Blisters 2015 Coco Grow! Difficult start...

juanitos · Mar 17, 2015

Blister said:
Neil

so are you still alive? or more importantly the peppers?

Blister · Mar 17, 2015

Yep I'm still alive. I've been on the road for a total of six weeks since Jan. 1st. My seedlings have struggled. I've had to restart a few times as well. Not looking good so far. I'm hoping to at least get a few plants out of it all.

Just need the work travel to slow down some so I can get things established.

Neil

Blister · Mar 21, 2015

Well now that I'm back from an extended road trip for work, I can finally turn my attention back to my plants. I lost a few battles with germination and keeping things alive, but now have a few on the go. I have one single lonely Jolokia that's not looking too good. I have a couple of Douglahs, a couple of Bubble Gum 7-pots, Carolina Reapers and now some MoA Scotch bonnets on their way.

Just transplanted these from rockwool to coco. I've found that the rockwool is about the easiest way for me to get germination on the seeds. They need to be kept warm and wet. Unfortunately they also require a fair amount of monitoring in order to keep everything going once the seeds have sprouted. It's not something that the wife is able to monitor and take care of. No idea why.

I've also gone back to a proven mixture of General Hydroponics mixture of Flora Micro and Flora Bloom. I'll probably give the Canna Coco A+B a shot down the road, but given the issues that I've been having up to this point, I can't have any more failures if I want peppers at some point in my short growing season.

I'm hoping to keep this glog up to date, or at least better than I have been!

Neil

PaulG · Mar 21, 2015

Oh, man, Neil. Six weeks? That's really sucky, but at least you
are back in the saddle and can keep an eye on things. At least
we can see some green. I've never tried rock wool. Does it hold
moisture well?

Good luck, buddy!

Blister · Mar 22, 2015

Yep six weeks, though not all at once. I left for the first two weeks of January, was back for two weeks, gone for all but one week in February. I was also gone for the first week of March. I just had no time to be able to look after my seedlings. As they get bigger it's not so much of a problem because they can withstand more and I can leave watering instructions with my wife.

As for the rockwool, I've noticed that I've had much better luck with germination if I use plain water, not PH'ed as instructions say and leave the cubes sitting in a small amount of water so they can draw up moisture as needed. I had no luck watering them regularly. I also had no luck with putting seeds directly in coco, or even putting seeds already germinated with a small tap root into coco. They all just seemed to stop once transplanted. So far The best success has been allowing them to germinate and sprout fully in rockwool, then rip the cubes apart before the seedlings can send out roots. Drop them in coco and away we go.

The other thing I noticed so far is that Canna Coco A+B has some pretty crazy ph swings which I'm thinking had affected my plants overall. I'd ph the nutrient solution to 5.8, but when I'd get back after a trip and test the remaining solution because the plants weren't looking good I'd fund that it was closer to ph-6.7. It seems as though I'll have to really monitor the ph level more frequently than I have to with the GH Flora series. The GH Flora series seems to hold very close to the ph level set regardless of how long it takes to use it up (usually within 2 weeks).

I have read that a lot of 420 folks let the solution drift up to 6.5-ish then ph it back down so that the plants get the full range of nutrients as they absorb different elements at different ph-levels. I'm going to experiment with the Canna line a bit and see what it can do, but that will come later once the plants are established.

Neil

Blister · Mar 29, 2015

Small update. Trying to get back into the swing of things with this. I've got a few on the go now, but appear to have issues with lockout given how purple everything was. It looks as though the ph of the solution was too low (in the low 5's). Things seem to be correcting themselves now that I've calibrated my ph meter and have the solution pegged at ph-5.7.

I've got my lights running 21 on, 3 off. I'm considering just jumping them right to 24/7 just to try and make up for time lost.

Neil

Blister · Apr 21, 2015

It's about time that I do a major update. Or an update of any kind for that matter I guess! Things have been fairly hectic here. I've had some issues with my chili plants and getting things sorted out. I've gone back to basics and have been going with what has worked for me in the past. Well, for the most part anyway...

I was having some serious issues with the Canna Coco A+B and my chili plants. I'd use it for 2 weeks and see that it'd turn my leaves purple. They'd also crumple up and get the "eagle claw" that I've read about on the 420 sites. Not sure on the cause just yet, but it seems as though it could be nitrogen toxisity. Some have mentioned that the addition of epsom salts helped cure the issue and I have noticed that giving a foliar feeding of epsom helped them out. For now I've gone back to CNS17 as the main nute for feeding.

I had tried the Canna Coco with my chili plants based on reviews of the 420 folks. It didn't seem to perform well for me and my chili's. It's got a combination of a really fine expresso grind, a coarse grind and some of the long fibers mixed in. I've since sifted it with a metal mesh collendar to remove the fine expresso grind coco. I've been left with the coarse grind and fibers only. It now drains extremely well!

The bucket on the left is the sifted Canna Coco. The bucket on the right is the expresso grind coco that I've now removed. It's almost a 2:1 ratio.

Here's a shot of one of my plants roots 13 days after sifting the coco and replanting everything from 1" diameter pots into solo cups.

The canopy

They're a bit further behind than I'd like, but they're coming along. One final note. there have been weekends where I go away and leave my plants sitting in a cookie sheet with a few mm's of nutrient solution so that they'd stay moist long enough to survive without me being there to water. Each time I've come back to a very healthy plant. I MAY start incorporating this into my water regime every few days since it works so well.

Neil

juanitos · Apr 21, 2015

thanks for doing the canna coco research. what are you going to do with all the fines?

yeah that's how i started only doing bottom watering it's just so convenient.. now i leave like 4 cm and leave for 4 or 5 days to dry out and repeat, same idea as the hempy pretty much.

Blister · Apr 21, 2015

juanitos said:
thanks for doing the canna coco research. what are you going to do with all the fines?

yeah that's how i started only doing bottom watering it's just so convenient.. now i leave like 4 cm and leave for 4 or 5 days to dry out and repeat, same idea as the hempy pretty much.

I'm not to sure what I'm going to do with the fines. Probably just chuck them. Glad to hear I'm not alone in my experience with leaving my plants in a bit of water.

Neil

Trident chilli · Apr 21, 2015

Neil your plants look really healthy whatever water regime you use they looks like they are happy with it ... just as a matter of interest have you thought about when you pot on placing a handful of hydroponic clay pebbles at the bottom of each pot ... they absorb moisture, help with drainage and allow air to get to the roots

PaulG · Apr 21, 2015

The transplant's roots are awesome for 13 days in the coco fiber.
Maybe you could just mix the fines into whatever you use for potting
soil when plant out time comes around. The group shots show some
nice and healthy peppers!

Blister · Apr 21, 2015

Trident chilli said:
Neil your plants look really healthy whatever water regime you use they looks like they are happy with it ... just as a matter of interest have you thought about when you pot on placing a handful of hydroponic clay pebbles at the bottom of each pot ... they absorb moisture, help with drainage and allow air to get to the roots

I've seen some people give that a shot in the 420 sites, but others arguing that coco has the perfect ratio of air to water and adding anything to it just messes with it. Before I sifted the canna coco I had added some perlite to help open it up some. Now that I've sifted it, it seems to be right where it should be. Water runs through it real quick, but holds enough to keep the plants moist enough for a few days.

I'm currently running 15ml of CNS17 per 4L of RO water. The mixture gives me ~680ppm on the NaCl scale. It's so consistent that I have to do is add 9 drops of phUP and it's bang on PH-5.7. Saves time in mixing and measuring. Nice and simple.

PaulG said:
The transplant's roots are awesome for 13 days in the coco fiber.
Maybe you could just mix the fines into whatever you use for potting
soil when plant out time comes around. The group shots show some
nice and healthy peppers!

Thanks Paul! I'm always surprised how quickly things grow in coco when you have it all set up right. The roots are nice and white with the fine little hairs all over them. Still wish they were further along, but not much I can do about that now. I don't have any other plants on the go right now. Everything is in coco. Guess I could spread it on my lawn. Either way things are doing a lot better now that I've gotten rid of the fine particles! Back to pure coco for my plants.

Neil

PaulG · Apr 22, 2015

That's good information. I've never messed around with coco fiber.

Blister · May 2, 2015

Time for another fairly major update. I potted up some of my plants today. I grabbed one of each from MoA, Jolokia, Bubblegum, Doughlah and a Carolina Reaper and put them into pots first. I had one extra pot and put an additional MoA into it. I think I have enough heat coming and really like the flavor of the MoA's.

I have 7 others that need new homes, but I'm out of pots. I need to pick up a few more to transplant the rest into. They're getting too big for their little cups. Guess I'll have to do some digging and see what I can find. I have a hard time culling something I put time and effort into especially since things have turned around for me. I have a Doughlah and a reaper that's putting on buds. I think I'm going to let them grow out and see if they actually are what they're supposed to be.

Canna Coco after sifting it through the fine steel mesh of a spaghetti strainer. Once all the fine particulate is removed it makes an awesome root zone medium with tons of air between each larger chunck of coco. Drains fast, but holds onto enough liquid and nutrient to keep the plants fed for a few days.

No matter how often I see the rootball on plants in coco I'm still amazed. MoA Bonnets

Second MoA Bonnet to get a new home.

Jolokia from last years seed stock.

And the Bubblegum 7-Pot

Carolina Reaper. This one looks like it's going to be fairly bushy. It's already putting out side shoots.

This is Doug. He likes long walks on the beach and rainy nights. He's a cuddler, but a beast roars within. He's looks are deciving as he's waiting on the right chump to unleash face melting heat!

Thanks for stopping in and reading my very infrequent updates.

Neil

Blister · May 7, 2015

And here we are 5 days later...

I noticed the roots poking out the bottoms when I was moving them from the tub to the window so they could get some some sun. Once you get coco dialled in, the plants REALLY seem to take to it.

Neil

maximumcapsicum · May 7, 2015

Incredible. I got a last minute jolokia start from a buddy and decided to try it in coco based in your glog. Will let you know how it goes. Using general hydroponics base nutes, armorsi and Calmag, plus a couple others I don't have off the top of my head. Growing in morning window light plus two daylight CFls. Will keep you up to date!

Blister · May 7, 2015

maximumcapsicum said:
Incredible. I got a last minute jolokia start from a buddy and decided to try it in coco based in your glog. Will let you know how it goes. Using general hydroponics base nutes, armorsi and Calmag, plus a couple others I don't have off the top of my head. Growing in morning window light plus two daylight CFls. Will keep you up to date!

I hope you're running a quality coco as not all coco's are the same. Unless you have a TDS meter, simplify things and use reverse osmosis water.

It's really as simple as this:

- 6ml micro
- 9ml bloom
- 4L RO water (I use 4L/1GAL milk jugs for simplicity)

This equals 700ppm. A minor amount of ph adjustment and you have everything you need to get you through a season. Once you get that down and your plants are happy, then start to add different products. If you add too much before you get the hang of it, you run the risk of having too many factors to eliminate should something go wrong. Good luck man!

Neil

OCD Chilehead · May 7, 2015

Those plants look amazin strong roots and stem. Taking notes. I really want to try hydro out down the line. I have a Aerogarden Ultra with 7 MOA plants. They are bigger in one month, then last year's soil plants at three months. That's the extent of my hydro experience. Thanks for sharing. Good luck with your grow.

Chuck

Blister · May 7, 2015

OCD Chilehead said:
Those plants look amazin strong roots and stem. Taking notes. I really want to try hydro out down the line. I have a Aerogarden Ultra with 7 MOA plants. They are bigger in one month, then last year's soil plants at three months. That's the extent of my hydro experience. Thanks for sharing. Good luck with your grow.
Chuck

Thanks OCD! You're not alone in your findings. My experience with hydro has mirrored yours exactly. Hydro grows faster and bigger than I had ever experienced in soil. Good luck in your hydro grow wherever it leads you. DWC, Coco, NFT, Flood and Drain, Drip system or other!

Neil

dlsolo · May 13, 2015

Thanks OCD! You're not alone in your findings. My experience with hydro has mirrored yours exactly. Hydro grows faster and bigger than I had ever experienced in soil. Good luck in your hydro grow wherever it leads you. DWC, Coco, NFT, Flood and Drain, Drip system or other!

Neil

I meant to ask last year, how is the taste? I k of my DWC has grown me some awesome bhuts, the heat was there but thought it would be hotter...

Just curious.