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Canna Coco is a full media + nutes system and IMO you should run it as a system instead of trying to reinvent the wheel. Also, coco is a system where you need to be able to test your pH. How do you know your pH if you don't have a meter? You posted it earlier... Get some liquid indicator asap.
You absolutely need an exhaust. Turn your intake fan to an active exhaust and place it high in the room. I hope it's a good sized one?
I only have a liquid test kit for my ph. I will check my res ph next watering... my intake fan is only a Axial Fan 4" 105CFM
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one of my oscilating fans is attached close to the top of the tent pointing towards the light and the top exhaust hole. the other one is pointing on the plants.
now in my flower room I have a air cooled reflector with a 6" vortex 449 CFM exhaust with no intake and one oscilating fan.
but the portable air conditioner is there in front of the two tents ... hrm
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diagram
left flower --- right veg
Canna coco is great, but only if you are very informed with the product. Let me begin:Quote:
Originally Posted by jer001
Coco, just by it's natural properties, competes for nutrient uptake with the plant. It sounds bad but it's really not. For the most part the only problem you'll have with coco is Calcium uptake; however if you supplement your water with Calmag you will be fine.
In addition to this coco is unlike any other medium. It is neither hydro, soil or soiless. Therefore your feeding won't look like any of those types of grows. Technically you could feed it hydro nutes and probably be fine; however you really want to try to use coco specific nutes. They will ensure that your plant get's all the nutrients it needs without worrying about the coco getting in the way.
PH... Canna Coco naturally buffers itself between 5.2 and 6.2 ph. Coco although is neither hydro, soil or soiless... can be treated like any one of the 3 with hydro being optimal guidelines for this medium. You want to try to water with PH water of 5.5-5.9 ( I feed at 5.7-5.8). However as long as you are within 5.2-6.8 you will be fine in this medium. I had purple stems on my plants when I was watering with ph 6.2. I lowered the PH as the plants got 1-2 weeks older and now my stems and branches are a lovely green.
drip system: While a drip system is actually a pretty good idea with coco.. you can over do it. It's very hard to overwater coco.. I sincerely mean very hard. However if you have your drip system coming on very frequently or on all day long you will create an environment that is oxygen deprived for your plants root system. Your leaves look droopy, this could be for a number of reasons.. one of those reasons being over watering.
Tap water: because Coco is very similar to a hydro system you should try to monitor your PPM reading. There are people who are pushing 2100ppm, but until you get the hang of coco I strongly recommend going no higher than 1000ppm - 1300ppm total.. that is your tap water + nutes + calmag + any other additives you use.
lighting: your lighting appears to be good but I'm curious as to why you're using a MH instead of an HPS when you are 4 months into your plant. Furthermore I'm curious as to why you are running 24 hour lighting. You should be trying to flower. Also how far away are your lights from your plants?
temperature: Photosynthesis is most efficient at around 78 degrees. You lose a considerable amount of efficiency for each degree over that up to 85; at which point photosynthesis DRASTICALLY drops off. Keep your temps in the high 70's, not the low 80's. You probably have several hot spots on your plant that peak above 85. I would not doubt it. Mylar if not laid out correctly will create hot spots.
Ventilation: Your ventilation is backwards. You want to exhaust your air and have a passive intake system. Not the other way around. Your exhaust will naturally draw cool air into your room while at the same time exchanging/exhausting the hot stagnant air. Which may also allow you to move your light closer to your plants. The key is to exhaust the entire room in 5 minutes. Faster is of course better (if you're not running CO2). In a 3x3x6 area. Your 105CFM should be adequate but I've always question the ability for axial fans to be able to exhaust a room faster than the light can build up heat.
Be careful if you do end up moving the light closer though. Temps are, in my opinion, slightly more important than lumens when all things are equal.
Also a side note.. pull your plant out of the pot and inspect the root system. I bet you'd be surprised to find that you are more than likely rootbound. Roots THRIVE in coco; they will consume your medium.. almost becoming your medium entirely. While this isn't necessarily a problem if you have your grow in check and you water more frequently (soil and soiless mediums don't have this benefit.. once you're rootbound you HAVE to transplant) but if your grow is not 100% in check you may want to just go ahead and transplant into a bigger pot. Soil chemistry can become a pain even in Coco with a rootbound plant unless you know what you're doing.
Good luck :thumbsup:
wow thank you soo much information :)
distance - ok to start the plants are about 1 feet to 2 feet away from
the light...
drip system - I found it is best for me to manually turn it on
every 2 - 3 days ...
Water - I dont get the ppm
Ventilation - is 105 cfm ok for the exhuast
lighting - Mother plants, have t5 sun 48" lower to the side of the plants
- MH vs HPS which one is for flowering and which one is for veg
- Flower room (left my air cooled room) has a lumetec ballast
that is interchangable between MH and HPS but my veg room
only has a MH ballast
temps - 82 at the top of the plants under the light
and yes they were root bound I had to re pot them two weeks ago
In regards to your drip system.. 2-3 days seems like a very long time in coco. You never want to let your coco dry out.. never ever ever. It destroys the little hairs on the roots. Coco needs to stay constantly moist; not wet.. not super saturated (which is close to impossible to do anyway) but moist.Quote:
Originally Posted by jer001
I water my coco about every 1 - 1.5 days. Also with coco make sure you are always getting about 10-25% runoff. This is also pretty important.
Your lighting seems very high up. Needless to say a vented hood and inline fan would be much more ideal as you could get it closer to the canopy, prevent stretching, and increase photosynthesis of your plant. I would strongly recommend it if you have a little bit of money to spare. Even a squirrell cage fan hooked up to a cool tube would be a marginal cost ( less than $100 if you shop around) and would drastically improve your situation.
PPM: You may want to get an EC meter along with a PH meter. PPM is not as critical as a PH meter but can be a very important tool when trying to diagnose problems.
At the moment I don't know how much of each product your feeding or what your tap water PPM is at baseline. It is possible that you are feeding too hot. This is where an EC/PPM/TDS meter would be handy.
edit: about your exhaust 105cfm for the fan is ok I suppose. Definitely the math adds up. However you mentioned that you have it set as an intake. Flip it around and make it an exhaust instead.
controlled my temps moved the plants down a bit from the light thanks everyone for your advice my plants are looking allot healthier