Coco or water?

Just curious on everyone's opinion about growing in coco versus growing directly is water. I am currently doing both and so far its seems like more of a hassle dealing with direct water.

Coco I can manage my feed in smaller amounts wheres water its the entire bucket and if you change water after a few weeks the rest is waste... also the constant tank ph shift I feel is much worse than managing ph and ec in the water I give in coco.

Any real benefit of growing in water over coco?

Coco is way easier and more forgiving but you still can fuck it up but less chance of killing your plants' coco can buffer ph so it doesn't shift super hard as long as you don't give wrong ratios of nutrients.
water is less forgiving changes show almost within two hours or so and can have more problems ph wise and root wise but once someone knows how to do it without problems it's easier because you don't have to worry about mediums.
I can go on and on with pros and cons but those are the biggest differences for me.

Ahh gotcha that makes since. So sounds like the biggest pro is not having to deal with mediums... I treat big patches of coco for cal/mag deficiency and then heat it to kill all pests so I think I'll stick with this thanks.

I've grown ebb and flow style for many years and used hydroton as my medium of choice. Switching drain to waste and coco has been the best thing I've done. I know it's not exactly growing directly in water but the fluctuations are similar. The ph and ppm fluctuations were a pain in the ass. Constant monitoring and ph ing the solution was never ending. My set up now is almost identical to my ebb and flow system. 55 gallon drum which pumps nutrients to a container then the runoff empties into run off container with an automatic pump. This set up allows me to be away for up to 2 weeks at a time. I love it.

jcdws602 said:

I've grown ebb and flow style for many years and used hydroton as my medium of choice. Switching drain to waste and coco has been the best thing I've done. I know it's not exactly growing directly in water but the fluctuations are similar. The ph and ppm fluctuations were a pain in the ass. Constant monitoring and ph ing the solution was never ending. My set up now is almost identical to my ebb and flow system. 55 gallon drum which pumps nutrients to a container then the runoff empties into run off container with an automatic pump. This set up allows me to be away for up to 2 weeks at a time. I love it.

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Any pics?

Let me see if I can upload from my phone

jcdws602 said:

Let me see if I can upload from my phone

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That is super clean. Nice set up! I'm a little jealous. How long do you veg to get that size? Guessin that's a 4x4?

I usually don't grow plants this size but I acquired this apple fritter cut and it has been very vigorous to say the least. By the time my last batch was done this thing was a monster. Then I took a month break so about 3 months or so give or take. This trellis is 4 1/2 feet by 7 feet and its almost full.

jcdws602 said:

I usually don't grow plants this size but I acquired this apple fritter cut and it has been very vigorous to say the least. By the time my last batch was done this thing was a monster. Then I took a month break so about 3 months or so give or take. This trellis is 4 1/2 feet by 7 feet and its almost full.

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In the past I ran 18 f+d buckets in a recirculating system. Veg 2-4 weeks. I have thought alot about switching to dtw in coco. That 1 pot in the center of a 4x7 space looks alot easier than my 5x9 with 18 plants, but 3 month veg seems like a really long time at 18/6. 3 months, I will almost ready to start a second run?
No offense, beautiful plant tho, and awesome lookin set up. I am jealous

Cabrone said:

In the past I ran 18 f+d buckets in a recirculating system. Veg 2-4 weeks. I have thought alot about switching to dtw in coco. That 1 pot in the center of a 4x7 space looks alot easier than my 5x9 with 18 plants, but 3 month veg seems like a really long time at 18/6. 3 months, I will almost ready to start a second run?
No offense, beautiful plant tho, and awesome lookin set up. I am jealous

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None taken. This is the only time I have ever run 1 plant. I usually run 4 plants in these 5 gallon container or 10-12 in 1 gallon containers with about 1 - 1 1/2 month veg. I'll tell you this though this one plant sure has been so much easier to manage under the trellis.

Good read.

@jcdws602 That's a very slick setup, tidy and clean. Good example that shows that containers bigger than 5gal are pretty much a waste in most scenarios.

DWC is imo better in every way except for noise... Which is why I'm doing a coco run now. I think next time around I'll try and do dwc with just pumps moving water and no air stones.

If you get everything set up for ease of use, coco is the only way to go

I literally don’t even have to go into my room now, and only have to mix up a reservoir once a week

bk78 said:

If you get everything set up for ease of use, coco is the only way to go

I literally don’t even have to go into my room now, and only have to mix up a reservoir once a week

View attachment 5027716View attachment 5027717

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Very nice is that a double halo water ring you got or 1? I tried to use 1 but the holes didn't hit the entire surface so had to seal up some holes and drill new ones to saturate the entire plant.

Couldn't find doubles tho.

Beezelbuz said:

Very nice is that a double halo water ring you got or 1? I tried to use 1 but the holes didn't hit the entire surface so had to seal up some holes and drill new ones to saturate the entire plant.

Couldn't find doubles tho.

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They are from grow tek USA. Owner is a member here @Sk-one

I did flood and drain and DWC for years. Great success with those methods. I stopped growing for a while and when I started back up I didn't have the room or desire to run flood tables or deal with buckets and air pumps so I went to coco. Then I kicked myself in the ass for hassling with the other methods I had been using for years. When I started using blumats growing in coco was like flying a plane on autopilot. Pretty much nothing to do once things were setup. Fill the reservoir once a week. Hassle free and low maintenance.

xtsho said:

When I started using blumats growing in coco was like flying a plane on autopilot.

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I'm glad you haven't mentioned Autopots. The DWC gang would have swarmed you already (Lion-Man is in this thread, so tread carefully).

ComputerSaysNo said:

I'm glad you haven't mentioned Autopots. The DWC gang would have swarmed you already (Lion-Man is in this thread, so tread carefully).

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Hey sweetie

How’s the single auto flower on your balcony coming along?

ComputerSaysNo said:

I'm glad you haven't mentioned Autopots. The DWC gang would have swarmed you already (Lion-Man is in this thread, so tread carefully).

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I could care less about being swarmed.

If I was going to do bottom feed I'd just use fabric pots on a capillary mat. I'll likely never run DWC again. It doesn't make any sense to bother with it when there are simpler solutions available that perform just as well. When I did DWC and flood and drain I had a basement to grow in that had a drain and water. It was a hassle then. No way I'd fiddle around with buckets of water in my tent. That's me and I don't care if others want to bother with it.

DWC is an effective method of growing. I just don't think it's worth the hassle when other simpler methods just as effective exist.