New Grower, coco pod placement?

So here goes…I had some breakage of the coco pod due to my 1st grobo grow and impatience. I figured I had 3 choices suggested by different folks 1…push the pod back up as gently as I could…2 remove broken pieces or 3 start over. I chose #2 and here are some photos before and after. I removed broken pieces and had 1 long root left. Over night the root grew tremendously. Plant is still looking good other than some wavey leafs. I added hydroguard to help since water temps are 78-79 degrees and wanted to protect Lucille against dampening off. Please let me know any thoughts or suggestions. Ive learned so much from some of you and Im obsorbing all I can. Didnt want to abort this grow since its my 1st and a learning curve. Here are some photos before and after of the roots and a couple of Lucille…
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@Stephen @Todd.grobo So what do you guys think?

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Personally, I like to see you kept it, and you have the tooth picks in holding it up. Go for it. Shell recover. She may need extra time, but shell recover.

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Thanks brother. I think she’ll be stronger for having to go thru all this. I did remove the tooth picks and she is standing tall. All in all I think Lucille will be fine. How are your ladies doing?

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Yeah I think shell be fine. I was going to say, add 2 more toothpicks to keep your pod up. One sec Ill find a photo.

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I agree with doing this :point_up_2:
Keep the pod at it’s current height and use the toothpicks to keep it where it’s at.

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The pod is staying up on its own. The toothpicks were to support the plant and keep it straight up but when I removed them it’s standing tall. Thanks for all your support. I’m so hooked on this and looking forward to the learning process.

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I’m thinking @Todd.grobo recommended the picks THROUGH the pod for one reason…you lost a bit off the bottom AND it’s raised up. This means that your pod will probably dry out like the pic posted and at that point, may fall through the hole…no bueno. If you look at the pic, the pod has shrunken from drying out and would probably fall through without the picks.

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The plant will gain considerable weight as she grows, you will still want the toothpicks in or as the pod dries out it will shrink and start to fall in. Not that that matters, but first, we’d like to see her bulk up and her roots bulk up too.

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<yeah what @FireGuy said>
Champions have this!

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Not trying to steal your job Todd, I promise! :rofl:

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I’m on it. Thanks guys.

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@Todd.grobo @FireGuy thanks team.

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Happy to help.
When I provide tips, they likely come from personal experience. I’ve wrecked lots of my plants and love the process!
I even made mistakes on my most recent tent grow, and in the process of correcting them now. Plants won’t know the difference by the end! It happens!

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Looks to me like you found the “sweet spot” for the cocoa pod. Reference pics for your next grow and set the pod accordingly right from the start. The less you touch that pod (ESPECIALLY in the wee early stages) the happier your girl will be.

My pods seem happiest about 3/8” above the tray. You may need to top feed a few teaspoons of H2O for the germ phase everyday to keep the pod properly moist, but you should try not to move the pod at all. It will break the fragile roots in the first few weeks.

Take notes!! Do it better next time! This is all part of the learning curve.:grinning:

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