Help please! Slow growth in coco, won’t dry out

Hi all this is my first time in coco. I’ve done soil successfully many times. Never perfect but never had the look this bad this early. Not sure what I’m doing wrong. Last water was Sunday but they are barely growing especially the one and the coco isn’t drying out much at all. All guides say coco should be watered every day to 2 days with some run off but mine have been like this since transplanting them into 1 gal sunday. Barely let any run out the bottom due to fear of overwatering. Also had the light too close moved it up to 3 ft and don’t see anymore tip burn on new leafs. Or could that be nutrient burn too that I’m seeing?
They are under a 315 cmh hortilux. Temps range from 72-77 degrees consistently and consistent 50-65% humidity.
I am using GH nutes with cal mag and following from a grow guide but they seem to be growing very slowly and the leafs are kind of curling up and seem to be a very light green color.

I use RO water and add my all nutes seperately and then Test and ph my water to 5.5-6 if necesarry. Got the old tri reader out and it says they are still moist in middle . Not sure how accurate the reader is with ph but it says 6.5-7. Which I know past 6.5 in coco isnt ideal. I have included my Nute schedule as well. Any suggestions would be great thanks in advance

I got a sore neck looking at your pics lol

That isn't light burn on the tips. You need to get that light dropped down asap. 18" should be good at this stage

Aim for 5.8 starting ph , although depending on coco, some have only gotten good results when upping the ph to the 6.3-6.5 range. I always ph to 5.8-6.2

Start using the lift-a-pot technique. Basically the next time you water, soak the pot so runoff comes out the bottom, lift the pot to gauge its weight, don't water again until the pot is light. Sometimes some of those meters do more harm than good if they aren't calibrated right or are just cheap all in ones.

@Renfro might be able to offer some better advice.

diggs99 said:

although depending on coco, some have only gotten good results when upping the ph to the 6.3-6.5 range.

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Thats where I am at with Mills DNA Coco Cork. I run it at 6.5 (root zone) and they love it.

Oblivi0us said:

All guides say coco should be watered every day to 2 days with some run off

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You don't ever want coco to dry out. Depending on the plant size to pot size ratio and the environment, you may have to water as often as every 4 - 6 hours. when that meter hits middle green, water heavily and get about 20% runoff.

I have to use a digital pH meter (that green one won't do pH worth a damn), to check my root zones. The pH there can be very different from what you are feeding. If the plant is eating less than it's drinking then your pH will drop and need to be corrected. This is also an indicator that the feed strength (PPM) is too high.

Pretty much impossible that your over feeding with that program. Honesty don’t know who came up with that but it’s insanely low ppm, about 1/4 strength. Are you using 2.5ml per gal of micro grow and bloom? What coco did you use? Also there’s no “guide “ that will be exactly taylored to you setup and your environment. When I transplant I like to Soak the medium after transplant then let them dry out to where the coco is a light brown colour on the top and pot is fairly light before watering again. If you just keep them soaked, the roots have no need to go and search for water. Also a couple feet above plants is good for now for your light.

Imo you should never have a dry out period in coco. Once the plants root system is established in the pot feed it more often at least twice a day and once a day to 20% runoff. By allowing the coco to dry out your nutrients are concentrating burning the plants stunting its growth.

I ph to 5.8 - 6.0 you're too acidic for your medium.

If you feed your coco medium like soil you will only get soil results and not get any of the hydro benefits.

I am a new grower but have been following cocoforcannabis.com methods and watering twice a day to run off always with nutes since it went into a solo cup with coco.

Good coco convert info in @diggs99 thread.

Recommend ML the nutes. These are great for small measures.

Oh and they are bent over like that bc I like to do low stress training and plan on doing scrog method.

westcoast420 said:

Pretty much impossible that your over feeding with that program. Honesty don’t know who came up with that but it’s insanely low ppm, about 1/4 strength. Are you using 2.5ml per gal of micro grow and bloom? What coco did you use? Also there’s no “guide “ that will be exactly taylored to you setup and your environment. When I transplant I like to Soak the medium after transplant then let them dry out to where the coco is a light brown colour on the top and pot is fairly light before watering again. If you just keep them soaked, the roots have no need to go and search for water. Also a couple feet above plants is good for now for your light.

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I’m using the week 3 veg guide. And yes it’s per gallon . 1/2 tsp for micro and flora. I am using a mixture of mainly some 75% canna coco and 25% Mother Earth coco + perlite. Just to use up the canna. Ok I moved my light down to 2 feet above canopy. The box says stay at 3 ft at all times but I’ll take suggestions. I phed my water to a little above 6 this time and watered. I tested the run off ph and it was around 5. Does this mean I need to add even more ph to next watering? And what does a 20% run off look like to you?

kotobide said:

Imo you should never have a dry out period in coco. Once the plants root system is established in the pot feed it more often at least twice a day and once a day to 20% runoff. By allowing the coco to dry out your nutrients are concentrating burning the plants stunting its growth.

I ph to 5.8 - 6.0 you're too acidic for your medium.

If you feed your coco medium like soil you will only get soil results and not get any of the hydro benefits.

Cannabis Grow Guide - Coco For Cannabis - Science and Practice

Cannabis grow guide: articles, tutorials, DIY projects & more! Dedicated to the science and practice of growing cannabis in coco perlite and other media.

www.cocoforcannabis.com

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That makes sense thank you for the insight I am going to definitely water more. I ph my water after nutrients to a 6-6.1. When I test the run off water it was showing a low 5. Should I up the ph for the next watering? And do you have an example of what your 20% run off looks like? If I lower my humidity to say 35-40% will it help the pots to dry out faster? I also moved my light to 2 ft due to suggestions even though the box says always stay 3 ft away.

thank you so much for your speedy replies you all rock!

Yes if your humidity is lower they will dry out faster. Also dont get hung up on the runoff percentage, you actually dont need runoff in coco. Also since your new to coco, be prepared to hear a rash of different opinions on how it "should" be used. Theres been so much good info and miss information passed around over the years on all the different forums. Ive been running in coco and coco mixes for 10 years and have heard it all, if theres one thing I know for sure is that there is more than one way to grow in coco. But be prepared to hear "this is the right way", "no this is the right way", "you should never do this" etc. Also do you have a ppm meter? Like i said before your using about 1/4 strength feed so dont expect to get much growth with that little feed.

Your plants have not rooted out the pots and I would bet this is your problem. Soaking coco and no roots to suck it up so basically your drowning your roots.

westcoast420 said:

Yes if your humidity is lower they will dry out faster. Also dont get hung up on the runoff percentage, you actually dont need runoff in coco. Also since your new to coco, be prepared to hear a rash of different opinions on how it "should" be used. Theres been so much good info and miss information passed around over the years on all the different forums. Ive been running in coco and coco mixes for 10 years and have heard it all, if theres one thing I know for sure is that there is more than one way to grow in coco. But be prepared to hear "this is the right way", "no this is the right way", "you should never do this" etc. Also do you have a ppm meter? Like i said before your using about 1/4 strength feed so dont expect to get much growth with that little feed.

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What would be a more wise nutrient feeding schedule for explosive growth?

I am following this guide: https://www.growweedeasy.com/how-to-grow-cannabis-315-lec-grow-light

it does say in the text that she is emphasizing to use the nutrients at half strength.

would it be of my best interest to use them at full strength or do you have an idea from your experience what would make more sense? Thank you again for your input it is much appreciated.

Doesn't appear to be much perlite in the mix,how does this affect watering schedule?

myke said:

Doesn't appear to be much perlite in the mix,how does this affect watering schedule?

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Hi myke good question. My friends turned me onto coco after they grew it for 5 years. I originally bought Mother Earth coco with 30% perlite. They heckled me saying perlite will just float to the top and be a waste. So he gave me a 3/4 full bag of the canna coco brand that has no perlite. So I pretty much just mixed the two together to not waste any canna. I had my own gut feeling perlite helps with drainage so I put ONLY Mother Earth with perlite for the first 1/4 of the lot for the bottom to have adequate draining. The rest of the pot I just mixed the canna and Mother Earth equal parts. I have one more transplant to a 3 gal. Would it be more wise to just stick with the Mother Earth only to promote adequate drainage?

About your ph from runoff,5 u say?From what ive learned this means too much food is being left behind.Not flushing enough.20% so if you pour 2 litres in 400ml should be in your catch tray.5 L in should be 1 litre out.Thats the way I understand it.

zypheruk said:

Your plants have not rooted out the pots and I would bet this is your problem. Soaking coco and no roots to suck it up so basically your drowning your roots.

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This is the best responce to the problem. Gotta get roots to build first before you hammer them with feedings. No roots = no yield.

pH is way too high if that meter is accurate. When you water, you should water it completely or you'll get salt buildup.

I'd flush it with plain pH'd tap water to get all the nutes out and let it dry out. Coco is too hot.

Thanks for all the replies. They are doing well now after all the advice. Have tripled in size in 7 days and a new shade of green and praying towards the light. The main problem was the nutes weren’t strong enough. As stated earlier they were at about 1/4 what they should of been. I started h3ads formula of 6ml/9ml per gal with gh and it put life to them. Also purchased a ph and ec/tdm meter to get exact at 5.8. Roots shooting out the bottom in 1 gal now! Am doing daily watering till run off and they are dry next day

zypheruk said:

Your plants have not rooted out the pots and I would bet this is your problem. Soaking coco and no roots to suck it up so basically your drowning your roots.

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Hey Zypheruk how do you go about this?
I have trouble with dryback in coco, how does the plant rebound?

wdt258 said:

Hey Zypheruk how do you go about this?
I have trouble with dryback in coco, how does the plant rebound?

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Zypheruk hasn't posted for a couple years.