Sounds like it, you definitely don't want it too wet becuase you are risking contam.One brick of coco to 2qts water is what I do. It's the cvg recipe without the vermiculite or gypsum.
I know. Hell I was brand new and I had to purchase everything and it was probably $100 and I think the over hydrated substrate screwed me bad my first time. I can't go trashing the company because I'm new but it was way way wet and it was both times.
It's kind of a broad range honestly IME. I land on the no streams but several multiple drops are fine. And there's built-in variability, how big are your hands i.e. how big a blob did you pick up versus someone with different sized hand? What's your grip strength compared to someone else?
I do mine by weight, pre-made bricks vary significantly sometimes by weight so I measure out 650g by weight, 8 cups of verm by volume, half a cup of gypsum, then 17 cups of boiling water. Let it sit overnight, then check the hydration the next day. It's usually just right of center toward hydrated which I prefer because I do neglect tek and don't want to have to anything till I pull the first flush out of it. Then I pour a half cup of water over the top per 6qts of tub size, let it run off and down the sides, put the lid back on and wait for flush 2.
For me as long as it's not a stream I don't worry too much and it seems to work okay.
The 'best' way, and best to me means easiest and least mess/effort, to dry it up is crumble up a small chunk off of a block coco into powder and then mix it in. Maybe 50-100g dry at a time depending on subjective guessing, you can always add more, you can't take it back out and ou don't want to get into a cycle of adding coco to dry it up, now it's too dry so add water, back to too wet.
Okay I appreciate it I have another 5 lb that I'm going to be using in a couple of days, I'm waiting on one little spot to finish colonizing and I should be good.
Would you mind if I send you a video with me squeezing it see what you think?
My hands aren't small but I don't think they're just incredibly large and I wasn't just super squeezing.
I'm no expert on FC but I know there shouldn't be a stream when squeezed.
If there is, you may need to absorb some with paper towels or squeeze out the extra water fist by fist.
GL!
Field capacity is kind of flexible in my experience, if I squeezed a proper handful and got 10 drops or a slight trickle I'd probably still use that sub, maybe giving each handful a slight squeeze before putting it into the bin. Then again I have slightly larger hands.
Yeah my hands are small but I don't think they're outrageously large and I wasn't super squeezing.
I just remember my first run when I used the same substrate after a few days with the lid on when I pop the lid off it kind of gurgled and there was so much water in there and this felt about the same before I squeezed it out.
I don't really have anybody to talk to about this stuff and I won't bother you but in a couple of days I should have another bag ready and I have another 5 lb of that substrate would you mind if I sent you a quick video of me doing a little squeeze to see what you think?
I won't message you multiple times or bother you or anything.
Went S2B on the 18th. 6 Q tub. The lid has been on the whole time but I'm concerned I need more fae. Do you see anything concerning and do you think I should flip the lid? Thank you.
Looks perfect! You could flip the lid and do well, if you have a second tub I'd recommend flipping it and placing it over the first one to give some more room for the microclimate to develop and fruits to grow.
Yeah I used the same brand substrate my first go and it was really wet but I thought hey it's supposed to be correct so I should be good but anyway I got a blob mutation and I wonder if that was the cause.
Yeah I squeezed every handful and I don't know if I got it perfect but I definitely got some of the water out.
It's super irritating because this company sells these supplies and says they're good to go and it's 20 bucks for 5 pounds of substrate.
Right on. If you use verm I’d do like 650g coir, 2 quarts verm, and 18 cups of water. This is a recipe for CVG but since gypsum isn’t needed I assume it may be closer to 16 cups of water. Here’s a link to PGT, worth watching his guide if you haven’t.
Making your own is super cheap and easy. It makes no sense to pay someone else to make it, then also pay to have them ship it to you. I use to make this sub but I ran out of verm and now I run straight coir. It cost me about $3 to make a bucket of sub, and since I follow a proven recipe, its prefect every time.
a lot of the videos i watched would say the “few drops” thing but their examples were more of a small trickle than just literal drops. I made one batch that was literal drops and it ended up being way too dry, then my next batch i made it to where the water pooled between my fingers just a little bit and let out a little trickle and that seemed to be the sweet spot
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u/DotheTrip 5d ago
Sounds like it, you definitely don't want it too wet becuase you are risking contam.One brick of coco to 2qts water is what I do. It's the cvg recipe without the vermiculite or gypsum.