Grow Mediums Coco is hard to me because I can't get roots established... any EZ methods for a newb?

[Animatey]

Hey guys,

I am having trouble getting plants started in coco.

Does anyone have a method for starting plants in like a 2 gallon smart pot? Or do you have a method where you start in a solo cup and pot up... I have heard that is bad for autos, but what can you do if you don't transplant? Just start in a big 2 gallon or 5 gallon pot? How would you know how much to water or how the roots are doing? It's not like you can use the hand weighing method, and see if the pot is heavy and not water. If the pot is heavy with a seedling in it, the thing would drown...

I am looking for a formulaic way to get my seedlings to get good roots. When the roots are established I can water as much as I want supposedly, but how can you get roots going? How can you tell if it's too dry or too wet?

I tried watering around the edges of a 1 gallon smart pot, and keeping it fairly dry, but root growth was still gruelingly slow. When I went to transplant the plant into a larger container, there was NO ROOT ball at all, just 4 lanky ass roots. I really tried to do it right and keep it dryish, and I don't know if it was too dry or too wet or what. It's frustrating because I have no mechanism to tell how much water the medium needs, or any feedback on how the roots are doing.

Is there an easy way for a beginner to get these roots started or should I look at another method, maybe something simpler than coco?

 

[Roark]

Hit up ronin

 

[Dart]

Rockwool

 

[yodabuds]

I've been in the same boat brother. What I've been doing and it "seems" to be working is watering the edge of the pot so the seedling goes searching for the water... Also I don't water for like the first 5days or so relying on misting the seedling and giving it sometime to establish it self..... I have a blue streak going now that just is not growing... I think I've overwatered her.., the other seedlings are looking good.... Good luck on your grow!
:Sharing One:

 

[Animatey]

Rockwool

could you please elaborate? I always start in rockwool, and I wait until i see a few roots poke out of the bottom to transplant.

I've been in the same boat brother. What I've been doing and it "seems" to be working is watering the edge of the pot so the seedling goes searching for the water... Also I don't water for like the first 5days or so relying on misting the seedling and giving it sometime to establish it self..... I have a blue streak going now that just is not growing... I think I've overwatered her.., the other seedlings are looking good.... Good luck on your grow!
:Sharing One:

Thanks for the advice man! PS Hilarious avatar hahahahaha laughin my ass off at that drunk yoda

 

[Roark]

Alright here is what I do. I drop the seeds in a glass of water. Set on fridge for 24hrs then, once cracked, I place in a rehydrated peat disc. Place peat disc in final pot and water in a day or so as not to drown seedlings. Water very lightly just around and a little on the peat to keep it moist, not dry or soaked. No nutes til I see the first true leaves. Hope that is helpful.

 

[JAYAR]

Hey bro nice to meet you, here's how I do it: Day 1 is the day the seedling is above soil and opened up. I water right at the base of the plant, as close as possible without dislodging her (which you will if you water too quickly!) the first 2 weeks.

First day I feed 12oz of EC 0.8, ph'd at 5.8... then wait two days and water 18oz at .8 EC and ph of 5.8... wait 3 days then water 22oz at .8 EC ph'd at 5.8.

Week 2 I water 22oz every two days and keep the Ec in the mid .8's... At week 3 I'm feeding 32 oz every day, slowly raising EC.

Now I'm on day 45 and EC is around .95-1.05 and still feeding 32oz every day... this is enough to get 10% runoff.

Let me tell you this is the first time I've done it like this andth Critical+ I'm growing is really loving it!! The two bubblegums I have wee fed too little in the beginning and not watered enough and were left half the size of the critical. Take my advice with a grain of salt, I've only done it like this once but it seems to work for her.

 

[medic grower]

I have Autos in 11 Liter Pods Coco atm. I started the Seedling and put a bottom of a plastik bottle where i place the seed as a hood. then i watered slightly around that hood so the roots keep searching for water(a glass of 250 ml of water for the first week). And then its always the Dryout and Water again Trial Worked out propper as u can see in my Auto Purple Amnesia thread in the Dope Seeds section. Coco for me is easier to go than soil cause u have faster n better dry out cycles.

 

[strakey]

Hi Animatey welcome to the board. All methods are sound here, everyone has alot of experience. You have to try by trial and error because one might work for you and another mite not. I start by seeding in a planter you typically get at a flower store the thin, black plastic ones. Once the seeds show tap root i place them in the planter with the coco and water with rhizotonic or something similar. Once the roots show at the bottom i transplant into the final container. You will notice the difference between a fully watered container and one that is dry. Let it almost dry out bfore watering again. The roots will search for water and form a network. Make sure its ph ed well and feed her when she starts showing a lighter green at the cotyeldons. My end container is a root pouch which aids in a faster drying cycle. Forms a good root network. Yours should be similar. Good luck

 

[Animatey]

Alright here is what I do. I drop the seeds in a glass of water. Set on fridge for 24hrs then, once cracked, I place in a rehydrated peat disc. Place peat disc in final pot and water in a day or so as not to drown seedlings. Water very lightly just around and a little on the peat to keep it moist, not dry or soaked. No nutes til I see the first true leaves. Hope that is helpful.

Thanks man, I think next time I will try a peat pellet instead of rockwool.

Hey bro nice to meet you, here's how I do it: Day 1 is the day the seedling is above soil and opened up. I water right at the base of the plant, as close as possible without dislodging her (which you will if you water too quickly!) the first 2 weeks.

First day I feed 12oz of EC 0.8, ph'd at 5.8... then wait two days and water 18oz at .8 EC and ph of 5.8... wait 3 days then water 22oz at .8 EC ph'd at 5.8.

Week 2 I water 22oz every two days and keep the Ec in the mid .8's... At week 3 I'm feeding 32 oz every day, slowly raising EC.

Now I'm on day 45 and EC is around .95-1.05 and still feeding 32oz every day... this is enough to get 10% runoff.

Let me tell you this is the first time I've done it like this andth Critical+ I'm growing is really loving it!! The two bubblegums I have wee fed too little in the beginning and not watered enough and were left half the size of the critical. Take my advice with a grain of salt, I've only done it like this once but it seems to work for her.

Thanks for the explanation man. What kind of light do you veg under if you don't mind me asking. I think if I fed .8 EC to mine they would burn, but I am in a pretty low light situation haha... Also I could be underestimating the ec they need.

I have Autos in 11 Liter Pods Coco atm. I started the Seedling and put a bottom of a plastik bottle where i place the seed as a hood. then i watered slightly around that hood so the roots keep searching for water(a glass of 250 ml of water for the first week). And then its always the Dryout and Water again Trial Worked out propper as u can see in my Auto Purple Amnesia thread in the Dope Seeds section. Coco for me is easier to go than soil cause u have faster n better dry out cycles.

Hey man, thanks for the idea of using that humidity hood as a way to water around the roots! 2 birds with one stone.

Hi Animatey welcome to the board. All methods are sound here, everyone has alot of experience. You have to try by trial and error because one might work for you and another mite not. I start by seeding in a planter you typically get at a flower store the thin, black plastic ones. Once the seeds show tap root i place them in the planter with the coco and water with rhizotonic or something similar. Once the roots show at the bottom i transplant into the final container. You will notice the difference between a fully watered container and one that is dry. Let it almost dry out bfore watering again. The roots will search for water and form a network. Make sure its ph ed well and feed her when she starts showing a lighter green at the cotyeldons. My end container is a root pouch which aids in a faster drying cycle. Forms a good root network. Yours should be similar. Good luck

Thanks for the explanation. I agree it is kind of trial and error to figure out your own setup, but that's kind of what I want to find a way around lol... maybe there isn't one really. For example there is a formula for plants in full veg and flower that works universaly: water as many times a day as you want, preferably with 10%+ run off. That should work for a wide range of gardens, but only once the roots are established. That part is the trickiest, and there isn't exactly a common formula (at least the I know of) to make it forumlaic and sort of fool proof like that.

I think some of my problems with coco were that I never had enough drainage, but I'm not sure. Working with smart pots, I should have given the bags more space to drain out, but I don't know.

Thanks again for the explanation!