1st Grow, I NEED some advanced help!

[jbird325]

Media--Bushdoctor Coco loco (foxfarms)
RO Water
Nutes--Advanced Nutrients PH perfect (micro, grow, bloom)
Equipment--4x4 Grow tent, 2 small 6" fans, vortex s-line, phresh carbon filter
Lights--Spydrx (fluence Bioengineering)

Hi guys I sure could use some advice. I'm on day 50 from seed and had planned on flipping to flower today BUT, then I called FF to talk to them abo ut their COCO LOCO blend that the local hydro guy dropped in my lap when I asked for a coco mix.

FF told me that it's a pre amended and ph adjusted blend and they recommend 6.3-6.8ph that gets flushed every 3 weeks. Now as soon as she told me that red flags went up because I've been using AN PH perfect which adjusts my water to 5.8ph.

I had planned on flipping to flower today but now I'm feeling completely lost and think I need to flush and wait another week and THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT!? Am I supposed to push forward using the AN line despite the fact it's a pre amended soil and ph adjusted, yada, yada?

These are what my plants look like today.. The one all the way to the left looks a little different I don't know why (maybe it's the only female)..

 

[alaskachic]

Huh what day 50 & you don't know who's who? Don't know what to make of that

 

[$bkbbudz$]

HMMM...having only ever grown in soil, I really cannot speak to a coco medium. However, your plants look very healthy and well taken care of...KUDOS to you!.

That said, If this were my grow, I would likely keep doing what I was doing and just flip them when I thought they and I were ready. I would start bloom nutes at 1/4 strength and build from there. But again, just IMHO.

P.S. You may want to look into a PPM/EC meter and a probe meter for your medium ph. Again, I have never used either but I grow in soil. And BTW when the FF rep told you to flush every 3 weeks did she suggest Sledgehammer? If so, you should probably get opinions of other coco growers (actually you should anyway). Because, FF like any other business wants to sell their product. For the 3rd time now...I grow in soil and I have never flushed my medium that much...but, it may be necessary in coco.

Good Luck and Great Growz

 

[jbird325]

HMMM...having only ever grown in soil, I really cannot speak to a coco medium. However, your plants look very healthy and well taken care of...KUDOS to you!.

Thank you $budz, I've invested a lot of time learning as much as possible to get it right the first time. I'm guessing this wont be my last stumbling block Apparently the coco loco isn't exactly coco and it's not exactly soil but it HAS amendments in it (bat guano etc) and has been ph adjusted and also recommended a feeding ph of 6.3-6.7 on a "feed then water cycle and every 3 week flush" (Yes sledgehammer, LOL) pitch #1098... I just don't know enough about that part of the equation to know if my feeding schedule is adequate/inadequate? Mainly because I have no reference of what a plant should look like at this exact age. I keep a journal of everything that I do so I can review it when I'm done...yes...I'm that guy...

That said, If this were my grow, I would likely keep doing what I was doing and just flip them when I thought they and I were ready. I would start bloom nutes at 1/4 strength and build from there. But again, just IMHO.

The kind of guidance I was looking for, thank you.

P.S. You may want to look into a PPM/EC meter and a probe meter for your medium ph. Again, I have never used either but I grow in soil. And BTW when the FF rep told you to flush every 3 weeks did she suggest Sledgehammer?

I do have a ppm meter, but not an EC specific one, it's on the list. I feed them 850-900 ppm of (micro, grow, bloom) every other day, ph is at 5.8 on initial mix and about 6.1 a week later.

Again, I have never used either but I grow in soil. And BTW when the FF rep told you to flush every 3 weeks did she suggest Sledgehammer?

Bahahahhahha! How did you know

If so, you should probably get opinions of other coco growers (actually you should anyway). Because, FF like any other business wants to sell their product. For the 3rd time now...I grow in soil and I have never flushed my medium that much...but, it may be necessary in coco.

I will definitely do this, but I feel like the red headed step child because I'm not REALLY growing in straight coco and I'm not in soil or hydroponics. I feel like the best answer would come from another coco loco user but there don't seem to be any? Maybe I'll try match.com, lol.

Thanks again

 

[$bkbbudz$]

I have always and will continue to use FF products. I grow in FFHF soil and use the Dirty Dozen nutrient system. It works now and always has so, I am not going to 'fix it'.

As I am 'loyal' to RIU as much as a person can be loyal to an internet forum...there are many other such forums...there MUST be another Coco Loco grower or 2 out there somewhere... If you absolutely cannot find a few...it may suggest that you may want to try a different medium. There are many FF products I do not use, including many Happy Frog conditioners etc. I use the soil as is out of the bag. The only thing I add is 30% inert perlite. I believe in the K.I.S.S. theory and try to mimic nature whenever possible. In nature plants grow best (and pretty much solely) in soil and so that is what I use. Also in soil it is much easier to detect issues earlier in progression and do what is necessary to correct them before damage is done. In other, more 'delicate' mediums especially hydro and soil less where every nutrient must be added by the grower, a plant can develop and die from a problem on a much quicker scale, sometimes within hours. Again, all of this is my opinion. I always strive to shy away from giving 'advice' every grow is as different as it's grower and what works for me may not be the best idea for anyone else. There is no substitute for educating oneself to properly cultivate cannabis. From what you have written and from the pictures of your thriving plants I can tell you have and will continue to learn and grow. I have no doubt that this will be a successful grow for you, and so will many others.

I too did many months of study prior to germinating my first seed...the avatar in my profile is my first attempt...I harvested close to 2 ounces from the one plant.

 

[Bubblegum31]

They look great buddy, continue doing what you was doing.

I wouldnt change a thing.

I am interested in the led structure you have ill be following keep us updated plz.

Subd

Bubble

 

[Bubblegum31]

I always grow from seeds, there is not one plant that looks exactly like the other one!

Its completely normal!!

 

[jbird325]

@$budz- Thank you again for the helpful guidance and my hope is to atleast get 2 ounces per plant. Perhaps that is ambitious I dunno, lol but regardless that is the goal!

@bubblegum- The LED is a spydrx (https://www.fluence.science/spydr/) I'm now wishing I dished out the extra cash for the spyderx plus (or went for a cxb 3590 build), because I'm willing to bet my ppf while good for veg will not quite be adequate for flower. I'm sure it'll produce something just not as much weight as I would like I 'll definitely be keeping this thread up to date throughout the grow as I'm sure I'll have more questions.

 

[mattyblade1]

Mate I have been growing in coco now for a while and in fact I'm just coming to the end of a grow. As others have said above, just turn your lights to 12/12 when your ready and keep doing what your doing. What I do is use a Nute solution that is made 100% for growing in coco. I add the boost to the watering in a half strength when I see the flowers developing ( when I see the pistils). I then move up to full strength when the take off, usually week 3 or 4.

Coco is a very forgiving medium to grow in and easy to use. By the way you are spot on with a 3 week flush as well.

Keep going your doing great.

 

[Flagg420]

Media--Bushdoctor Coco loco (foxfarms)
RO Water
Nutes--Advanced Nutrients PH perfect (micro, grow, bloom)
Equipment--4x4 Grow tent, 2 small 6" fans, vortex s-line, phresh carbon filter
Lights--Spydrx (fluence Bioengineering)

Hi guys I sure could use some advice. I'm on day 50 from seed and had planned on flipping to flower today BUT, then I called FF to talk to them abo ut their COCO LOCO blend that the local hydro guy dropped in my lap when I asked for a coco mix.

FF told me that it's a pre amended and ph adjusted blend and they recommend 6.3-6.8ph that gets flushed every 3 weeks. Now as soon as she told me that red flags went up because I've been using AN PH perfect which adjusts my water to 5.8ph.

I had planned on flipping to flower today but now I'm feeling completely lost and think I need to flush and wait another week and THEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT!? Am I supposed to push forward using the AN line despite the fact it's a pre amended soil and ph adjusted, yada, yada?

These are what my plants look like today.. The one all the way to the left looks a little different I don't know why (maybe it's the only female)..

Never made it past the part where you think AN Ph Perfect nutes are magical....

Don't follow the instructions given by the seller, they just wanna sell more shit.

Ph Perfect means the nutrients are fully chelated, allowing for uptake at a wider wange of Ph.... Theres no invisible microscopic dwarves swimming around in there constantly tweaking the Ph to the 'right' level.... Biggest issue with Ph Perfect, is people not reading past the front label....

Go get a book and learn about growing cannabis, THEN start growing.... You already wasted a fair bit of money on useless stuff by not knowing HOW to grow, before you began...

 

[Bubblegum31]

Mate I have been growing in coco now for a while and in fact I'm just coming to the end of a grow. As others have said above, just turn your lights to 12/12 when your ready and keep doing what your doing. What I do is use a Nute solution that is made 100% for growing in coco. I add the boost to the watering in a half strength when I see the flowers developing ( when I see the pistils). I then move up to full strength when the take off, usually week 3 or 4.

Coco is a very forgiving medium to grow in and easy to use. By the way you are spot on with a 3 week flush as well.

Keep going your doing great.

What kind of nuts you use for coco?

Coco is for sure not for newbie!

I made this mistake by starting with coco not that I wasnt satisfied with the outcome.

But first run was a nightmare becouse of defs..

I have used hesi, canna, H&G and plagron coco nuts

I still get diffs, or calcium or magnisum

Almost all of my plants get this or that most of time even when I used the nuts above that was specially made for coco !

Now I have more than one strain in my grow.

Some get calcium and some get magnisum defs

I correct all now from the beginning of the defs it never really progress as I know now how those defs looks like from the beginning, and those defs never have chance really to develop to hurt my plants..

However, its still Very irritating!!

 

[mattyblade1]

What kind of nuts you use for coco?

Coco is for sure not for newbie!

I made this mistake by starting with coco not that I wasnt satisfied with the outcome.

But first run was a nightmare becouse of defs..

I have used hesi, canna, H&G and plagron coco nuts

I still get diffs, or calcium or magnisum

Almost all of my plants get this or that most of time even when I used the nuts above that was specially made for coco !

Now I have more than one strain in my grow.

Some get calcium and some get magnisum defs

I correct all now from the beginning of the defs it never really progress as I know now how those defs looks like from the beginning, and those defs never have chance really to develop to hurt my plants..

However, its still Very irritating!!

I use Canna Plus coco and canna Nutes a & b plus the boost in flower. I always have calmag on hand. In the past 10 or so grows I have never had and issue. When adding Nutes, boost etc I always use less. Less is more as they say.

 

[Bubblegum31]

I use Canna Plus coco and canna Nutes a & b plus the boost in flower. I always have calmag on hand. In the past 10 or so grows I have never had and issue. When adding Nutes, boost etc I always use less. Less is more as they say.

Will I have a pharmacy home !

Maybe ill try to change my coco brand!

The thing is that I even add dolomite lime to my medium on a rate of 1 gram per liter as the instructions says for coco grow, on the back of the lime pack!

And I use coco nuts

tap water is 0.4ec and even then I need to add calmag still

Still pain in the ass!

 

[mattyblade1]

Will I have a pharmacy home !

Maybe ill try to change my coco brand!

The thing is that I even add dolomite lime to my medium on a rate of 1 gram per liter as the instructions says for coco grow, on the back of the lime pack!

And I use coco nuts

tap water is 0.4ec and even then I need to add calmag still

Still pain in the ass!

I have not ha these issues you speak of.

 

[Bubblegum31]

I have not ha thesssues you speak of.

Good for you man!

Am sure water location and medium plays arole in here!

 

[mattyblade1]

Well I will say you could be right. Over here the water is class mate. Out of the tap its 28 ppm