Pot sizes

[mikeydoughnut]

Ey up folks. It’s no secret I struggle to water at the most appropriate time. Most of the time I do okay but mostly it’s too dry or too soon to water, but it is what it is. I used blumats and intend to use them again (having a res of water upstairs frightens the shit out of me though) ….. sorry about the long set up  … all this is in soil. Knowing coco is more forgiving in terms of more frequent watering I fancy having a go after Christmas. I can get to the ladies once a day. What size pot should I aim for to prevent too much dry back? My temps tend to be from 27-30 lights on and that’s quite consistent this time of year. 

My space is 160x80 and I have 2x200w Attis and intend to add another 150w of led. Might be unnecessary but it’s what I’m considering. 
So for an efficient coco grow what size and how many do folk reckon? 

[zen-ken]

You really want an automatic watering system if you go coco imo.....either that or a lot of time.

They want to be watered every day in the beginning.....By the end of flower 10 - 25 times a day is not unreasonable with current thinking 

 

Start in small pots and go up in size....dont go straight into a large pot.....I would use the air pots for this to increase dry back rate. 

70/30 it with vermiculite (a little perlite but the vermiculite is important imo ref: Bruce Bugby maximising cannabis yields -apogee instruments youtube)

 

I used hand water a minimum of every three hours lights on and once light off in full flow......The science favours higher frequency feeding than this tho and the results are well documented.

 

[BilgePump]

@mikeydoughnut I get yer Res phobia dude , I had a leaky Flexi tank straight out of the box on my easyfeed system.

 First thing I did was swap it for a HDPE plastic water butt, it's far more robust and for the extra peace of mind the 20 quid price tag is small potatoes.

 

(Why do leaky reservoirs invariably end up being directly above fuse boxes?!)

 

[mikeydoughnut]

@zen-ken arrrgh see that’s not what I wanted to hear. I’ve got the blumats and they do a sterling job. No complaints at all. The paranoia though of some 15-20 litres sat upstairs while I’m at work is at best unnerving. 
I’ve been reading cocoforcannabis and read about the high frequency watering. But was hoping if I could get a right sized pot so I’m in no danger of too much dry back and can water once a day without overwatering. As it stands now during the week I’m having to give a litre here n there knowing if I leave it it’ll be bone dry when I get back from work. So to all intents n purposes I’m overwatering and fairly frequently at that. Added to this smudging feed in without a full watering as I should it’s just making a mess. Im already getting issues with two in early flower. I’ve fucked with environment and feeding amounts and it never remedies anything. I think I’m overwatering. 
Well looks like blumats n soil for now then n’ I’ll just have to live with the paranoia of my house flooding  

 

@BilgePump that’s the thing. I know if it goes it’s not just a damp carpet. It’s gonna be a dear do to put right. I got through a blumat grow unscathed but I was permanently shitting myself while at work.

Edited December 14, 2021 by mikeydoughnut

[BilgePump]

@mikeydoughnut you can get high sided trays that'll hold a Res failure in situ , if you can find one to fit in your space that'd be a good safety buffer.

 

[ukbudz]

You can get away hand bashing once a day in coco just fine, me and many others on here manage it. My last run was 12 plants in 3 litre pots in a 1.2x1.2 watered once per day everyday and I done fine. 

 

If you're not bothered about plant numbers @mikeydoughnut I'd run 12 x 3 litre pots or if you are 6 11 litre pots would do, obviously the more plants you have the less time it takes to fill the canopy before the flip. 

[KC]

Is it worth the stress mikey? I know that would put me off growing worrying about that all day. 

 

Explain that one to the landlord 

[mikeydoughnut]

@KC see this is the thing. I’ve got the cure to my watering woes with the blumats. I’ve paid for them and want to use them more than once. That res just scares me. So if I can water daily without it drying out or being over watered that’d be ideal. Perhaps use the blumats in a few smaller pots (lickle res)
 

@ukbudz Ey up bud. How did you get on with the 3L? Did they dry back fast like? I’ve got a spot on environment for now for led so I’m touching 30 degrees most days. Especially now it’s that time of year the heating goes on. I have 1 plant in a 3L and it’s bone dry by the time I get home from work. The 5.5L’s lag behind a bit and needs a swig otherwise it’s a good few hours too dry before I finish work the following day as does my #1 in an 11L pot (probably 9/10L of medium). I mixed n matched sizes because I’m an indecisive fucker. 
 

So say if I used 5.5L pots as finals (since I’ve got a fuck load) would it be foolish of me to think I could get home at say 6pm every night and douse them and that’d be fine … obviously not accounting for my shit growing technique and fucking up that way. 

Edited December 14, 2021 by mikeydoughnut

[Kush Lover]

I have to agree with @ukbudz on this one as I use coco in 12L fabric pots but in reality only about 10-11L of medium in each pot. Most days I water once a day about an hour after lights on and that does the trick, there are occasional days where there is a bit of dry back but on my recent grow I would say max 2 days it happened. 

 

Overwatering isn't something I have suffered with using coco and don't quote me but I think its pretty hard to overwater with coco. I water until 20%ish runoff so the medium is fully saturated and flushed out of salts etc every day to the point the biggest ball ache about it all is lugging around the buckets of water. Having said this I am thinking of dropping pot size to 6.5L and increasing numbers but even then the size of the plant is relative so it shouldn't dry out any quicker.

[GSZZ]

3 hours ago, mikeydoughnut said:

My space is 160x80 and I have 2x200w Attis

 

Something like 8 x 3.5L pots would be fine, I'd veg a rooted cutting for 5 - 7 days and then flip, bending into shape the first 10 days of flower. Water every other day after an initial 3 day drought, until about 7 - 10 days all in, and then water once per day till the end.

 

Or any variation of, so 2 x 15L pots would probably do about the same, I'd just veg for a bit longer, 10 - 14 days.

 

 

 

[mikeydoughnut]

Cheers @Kush Lover  I’m gonna have to give it a wizz eh. After this grow is chopped I’ll have enough weed to afford a set back or two. 
 

cheers @GSZZ  sounds like a plan does that. Even ‘erbert like me can follow those steps. 
 

Right so …. It’s on. Once crimbo is out they way I’ll order me sen a truncheon n some ecothrive coco. Gonna get me head down and work out what I want to achieve and how to go about it. Get it written down otherwise it’ll swim round in my head and confuse me.

 

Thanks everyone for yer input it’s proper appreciated 

[GSZZ]

Just now, mikeydoughnut said:

Once crimbo is out they way I’ll order me sen a truncheon n some ecothrive coco.

 

Get some growers ark as well, make it easy on yourself ecothrive coco is pretty good, but its worth noting that the first feed or two it pays to go in a little heavier and then drop back down. I dont think its buffered as wel as other brands, so sometimes growers can find their plants a little slow to get started.

 

[Guest]

Dry backs aren't ideal but they're not the end of the world.  I had a plant at a location I could only access once a day.  It was bone dry in coco everytime I came back.  You just need to flush through a bit more to re-wet the medium and get the old salts out. 

That plant turned out absolutely stunning BTW, zero issues. 

[Kush Lover]

I have to admit I am far from textbook with coco but it seems to me to be a lot easier and quicker to correct mistakes if they happen. Good luck with it.

[mikeydoughnut]

Cheers chaps. Compost just seems the natural way to go, after all it’s what plants generally grow in, especially to non green fingered folk like me sen. If I can sort out a coco grow neater than me soil efforts I’ll know I’ve cracked it. At the moment I feel like I’m chasing me tail a bit. You’ll see in me diary me next update. More experienced eyes might tell me otherwise but all I can think is irregular waterings fucking things up. In the beginning it was enough to grow my own weed but now it’s time to step it up a bit eh.