Plants 5 weeks old in veg I watered them at 6am then lights out at 11am come back to water at 6pm and this is what i see. In 6hrs my plants are dead. Coco was still wet when i threw them out i checked the roots all looked nice and white too. I had them 8n 1 gallon fabric pots and they were doing great, i tranplanted to 3 gallon pots and they seemed to be doing great growing vigorusly and leaf color looked good no signs of issues. Then just about a week and a half dead. This is the third time in a row this same shit happened. I have had several successful grows but last 3 all the same. Pics below
Im pretty sure they are drowning, and the roots are not able to get any oxygen, plants need time to breathe, 3 gal pot should should keep enough moisture with coco/ perlite mixture a day or two at that age plant. Not twice a day
Ya not sure because in 1 gallon pots i watered 3 times a day and no issues. That’s the beauty of coco you can do high frequency fertigation and not over water the plant. That is why i am baffled why they died. Maybe too much water after transplant
They looked overwatered to me. With coco I’ve learned you can’t overwater, in the sense of watering too much at once. You can overwater by watering too often though . Watering twice a day, to 20% run off, seems excessive to me.
Drying out the media will probably help. Having fabric pots makes it easier, you can point fans at them and rotate occasionally to dry out the media.
They definitely look overwatered. I’m sure if youd have let them dry up and gave them some love youd be able to revive them. Smaller pots will consume more water than a bigger pot, and even 3 times a day in 1 gallons is quite a bit. Think about the evaporation and heat/light penetration on a small pot. A large pot has a lot more cushion and room for water to store.
Thanks guys i appreciate your thoughts and input. I guess i will try to go back to watering once a day only and see if it is the issue. I hope it is, i will let you know
Constantly watering coco results in over-watering . When using coco, there is a need to water at a minimum of 50% dry. Sometimes 70% dry might be better especially during the first weeks, when most roots are formed. After all, the roots also need oxygen and where there is water there is no air.
I agree they actually look like pretty sweet plants…hopefully you didn’t toss em?
A ProTip for the main cola thats bent over…
Take a plastic drinking straw and cut a 2" section. Split it and use it as a wrap around the bend to give it ridigity. You can then tape the straw without touching the plants stem.
I have had some coco that was so fine it was like mud when wet.
The thing that makes coco work is the drainage that gives the roots air quickly.
Perhaps adding some larger chips would give the roots the air pockets they need.
Thanks for the info guys and ya i tossed them already. Very frustrating they looked awesome a day ago. Maybe I’ll try again really soured of the indoor coco experience. Pain in the ass really seems after 5 weeks this happens. Big waste of time and money
It’s almost as humbling as golf lol. Just when you think you’re the cats ass mother nature teaches you something you had no idea about lol…the learning never stops…i hope!
I would like to point out that I water my coco in 3 gal pots 2 to 6 times a day to runoff depending on stage. Never do they seem over watered. I Process my own bricks and I did find that if I don’t separate enough coco peat from the fiber it will become water logged VERY easily. We want the big fibers not the dust. The more dust in your mix the fewer your drainage benefits. When I wash a brick I lose 1/3 to 1/2 in peat regardless of brand. I would try rinsing your coco a little harder next time.
here’s a pinch of my media from last grow. hopefully this helps.
Holy shit, i honestly didn’t know you really want all that coco peat gone. I washed some other stuff and it did the same as you said most of it sunk to the bottom of the 5 gallon pale I washed and pre charged it in. But honestly i thought i had fucked it up by losing that much of the peat. Do you put it in a strainer when you rinse it, so all the peat doesn’t fall away? I did that once and it barely held any water and i think it dried out too fast and created EC issue in the medium. I would love to hear more. Well next time i will keep it to watering once a day or every other day as Virginia Boy said.
I made this out of a stock tank, filtered water pump, and 1/4" hardware cloth (1/8" may be better but I have trouble finding it to try it). I’ve also used a wheel barrow with the hardware cloth over the top and a garden hose. Throw a couple handfuls on the screen and work it side to side while rinsing until most of the peat has washed out. Buy twice as much coco as you think you need. I give the peat to a friend and he uses it for turtle bedding. It took me 2 grows to work this out and my girls got drastically better when I did.
