very little run off in my previous garden and everything was thriving.

Use drip clean at .04ml per gallon and water till just enough runoff to make sure everything is saturated properly and evenly... I'm talking like 1% runoff. If you do see some issue than take 1 pot and give it more water and check the run off.

IMO salt build up issues happen when people don't water enough. You need to water coco min once a day so ensure the medium stays moist and salts can't build up.
 
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