COCO or TERRA for autoflowers

[Rudi 175]

Hi everyone, first post on the forums spent alot of time here last month or so planning my grow!

 

I have done some averagely bad grows in the past but have learnt massively where some of my problems were and now I want to make some decent quality buds with a reasonable yield so investing properly and taking the time and care to do things properly this time  

 

My last real stumbling block of the whole operation before I set up my pile of equipment sat in the corner is to get my head around soils and nutes. I know there are hundreds of posts out there but none seem to quite answer my questions and masses of reading has led me over numerous different answers which I know could all work depending on strains and grow methods but its really hard to find specific information with background on the whole grow at setup etc! 

 

So to the point: 

1) Canna Terra or Canna Coco which would you recommend for auto flowers in a non hydro setup? Using 400w HPS in a 0.7x0.7x2m tent so water retention is important, I intent to mix 30% of perlite in. 

2) Think of using RQS easy boost in the soil mix and light dosage of easy grow/bloom over the grow, in distilled water, is this overkill on nutrients for an auto flower?

3) Do you use distilled or tap water (i live in very hard water area) for flushing the plant before harvest?

 

For general information: 

As mentioned growing under 400w HPS in a small but tall tent so got some space! 2 inline RVK's for intake and exhaust going straight to fresh air through the roof and under the eve, on the side of the house that barely see's sun all year around. Running Rhino Pro Carbon filter in the tent. Will be growing a pair, maybe 3 will see once its all setup RQS Auto Northern Lights in 12L pots. I probably won't be doing any LST just to make the plants grow straight up so can fit multiples in the tent.

 

So excited to get my babies on the go but want to make sure I am clued up before making mistakes, so really appreciate any help anyone is willing to give!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bubbly82 769]

Hi mate,

 

I know nothing about soil growing at all, but if you choose to go coco then i would scrap the perlite

 

Sorry cant answer your second question, but your 3rd i just use tap water for flushing

 

All the best with your grow 

 

   

[Rudi 175]

Well small update for anyone else wondering what to use after further research and wanting to keep simple and cost effective I have decided to go with the terra range, Professional Plus soil with Terra Vega and Flores for nutes. As for my water problems going to collect and use rain water decided should make the most of our endless fresh supply which should make a good base for the nutes!

 

 

[Thedoctor6999 180]

Great decision for simplicity and flavour. Go steady with the nutes they dont need much and for amazing flavour root growth etc i recommend charge, fish emulsion and either just buy some great white or biosys or make your own compost tea.

Buy an air pump and stone very useful for brewing also to keep rain water nice and fresh and also for when you run out of rain water so you can dechlorinate your tap water efficiently when needed. We had nearly 4 months with no real rain this year....

Friendly bacteria and mychorhizal fungi are your best friends. The very best weed I've ever seen or tried has always been organic. And I've tried A LOT. 

[Rudi 175]

Okay thanks @Thedoctor6999 will look into those! Yes aware not much nutes needed, going to go very light on the feeding just didn't want to give them nothing! Will probably try and starve them a little of nutrients and watch for signs closely and just up dosage as and when they need, for both the learning experience and also to prevent over doing it. Not really focusing on the yield first grow more on controlling enviroment and learning how plants react to different things and what they like  

 

 

 

[countrock 2,297]

On 7/12/2018 at 5:01 PM, Rudi said:

Hi everyone, first post on the forums spent alot of time here last month or so planning my grow!

 

I have done some averagely bad grows in the past but have learnt massively where some of my problems were and now I want to make some decent quality buds with a reasonable yield so investing properly and taking the time and care to do things properly this time  

 

My last real stumbling block of the whole operation before I set up my pile of equipment sat in the corner is to get my head around soils and nutes. I know there are hundreds of posts out there but none seem to quite answer my questions and masses of reading has led me over numerous different answers which I know could all work depending on strains and grow methods but its really hard to find specific information with background on the whole grow at setup etc! 

 

So to the point: 

1) Canna Terra or Canna Coco which would you recommend for auto flowers in a non hydro setup? Using 400w HPS in a 0.7x0.7x2m tent so water retention is important, I intent to mix 30% of perlite in. 

2) Think of using RQS easy boost in the soil mix and light dosage of easy grow/bloom over the grow, in distilled water, is this overkill on nutrients for an auto flower?

3) Do you use distilled or tap water (i live in very hard water area) for flushing the plant before harvest?

 

For general information: 

As mentioned growing under 400w HPS in a small but tall tent so got some space! 2 inline RVK's for intake and exhaust going straight to fresh air through the roof and under the eve, on the side of the house that barely see's sun all year around. Running Rhino Pro Carbon filter in the tent. Will be growing a pair, maybe 3 will see once its all setup RQS Auto Northern Lights in 12L pots. I probably won't be doing any LST just to make the plants grow straight up so can fit multiples in the tent.

 

So excited to get my babies on the go but want to make sure I am clued up before making mistakes, so really appreciate any help anyone is willing to give!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi @Rudi

 I would go with coco,as is more forgiving and you can correct deficiencies faster.The only pain is that you have to feed more times,but you ll see plants thrive,if you give them what they want.

Don t put many plants in there.You will regret it later.

All fertilizers are good.Just use them wisely

I use RO,so i know exactly what i feed.It s an option(1ml of AN CalMag,in 1l RO  is (+-).4 CE)

Mychoriza is basic.Get it.

 

Your plants will "tell" you what they like.Just give it to them.

Don t rush.

Start a diary,you'll get 99,9% help.

Atb

[Rudi 175]

@countrock okay thanks alot for info  Have been looking at the RO systems  don't seem a bad option at all. 

 

Ordered some Mychoriza how much do you recommend? Guessing you mix it with your complete soil/coco mix as putting germinated seed in final pots, as mainly seen this stuff used when people are transplanting and just spread around the hole they dig in final pots.

 

Maybe 3 is a bit ambitious I will probably end up with just 2 waiting to see what all looks like once the grow room setup.

 

 

 

[Serpent 6,659]

Hey @Rudi, hope you don’t mind me jumping in on this. You’ve had some great advice already so I can only really add is keep things simple and straight forward. With the mass of products and advice you can get/read, it’s easy to get bogged down and over think things, we’ve all been there.

 

Personally, I’m an organic soil grower, so don’t need to worry about pH and EC, when growing with synthetic nutes in soil, you should at least pH, while in coco pH and EC is a must, so something to think about.

 

As for which nutes to use, most are pretty good (some better than others), but all will work if you read your plants and feed them what they need, not what the grow guide says, especially with autos.

 

Good to see you’ve got some mycorrhizal fungi, your roots will thank you for it. Which one did you get as some say sprinkle it around the potting hole, others say mix it into the medium.

 

Also don't dismiss training them with LST or scrog as less plants but trained will reap more rewards than cramming in as many plants as you can.

 

Good luck

[Rudi 175]

Hey @Serpent by all means the more the merrier and nice to meet you  Yes I think thats where I got to bogged down with information overload hence had to make a post in the end!

 

Thats a very interesting statement and helps clarify differences with organic so thanks! As got some synthetic stuff already will go down that line with soil seems a safe and reasonably simple approach for newbs. 

 

I went for the Rootgrow mycorrhizal, as it seemed to come in useful size pouchs and prefer to use branded products. Open to suggestions I add things to my basket through the day and only place order at end so it can still be changed! The instructions seem to say at base of potting hole but they are not putting a germinated seed but a plant in veg state. Maybe if I put a sprinkling then a light covering of dirt then the seed and a thin top layer of soil me thinks?

 

I will venture into some lst just to keep canopies close in height but scrog is planned for next grow then vertical scrog after that. I seem to be wishing my life away and planning really far in advance is this normal for growers! One day I look forward to implementing automation and vision inspection just for shits and gigs and to use my day job for some good use  thinking auto light height adjustment, auto indication system for common tell tale signs on the leaves with a nice overlay so can set up a live stream! oh boy its fun to dream big maybe I have had to many spliffs this morning 

[Serpent 6,659]

I'm not familiar with Rootgrow so can't say if it's what you need, a quick search seems you get it from the big sheds or garden centres, rather than a hydro shop, nothing wrong with that though as long as it does what it says on the tin, plus you're not paying Hydro Added Tax. I use Plant Magic Granules but I know Great White works really well, as does Xtreme and Ecothrive (Charge/Biosys), so the choice is yours.

 

I've never used mycorrhizal fungi during germination so can't comment, I use good old room temperature water and seeding compost with a touch of root stim as I like to get them started before chucking too many supplements at them, but that's my personal choice and its not to say it won't work, I've got no experience.

 

And yes, you do look at the future on how you can change things around to get a better crop, part of the fun of growing

[Thedoctor6999 180]

You'll find it much simpler to go organic to start with buddy. As serpent said no need to ph or measure ec. 

There's some great advice generally here.

The fish blood and bone meal general purpose fertiliser works very well around a handful for a large pot or use as a top dressing as you go inot flower. Try to get one with elevated levels of p and k. It'd work out at about £1 per crop. But more importantly the flavour is excellent. As I say experiment with some organic matter they really do love a healthy and diverse mix of beneficial bacteria. 

Just don't allow anything to become anaerobic. Teas, medium, root zone, feed, water that's when you get bad bacteria and bad fungus and they're very harmful. 

Have you seen any of the threads on compost teas or no till?

Do you have a compost bin at home?

The winner of this months comp is no till and my good lord you should see his bud.  

Love the enthusiasm and yes totally normal to be thinking ahead. I have 3 new varieties I'm just itching to pop but they're going to have to wit at least another couple of months maybe more.....and always thinking about how to maximise the setup. 

[Rudi 175]

Cheers bud! Will have a dig and see if can find any information about anyone using some of those from germ.

 

Been thinking about making the most of my 600 and just getting a 1.0x1.0x2.0 tent as decided if do some rearranging in my rooms can fit it in there. Will just save the 0.7m2 for a mother plant when my growing abilities allow me.

 

Appreciate the advice I will put a post on this thread when I start a diary so you can see how I get on 

[Thedoctor6999 180]

Correction....so long as your Base ph is close to 7. E.g. rainwater or decent tap water. I'd get at least some indicator solution preferably a blue lab pen just to be sure buddy. 

[Thedoctor6999 180]

Definite thumbs up for the 1x1m buddy. You could do 4 then. I'd go 18l or even 26l pots fabric in final size. And flip when just fully rooting. You should see 20oz that way. 

What type of 600 do you have BTW?

[Rudi 175]

Thanks @Thedoctor6999  (got a digital ph pen)

 

I haven't seen threads on no til or compost tea nope. (is no til a user?) Sorry for my lack of education if its a very obvious answer!

 

I don't have a compost bin at home and probably wouldn't be out there turning it all the time, more then happy to pay for good compost though  

 

Whats some of your favourite strains to grow so far?