I dont want to sidebar this too much, but have you ever grown in DWC? Lol. In my experience, coco has been very simple as long as you pay attention to details. Seems to me that it shows symptoms and solutions rather quickly instead of having to wait days and days to see if changes were good in soil. Where as in DWC, you walk away for 12 minutes and all of a sudden your plant is wilted and on deaths doorstep. HahaAnd they are a weak final product.
I would start with soil. One mistake with autos is the end and coco is the most unforgiving method of growing.
Weak? NoAnd they are a weak final product.
I would start with soil. One mistake with autos is the end and coco is the most unforgiving method of growing.
DWC and hydro are very simple. 5.8 ph, plenty of oxygen, at least 5gal buckets pref bigger totes. Frequent buckets changes. Keep water temps below 70. Use hygrozyme.
Coco especially in the beginning needs to be babysat until the roots fill the pot and frequent waterings are used. If it dries too or the young roots sit in oversaturated media problems arise and with autos, problems equal lousy yield.
So, if conditions are perfect in DWC, then yes, it is much more forgiving than poor conditions in coco.DWC and hydro are very simple. 5.8 ph, plenty of oxygen, at least 5gal buckets pref bigger totes. Frequent buckets changes. Keep water temps below 70. Use hygrozyme.
Coco especially in the beginning needs to be babysat until the roots fill the pot and frequent waterings are used. If it dries too or the young roots sit in oversaturated media problems arise and with autos, problems equal lousy yield.
Coco REALLY IS hydroponics. Like, in real life.Well coco isn't really hydroponics and I disagree, hydro is super simple. Problems can be fixed in hours. I haven't had problems in hydro in decades but I can see new growers having issues. Actually I guess new growers will have issues with any medium.
If anyone is struggling with hydroponics feel free to pm me, I'm happy to help.
The trouble i often see is people NOT minding their pH in coco, and treating it like soil, which you can water with piss or angel tears & the soil can still buffer it. Coco cannot, I believe even with organic inputs & amendments you still need to mind the pH of the water. And most of us aren't using "pH perfect" nutrientsHydroponics is soilless medium. Often thought of inorganic medium. Coco being an organic medium is what made me say it isn't "really" hydroponics.
It is often confused and growers treat coco like hydro and then have problems because the pH requirements are different.
I started out in homemade NFT rails. I've found little difference when I moved to coco other than I had some buffer time built in so that a pump loss didn't kill my grow in a day. But when I lost pumps they'd last a day in their tubes with top water I got through 3 days until my new pumps arrived. There's some CEC you have to consider with your medium since it isn't completely inert but there are small difference among all the growing styles even with soil considering what type you are using.Hydroponics is soilless medium. Often thought of inorganic medium. Coco being an organic medium is what made me say it isn't "really" hydroponics.
It is often confused and growers treat coco like hydro and then have problems because the pH requirements are different.
Only reason I'm trying autos is that the last couple of years have had shitty autumns, so I'm hoping they'll be done before the bad weather comes.My 2 cents
The only real benefit of autos, is NO LIGHT SCHEDULE NEEDED. Literally everything else, it's just weed
Perfect reason IMOOnly reason I'm trying autos is that the last couple of years have had shitty autumns, so I'm hoping they'll be done before the bad weather comes.
Indoors it's photos
Athena is the worst nutrient line I've ever fuckin ran. Weakest most overpriced salts in the industry. GH till I die.And since we're talking about nutrients:
Nutrients are like automobiles. No one is "the best" because there are TONS of application purposes (growing indoor or outdoor, DWC or soil etc etc). Pick one that you like, one that has "the features" you want, and run with it. Myself, I use General Hydroponics becuase they dilute and mix nicely, they're cheap and easy for me to get, and I've had FAN FRICKIN TASTIC results with them. I also liked Athena Blended but it required more to be used for slightly lesser results for me.