Lighting 2 Autocobs, 3 Toof Decay, 1 gal pots with drip stakes..

[slowandeasy]

@slowandeasy

I am going to test smaller pots with coco and want to try my hand (1st time) at automating my watering, can you go over your setup with the stakes and why you chose them over rings etc? When you have time? I would really appreciate it. Just debating myself between stakes and rings and not sure what size pump I need and what timers allow for multiple feeds per day.............

Thanks
EM

Evil, I have a number of different set ups my friend. My photo girls use Halo Rings, because I use 2gal pots. It will soak them quickly. These 3 girls are my Micro experiment. I chose drip stakes for these mini pots for a couple reasons. First, the small pot size. Drip stakes are slower watering, so flooding a small pot is harder to do. You don't want to soak them each watering, infact I aim for minimal runoff until flush. Flood times depend on your pot size and environment. What size pots you wanna try? Medium? Nutes? How many plants? Pump size depends on all of the above. And second reason was to keep plants smaller

 

[slowandeasy]

And the 3rd reason was that I had all the parts lying around and a small tent open to mess around with

 

[Evil-Mobo]

Evil, I have a number of different set ups my friend. My photo girls use Halo Rings, because I use 2gal pots. It will soak them quickly. These 3 girls are my Micro experiment. I chose drip stakes for these mini pots for a couple reasons. First, the small pot size. Drip stakes are slower watering, so flooding a small pot is harder to do. You don't want to soak them each watering, infact I aim for minimal runoff until flush. Flood times depend on your pot size and environment. What size pots you wanna try? Medium? Nutes? How many plants? Pump size depends on all of the above. And second reason was to keep plants smaller

I ordered 3 gallon fabric pots tonight and want to test coco, I love my organics but it's a lot of work and it's getting old/boring to me I think it's better suited for outdoor where I can grow bigger plants. I have hand watered coco in DTW in the past and had good success. I have been eyeballing the cana coco but also have used cocotek in the past mixed with perlite about 50/50................

Also been eyeballing tupur.

I have ionic on hand with hydro guard and hydroplex and have a sample kit coming from nectar for the gods. I think by what you are saying the halo rings would be a better fit.

As for how many plants, man I do not know this will be the smallest pots I ever used to grow weed LOL but I have found in the past with coco that you can grow bigger plants in smaller containers so.............I will be testing this vs my current 10 gallon soil that's done and the 5 gallon SIP buckets I have running currently. Also last time I did coco I did not do multiple feeds per day which will be new to me and I think as a more experienced grower will give me more success than if I tried that sooner. The one thing organics really taught me was how to read the plants.

I'm all ears and thanks for taking the time

 

[slowandeasy]

I ordered 3 gallon fabric pots tonight and want to test coco, I love my organics but it's a lot of work and it's getting old/boring to me I think it's better suited for outdoor where I can grow bigger plants. I have hand watered coco in DTW in the past and had good success. I have been eyeballing the cana coco but also have used cocotek in the past mixed with perlite about 50/50................

Also been eyeballing tupur.

I have ionic on hand with hydro guard and hydroplex and have a sample kit coming from nectar for the gods. I think by what you are saying the halo rings would be a better fit.

As for how many plants, man I do not know this will be the smallest pots I ever used to grow weed LOL but I have found in the past with coco that you can grow bigger plants in smaller containers so.............I will be testing this vs my current 10 gallon soil that's done and the 5 gallon SIP buckets I have running currently. Also last time I did coco I did not do multiple feeds per day which will be new to me and I think as a more experienced grower will give me more success than if I tried that sooner. The one thing organics really taught me was how to read the plants.

I'm all ears and thanks for taking the time

I love Coco, my plants do too! I would use Halo Rings with 3 gal pots. I prefer 4-6 waterings per day with my Halo Rings. You can do less or longer flood times if you prefer. You will need on/off flow valves for EACH plant, as the first ones in line will get more water than the last ones in line without them. So easy to set up and you will save a ton of time and money on nutes. Handwatering uses more water by far. Ask away if you need help.

 

[slowandeasy]

Btw, do you live in the states? If so, buy Char Coir Coco. Best around IMO. Canna went downhill big-time. I found a plastic bottle in a bag before. And even tho they don't hurt, Springtails come free with Canna Coco. Nevr seen one since the day I stopped using Canna Coco.

 

[Evil-Mobo]

I love Coco, my plants do too! I would use Halo Rings with 3 gal pots. I prefer 4-6 waterings per day with my Halo Rings. You can do less or longer flood times if you prefer. You will need on/off flow valves for EACH plant, as the first ones in line will get more water than the last ones in line without them. So easy to set up and you will save a ton of time and money on nutes. Handwatering uses more water by far. Ask away if you need help.

Yes as a former fireman and "driver/engineer" I understand how water flows. I have done a ton of DIY with stuff before too so no need to water things down. Have dabbled with hydro and DIY too.

What size res you recommend and pump? So just a line from the pump in the res out to the tent, and then split off for each "pot/halo ring" with a "T" and put the on/off valve there at the beginning to control flow and have ability to shut down and disconnect easy? Am I understanding this correctly?

What coco do you use, which timer will let me run the schedule like yours? And what brand halo rings do you recommend? Also I was thinking of a flood table tray on the floor of the tent to catch the run off, or should I frame it and have the res underneath and make it recirculating? Wanna keep this as cheap as I can those trays are not cheap lol........

And thanks again for all the help

Edit to add I will definitely be messing with 2-4 plants at a time if that helps..........

 

[Evil-Mobo]

Btw, do you live in the states? If so, buy Char Coir Coco. Best around IMO. Canna went downhill big-time. I found a plastic bottle in a bag before. And even tho they don't hurt, Springtails come free with Canna Coco. Nevr seen one since the day I stopped using Canna Coco.

Damn thanks for the heads up looks like we were typing at the same time, and that was one of my questions lol.

Which one I see they make a few.........
http://charcoir.com/Products/

 

[slowandeasy]

Damn thanks for the heads up looks like we were typing at the same time, and that was one of my questions lol.

Which one I see they make a few.........
http://charcoir.com/Products/

I use 100% Coco. I never found the need for perlite with Coco, especially with smaller pots. Good clean Coco drains very well on its own. Been in Contact with Michael, the owner of Char Coir since he started, superior product at the same price as Canna. Canna got huge and quality suffered, he went to India and found out what NOT to do.
Yes you are 100% right with your configuration for the watering. They have timers on Amazon now for $12-$15 bucks, make sure they are digital and go by the seconds.https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00M...r+digital&dpPl=1&dpID=41Qwe9JjZ5L&ref=plSrch#

Here is the pump I use for each 4x8 area of Photos https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001...ydro+pump&dpPl=1&dpID=41I8Wf1U8xL&ref=plSrch#

 

[slowandeasy]

Reservoir size depends on your needs. But 2-4 plants is not a ton. I am using an AutoPot reservoir for these 3 White Cracks, and pump the water out of the premade hole for the small 1/4 line. With Halos you run 1/2 inch or 3/4 line.

 

[Evil-Mobo]

I use 100% Coco. I never found the need for perlite with Coco, especially with smaller pots. Good clean Coco drains very well on its own. Been in Contact with Michael, the owner of Char Coir since he started, superior product at the same price as Canna. Canna got huge and quality suffered, he went to India and found out what NOT to do.
Yes you are 100% right with your configuration for the watering. They have timers on Amazon now for $12-$15 bucks, make sure they are digital and go by the seconds.https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00M...r+digital&dpPl=1&dpID=41Qwe9JjZ5L&ref=plSrch#

Here is the pump I use for each 4x8 area of Photos https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B001...ydro+pump&dpPl=1&dpID=41I8Wf1U8xL&ref=plSrch#

Good to know I was thinking of trying the coco pure for the reasons you state that's why I decided on fabric pots.

I have that pump here already from my hydro days etc......so that's perfect. Which rings do you recommend and where do you order the coco from?

I really appreciate all the help, let's just say me and my garden are "close" and it drives me nuts not to have things planned and sorted out so when I get new ideas I'm up for days on end researching best way to do shit lol