Don't overwater your coliseum

[nuggdigger]

posted by DDoc on 03-03-2003 on DDoc.net

Tests varing throughout flowering have indicated that the plants in the coliseum use between 160 liters(40 gal) and 240 liters(60 gal) of solution per week. This is thru a variety of temperatures(70-95F) and humidities(25-60%).
The 1200 liters (300 gal) of perlite-vermiculite that a coliseum holds will hold up to 30 percent water or 360 liters(90 gal) of water or solution. So the grower can see that the coliseum medium has 120 liters(30 gal) of solution moisture retained, when the medium is watered again. This allows the plants the plants to go through a cycle of total saturated to 1/3 of total saturated in its weekly cycle. A necessary wet-dry cycle to maintain plant health.
If we were using a peat-perlite mix of 50 perlite-50 peat (sunshine mix), this watering cycle would change. 50 per/50 peat will actually hold up to 50 percent moisture content. So the 1200 liters(300 gal) will hold up to 600 liters(150 gal) of solution. At the average 200 liters(50 gal) of water uptake by the plants it will take 2 weeks to bring the medium down to 1/3 of saturated. The medium will go thru 150 gallons of solution in medium to 50 gallons of solution in medium. This indicates that a 50 per/50 peat mix should only be watered every second week with a 100 gallons of solution. The saturated to 1/3 saturated is a standard healthy hand watered garden in sunshine mix. If the mix is always kept saturated the yields will be cut in half or lower. the plants will probably die before harvest. These water uptakes are only valid for medium coliseums. With medium there is very little evaporation from the surface of the medium in a coliseum (25%) and water is only used by transpiration of the plant(75%). So aero systems may experience five times the water usage due to evaporation. This theory and experimentation leads to the following advice.

Coliseum Watering rule of thumb:

ppm: depends on fertilizer(around EC=2,1000ppm)
ph: 5.2 to 6.5
To achieve the totally saturated with 10 percent flush to 1/3 saturated cycle these times should be followed.

70per/30 verm mix should have a watering cycle of once a week. 10 percent of the solution entering the coliseum should run out the drain. More running will create a healthier root zone, but will cost more. This can be obtained by running 45 to 65 gallons of solution thru the coliseum.

50per/50peat mix should have a watering cycle of once every two weeks. 10 percent of the solution entering the coliseum should run out the drain. More running out will create a healthier root zone, but will cost more. This can be obtained by running 90 to 130 gallons of solution through the coliseum.

When trying to determine your watering cycle for your medium test out the medium for how much water it will hold. Then use the coliseums 50 gallons per week water usage to created the wet-dry cycle of totally saturated to 1/3 saturated.

ps: Always check the plants daily the first time you are making your watering cycle to make sure no wiltage occurs due to dry medium. Plants will use more water in the 4th week of flowering then in the 1st or last week of flowering.

The coliseum is just a huge self watering pot, so don't keep the medium to wet or let the medium dry out to much, just like you would your handwatering flowering pot. Self watering means no more pains of hand watering.

[jermz07]

Are those measurments based on a 300 site coli

[nuggdigger]

yes, 1200 liters /(300 gal) of media is a full coliseum. thats 30 gallons of media per row x 10 row.

welcome

[jermz07]

So does that mean that i put 180 litres if i have half a large coli. I have 150 holes ThANKS

[nuggdigger]

a 150 site (2 large module) coliseum, half of the full, holds roughly 500 litres of media, and takes between 20-30 gallons (80-120litres) to water weekly, depending on the media type.

Quote:

achieve the totally saturated with 10 percent flush to 1/3 saturated cycle

Quote:

When trying to determine your watering cycle for your medium test out the medium for how much water it will hold. Then use the coliseums 50 gallons per week water usage to created the wet-dry cycle of totally saturated to 1/3 saturated.

or in your case 25 gallons per week water usage..


and finally..

Quote:

More running out will create a healthier root zone, but will cost more

this is one area not being cheap can really help the root zone..a few extra gallons of nute sol, for the pennies it costs, can be a great preventative measure of ppm acumulation..etc.


peace

[c-ray]

how many litres in the first fill?

[nuggdigger]

For a full coli,

Quote:

The 1200 liters (300 gal) of perlite-vermiculite that a coliseum holds will hold up to 30 percent water or 360 liters(90 gal) of water or solution. So the grower can see that the coliseum medium has 120 liters(30 gal) of solution moisture retained, when the medium is watered again.

Quote:

If we were using a peat-perlite mix of 50 perlite-50 peat (sunshine mix), this watering cycle would change. 50 per/50 peat will actually hold up to 50 percent moisture content. So the 1200 liters(300 gal) will hold up to 600 liters(150 gal) of solution.

1200 liters of p/v holds 360 liters, and 1200 liters of perlite/sunshine would hold 600 liters.

half a coli holds half as much...

this is the denotative answer..

of course..how dry is your media..or how much time will it take to wet it, etc..
the first time

from experience, the initial set up is usually 2-3 times the weekly volume.
One thing that really helps hydrate dry media is time..so water for a few minutes, then off for 10-15 then water for a few..etc. to give the media a chance to hydrate. One needs to water the media to dig the transplant holes out so they don't cave in, so start by watering till runoff is achieved..then transplant, and water until your runoff ppm reaches the desired level. If you dont allow enough time for soaking the first day, then make sure you reset your reservoir and water one more time the next day till good runoff is achieved. remember we are setting things up for the time to come so lets do it right.
a little less of an exact answer, but more realistic i hope.

peace

[jermz07]

Thanks for the info I have p/v mix and i put 180 liters of solution. Now how is a good way to tell if the medium is to dry and its time to water. The surface is kinda dry but if i put my finger in it feels humid.

[nuggdigger]

[nuggdigger]

one answer i got...

Quote:

me i know when its dry cuz all the plants are fukn limp and hungover so then i kick it and i know how much a dry fukn coli mod weighs
then i have a guage to begin with a few pounds of water here and a few pounds of water there
evenually you cant kick it without hurting yourself
treat it like the little sibling that you want to kick around but still have them love you in the end
the cat*
1/4 the time to wilt is my final answer

[nuggdigger]

http://www.growverticalgardens.com/f...eum_Manual.pdf

the 'by the book' answer is on page 13...
................

[jermz07]

why is the bottom row of my coli wet and the top dry shouldnt it evaporate evenly its 70/30 mix and there is hydrotron in the bottom two inches

[nuggdigger]

evaporation happens from conditions above the surface, dry air and hot lights, so it evaporates on top of the media,(the area exposed to the surface) and then wicking the media out below it; and out the holes in the bottom row. if you have a thru-hull in the drain, then the bottom of coli has the thickness of that hull inside that wont drain out either. hole covers can help with evaporation loss and mold on the lit media surface in the holes.
otherwise...a dryer top row can soon have a much higher ppm then the wetter bottom row.

peace

[perry_h]

yes cover those holes, the excess evaporation also keeps the rootzone too cold

[perry_h]

What ever happened to DDoc? I was offline while the original cw went down and when I came back a few years later I don't hear about him anymore.

[Half Baked]

He his alive and well. Resourceful man pursuing other interests.

[Yoda]

very stupid question but does coliseum have on it own a dripper feed if you dont want to run it aeroponicly?

[disciple]