Coco doesn’t hold onto nutrients, except for calcium which it pulls out of solution. So yes, you always want to rinse your coco before reuse, but only after you buffer again with calmag. Rinsing the coir with plants still in it isn’t beneficial in terms of reuse.
I’m not saying that’s an argument against flushing your coco before harvest, but it isn’t an argument for the flush either.
Dont reuse coco right away unless you thoroughly remove old roots they can bind you up and as they decay can cause lil imbalances … good to have 2 to 3 batches cycling… and there is difference in coco based soiless and 100% coco so be aware for instance cocoloco is a charged media like fox farm ocean forest but its not identical but neither is coco loco to 100% coco with or without perlite
It’s not needed. I start giving water only 2 weeks from harvest just to save money on nutrients that aren’t gonna be used anyhow.
That’s just what I do personally. I also dont reuse my coco either because it’s so cheap that I’d rather spend 20 bucks then to sit and dig roots out.
I’m with you on the reuse of coco @imSICKkid it costs me 35$ Canadian so yea 20$ usd.
Although everyone’s situation is different and if I was in someone else’s shoes I very well might re use coco… Although I might switch to clay pebbles fully to refrain from the hassle of it all. Clay pebbles may be alot easier to break apart post grow.
I experience a smoother smoke (far less throat-hit) with the flushed plant material vs not. As a result I can usually detect terpenes in the first hit which I might not otherwise.
One thing though: I don’t trim as tight as the dispensaries so a little sugar leaf poking out of my flower is fine. That said; is it possible that I am actually experiencing lower salts in the leaves vs flower? Maybe: whatever the study did may have included tightly trimmed flower.
I also don’t flush to a calendar. I flush while monitoring TDS (unless in straight hydro) until I hit a predetermined target value: then I harvest.
Can you please elaborate on the value part when you have a minute. I need to learn this so I can try it myself
In soil my target is under 300 ppm. In coco or peat: under 100 ppm. Hydro just run distilled the last week. Once I hit that value I do a harvest early the next plant “morning” as lights come on.
So in my case, with Promix HP, when I feel like im ready to switch to water only, I keep watering and once runoff TDS is below 100 ppm then im good to switch to 48 hours of darkness then chop.
Correct?
Yes but it would depend on your tds of water going in you can flush with tap water and just get your run off similar to your tds in.
Week 6 of flowering
You can tell the difference in genetics and how the Aficionados are bigger in size and more frosty
@Hellraiser @Nicky @Cannabian @Myfriendis410 @Not2SureYet @Jackie_Daytona @fano_man @imSICKkid @BigHuff2316
Cherry Noir
White Caviar
Munson
Granny Skunk
That’s the two top ones?
Yessir!
You got alot bigger to get dont count em out yet
@Nicky - you use that simple filter (the dupont) for hydro?
The Frizzlife filter - is that in addition to the DuPont, or instead of?
I was told to get an RO system - so I did - but the thing gives me a trickle after the small pressurized tank is empty. Really frustrated with my water flow. I’m considering going to hydro in my next grow, but for that I’d need 50-55 gallons every time I change the water. That takes days at the current trickle rate. That’s not sustainable.
Out of the tap, my PPM is about 150. I’m growing in ProMix HP now.
Really frustrated. Any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.
Dang hope you didn’t spent much on that RO system. You can get a bigger holding tank that seems to be your bottle neck.
At 150 ppm your waters really nice.
Mines 175-240 and I run autopots that are a mix between coco and hydro no issues.
The dupoint is a filter housing and then I run a Gac20 carbon filter inside that filter housing.
I only live in a mobile home, but hey its all mine so yahoo no mortgage at 33 years old lol, so I just tied it into my cold line on my kitchen sink.
The filter lasts 8 months in my house and I have 4 plants all year with a crop of 4 outside for 3 months in the summer.
Hydro’s mad expensive and touchy, I honestly think autopots are the best.
They are cheap, reliable, low maintenance, zero waste water, you can run any medium you wish although coco perlite 50/50 is my ideal medium.
Get the spring/smart pot system the plastic pots are out of date and require air pumps which are not needed with fabric.
Ask away, tag me in your journal and I’ll help you. Don’t be worried if you haven’t started your grow yet its best to post before you do something until your experimenced in my boo, as this will save making mistakes which can be costly. So make a plan and get advice.
@Nicky - thanks!
I’m switching to hydroponics because it reduces variables and oversight time. Right now, it feels like caring for my four plants is like caring for four infants. I’d at least like to get them up to “toddler” stage, where they can entertain themselves consistently for a day or two.
Don’t get me wrong - working on the plants is therapeutic and fun. However, the struggles with the water are sucking all the fun out of it. Maybe if I can solve the water problem, I’ll enjoy working with the plants more.
Thanks for all the help.
I switched from RO to straight tap(170-200ppm) for the last 30 days of this grow. I moved from Ocean forest last grow to ProMIx Hp in 7 gallon pots and jacks 3-2-1 for this one. Once I had to start watering 11 plants 7 in 7 gallon pots and 5 in 5 gallon pots as well as 20 clones every day. I switched over to tap. Just to much waste and I don’t pay the water here. Every thing seems to look pretty good and I cant tell a difference from the RO.
I think you should be golden with 150ppm out the tap.
I second that. Just let your water sit out for 24 hours to get rid of the chlorine before you feed your plants.
If you run into trouble, just mix some RO with tap water.
I hear you, I work away from home for two weeks at a time.
Here is my autopot guide.
My current grow is the auto grow off, take a look this might be up your alley it’s basically easy cheap simple low maintenance hydro. You can run any medium you want like clay pebbles as in dwc.
