The "I'm totally F-ing up grow thread."

[bobross]

Week 4 Veg--- First try at Coco and I'm screwing up big time ! Its kind of an experiment and my first try with Coco with a freebie seed I dont care much about....

Soil.... Burpees Seed Starter Coco brick/30% perlite. (not rinsed well by me---- screw up number 1)
1/2 gallon cloth pot
7 watt grow light bulb/ Spiderfarmer Sf-1000 added week 3
Dyna grow Foliage pro, Mag Pro, Bloom, Protekt, Great white, Mycos, Fox Farm bushmaster Cal Mag---(mainly using just Foliage Pro---very light use of all other nutes listed)
Mix of RO water and tap water.
1.5x1.5x 4 feet space, Temp 72, RH 40
Runnoff PH----- Way too high ! I was forced to flush hard (Screw up number two, the plant is too small for a hardcore flush--but I did it anyway... Runoff PH still 7.5)

Seedsman White Widow Fem


Seed may be slow due to day time temps around 60 degrees. (I might need a seedwarmer mat---Screw up number 3)

Week 2






Week 3

Screw up number 4: I dont have an EC meter and am growing in coco.... Leaves are growing all twisted up and mangled looking VERY slowly.

update: EC meter came today in the mail, cool little device ! My Tap water is silly high, I'm glad I bought it. RO water tests very low, it appearsa to work !

 

[Fiddler's Green]

What are you up-potting to?

An option is filling that pot now with rinsed out medium close to the parameters you seek and a final rinse in the pot with distilled water, lightly amending the medium and observing how the seedling reacts after it settles in the new pot.

Or maybe some cal-mag

 

[bobross]

An option is filling that pot now with rinsed out medium close to the parameters you seek and a final rinse in the pot with distilled water, lightly amending the medium and observing how the seedling reacts after it settles in the new pot.

Or maybe some cal-mag
[/QUOTE]

What are you up-potting to?

This is a good question. So far I'm planning to use a 5 gallon cloth pot with Fox Farm Coco-Loco---I may mix the Coco-Loco with Fox farm Happy Frog, I'm not sure. For now, I thought I'd see how Coco behaves and learn a bit.

An option is filling that pot now with rinsed out medium close to the parameters you seek and a final rinse in the pot with distilled water, lightly amending the medium and observing how the seedling reacts after it settles in the new pot.

I thought about doing this, just removing the old medium and replacing it with new, but I decided to flush to see if I can get the PH and EC (runnoff corrected) I did rinse the Coco but not enough, it was draining red water until I flushed.... If this doesnt work I might just pull the plant out and start over with Coco-loco and Happy Frog. My PH is too high at the moment.

 

[H.A.F.]

My PH is too high at the moment.

From what I understand coco is basically hydro. If your pH is too high it should be something you can flush out with the new stuff and not have to wait for anything like with soil.

If you add Happy Frog you are adding peat. I think it is the median blend of coco-peat, and the Happy Frog is the all-peat. The more peat you add the more like soil it is gonna react

 

[bobross]

From what I understand coco is basically hydro. If your pH is too high it should be something you can flush out with the new stuff and not have to wait for anything like with soil.

If you add Happy Frog you are adding peat. I think it is the median blend of coco-peat, and the Happy Frog is the all-peat. The more peat you add the more like soil it is gonna react

I've had good luck with Fox Farm Happy Gnats soil. (joke Happy frog is really good minus the gnats which are easy to get rid of.) But, soil is very different from bag to bag and I'm tired of trying to guess what's in it. I figured Coco would be simpler (Chalk that up as another F up by me).... We'll see how it does, this is all an adventure and exploration... I can' lose any way it turns out.

Someone also mentioned that Happy Gnats soil has Spaghum Moss in it as well. Something that may cause PH to drop a few months in. No idea how true this is though.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

I've had good luck with Fox Farm Happy Gnats soil. (joke Happy frog is really good minus the gnats which are easy to get rid of.) But, soil is very different from bag to bag and I'm tired of trying to guess what's in it. I figured Coco would be simpler (Chalk that up as another F up by me).... We'll see how it does, this is all an adventure and exploration... I can' lose any way it turns out.

Someone also mentioned that Happy Gnats soil has Spaghum Moss in it as well. Something that may cause PH to drop a few months in. No idea how true this is though.

I personally think Fox Farm soil is garbage. It used t o be really nice and then their quality control seemingly just dropped off. I switched over to Nectar for the Gods Soil #4 and all my bags were consistant. Once you get a good base soil, all you need to do is keep amending it, and you can just use it over and over. If you are growing in straight coco (or coco with perlite,) then you need to treat it like a hydro grow, keep your pH in range, and make sure you are watering it until you get runoff to prevent issues. A lot of new growers treat coco grows like soil grows and they have a ton of issues.

 

[wierdly]

For seedlings/clones. I have been mixing coco, worm castings, and perlite 33/33/33 water only for one week and the roots go crazy. Then water with 1/2 strength nutes til ready to repot. Keeping humidity higher during veg, helps too.

 

[H.A.F.]

I personally think Fox Farm soil is garbage. It used t o be really nice and then their quality control seemingly just dropped off. I switched over to Nectar for the Gods Soil #4 and all my bags were consistant. Once you get a good base soil, all you need to do is keep amending it, and you can just use it over and over. If you are growing in straight coco (or coco with perlite,) then you need to treat it like a hydro grow, keep your pH in range, and make sure you are watering it until you get runoff to prevent issues. A lot of new growers treat coco grows like soil grows and they have a ton of issues.

I think demand vs supply (more and more legal states) and trying to keep the cost down they blew it. Not sure if there was ever any aging they did after mixing and prior to bagging - but I'm pretty sure that would be the first thing out the window if you have a warehouse full of soil and people wanting to give you money for it.

 

[treefarmercharlie]

I think demand vs supply (more and more legal states) and trying to keep the cost down they blew it. Not sure if there was ever any aging they did after mixing and prior to bagging - but I'm pretty sure that would be the first thing out the window if you have a warehouse full of soil and people wanting to give you money for it.

Yeah, the last bags I got were just straight up garbage. They had large twigs and rocks in them.

 

[H.A.F.]

Yeah, the last bags I got were just straight up garbage. They had large twigs and rocks in them.

Last sack I got before shifting to buildasoil stuff was Roots More-ganic - it's organic and MORE!!! Mine had pavement and random plastic and stuff.

 

[bobross]

I'm on the east coast and my local nurseries advise AGAINST using fox farm soil. I made the mistake of trying Ocean Forest (complete garbage) and my recent bags of Happy Frog have way too much wood in them. So now I'm having a go in coco-- Premixed soil isnt as simple as it seems.

Glad others here know what I'm talking about. Fox farm soil used to be great, but its going downhill fast here on the East coast

 

[H.A.F.]

I'm on the east coast and my local nurseries advise AGAINST using fox farm soil. I made the mistake of trying Ocean Forest (complete garbage) and my recent bags of Happy Frog have way too much wood in them. So now I'm having a go in coco-- Premixed soil isnt as simple as it seems.

Glad others here know what I'm talking about. Fox farm soil used to be great, but its going downhill fast here on the East coast

If you say "cannabis soil" it is one of the first things everyone thinks of. One of the first companies to apply the green tax to dirt and chemicals. It's probably the first thing new growers are attracted to since it has a colorful bags, a set of pretty bottles and a recipe that tells you how to cook the plant.

It is made on the west coast so the soil may only be part of the problem. Think about how fooked the supply chain has been. Lets say you are in Michigan and it goes legal. First thing to sell out in the grow stores will be your growing media. "I only need one bottle of this and that, but I want 4 sacks of your ocean forest"... The way to beat shortages is supply - and the best way to get bugs is storing it waiting for it to sell.

I have some Fox Farms soil in with my living soil. Before going completely organic I used the Fox Farms Happy Frog top dressing set. At one point I had little button mushrooms coming out of the bottom holes of the plastic pots. So it hasn't always been bad.

But If you have room for worm bins, totes of soil, some fermenting bottles and sacks of ammendments inside, then indoor organics is for you! Big rule for me though is outside stays outside, inside stays inside. Fruits and veggies I can run through my worm bin are pretty much the exception.

 

[bobross]

If you say "cannabis soil" it is one of the first things everyone thinks of. One of the first companies to apply the green tax to dirt and chemicals. It's probably the first thing new growers are attracted to since it has a colorful bags, a set of pretty bottles and a recipe that tells you how to cook the plant.

It is made on the west coast so the soil may only be part of the problem. Think about how fooked the supply chain has been. Lets say you are in Michigan and it goes legal. First thing to sell out in the grow stores will be your growing media. "I only need one bottle of this and that, but I want 4 sacks of your ocean forest"... The way to beat shortages is supply - and the best way to get bugs is storing it waiting for it to sell.

I have some Fox Farms soil in with my living soil. Before going completely organic I used the Fox Farms Happy Frog top dressing set. At one point I had little button mushrooms coming out of the bottom holes of the plastic pots. So it hasn't always been bad.

But If you have room for worm bins, totes of soil, some fermenting bottles and sacks of ammendments inside, then indoor organics is for you! Big rule for me though is outside stays outside, inside stays inside. Fruits and veggies I can run through my worm bin are pretty much the exception.

Well, I have a house trained rabbit (uses a litter box) and I'm adding all the rabbit manure and coffee grounds to my old Happy Frog soil now and letting it cook. Other than that, I'm all Dyna-grow.

Reading reviews and forum soil recommendations is giving me a giant headache. Fox Farm, Roots Organics, Coast of Maine, Pro- Mix etc.... They all seem to have something right and something wrong with them. I was planning to give up on Fox farm and try Great Lakes or Coast of Maine, but my fear of Aphids in the soil is ruining it for me. I hate to boil the soil as well, so here I am struggling to learn Coco.

 

[twobitbob]

I used coco for seedlings on this grow I'm on and I was kicking myself for a minute.
I turned them around using Nectar until I could transplant them in my mix
It was a mistake
make sure you Ph your solution I was shooting for 6 and water to 20% run off, with the humidity up as others mentioned

 

[Badddoin]

This was, by far, the best thing I read when I was growing in coco.

Growing Cannabis in Coco Coir with High Frequency Fertigation - Coco For Cannabis

Learn how to unlock the magic of growing cannabis in coco coir with high frequency fertigation! Guide to feed and water cannabis in coco like a pro!

www.cocoforcannabis.com

Entirely too easy to think it’s similar to soil.

 

[twobitbob]

Thats exactly what I was doing to get them going

 

[H.A.F.]

This was, by far, the best thing I read when I was growing in coco.

Growing Cannabis in Coco Coir with High Frequency Fertigation - Coco For Cannabis

Learn how to unlock the magic of growing cannabis in coco coir with high frequency fertigation! Guide to feed and water cannabis in coco like a pro!

www.cocoforcannabis.com

Entirely too easy to think it’s similar to soil.

I am not a hydro grower, but this is what I was talking about with the coco vs peat mixture thing. If you try high frequency fertigation with peat your plants will suffocate in mud.

 

[bobross]

I am not a hydro grower, but this is what I was talking about with the coco vs peat mixture thing. If you try high frequency fertigation with peat your plants will suffocate in mud.

Thanks, so far I'm in pure Coco and it is amazing to see how well it drains and remains aerated. I watered with 3 gallons of water (pot is half gallon) and it was dried out in two days... So, I like the fact that resetting (flushing) coco can be done without drowning the plant.

On the other side, I'm thinking the constant watering schedule (at least once a day) isnt gonna work out for me. I'll; probably move to a soil/coco blend when I transplant. Otherwise, I'll need an automatic watering ring which Im researching now. Another problem I'm running into is high PH... I watered with heavy runnoff last night PH 4.0-5.0 going in, came out PH 7.5 EC around 400 (around the same as my feed)..

Plant it being fed Dyna-grow Foliage Pro and Protekt. (with a few drops of Magpro).. RO water and Fox Farm Bushdoctor Calmag.

 

[H.A.F.]

On the other side, I'm thinking the constant watering schedule (at least once a day) isnt gonna work out for me. I'll; probably move to a soil/coco blend when I transplant. Otherwise, I'll need an automatic watering ring which Im researching now. Another problem I'm running into is high PH... I watered with heavy runnoff last night PH 4.0-5.0 going in, came out PH 7.5 EC around 400 (around the same as my feed)..

The ain downside of this is that while you can fix stuff in one watering you can also make it go un-recoverably sideways in one day too. Once you lose half a leaf to the crispies it ain't coming back even if the plant does.

The main complaint I hear about soil vs coco is about how quick you can fix a deficiency (IF you happen to diagnose the problem correctly). The thing about soil is that you probably won't see problems crop up overnight either. No need to fix them quick whn you can attack the problem early and never have it get bad.

Bro-science/anecdotal stuff - with bottled nutes I was ever so pleased to get to harvest with some of my leaves still on the plant and not burnt up. I am now pruning off healthy leaves all the way to the bottom the night before harvest (because it's easier with it standing) and the worst I have seen is some tip-burn on some upper ones and some tent-wall damage on a few.

You are in this now and changing midstream is silly. But for future grows it's something to think about next time you are itching to spend $39.99 on that bottle of mostly water that is supposed to make the flower really pop! LOL

 

[bobross]

The ain downside of this is that while you can fix stuff in one watering you can also make it go un-recoverably sideways in one day too. Once you lose half a leaf to the crispies it ain't coming back even if the plant does.

The main complaint I hear about soil vs coco is about how quick you can fix a deficiency (IF you happen to diagnose the problem correctly). The thing about soil is that you probably won't see problems crop up overnight either. No need to fix them quick whn you can attack the problem early and never have it get bad.

Bro-science/anecdotal stuff - with bottled nutes I was ever so pleased to get to harvest with some of my leaves still on the plant and not burnt up. I am now pruning off healthy leaves all the way to the bottom the night before harvest (because it's easier with it standing) and the worst I have seen is some tip-burn on some upper ones and some tent-wall damage on a few.

You are in this now and changing midstream is silly. But for future grows it's something to think about next time you are itching to spend $39.99 on that bottle of mostly water that is supposed to make the flower really pop! LOL

So I'm a little different than many on these forums. My goal is NOT to get a ton of tasty buds to smoke, thats just a bonus. What I am after is learning how to grow, understanding plant needs and gaining a general understanding of whats going on. I'd be an ass if I was to think I'd become an expert with only 4 grows under my belt. (Im a newbie... But what sets me apart is that this newbie knows how to learn.) The more I learn, the more I learn that I need to learn, if that makes sense.

My problem with soil is that it is NOT consistent. I dont like unknowns and cant afford to pay for a proper soil test every time I buy a bag of soil. I also HATE the risk of any infestations hiding in the soil. I believe Coco is less lightly to hold pests.

I quickly learned that the nutrient companies are cranking the price of simple NPK formulas, putting fancy labels on and scamming people. Thats why I'm KISS'ing my nutrients going with Dynagrow. I'm also on the fence about bloom nutrients as well. Ive done lots of reading and think the bloom side is way out of whack in most feed schedules... ( Anyone want free Fox Farm Beastie Bloomz, Cha-Ching, and Open Sesame Bloom boosters? I bought them when I was learning and wont be using this sillyness anymore.

Have a bag of Fox Farm Coco-Loco to use when my plant outgrows its current pot. Coco-Loco is a mix of soil and coco as I understand it, so this probably wont be pure Coco in the end. We'll see.

Thanks for all your help, sorry I type so much. I have some yellow top leaves now which hasnt happened to me in soil, so this shoudl be a good lesson to learn whats wrong and to try to fix it... (if I can----it sounds like fixing coco problems is a bit tricky---thanks for the tips on that)...