Critique Coco DTW

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X6xsilverx6X

Well-Known Member
I am in the midst of setting up a dtw coco, to mainly save time, I am planning on running a 4x4, HLG 600, with 64 plants in 6" (1/2 gal)pots. 0-1 week veg time haven't decided yet. With the way things are looking, i am thinking maybe the area will be over crowded and have alot of wasted plants, so maybe cutting that in half and instead of doing 4 plants per sq ft maybe 2 per sq ft? Other option is to run 32 8" (1 gal) pots, but i almost feel since the plants wont have any veg time, a lot of coco, water, and nuetrients would be wasted. Any ideas or help would be great! Thanks
 
gr865

gr865

Well-Known Member
X6xsilverx6X said:
I am in the midst of setting up a dtw coco, to mainly save time, I am planning on running a 4x4, HLG 600, with 64 plants in 6" (1/2 gal)pots. 0-1 week veg time haven't decided yet. With the way things are looking, i am thinking maybe the area will be over crowded and have alot of wasted plants, so maybe cutting that in half and instead of doing 4 plants per sq ft maybe 2 per sq ft? Other option is to run 32 8" (1 gal) pots, but i almost feel since the plants wont have any veg time, a lot of coco, water, and nuetrients would be wasted. Any ideas or help would be great! Thanks
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What is your irrigation plan, 64, 32 etc, Unless you have an irrigation plan I would not attempt it, it would be a bitch trying to hand water that many plants.
I ran a 24 plant sog, dtw in 1 gallon smart pots. I will not do that again unless I have a room not a tent to work in, too hard to get to things to work on them. Good haul but just way to much work.
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dakindgrind

dakindgrind

Well-Known Member
X6xsilverx6X said:
I am in the midst of setting up a dtw coco, to mainly save time, I am planning on running a 4x4, HLG 600, with 64 plants in 6" (1/2 gal)pots. 0-1 week veg time haven't decided yet. With the way things are looking, i am thinking maybe the area will be over crowded and have alot of wasted plants, so maybe cutting that in half and instead of doing 4 plants per sq ft maybe 2 per sq ft? Other option is to run 32 8" (1 gal) pots, but i almost feel since the plants wont have any veg time, a lot of coco, water, and nuetrients would be wasted. Any ideas or help would be great! Thanks
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DTW coco is great, but here's an idea. with those plant numbers your better off building a table and doing a flood and drain.

if you're gonna go flood and drain you mind as well do rockwool cubes.

it's easy to build flood tables out of rubber maid trays, just buy a bulk head fitting for each, a pump and another rubbermaid for the rez.

dtw coco with so many plants in such a small space would be difficult to regulate the amount of nutrient solution each one got. by the time you buy all the drip emitter fittings you're better off building flood trays.

-lumber
-small pond liner
-bulkhead fittings
-silicone
-pump
-reservoir

hook that rez up to a timer and you can leave it for days at a time.
 
X

X6xsilverx6X

Well-Known Member
gr865 said:
What is your irrigation plan, 64, 32 etc, Unless you have an irrigation plan I would not attempt it, it would be a bitch trying to hand water that many plants.
I ran a 24 plant sog, dtw in 1 gallon smart pots. I will not do that again unless I have a room not a tent to work in, too hard to get to things to work on them. Good haul but just way to much work.
View attachment 4451765View attachment 4451766View attachment 4451770View attachment 4451771
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I was going to use floraflex setup or drippers. No way I can even keep up with the daily watering I have now I need some automation in my life, otherwise I’ll have to quit my job or growing.
 
X

X6xsilverx6X

Well-Known Member
dakindgrind said:
DTW coco is great, but here's an idea. with those plant numbers your better off building a table and doing a flood and drain.

if you're gonna go flood and drain you mind as well do rockwool cubes.

it's easy to build flood tables out of rubber maid trays, just buy a bulk head fitting for each, a pump and another rubbermaid for the rez.

dtw coco with so many plants in such a small space would be difficult to regulate the amount of nutrient solution each one got. by the time you buy all the drip emitter fittings you're better off building flood trays.

-lumber
-small pond liner
-bulkhead fittings
-silicone
-pump
-reservoir

hook that rez up to a timer and you can leave it for days at a time.
Click to expand...
Could I get better results with ebb & flower over dtw and cut the amount of plants down and still have no veg time?
 
Airwalker16

Airwalker16

Well-Known Member
As far as using a rubber maid tray. It's do able, but you need a heat gun so you can create a low spot in it for the water to all drain to. Like a corner. Flood tables are sturdy, last year's and are built to work the way they're supposed to. Lots of ribs in them protruding up to support pots or cubes.
 
dakindgrind

dakindgrind

Well-Known Member
X6xsilverx6X said:
Could I get better results with ebb & flower over dtw and cut the amount of plants down and still have no veg time?
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Both techniques will provide great results with higher plant count and minimal veg. Ebb and flow tables are ideal for high plant count no veg.
1 plant per sqft or 9 per sq meter has people hitting 2+ per 1k light with no/minimal veg strain dependent.

Airwalker16 said:
Flood and drain is a great way to do coco. Almost the best Imho.
It's how I'd run coco if I did.
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Coco works great for flood and drain but coco really shines when watered from top down versus bottom feed. Bottom feeding in coco also has the tendency to build up salts overtime more than rockwool or clay pebbles. Though I've seen folks use rockwool and coco interchangeably with coco mats/ tray liners or dropping rw cubes directly into coco pots on flood tables.

I didn't mean to monkey wrench your coco dtw idea, so many ways to skin a cat. I use coco dtw in 5gal buckets with a top feed drip system that feeds multiple times a day. I ensure a proper veg and still pack my rooms with healthy numbers to ensure maximum gpw.

You had mentioned wanting to save time and ebb and flow/ flood and drain on tables is very time efficient.
 
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X6xsilverx6X

Well-Known Member
dakindgrind said:
Both techniques will provide great results with higher plant count and minimal veg. Ebb and flow tables are ideal for high plant count no veg.
1 plant per sqft or 9 per sq meter has people hitting 2+ per 1k light with no/minimal veg strain dependent.



Coco works great for flood and drain but coco really shines when watered from top down versus bottom feed. Bottom feeding in coco also has the tendency to build up salts overtime more than rockwool or clay pebbles. Though I've seen folks use rockwool and coco interchangeably with coco mats/ tray liners or dropping rw cubes directly into coco pots on flood tables.

I didn't mean to monkey wrench your coco dtw idea, so many ways to skin a cat. I use coco dtw in 5gal buckets with a top feed drip system that feeds multiple times a day. I ensure a proper veg and still pack my rooms with healthy numbers to ensure maximum gpw.

You had mentioned wanting to save time and ebb and flow/ flood and drain on tables is very time efficient.
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At this point, I haven’t ordered everything I need yet so I can change things up. I do like the idea of dtw more then ebb & flow, but I feel that I want to stick with small pots half gallon to gallon size with little to no veg.
 
DailyBlastin

DailyBlastin

Well-Known Member
X6xsilverx6X said:
Could I get better results with ebb & flower over dtw and cut the amount of plants down and still have no veg time?
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as someone whos run coco just about every way you can i switched from EnF to DTW and havent looked back. EnF is a great way to grow with coco but constant reservoir maintenance will quickly become a chore you're not fond of, plus in the long run you waste more nutes/water with a recirculating system as you will use 2-3x the amount of nutes per reservoir fill and you will most likely end up having to drain and refill that res weekly or bi-weekly. run DTW with 15% runoff and you'll be happy.
 
X

X6xsilverx6X

Well-Known Member
I guess now I am more curious if it is possible to have too many plants per sq ft, I was reading on coco for cannabis about using 2.25 plants per sq ft. Would 4 per sq ft be more like lollipopping?
 
DailyBlastin

DailyBlastin

Well-Known Member
X6xsilverx6X said:
I guess now I am more curious if it is possible to have too many plants per sq ft, I was reading on coco for cannabis about using 2.25 plants per sq ft. Would 4 per sq ft be more like lollipopping?
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as others have said in their own ways- more plants doesnt always mean more product but almost always means more headache, in your 4x4 i wouldnt do more than 16 plants, as i personally never like to go less than 1sq ft per plant, in my 2x2 flower tent i do 4plants perpetually, offset by appx 30 days each, i dont really "veg" i just make sure i get a good root system started in the ez cloner before putting them into flower. i do basically a main-lining technique to get more colas than popcorn, but ya youd be better off doing less plants, easier to maintain.
 
gr865

gr865

Well-Known Member
DailyBlastin said:
They're either 1 or 2 gal smart pots and appear to watered via flood and drain. obviously @RedDirtResin can tell you for certain but i just figured id go ahead and try to help you out.
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Agree, probably one gallon as they are 6" dia. and he looks to be on one foot centers.
No hose in the pot would indicate the flood and drain, never tried that but would love to give it a shot.
 
DailyBlastin

DailyBlastin

Well-Known Member
gr865 said:
Agree, probably one gallon as they are 6" dia. and he looks to be on one foot centers.
No hose in the pot would indicate the flood and drain, never tried that but would love to give it a shot.
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yea i couldnt judge the pots well enough as i cant tell if im looking at 4x4 or 5x5 flood trays, from the pic the room looks wide enough for them to be 5x5s, but im also medicated :eyesmoke:
 
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