Grow Mediums Truu's 600w HPS CoCo DIY drip system.

[Truu]

Whats up coco heads of the AFN? I'm back at it again, this time back with CoCo as it better suits my lifestyle. I've been getting a lot of questions about my setup and feeding. In this thread I will try to go in to more detail of my growing. I stay pretty busy with work and family, but I also want to help those who want to learn.

I've got time as I got off a little early today and I just smoked a nice bowl so the creative juices are flowing. I'll give a brief summary of what I normally try to look at before I start a grow. As a craftsman I tend to look at things as steps, the process it takes and what I need to do at every step of the way. So I will try to write my thoughts down in that manner as I believe they are easier to follow.

So, we will start from the beginning. Most important thing to me is, how will the plant be fed to maintain maximum level of nutrient uptake to plant? The whole plants structure depends on feeding. Like a body builder, the plant needs the extra attention to what it needs, and at what time it needs it. This is why I use a drip system. CoCo can breathe very well even when saturated, this is an important factor that I think a lot of people over look. Being able to feed a plant multiple times a day gives the plant the extra push it needs to be at the peak of its performance. The drip system allows me to do this, even when I'm not home. I don't have to worry about missing a feeding for days.

Well, that's all I've got time for right now. Tonight I will post up some more thoughts that come to me after a good smoke. I will also be posting my grow setup and the strains I'm considering. As soon as my order comes in I will have all the pieces of the next chapter.

:smokebuds:

 

[Jackal]

Let me be the first to pull up a chair....

 

[Truu]

So The next step would be how to set up something that would work perfectly for my room. I needed something that allowed me to be able to move the reservoir without moving the plant. And it also had to allow a 5 gallon bucket to slide under it from one side.

Here is my current setup. Its cheap, easy to make and it works perfect.

My DIY setup-
1. - pond pump from a hardware store (or hydro store), I use the 120 GPH pump but I'm only running 1 plant ATM. But it can handle multiple plants.
2. - 5 gallon bucket for the res.
3. - air pump w/ bubble stone
4. - 2 gallon cloth pot
5. - home made table w/ screen (dimensions 15in long x 18in tall x 15in wide). Screen is 1/4" squares. Will fit standard 5 gal. bucket.
6. - home made drip halo ring. 1/4in tubing. connected on both ends of a T with 6 1/8th in. Holes drilled.
7. - plug in timer.

Here is what I built for my table. It's cheap and easy and works perfect. And you can put wheels on the feet so it makes it easy for you.

My setup is pretty simple. You have a res under the plant that sits on a screen. The pump sits in the res connected through a timer. When it's time to feed the pump starts to pump water up to the drip ring that waters the top of the coco. When the water starts to drain out the bottom it falls back into the res the air stone stays in the res to keep the nutrients moving to keep them from getting stale, and to keep the water oxygenated.

Here is my drawing of the setup.


And here is my plant sitting over the res.


And here is my drip ring sitting on top of the soil. (Drip holes pointing down).

 

[SkatterBrayne]

I like it alot. I just switched over to coco and was trying to come up with a way to handle the waste... How frequently do you dump the res out? I'm wondering if it is going to start smelling like shit if I leave it there for a little while.

I'm thinking of doing a super ghetto version of your setup for now, funds are tight. Pot ontop of a milk crate, sitting inside a rubbermade. Do you think the light hitting the waste will be an issue?

 

[Truu]

Alright now I will list the nutrients I use.

Dyna-gro is the base lineup I use - Grow, Bloom, Pro-Tekt, Mag-Pro,

To that lineup I use a multiple of additives - Cal-mag, Sensizyme, Big Bud, Liquid kool bloom, Powder kool bloom, Root Juice, B Vitimin. I also use H&G Drip clean, and Clearex, they work miracles.

I think the most important thing with all these different nurtients is that they be fed at the right time. Knowing the stages the plant goes through in its life is good to know when figuring out the timing. A basic example would be using sensizyme at the start of flower to break down dead roots and clean the root zone. At the beginning of the plants life I feel that it is important to only see the plant as "growing roots". If you can establish a bountiful root system at an early age then the later part will be easy. Also once the plant begins flowering I feel its important to see the plant as "growing budsites". By that I mean that its important to get the most light available to all budsites. The more sites you have receiving light the more weight you will gain. Think of it as an investment. You may have to do some leaf removal, LST, Topping, whatever it may be as long as its beneficial to the outcome of your work. I will save my plant training techniques for another topic, but Ive been getting good results from pruning thus far.

 

[Truu]

Thanks for stopping by skatter. I never dump my water because I run recirculating nutrients. If I keep a bubble stone in the res it keeps the nutrients moving and fresh. Keeping the water cold is important for keeping it fresh and oxygenated. My plant will drink all the water, and then I just make another batch of nutrients.

Light hitting the nutrients over a period of time will cause things to grow. If you dump it out every day you should have no problems. You could cover the rubber maid with a blanket, or black duct tape to block most of the light as well.

 

[SkatterBrayne]

Ohhh alright i see it now. I had only skimmed the first time through and missed that.. Thats pretty genius. Have you ever had an issue with coco particles in the runoff causing clogging issues? I definitely plan on using this. Awesome job:clap:

 

[Truu]

Hey guys I finally got some time to sit down and do some reading around here! I cant even keep up with everyone on here anymore, this sites gotten way bigger then when I first started on here! I've got an hour to do some typing and thinking. I've also got a little girl just sprouting up in my room. Got some plans to go over, and also I've been documenting how I get everything ready for my grow.

I use General Hydroponics "coco tek". It comes bricked, and easy to re-hydrate. I don't see any problems with this bricked coco, comes out clean, however I recommend washing any bricked coco thoroughly as there will always be powder when things are compressed.

I will also be using Plantit Clay Pebbles. They were cheap for the quantity and easy to order for me. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I'll make due. I thought they were going to be bigger pebbles, but it came mixed big and small. Still, the quality was good and the shipping fast.

Alright so I've basically got the same thing going as I had last time, but with some new gear in effect on this grow. We'll start with my home made drip ring. 1/4" drip tubing with 4 1/8th" holes drilled on bottom side of ring. Connect on both ends with a T and you are good to go. The water doesn't actually "drip" out of the holes. It shoots out at a steady flow, not overpowering. I put rocks about a 1/4" under the drip holes so that the water doesn't make a hole in the coco. The ring in the pic is about 3" in diameter. You can make the ring any size you need and drill as many holes as you need. My pots are small so I use a small ring.

Bottom side of drip ring.
View attachment 255705


I use steaks to hold up my ring. They simply go into the coco and you can stop them at whatever height off the coco you like. I think its important not to keep your holes sitting on top of the coco as this could cause clogging from salt build up or from the coco.

Drip ring set up in coco.
View attachment 255707


Now on to my coco mixture. In this grow I would be using a mixture called "chow mix". Its a mixture of hydroton and coco. The ratio I will be using this time is about 30% hydroton and 70% coco. This is just a trial run for this mixture. Once I take my clones I will most likely bump it up to 50/50 if the dry-out time isn't fast enough for me. The hydroton helps with the aeration and I find that it always gives a nice place for the roots to gather.

Hydroton/CoCo mixture.
View attachment 255704


And I find it to be VERY beneficial to put a layer of hydroton at the bottom of your pot, about 1/2" to 1" thick. Not only with it help with drainage a ton, but the roots LOVE to bunch up at the bottom. They will soak up all the moisture out of the hydroton as they get thirsty. So think of it as a helping hand incase they get thirsty and its not time to feed.

Layer of hydroton.
View attachment 255702


Proof in the puddin'.
View attachment 255717


Alright now on to my pots. I am normally a firm believer in "smart pots" and trust me...they work! But for this grow I am going to try out bag pots. The reason I am doing this and not smart pots is because I wanted something taller than it was wide. Smart pots are wide and short, which to me, makes for a more stouter plant. I'm hoping these will help get me a more uniform plant and help make training a little easier. My concerns with these bag pots are that they are made of plastic and only have a few holes in them. I feel that these pots won't dry out fast enough for my liking, but seeing as they are small pots I'm hoping that once the roots are fully developed they should drink faster than the coco can dry out and solve that problem. There were no holes at the bottom for drainage so I improvised and made holes myself. Drainage is VERY IMPORTANT, so I will not do a grow without it. I drilled 1/8th" holes in the bottom, and they work just fine for drainage with the added hydroton at the bottom of the pot.

Here is the bottom of my pot draining.
View attachment 255708



And here is a better view of the holes I made.
View attachment 255703


And while I'm busy working, Dixie is doing this the hole time as if to say "scratching me is more important than what you're doing".
View attachment 255710

Ok so now on to what I plan to do on this run. Well I grow for myself, and my family. My parents have health issues, and MJ really helps them with pain and their symptoms. My dad came up to me one day and told me that my cousin had brought him some grand daddy purp to try out. He said that it was the best bud he's tried all around. Taste, high, and great appeal to the senses. I've smoked plenty of the stuff, and its always been one of my favorites. So then he tells me that he wants me to grow some for him and the rest just started rolling down her. Needless to say, it changed my plans that I had originally wanted to do for this grow. But I always got a soft spot for the old man, so naturally I said yes.

So now I will be growing some GDP. I just started one bean, and it just sprouted yesterday. She's doing great so far. The plan is to grow her out enough, and then take 6 clones off her and grow them out. And if I find something I like I do plan on taking a mother out of this bunch and do some breeding with it. I will put up some pics as she gets older and more interesting.

I pre-charged my CoCo with (1 gallon of water) 5 ml of cal-mag, 2ml of B1, 2ml of pro-tekt, 5ml of root stimulator. This will also be what I will feed for the first week. I will be feeding every other day for the first week. For the second week I will feed once a day, and work my way up from there. By the end of the second week I hope to be feeding 3 times a day, and hopefully 5 times by the end of the 3rd week. That's the plan, so stay tuned!

Hope you are all doing well, I've been seeing a lot of people starting threads in the CoCo section, its a good thing! :smokebuds:

 

[Truu]

No skatter I haven't had any problems with clogging. The key is to make sure you don't get any coco in your res. If you get a little bit, it will normally just float at the top so no big deal. However with salt build up you will need to use H&G drip clean to prevent that problem from happening.

 

[jayp]

Sub'd up for sure bro great thread Truu cant wait for more.:stylez rasta smoke: