Ok so for my second grow I am using autopot spring pot 5 gal fabric pots. I started the seeds in soil and moved them thru solo cup, then 1 gal pot, then it’s final pot.
I am only top watering 50/50 canna coco/perlite for the first 10-14 days to give roots a chance to reach bottom 1.5” clay pebbles.
Rhizotonic at full dose one day, then calmag/ canna coco a+b at .8 ec the second day dry on third day. Back and forth for 10-14 days.
So far I’ve had some deformed leaves on seedlings. Cal mag spray helped. Two seedlings on left are a week ahead of two on the right. Hoping they catch up with a little love and training.
One of the complicated parts of growing in coco for me is the cal mag and cation sites. I think this may be something a lot of newbies have trouble understanding. My plants seem a little yellowish to me but they are growing insanely fast compared to my last soil grow. Two on left just went boom and grew and 1” overnight.
I’ll keep posting the autopot experience as I go. Thx for any input!
Cation sites are present in coco medium. Calmag can fill these sites which is one of the reasons you need to give strong doses of calmag. It’s molecules and atoms and science stuff. Lol. Basically the coco is using some of the nutrients like calmag to fill the cation sites. Now I’m not sure if once they fill the sites they will always stay there? That’s why I say it’s the most confusing part. I am no pro that’s for sure but I have been reading a lot about it. Apparently canna coco is prebuffered. But my plants still look a little yellow to me compared to my first soil grow. But they are also growing at a much faster rate.
So I’ve been top watering them. I’ve read that when the plant leaves have reached the edge of container is when I turn the system on. That’s just a valve BTW. Gravity fed. So I’m just a few days away from that event. I’ve just mixed up 5 gallons of rain barrel water with a starting tds of 14ppm. I added calmag recommended amount, coco a+b 40ml each and canazime stuff and set oh to 5.9. I turned on the two plants on left just to see valve work till .5” water in the pot. Then decided I’d wait a couple more days.
I’m a little concerned about the salt buildup from the top watering calmag and rhizotonic later on in the grow. I have read that the build up isn’t an issue since it’s always feeding from bottom and that I should never water from top again unless I need to flush for some reason. They will be easy to flush cuz I can just take fabric pot outside to the rain barrel and let her flow. Lol
‘Cation sites’ refers to the Cation Exchange Capacity (CEC) of soils or any soil like media.
Soils (or soil types) tend to have a net negative charge so when any cations (positive charged ions…always the first name in compounds, ie. CALCIUM sulfate. IRON sulfate) are introduced they tend to be ‘held’ in the soil. This way they are exchangable (available) vs negatively charged ions which tend to flush through the soil. The CEC is a good reference as to how fertile the soil is… In many soil substitues there is a lack of CEC capacity…since ORGANIC MATTER in the soil offers the most exchange sites growers will benefit tremendously by periodic applications of HUMIC ACID. HA is the most efficient way to add organic matter, and because it is so soluble it will penetrate the total depth of your ‘soil’. Sorry to run on here, but your CEC has a TREMENDOUS effect on nutrient availability and pH buffer capabilities…FWIW
Ok so I’ve noticed plants seem less green more pale green and now I am noticing the reddish purple fan leave stems. I’ve read this can be a few things. I’m guessing it’s not enough nutrients OR a PH problem. I don’t think they are quite ready for the res to be turned on. I’m still top watering daily with 5ml calmagplus per gallon. That one gallon does all 4 plants. The run off water or what’s at the bottom of the aotopot after had a ph of 6.8 and the water going into coco was 6.0. So the clay pebbles at the bottom of the pot were rinsed but not treated at all cuz it said they were ph neutral. Then today I see a utube about how they can raise ph and how to balance them out before you use them. Ugh😕 of course there is no video for balancing them after they are in the pot. Lol so I’m taking all 4 baby’s out to the rain barrel tomorrow and I’m going to flush them with some ph 5.5 water, unless someone says that’s a bad idea.
Wow the ph 5.5 perked up my babies! They were crazy erect! Lol I can’t believe how fast things happen in coco. It was like an hour or two and bammo standing at attention.
Have you tried promix-hp? I grow in both coco and promix-hp. I have adapted my nutrients regamine and my media choice to work together well. I feed cal-mag everyday as i water daily. But my plants also get humic acid everyday and some other goodies, i have a 3 day feed and 1 day flush and then a 3 day feed routine But the flush day is just that flush to run off. I water everyday also. Bit on the 5th day i water and feed to run off. Watering to run off maintains drainage and helps keep nutrient build up out of the rootzone. I also stopped using cloth pots. The fabric affects the retention of salts and nutrients. I was testing this a bit but i abandoned it because it was not worth my time at that moment. But those cloth/fabrics pots are not my favorite. And i only use the disposable grow sacks black inside and white outside. They retain moisture a little differently than the cloth pots or the full blown plastic pots. I think there kind of unique and there all i use.
Preybird I’m ilusing autopots this time around with coco/perlite 50/50 and clay balls at bottom. So I am only supposed to top water till roots reach bottom, or plant reaches outside of container. Then I switch res on and only pull plants to flush if I e got an issue. Which is easy enough if I need to.
So I’ve got a couple pics here for someone more experienced than I am to help me. I have a guess but I’d like more input.
Ok so the purple fan leave stems, and the weird wrinkle on the beginning of leaves??? I ph all feed and water to 5.8-6 always! I do get some run off obviously which runs into the autopot. I was using my wet dry vac to suck it out each day after watering. But with deformed leaves and such I decided to test run off and it was up at 6.7 which is bad right? So I have been watering with some 5.5 last two days and they perk right up nice. My guess is the clay pebbles are bringing ph up. I’ve been adding calmag 5ml per gallon each day fir watering all four pots. Is the wired wrinkle caused by ph? Or cal mag deficiency? How to fix?
The wrinkle is ok. Looks like a genetic thing. I wouldnt worry about the wrinkle. I dont see any deficiencies. They look ok. Nice fimming also just let em cruise along.
Ugh I just broke one of my future cola’s putting one of those training clips on. I knew it needed another day. It was just a little short to fit into the clip. I guess I’ll just have one on that side and try and squeeze an extra top from somewhere else. Mabye it will root for me and be a mommy. Have you used the training clips that bend the branch. You can make perfectly shaped table top canopies with these things.
I haven’t tryed promix but I will if it’s better next time.
Fired up the autopot res this morning. Seems as if a ph of around 5 is best right now. The autopot tray was at 6.7 so I’ll prolly raise ph in res from 5 to 5.8 next filling and see if it stables itself.
My fim gave me 3 tops yay lol so the autopots have to be exactly level or you will have major issues. The valve only works if perfect level. The way it’s designed if just an ounce of extra water goes to tray it will spill out where it is supposed to go into tray the hose should be designed higher up or differently all together. Anyway so far so good. Only lost 2 gallons into the waterproof tent bottom. Good ole wet dry vac sits near tent at all times lol
So autopot system is working as it should! Got to keep it perfectly level. I’m using rain water with EC value of 0.0 so I add coco a+b 72ml each per 7 gallons in Rez. Also adding 53ml rhizo and 66ml canazym and 21ml calmg. Total ec of Rez after all has been added is 1.4ec. Plants seem to love it! One plant that I fimmed is really short but thick! Nodes are like 1/4” apart lmao. Should be interesting. Also I have zero pest issues with coco. I love this!
Ok so the tent is full!! Lmao. I would like to know what to expect with a tent this stuffed? I will be removing the runt and run just 3 in the tent. I just flipped 12/12 couple days ago. I’m worried the stretch will push out against the tent walls and if it does what should I expect? Any feedback is welcome.
I would usually defoliate then let them rest a couple days then flip them
Thats what i just did for my seed runs and this is my 5th seed run this way. I lollypop the lowers and defoliate the tops. But i also topped/cloned them one week earlier. I always take cuts before i flip. So i have more if i like it. And i breed with lots of plants so clones speed up production of pollen.
The autopots are awesome! Pretty much fill Rez and keep ph in check. I’m using canna coco nutes and bloom even though it’s pricey. Cost isn’t my concern, quality comes first. Any wait. Critical Mass is growing faster than gorilla glue 4.
I’m filling a 10 gallon Rez every 5 days right now. They drinking and stretching. Lights just hit the top of tent so I’ve trained a few tops sideways hoping the stretch is over soon. Lol I’m using the canna boost despite the cost. I figure it will be worth it. All canna coco nutes using their feed chart for coco. No signs of mute burn at all keeping Rez at EC of 1.9-2.0 with ph of 5.8. The autopots water always seems to be just above the Rez with PH 6.0-6.2 which seems perfect. I use a small pump in Rez that is on a repeater for 10 min every 3 hours and ph stays perfectly stable. Sry pics are fuzzy I’ve got a crack right down the middle of lense.
just let em cruise along.
