first time coco grow...

wasn't sure if this is where I should post it but...

I am doing my first auto grow, I have 2 autos in HF soil/perlite doing great.

I just germinated another seed, trying to do a coco grow for the first time ever, I am new to growing in general.

I am doing 70/30 coco/perlite mix. They will be vegging under 2x 2' 24w HO t5s.

I was told to add 2-3" of perlite on top of the coco to help avoid fungus gnats laying eggs and getting into the coco? Is that a good idea?

Also as a first time coco grow, any tips? I'm growing some Bloody Skunk Auto from sweet seeds in a 2gal plastic pot using coco. I have another one of the same strain going in 70/30 HF/perlite mix, in 3 gal plastic pots.

They will be put in my 2x2x4 grow tent under a 300w (136 actual draw) viparspectra led.

My goal is to see if I can get the same/bigger yield using soil in 3gal vs the coco in 2gal.

Or really just seeing the difference in general with the final product.

The perlite is a pain in the add on top, it will grow green algee on it and float up when you water it. I tried diamastous earth and that sucked too since it would never dry out at the frequency I had to water, would just stay a thick mud that made watering difficult. I've heard sand works really well and doesn't effect the watering near as much but haven't tried that yet. I'm done with coco though, I really hate it, you can get good results but I prefer hydro or organic soil.

flush the shit out of it before starting then mix in perlite

Make sure you have plenty of runoff when you water as well or either feed very lightly to prevent salt build up. It sucks have to flush 20 gallons of water through a plant to get the runoff to an acceptable level.

Thanks for the tips. I plan on feeding normal, I do have the botanicare cleared which I will be using last week of harvest and in between nute changes. After 1-2 waterings with it it will bring my ppm from 1200 or whatever it is at the time to 100ish. Normally I just used it for the last week before harvest but now that I’m trying coco I felt as I would need it or at least want to use it as directed. Which is in between nutrient changes and flushing before harvest. Never used it in between nute changes with soil though.

That's probably going to be way too much, I've never been to get over 600ppm without getting quite an accumulation of salts. Everything has been happy right around 500ppm with an occasional feeding close to 600ppm. In hydro I fed up to 1300ppm no problem but I wouldn't try that with coco. Also ph at 6.2 has gave me best results as any lower I would get mag deficiencies. I guess it really all depends on the quality of your meter though. My blue lab at 500ppm will read close to 1000ppm on my cheap ppm pen I paid about $40 for.

And yes they were both measuring on a 500 scale.

The perlite on top will not stop the bastards, unfortunately.

Add a Sticky Strip to the Room,somewhere it can't get caught on any thing .
This will give you a good idea on if you have anything in your room,I have Lady Birds in my room all the time,Just in case there is any thing in there.I have about 6 in there,They do a great job ,at keeping anything you don't want in there down.

Coco Is great,just keep things simple ,I buy 60/40 ,the clay balls do a great job of getting plenty of Airation into the Coco.But early on I try to use just coco with Perlite mixed in ,because if you use the 60/40 it just dries out far too fast.Once they get a ok size they retain enough moisture to just be watered once a day,but in summer. In my T5 room,then I have to water twice a day .Through it drying out so fast,Once they build a nice root structure then they do ok with just the morning water.

Nutrients,I use 3 all way through my growing.I have used the full line of most nutes ,big named ones,But I do best with what I'm using now,Just canna a/b from the minute a clone has roots ,or seedlings have there second set of true leaves ,I feed 1.1 ec just canna a/b coco.and increase through the grow,the only nutes I use is this .The other 2 I use are just pk spikes,Big Bud from Advanced Nutrients ,at week 2/4 ,then I stop feeding BB at week four.The other I use ,is Pk 13/14 .I use this for 7 days at week 5 then after this back to a/b.

I have found with Coco ,the More air you can get into the Medium the better.Its the reason I use a Air Ring ,in the Bottom of each pot ,with holes cut in the sides.you can buy air rings for pots,but I have found that the holes are too small,and this can cause water to bubble out the bottom ,So I put a thin layer of clay balls in the bottom of the pot ,then the ring the coco on top of that.The difference this makes is un real,the roots love it.I use a Twin tube fish tank pump with a flow dial on it ,so I can turn the air flow up or Down .I just put a Hole in the side,of the pot near the base.Then the spaghetti tubing can be put through this hole after Air Ring has been put in the base of the pot,the rigged to the fish tank pump.

Good Luck on your Grow ,
Tyke