Wanna have fun Diagnosing?

Coco, PH 5.8/5.9, vegbloom tap/hard. 75F-79F, RH 55% ppm I’m always changing. High as 700 toxic nitrogen. Low as 480 BRIGHT green leaves. The spots on the leaves are ALWAYS there. Feed once a day, great ventilation and circulation. Added “stackswell” (cal-mag). Used the vegbloom to 500ppm got to 700ppm with stackswell just right now. Won’t know is this does anything until the middle of next week. Stems are purple. I’m growing Girl Scout cookies. I do NOT flush. I called vegbloom and they specifically told me I do not need to flush.

Why didn’t you add the cal mag first?

ToFarGone said:

Why didn’t you add the cal mag first?

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I was told I was not going to need anything else but vegbloom. From the guy who sold me it at the store, who knew I was growing in coco

Kaplow23 said:

I was told I was not going to need anything else but vegbloom. From the guy who sold me it at the store, who knew I was growing in coco

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Most of the guys at the hydro shop don't know jack shit. I learned that pretty quick, lol.

You are for sure over fertilizing imho.
Not necessarily the ec of your solution, or the nutrient profile.
I would make sure it isn't salt buildup in the media, by draining to waste and checking the waste ec. If the waste is well over 500-700ppm, i'd leach the media with your feed solution, until the ppm comes down.

I would never advise "flushing" coco. Though "a little" leaching of coco each feeding, really isn't a bad thing at all.
Imho you should be treating it as a DTW hydro.

The guy at the shop says I’m locked out/deficient...
And I have it fine tuned that only a very small stream comes out the bottom of the pot, not enough to grab and measure. Unless I force it too. When I back off the nutes the plant just turns bright bright green. Problem is the leaves turn yellow get more and more spots and they die off

I’d guess you didn’t pre charge or buffer the coco properly
Do you know how to do that?
Also I don’t grow coco but what brand did you use? Just curious and maybe someone has had similar issues

I’d guess it’s the coco not being washed and buffered and charged

Kaplow23 said:

The guy at the shop says I’m locked out/deficient...
And I have it fine tuned that only a very small stream comes out the bottom of the pot, not enough to grab and measure. Unless I force it too. When I back off the nutes the plant just turns bright bright green. Problem is the leaves turn yellow get more and more spots and they die off

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I would run a little more waste, then test it, just to be sure. Coco can get really whacky like that, especially if it's dirty.

I would invest in some calmag, as others have already suggested, even just to have on hand.
If the waste comes back ok, i'd say you need to add some calmag to your solution.

Edit: check the ph of the waste as well. It'll likely be a little higher than what you're feeding and that's nothing to worry about imo. I've had coir cause me grief before, from over fertilizing and the waste ph was way too low.
I think it's unlikely in your case, but feel it's worth mentioning incase.

never listen to the guy at the shop lmao

madvillian420 said:

never listen to the guy at the shop lmao

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they want your money and they want to milk you better off learning from people that actually grow the stuff the rest is for the op not u

If you are new to growing might I suggest soil? It is a lot more forgiving. I'm only on my second grow but I am always hearing and seeing problems from Coco from new growers, so I used soil. I am glad I started with soil, and in a few more grows I am going to try coco

Thank you guys for all the quick responses.
the coco I got was prebuffed/washed so I stuck it in the pots and germinated the seeds as I was told it was okay to do from shop guy.
I can’t remember the name of the brand but when I get home I’ll share it with you guys, the leaves aee super bright green so I added a 20% more base nutes and I added ALOT of cal/mag.(Recommended max) which is high anyway! I’ll see how they do in a couple days and report back. I do know how to prebuff, and rinse. I was lazy this time as I don’t have a lot of working space and rinsing coco I’m PHd water is really difficult for me here.
I was so stuck on listening to the guy cause he sounded so confident, and sure of himself. I’m going to listen to what I know now and what you guys have suggested. This whole grow from the beginning the plants have looked like this.

Lazy, coco, and growstore guy said its good. There is a foolproof recipe for disaster. Start with learning to grow plants, not follow a chart and ill-informed salesman. Read as much as you can here, about all growing options an pick the best style for yourself. Laziness can work to your benefit, think of it as patience....the number 1 skill a gardener must master. Good luck, soil is best for laziness, quality of bud, and learning to GROW, but I'm biased. Indoor Rols water only 9wks

You need to develop proper watering techniques. You can't treat Coco coir like dirt.

I have a hard time understanding why every newcomer nowadays seem to start out in coir? The extra measurements you need to take is not worth it for newcomers who think they're going to get bigger yields because of tighter feed rates. You need to learn to walk before you can run.

I would never suggest anybody starting out in coir. There's to much room for making errors.

Wastei said:

You need to develop proper watering techniques. You can't treat Coco coir like dirt.

I have a hard time understanding why every newcomer nowadays seem to start out in coir? The extra measurements you need to take is not worth it for newcomers who think they're going to get bigger yields because of tighter feed rates. You need to learn to walk before you can run.

I would never suggest anybody starting out in coir. There's to much room for making errors.

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I think the techniques just go in fads depending on what the stores are pushing/have inventory of. Back when i was first growing aeroponics was all the rage but I haven't seen many people on here still doing it. Ebb/flow seems to be the tried and true, or DTW and irrigation feeding. I haven't personally touched coir I think the appeal is hydro like growth without the 'work' but that doesn't seem to actually be true.

Thank you guys I really appreciate all the back and forth. I’m greatful! Don’t get me wrong I am very new and this is my 3rd grow ever, and 2nd grow in this setup. I’ve always done coco and drain to waste system. My last grow got me .87 grams per watt and went pretty good. The product was decent. This time around I changed nutes/strain/coco and it’s throwing me for a loop.

Kaplow23 said:

Thank you guys I really appreciate all the back and forth. I’m greatful! Don’t get me wrong I am very new and this is my 3rd grow ever, and 2nd grow in this setup. I’ve always done coco and drain to waste system. My last grow got me .87 grams per watt and went pretty good. The product was decent. This time around I changed nutes/strain/coco and it’s throwing me for a loop.

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I would honestly stick with it and keep growing with it, until you get the hang of it. You will learn a lot about plant nutrition using coco, because you have to.
Couldn't count the amount of times i've fucked up growing, mention it I've probably done it. Still have the odd one here and there,imho it's how we get better as a grower.

When I started growing indoors, coco was what i first chose. Going from outdoor soil to coco coir was a bit of a shock to say the least and taught me a lot i didn't know.

I prefer soil myself. Because it doesn't need as much water, or continuous nutrient supplementation, or fluctuate nearly as often, unless something is way wrong..
Same time soil can be just as unforgiving, over fertilize and there isn't a whole lot you can do.

I think stick with the coco. You've had a couple grows already with it and seem to like it and have had some success.
Different coco, different nutrient, different grow man, shit happens.

Totally bro, I’m at the phase where shit is happening and I’m seeking advice and learning from it, I’ve been playing with the PPM and now know what a lot of def and toxic look like, with the cal mag feed if they get super happy and it goes away I’ll know what that looks like and how to correct it.
move had a lot of new and it’s forcing me to learn. The nextgrow after this will be better, I’m looking to dial in everything and get 1.25G a watt. I’ll be happy if I can muster that.
greatly, greatly appreciate the help. You guys make this forum a great site to be apart of.

Generally speaking, in a coco grow, you're going to need Ca and Mg on a higher level than normal, especially if one hasn't buffered the coco to start with (something you should do regardless of what the bag says). When you don't do this, the coco steals the little bit of Ca and Mg you're feeding and your plants go deficient, as they have. You need to also note that any plant likes consistency over erratic inputs...keep your ppm relatively flat and stable, vs up and down and all around. Good luck friend.

CannaCountry said:

Generally speaking, in a coco grow, you're going to need Ca and Mg on a higher level than normal, especially if one hasn't buffered the coco to start with (something you should do regardless of what the bag says). When you don't do this, the coco steals the little bit of Ca and Mg you're feeding and your plants go deficient, as they have. You need to also note that any plant likes consistency over erratic inputs...keep your ppm relatively flat and stable, vs up and down and all around. Good luck friend.

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Thank you bud! I was holding onto what the shop guy told me, totally looks like I needed to change that up haha. I have some pretty sad plants this go around. I’m chalking it up as a learning grow and taking experience from it. Now weight haha...