There aren’t really any legit 2x2 trays that will fit into a 2x2 tent (as far as I have found). Before the pandemic sometimes I would see a 24 inchOD (outer diameter) tray online occasionally, but when I asked the guys at the grow shop if it would work in a 2x2 tent they recommended against it.
I have a 2.5 x 2.5 foot tent that I ran a legit 2x2 flood tray (inner diameter) in and that worked well. I started running a bunch of different systems after that and haven’t got it out of storage since.
Probably one of best grows to date though. Here is a pic with lights off, was about 3 years ago:
Probably tricky to do an external res with Flood and Drain.
I was doing an external res with my 2x2’s with top feed because you only need to run 1/4 inch lines into the tent. Was nice being able to mess with the res at any time and clean it etc.
You can see the small line running out of the res:
So far Coco > Rockwool by like a lot. It’s just way messier than rockwool which is a minor tradeoff. It’s so much more forgiving and roots/plants must be significantly happier because I have read as high as 100k Lux at canopy and plants don’t really blink. Previously I’d get problems above 30k.
Way more flexible, way easier… way better for a lazy grower like me.
This is the daily situation with the stretchy Strawberry Coughs before I raise the lights:
Here are the two tents and the clone tent. Clones probably was a dumb idea. I doubt any of these will live… I really bit off more than I could chew this grow with all the new stuff and changes and then trying to take clones.
How far are they from the light? I got some that are pretty close but they don’t seem to be affected right now. I still have more room to adjust but I’m trying to hold out till the last minute because they will shrink back down. When the roots start to tighten up. For some reason they will always drop back. In my opinion. Like I said I got a couple that are close. I really don’t wanna turn the light up.
Hey bud, sometimes if I go two days without checking on them I come back and they are pressing into the light… The LEDs in the strip light dont get too hot so not tooooo worrisome but I really should pay better attention.
I think some plants are less than 3 inches from the light on average and the lux reads about 100k at canopy but they aren’t stressing over it for whatever reason…
One metric/superstition I use to gauge how healthy plants are is how much light they can take, so I think they are pretty healthy this time around.
The weird looking COB light is up like 10 inches above the canopy because it doesn’t have the nice spread like the strip light, and those cobs get pretty hot.
I have fabric pots inside the plastic pots for now and that works OK for keeping the system clean, but it was such a mess potting all those plants lol… Rockwool is 0 mess, but that’s really the only thing I like better about it so far.
No I like the Cobb light. I have some supper tall. The should slow down. I have a few more inches to play with. I’ll probably bend it again. I didn’t top. Very big mistake.
Hey bro just wanted to let you know I dig your setups. I don’t have the tidiest of grows but I appreciate the work involved with a drip setup along with running coco as well. Looks great. I’ve been wanting to run some coco.
You soak it in a weak cal mag solution then feed em molasses? I’m sure it’s more involved than that lol. I have a buddy in Colorado that sends me grass from time to time. He runs coco and swears of the ease. His grass is phenomenal.
Everything is looking great though. You have a good one.
Hey man, thanks for the kind words, I’m glad you stopped by!
I recently switched from drip to flood and drain and it’s the easiest thing I’ve ever run.
With bigger pots I’m sure you could get away with hand watering, so I think coco is probably pretty flexible.
For soaking the coco I just soaked it in double strength Cal Mag overnight. For GH CaliMagic that was 10 ml/gallon.
I’m pretty sure a lot people skip that step and still do fine… probably depends on what coco you use (some are pre-buffered and some aren’t), but it’s not too difficult.
Sounds nice to me. I’m pretty sure you can use like mosquito bits for gnat control if it becomes an issue? Everything is looking beautiful and green. That’s what it is right there.
I started with the dried out brick of coco, and so I just put that brick in the oven at 270F for about 8 hours before hydrating it.
Probably overkill LOL… I don’t think gnats (or anything) could survive that.
Some other more experienced coco users including @Mr.Sparkle have other ways of controlling gnats if using bagged or re-using coco. Maybe they can chime in, BUT overall I think pest control is generally considered way easier in coco than soil.
Dry surface layer works but is hard with frequent watering, Tried mosquito dunks and they weren’t that effective for me what i do use now if needed is a pyrethrin based spray “ortho bug b gon eco concentrate” only on top of the soil if needed, typically i only get gnats in reused coco and that of stuff i have stored outside but if i see lots of fliers a spritz only on the surface of the coco on my pots with a small 2oz bottle thats diluted to working strength takes care of them in one go sometimes i have to do a second application two or three days later but its literally a couple sprays, if its just one or two flying around i just kill them the normal way by squishing them.
I bought my coco from my friend who runs processing and exporting of the coco bricks.
Them bricks look nasty af and probably not the best quality around, the plants grow just fine in them though …
My cleansing routine involves, wash the coco so that minuscule particles and salts gets washed away, soak them in h2O2 water for 4 hours or so, then buffer them for at least 8 hours in 7.5ml/G calmag solution (not Calimagic)…
You’re right, i had done it in the past and the plants didn’t even flinch, i have also tried growing without disinfecting and that worked fine too, i top feed and my feedings schedule are uneven…
Oh and in my current run, i had changed nutes 3 times so far (liquid to salt to liquid), the plant still didn’t mind…
I’m new to growing and have only ever grew in coco, it is very very forgiving…
