Grow Mediums Soiless Mix LED Project *Just a few quick questions *

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Hello, I had recently tried for another DWC run after having success with a round one previously....

I've now had another session of root rot and I'm going to be going for my 1st soil less mix run...

4'x4'x6' grow tent

Two LED lights will be used instead of one this time....
Haight Solid State PPF800V2
+
Haight Solid State PPF400

4" Windtunnel Exhaust fan + Can filter for carbon scrub...

3) Five gallon smartpots filled with a soil less coco mix I picked up from the local Hydro store...

Nutrient line up = A full Cyco Flower Progrow kit including Cyco XL

AND Now for some of my questions

I've wetted my soil less medium w/ water 5.8-6.0 PH water at 150-200 PPM w/ 6 ml Calmag and 3 ml Uptake *Root Stim* per 4 gallons.... All my water is also oxygenated with a bunch of airstones throughout the grow. Using R/O water as well... Is this water too strong for me to wet my medium and plant straight into this ? Should i be using just straight R/O water at 5.8-6.0 PH?

Also Can anyone send me some good links on Soiless autoflower guides? I'm so used to DWC that thats all I have bookmarked... I'm just glad that this soiless growing is a form of hydro:) Hope I didn't burn those beans putting them in to hot of a pot from the very start!
 
Well apparently not! my friends lol... I put them in Tuesday night at 10pm straight into the medium and Friday night by 10pm they all three had popped while using this mix at 100-200ppm w/ Calmag and Root STim... :) I'd tried to dip rockwool with babies this young in a similar fashion with no success...

I did get a slight stretch so far in the first day the tallest grew almost 2' ! while the smallest of my new offspring are 1' -1.5' I have the LED 9' away from them now and plan to never have to lower the light again... Will this just make my stalk a little longer if i keep the light as close as possible from here on out or will she stretch the whole grow>? I think I have a plan for both outcomes I'd just like some different opinions from the experts:) I hope to be able to have a full journal up soon but may not be possible, need a SD card for this digital camera of mine, better yet a whole new camera lol... Anyways Yippie Skippie! they are UP uP Up and away!!!!
 
I'm going to move this over to the coco section. I think you'll get more response over there.
 
I think you're on track, I'd check runoff initially to ensure that you're getting the right readings. Once it's coming out with similar ppm to what you're putting in at a relatively close pH, you're spot on. I feed Lucas Formula into pure coco at 5.9 and that seems to be the sweet spot for Mg loving strains that tend genetically towards deficiency (an LED quirk with many autos as well). 6.1 is the high end of where I feed, and that's only to correct something if I'm working new genetics and figuring out tolerances.

Your first go-round in coco, I'd keep your nute lineup to a bare minimum...like veg/bloom only with a couple supplements on hand once you figure out where the sweet spot is. If you're hand-watering, I usually water every single day because essentially letting your medium dry out is like letting your res run dry in DWC. PPM skyrockets and pH goes friggin nuts. Keep the medium fully wet, watering every day refreshes soil oxygen and feeds the roots. Plus, the more you water (once fully established) the more you can push the plants, some up to 6 waterings during the light cycle. I usually look for about 10% runoff when I water, to ensure I'm flushing the old salts away with the new nutes.

LED tech is so completely advanced now, it's hard to keep track of what the best recommendations are for light height. I keep mine right around 12" throughout the life cycle and DO get bleaching on the tips of my buds. I don't care because my buddy thinks it's the best taste and whatever if he likes it then I'll let it happen...it also makes the rest of the plant just a teeny teeny tiny bit frostier due to improved penetration through the canopy, so it's a tradeoff I'm okay with in a 2 or 3 plant personal use garden.

When I jumped to coco from soil/soil-less styles, one thing I noticed immediately was the increased bushiness of my plants...side buds that would have been bottom shelf lowers in soil were competing with the top cola on a couple of strains I've run. I would 100% absolutely no questions asked guaranteed yessireebob make sure you have a plant to LST your plants when they get heavily into flower. It will maximize yield, potency, bag appeal, and is REALLY REALLY fun to do because you can literally see your lowers start to fatten up with the increased light.

If you have problems, post pics in natural light and we'll chime in with suggestions.
 
And as far as watering.... Do i need to be watering the pots tell i get runoff at the bottom EVERY time i water even from small sprouts? And should i wait tell the medium is fairly dried out before watering again... I've not been watering my whole pot tell runoff at the bottom yet and my beans sprouted 4 days ago.... I just want to know if i need to be adding THAT much water this soon...
 
If you fully wetted the 5g smart pots all the way, then you can just wait until the medium starts to feel dryish or the bag gets noticeably lighter. Basically sort of a "common sense applies" situation in the sense that if it looks like it's getting dried out, give it some moisture around the base of the stem, but don't drown it. Once you start seeing flowers start to form, you can be sure you've got an established root system and can push nutrients and waterings harder.
 
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