Are there organic nutrients for coco-perlite?

[WackyZac]

I've been trying to learn coco-coir. This run has Foxfarms 50/50 coco-perlite mixed with Build-A-Soil 3.0, and I'm very lightly adding Lotus nutrients and Stash blend, only once so far and they're about to start week 4.

My question, is there a certified organic nutrient line I can use with a coco-perlite and worm casting blend? Instead of mixing coco with an organic soil? How do you supply nutrients to your coco if not using synthetic liquid nutrients?

 

[JIMKSI64]

Might wanna see if anyone has a diary open with that mixture in the pot. I would caution you treating it as soil or treating it as coco either will be wrong. Hybrid mixtures are different.

 

[Rastabreath]

I've been trying to learn coco-coir. This run has Foxfarms 50/50 coco-perlite mixed with Build-A-Soil 3.0, and I'm very lightly adding Lotus nutrients and Stash blend, only once so far and they're about to start week 4.

My question, is there a certified organic nutrient line I can use with a coco-perlite and worm casting blend? Instead of mixing coco with an organic soil? How do you supply nutrients to your coco if not using synthetic liquid nutrients?

I use Gija green with molasses (compost tea) ..I used to try and make it but they make a great product still tweaking my greenhouse ..I am using coir with Cal-mag as a pre caution and I did Cal mag buffer ...most of it . Auto flower seems picky about it but sometimes they work so maybe me ..but the photos seem to just love coir every clone did awesome

 

[WackyZac]

Might wanna see if anyone has a diary open with that mixture in the pot. I would caution you treating it as soil or treating it as coco either will be wrong. Hybrid mixtures are different.

Thank you, I will remain cautious and watch the girls for signs of issues. So far so good I'm just trying to find what I like for medium to grow in, and dialing that in

 

[WackyZac]

I use Gija green with molasses (compost tea) ..I used to try and make it but they make a great product still tweaking my greenhouse ..I am using coir with Cal-mag as a pre caution and I did Cal mag buffer ...most of it . Auto flower seems picky about it but sometimes they work so maybe me ..but the photos seem to just love coir every clone did awesome

If I'm understanding right, you're using coco-coir and supplementing with Gaia Green as a tea? I just figured I'd blend everything together (coco/perlite,worm castings, and Gaia Green) and call it "living coco"

 

[stanknkatz]

If you're going to add worm castings to your coco, you'll have to treat it more like soil than coco. You can use the worm castings or bat guanos as a tea for fertilizer and stay organic if you go with a straight coco perlite mix. If you want to do an amended coco medium I'd suggest something like Baby Bu's potting soil - Coir, compost (composted organic dairy cow manure, wood chips, concentrations of yarrow, chamomile, valerian, stinging nettle, dandelion, & oak bark), fir bark, perlite, worm castings, soybean meal, fish meal, fish bone meal, alfalfa meal, crab meal, green sand, neem seed meal, volcanic ash, biochar & kelp meal).

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

Might wanna see if anyone has a diary open with that mixture in the pot. I would caution you treating it as soil or treating it as coco either will be wrong. Hybrid mixtures are different.

Adding to what @JIMKSI64 is saying about your soil mix. When people start mixing coco with soil, they frequently have problems. The 2 mediums mixed together is frequently less than either of those mixes by itself. Coco is meant to be an inert media and its best used with nutrient salts. This doesn't mean people don't grow organically in coco because some people do.

Let's talk about coco for a moment. If I were to try to describe its properties, I would say its like a shredded sponge. It will hold a lot of water, but it will also hold a lot of air. It's inert meaning it comes with zero nutrition in the mix in its natural state. This is what appeals to people who grow in coco. Complete control over the nutrients the plant receives in a medium that holds water and plenty of air. Now, when you add soil to that you're essentially plugging up the sponge. It no longer holds the water like it naturally would. It also loses its ability to hold air. All those fine particle organics then turn to muck.

When I say that, the most common response I get is something about some coco/soil mix that is sold commercially. Those are not the same as your home made mix. First off, the total amount of coco + soil is typically in the 30-40% range and the rest of the mix is organics and buffers to keep the properties present in the mix that helps plants grow. Commercial mixes control even the size of particles used in these mixes. None of this is easily done at home.

If it were my grow, I would pick one media or the other. If you want to use coco, that is fine. It's a wonderful media when used as its intended. It works best with frequent feeds using a salts based nutrient program. If you want to grow organically, use an organic soil mix and don't mix in any coco. Right now, you're mixing too many things that don't play well together and you're likely to have more than your share of issues. It's like was said above ... Hybrid mixes are different.

 

[defective]

Adding to what @JIMKSI64 is saying about your soil mix. When people start mixing coco with soil, they frequently have problems. The 2 mediums mixed together is frequently less than either of those mixes by itself. Coco is meant to be an inert media and its best used with nutrient salts. This doesn't mean people don't grow organically in coco because some people do.

Let's talk about coco for a moment. If I were to try to describe its properties, I would say its like a shredded sponge. It will hold a lot of water, but it will also hold a lot of air. It's inert meaning it comes with zero nutrition in the mix in its natural state. This is what appeals to people who grow in coco. Complete control over the nutrients the plant receives in a medium that holds water and plenty of air. Now, when you add soil to that you're essentially plugging up the sponge. It no longer holds the water like it naturally would. It also loses its ability to hold air. All those fine particle organics then turn to muck.

When I say that, the most common response I get is something about some coco/soil mix that is sold commercially. Those are not the same as your home made mix. First off, the total amount of coco + soil is typically in the 30-40% range and the rest of the mix is organics and buffers to keep the properties present in the mix that helps plants grow. Commercial mixes control even the size of particles used in these mixes. None of this is easily done at home.

If it were my grow, I would pick one media or the other. If you want to use coco, that is fine. It's a wonderful media when used as its intended. It works best with frequent feeds using a salts based nutrient program. If you want to grow organically, use an organic soil mix and don't mix in any coco. Right now, you're mixing too many things that don't play well together and you're likely to have more than your share of issues. It's like was said above ... Hybrid mixes are different.

Great advice here.

 

[WackyZac]

Adding to what @JIMKSI64 is saying about your soil mix. When people start mixing coco with soil, they frequently have problems. The 2 mediums mixed together is frequently less than either of those mixes by itself. Coco is meant to be an inert media and its best used with nutrient salts. This doesn't mean people don't grow organically in coco because some people do.

Let's talk about coco for a moment. If I were to try to describe its properties, I would say its like a shredded sponge. It will hold a lot of water, but it will also hold a lot of air. It's inert meaning it comes with zero nutrition in the mix in its natural state. This is what appeals to people who grow in coco. Complete control over the nutrients the plant receives in a medium that holds water and plenty of air. Now, when you add soil to that you're essentially plugging up the sponge. It no longer holds the water like it naturally would. It also loses its ability to hold air. All those fine particle organics then turn to muck.

When I say that, the most common response I get is something about some coco/soil mix that is sold commercially. Those are not the same as your home made mix. First off, the total amount of coco + soil is typically in the 30-40% range and the rest of the mix is organics and buffers to keep the properties present in the mix that helps plants grow. Commercial mixes control even the size of particles used in these mixes. None of this is easily done at home.

If it were my grow, I would pick one media or the other. If you want to use coco, that is fine. It's a wonderful media when used as its intended. It works best with frequent feeds using a salts based nutrient program. If you want to grow organically, use an organic soil mix and don't mix in any coco. Right now, you're mixing too many things that don't play well together and you're likely to have more than your share of issues. It's like was said above ... Hybrid mixes are different.

Thank you for your time and information, very thorough. What you mentioned about water/air retention answered an unasked question. Do you have a recommendation for organic nutrients? I dont like soil because even three or four gnats annoy me, so I'm leaning towards coco/hydro.

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

Thank you for your time and information, very thorough. What you mentioned about water/air retention answered an unasked question. Do you have a recommendation for organic nutrients? I dont like soil because even three or four gnats annoy me, so I'm leaning towards coco/hydro.

Again, if it were my grow and I was growing in coco ... I would use synthetic nutrients ... salts based nutrients.

If I wanted to grow organically, I would be growing in soil. You can use mosquito pellets in your water during veg to kill any gnats from what I've been told. I grow in soil. I don't use mosquito pellets. I use nutrient salts and I bet you couldn't tell the difference in a taste test between my salts based grow and someone else's organic grow. The grower who has the best growing skills regardless of salts or organics will have the best tasting harvest every time.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

Again, if it were my grow and I was growing in coco ... I would use synthetic nutrients ... salts based nutrients.

+1

Do you have a recommendation for organic nutrients?

I use Gaia Green and several other helpful amendments, such as lime and azomite.

I dont like soil because even three or four gnats annoy me

I grow in soil and haven't seen a gnat in a long time. Controlling them is not difficult.

I'm leaning towards coco/hydro.

Coir & hydro are less messy but more complicated, IMO. I doubt organic nutrients would work in that environment because they depend on the presence of fungi that function as a symbiotic intermediary. Synthetics, on the other hand, do not. They're directly available to the plant's roots.

 

[WackyZac]

Again, if it were my grow and I was growing in coco ... I would use synthetic nutrients ... salts based nutrients.

If I wanted to grow organically, I would be growing in soil. You can use mosquito pellets in your water during veg to kill any gnats from what I've been told. I grow in soil. I don't use mosquito pellets. I use nutrient salts and I bet you couldn't tell the difference in a taste test between my salts based grow and someone else's organic grow. The grower who has the best growing skills regardless of salts or organics will have the best tasting harvest every time.

So organic nutrients don't exist for coco because the nature of coco doesn't play well with all the things to make organic usable for the plant? That's what I'm understanding. Coco requires synthetic to retain all it's benefits, so in order to say I grow organically I have to be in soil?

 

[WackyZac]

+1


I use Gaia Green and several other helpful amendments, such as lime and azomite.


I grow in soil and haven't seen a gnat in a long time. Controlling them is not difficult.


Coir & hydro are less messy but more complicated, IMO. I doubt organic nutrients would work in that environment because they depend on the presence of fungi that function as a symbiotic intermediary. Synthetics, on the other hand, do not. They're directly available to the plant's roots.

Gaia Green is on my radar, probably going with whatever pre-made organic blend they have on sale at the green house and mix with Gaia Green.

I only get three or four gnats at a time and they manage to be avoiding of the sticky traps so they just really annoy me until I grab the swatter. Difficult no, annoying and distracting yes.

So upping Lotus and Stash blend is a good idea?

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

Gaia Green is on my radar, probably going with whatever pre-made organic blend they have on sale at the green house and mix with Gaia Green.

I only get three or four gnats at a time and they manage to be avoiding of the sticky traps so they just really annoy me until I grab the swatter. Difficult no, annoying and distracting yes.

So upping Lotus and Stash blend is a good idea?

What exactly are you referring to with "Lotus and Stash Blend?" The "lotus" method I know about skips a bottle of the GH flora series three part regimen. I don't advise skipping any part of a regimen if its been designed to work together.

Gaia Green is well regarded. Price + performance makes it hard to beat as an organic feed. For an organic grow, you'll do fine using something along the lines of Fox Farm Ocean Forest or Roots Organic Lush. There are other mixes that are good but I advise against grabbing "whatever organic blend" they have on sale and instead going with a mix that is known to work well with cannabis. Most of these mixes work best if moistened to field capacity and then allowed to sit at room temperature for a couple of weeks prior to putting plants in it. This activates the buffers and gets the microbes colonies going.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I only get three or four gnats at a time and they manage to be avoiding of the sticky traps so they just really annoy me until I grab the swatter.

Sticky traps don't work. There are, however, methods that do. Letting the soil dry is a method that does.

 

[Smokey_LaFleur]

I can't say whether soil is better, as I've never used it. I use FF coco loco mixed with NLS additives. Works well for me. YMMV, of course.

 

[WackyZac]

Sticky traps don't work. There are, however, methods that do. Letting the soil dry is a method that

Sticky traps don't work. There are, however, methods that do. Letting the soil dry is a method that does.

I only water when bottom of the pot is dry now that they're 3 weeks old. Or when the soil meter I bought says "dry". 1 liter at this point with a few half liter top watering.

Are Nectar of the Gods a liquid organic that would work with coco? Or is salt the catalyst for synthetic nutrients to work in coco so even liquid organic doesn't work?

 

[Week4Bytch]

I've been trying to learn coco-coir. This run has Foxfarms 50/50 coco-perlite mixed with Build-A-Soil 3.0, and I'm very lightly adding Lotus nutrients and Stash blend, only once so far and they're about to start week 4.

My question, is there a certified organic nutrient line I can use with a coco-perlite and worm casting blend? Instead of mixing coco with an organic soil? How do you supply nutrients to your coco if not using synthetic liquid nutrients?

Check out Rooted Leaf products

 

[RoadKillSkunkHunt]

I only water when bottom of the pot is dry now that they're 3 weeks old. Or when the soil meter I bought says "dry". 1 liter at this point with a few half liter top watering.

Are Nectar of the Gods a liquid organic that would work with coco? Or is salt the catalyst for synthetic nutrients to work in coco so even liquid organic doesn't work?

For organics to work in coco, there must be a microbe population. It can be done but again, you're trying to go outside of where this media works its best magic. Without microbes to make the nutrients available for the plants to uptake, they starve.

 

[WackyZac]

I only water when bottom of the pot is dry now that they're 3 weeks old. Or when the soil meter I bought says "dry". 1 liter at this point with a few half liter top watering.

Are Nectar of the Gods a liquid organic that would work with coco? Or is salt the catalyst for synthetic nutrients to work in coco so even liquid organic doesn't work?

I can't say whether soil is better, as I've never used it. I use FF coco loco mixed with NLS additives. Works well for me. YMMV, of course.

I can't say whether soil is better, as I've never used it. I use FF coco loco mixed with NLS additives. Works well for me. YMMV, of course.

Check out Rooted Leaf products

Why am I replying to everyone now?
Anyway, on it now thank you !