Calling Weezard - Coco Questions

[ledtime]

Hey DH! Yeah, time to play with the good stuff. Have any of you guys read this thread?

Compact SOG with CFL's - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

Micro Grow. Really impressive. I wonder what could be accomplished with coco and this practice.

[redtails]

I really like that guy's second thread (DrBud Takes CFL SOG To The Next Level), he ups the wattage and runs 2 boxes like that. It's definitely given me quite a few ideas for the future...

[moody420]

Hey, Ledtime! You will be happy. Coco rocks. To me, it's easier than soil, but it kinda handles like a soil, so I can't imagine anyone who's figured out "dirt" having any problems with this stuff. If I use larger pots so I don't need to water as often, the growth rate is more comparable to good soil. If I keep the pots smaller and "water" (with nutes, heh, heh) twice a day, the growth is freakin' unbelievable. If you screw something up, the next watering fixes it. It's not like having to re-balance a whole hydro circulation system.

I have some coco I've been using over a year now without problems. The fibers seem to get broken down to a finer consistency but still transport water just fine. I've also re-used it, but for indoor gardening I only run it once, then it goes to the outside potted vegetables. Sweet peppers love it. I just let it dry out and half-ass sift the roots out with some .25" screen. Anything left behind becomes "beneficials" eventually, IMO.

I've used only Botanicare coco in the small bricks. It's the most expensive way to buy it, though. For me, the storage / transport convenience is worth it, YMMV. But I test it every time, and it's never had salt. Some kinds do, so be careful.

Also, on Weezard's recommend I tried the Dyna nutes and I will buy them again. I've used Botanicare PBP before (in DWC, too) to see how organic treated me, and I liked the Dyna better, for potency and flavor. It produced better tasting peppers and tomatoes, as well. I like to run a pretty sterile grow environment, so I guess for me the chemical nutes offer better bioavailability than stuff that needs to be fermented, putrified, or otherwise decomposed first. Although I think Weez said that already with different words. :thumbsup:

In soil, letting your medium dry out a bit so your roots can breathe is a necessary evil. My "problem" with it is: as the soil slowly dries out, the nutes tend to become much more concentrated. PH gonna change just because of that, also. If you try to run hot nutes you'll scorch your plants a bit each time the pots dry out.

But in coco, you can run a fairly stiff (heh, heh) nutrient solution that gets flushed out / displaced by your next watering, before it has the chance to concentrate to stressful levels for the plant. It's like hydroponics; and each time you water you're giving the plant a new reservoir(?)

What was I talking about?

Oh, yeah. Search some of Sarah Louise's posts; she's been using coco for awhile and always has good advice.

Coco be da next big thing, mon. The big box stores' small houseplants are all arriving in coco all of a sudden. Vegetable plants that used to ship in "peat pots" are now arriving in "coco fiber pots."

awesome advice! This whole thread is really helpful! thanks!!!! :jointsmile:

[ledtime]

Weez or DH,

What are the specs of your source water that you are using? My tap water is pretty hard and has a pH of 8.5. I have an RO system for the plants. Didn't know how much Calmag I should add to it if I were to give your Dyna-Gro nutes a try. My shop carries it and it would be a lot cheaper than the canna nutes.

[Weezard]

Weez or DH,

What are the specs of your source water that you are using? My tap water is pretty hard and has a pH of 8.5. I have an RO system for the plants. Didn't know how much Calmag I should add to it if I were to give your Dyna-Gro nutes a try. My shop carries it and it would be a lot cheaper than the canna nutes.

the CalMag dosage not critical.
I slop in about a tsp per gallon.
My Tap water is PH7.2 and ppm of 120.
The calmag takes it to about 250.
Then I add nutes to about 600 ppm.
If the strain no complain, I let the ppm climb until run-off is about 1200.
Then give them plain PHd water alternating with 1 tsp per gallon nutes to keep it there.
Only have to do that the first time with a new strain, and take some notes.
Then it becomes routine.

Aloha,
Weeze

[atlashomeric]

Hey fellas, I recently had an LED in coco. There are definitely a few things to know about it before you jump in, but I think it's a great soil substitute with very promising results... just watch your pH and ppm's, and especially your ppms if you're using LEDs. I have a few friends who are using this stuff right now manufactured by Botanicare specifically for coco, CNS17 Coco Bloom | Botanicare.

Also, here's an invaluable .pdf link to something Advanced Nutrients put out the other day entitled the "pH Manifesto". It goes over a lot about growing in coco, and just about every other medium, and keeping your pH in the "sweet spot" range. It's a bit a of read (20 min) but well well worth your time. Cool to see you guys using this awesome sustainable resource for a medium.

Here's the pH Manifesto link

http://growersunderground.com/pH_Manifesto.pdf

-A

[sarah louise]

Thanks DH, I tend to use coco in the same fashion you do. When I first used it I treated it much the way I had soil, but over time, I moved to methods more in line with hydroponic principles, eg) continuous access to nutrient solution and feeding with greater frequency to maintain moisture levels.

I aim to feed daily, I do have a foursome flowering in 6 litre (1.5 Gal) pots that are feeding twice daily, but even for me, that is a bit time consuming and I may pot them up to reduce feeding frequency.

The daily feed of fresh nutrients resets the nutrient concentration, pH, oxygen levels and temperature. The only thing I do differently for coco than rockwool or straight perlite is ignore runoff pH. Coco runoff does not give a good indication of the pH of the media. You need to core sample if you want to accurately establish the pH of coco.

That said, coco, watered daily with a consistent strength of nutrients, maintains a pH close to that of the original solution. For simplicity I pay the extra and use Canna, but not the whole line, just A+B and PK 13/14. I use one home made extra which is basically 1:1:1 seaweed, water and fermented molasses, sparingly during veg and regularly during flowering. It's also good for watering old coco that is up for recycling... helps breakdown the old roots.

The OP asked about pots... I like pots that have the whole bottom perforated rather than one that just have drain holes around the edge. I've managed to (mainly) scavenge a collection of pots that I use just for ganja. I tend to work with clones, if they are going to veg outdoors they end up in the big tubs, like the skunk clone pictured. If not, they flower in the 9L (2.4Gal).

I wont be going back to soil anytime soon.