First Coco Coir Grow, Any Tips?

Ledandoldschool said:

The top one is veg.....
The bottom is flowering...... Be careful with Cal/Meg give only half of what they say. If your leaves aren't dark green wait until the next feeding and give a full dose.
If ur growing in Coco you must make sure the lower half stays damp. 1 inch on the top u will water.
Sat i feed
Sun I give a little bit of water no nutrients.
Monday I'll give the florabloom.
Tuesday don't need water
Weds give enough water toget a runoff in you bottom plate.
Thursday no water.
Friday no water.
Sat prune and chiropract all my plants especially the new Growth
1 tsp of Cal/Meg
1 tbsp of florabloom
1 tbsp of maxigrow
1/5th on a tsp of root stabilizer
Every Saturday and I got this....

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Coco grower for 10+ yrs, why is does it seem everyone makes it out to be hard, feed them once a day and be done with it,

MidwestToker said:

Coco grower for 10+ yrs, why is does it seem everyone makes it out to be hard, feed them once a day and be done with it,View attachment 1079159

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Wow! Super nice!

Yep feed once or twice a day to 10 percent runoff with correct ec and ph and watch it explode coco out performs soil in explosive growth by a mile therefore problems u have are more instant no buffer but I think the flavour of soil grown is better just my 2 cents good luck with your grow also I don’t know if anyone said to add at least 20 percent perlite helps with drainage

I started a grow with canna coco brick+rice hulls and and gen hydro flora nutes. I have some mag deficiency, and I’m suspecting I got it because I diluted the runoff of my coco mix to around 200ppm before planting the seedling into it. Do you all just hydrate and plant into pre buffered coco coir? I thought the ec would be too high for young plants

Zombierider said:

I started a grow with canna coco brick+rice hulls and and gen hydro flora nutes. I have some mag deficiency, and I’m suspecting I got it because I diluted the runoff of my coco mix to around 200ppm before planting the seedling into it. Do you all just hydrate and plant into pre buffered coco coir? I thought the ec would be too high for young plants

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when i was in coco, i always did. clones and seeds always went into buffered coco. that was ten years ago and things have improved substantially in terms of coco production, but if i were doing that method still i'd keep on the old habits. coco is a mag whore.

tobh said:

when i was in coco, i always did. clones and seeds always went into buffered coco. that was ten years ago and things have improved substantially in terms of coco production, but if i were doing that method still i'd keep on the old habits. coco is a mag whore.

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So you wouldn't adjust runoff ec of the coco before planting? And yup I've heard coco is a mag whore. Waiting to see if my plants still have a mag issue and will be adding a calimagic foliar spray every 3 days should the def continue. Next grow i will try to use the canna coco w/o washing.

Zombierider said:

So you wouldn't adjust runoff ec of the coco before planting? And yup I've heard coco is a mag whore. Waiting to see if my plants still have a mag issue and will be adding a calimagic foliar spray every 3 days should the def continue. Next grow i will try to use the canna coco w/o washing.

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i used to wash the ever living shit out of my coco. run water through it in a pillow case until the water coming out was crystal clear and the same EC was coming out as what was going in, like 0.1-0.2. Then i'd buffer it with like 0.5 solution and send it. that was back when coco was more salt than fiber. not sure it's the same situation these days.

tobh said:

i used to wash the ever living shit out of my coco. run water through it in a pillow case until the water coming out was crystal clear and the same EC was coming out as what was going in, like 0.1-0.2. Then i'd buffer it with like 0.5 solution and send it. that was back when coco was more salt than fiber. not sure it's the same situation these days.

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Well I've only ever used canna coco, but it's prewashed/buffered, and still had a pretty high ec before I rinsed it. So i guess it's gotten better though not 100%. I wonder what the EC of the non brick canna coco bags are, maybe more of a ready to plant product then the bricks...

i couldn't tell you on that. i used a ton of different varieties when i was in coco. i always washed them. i also grew with canna's line of nutrients and i would still trust that even their media, bricked or not, is ready to use right out of the wrapper unrinsed. Canna has a great reputation (albeit an expensive one) and they don't want anyone saying their warez are ineffective or cause problems, so I'd recommend maybe reaching out to them. They're pretty good about customer service ime.

tobh said:

i used to wash the ever living shit out of my coco. run water through it in a pillow case until the water coming out was crystal clear and the same EC was coming out as what was going in, like 0.1-0.2. Then i'd buffer it with like 0.5 solution and send it. that was back when coco was more salt than fiber. not sure it's the same situation these days.

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Well I've only ever used canna coco, but it's prewashed/buffered, and still had a pretty high ec before I rinsed it. So i guess it's gotten better though not 100%. I wonder what the EC of the non brick canna coco bags are, maybe more of a ready to plant product then the bricks...

tobh said:

i couldn't tell you on that. i used a ton of different varieties when i was in coco. i always washed them. i also grew with canna's line of nutrients and i would still trust that even their media, bricked or not, is ready to use right out of the wrapper unrinsed. Canna has a great reputation (albeit an expensive one) and they don't want anyone saying their warez are ineffective or cause problems, so I'd recommend maybe reaching out to them. They're pretty good about customer service ime.

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I didn't think about contacting them, glad to hear they have good customer service cuz I'm gonna be transplanting into 5 gal pots at some point and i wanna be sure i prepare the coco brick properly this time. Of course, the higher ec won't be an issue since they'll be big girls by then.

Zombierider said:

Well I've only ever used canna coco, but it's prewashed/buffered, and still had a pretty high ec before I rinsed it. So i guess it's gotten better though not 100%. I wonder what the EC of the non brick canna coco bags are, maybe more of a ready to plant product then the bricks...

I didn't think about contacting them, glad to hear they have good customer service cuz I'm gonna be transplanting into 5 gal pots at some point and i wanna be sure i prepare the coco brick properly this time. Of course, the higher ec won't be an issue since they'll be big girls by then.

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Might not need such a big container for coco just my 2 cents

What are the negatives of the 5 gallon with coco? I wanna just water once a day and i heard anything less than a 5 gallon will require 2+ watering a day.

Zombierider said:

What are the negatives of the 5 gallon with coco? I wanna just water once a day and i heard anything less than a 5 gallon will require 2+ watering a day.

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5 gallons is pretty darn big.. why not consider something like ProMix HP? In 3 gallon pots I had to water once every 2-3 days at the plants highest demands. ProMix is a pretty forgiving medium as well.

From what I understand, you lose the benefits of coco when you start treating it like soil.

jguit said:

5 gallons is pretty darn big.. why not consider something like ProMix HP? In 3 gallon pots I had to water once every 2-3 days at the plants highest demands. ProMix is a pretty forgiving medium as well.

From what I understand, you lose the benefits of coco when you start treating it like soil.

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I grow a few come spring coco 5 gallon bucket from lowes with a auto watering kit I found on amazon
it pushes the plant up so there is water underneath the plant, it’s basically wicking action.
plants seem to love it, but it not sitting in water plants above it.takes a gallon of water, might top off on extreme hot day but usually last a couple of days. With big bushes that were topped multiple times.
I like my outdoor plants close to my house, I not a good shot bad eyes.
of course you have that thirsty period when she is growing strong.

unless he's growing trees indoor, multiple plants in 5 gallon buckets seems to be a waste. i'm assuming he's in a small grow space. I could be wrong. LOL

1 plant in a 5 gallon indoors is another story.

jguit said:

unless he's growing trees indoor, multiple plants in 5 gallon buckets seems to be a waste. i'm assuming he's in a small grow space. I could be wrong. LOL

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jguit said:

jguit said:

1 plant in a 5 gallon indoors is another story.

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indoors I use 4, 3.9 auto pots I use to grow 3 gallon, these are a little bigger and make a difference in stem size.

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I have these 3 gallon selfwatering wicking type I bought 6 of them and can not find them in The store. There like 10 years old.

jguit said:

unless he's growing trees indoor, multiple plants in 5 gallon buckets seems to be a waste. i'm assuming he's in a small grow space. I could be wrong. LOL

1 plant in a 5 gallon indoors is another story.

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old days big argument pot size a lot of people pushed 5 gallon pots As the only way to grow.
but there too big when you first start off. I use 3.9 and 3 gallon pots a lot. 5 gallon outside after topping her to be a beast, that’s fun in the sun.
I have skunk mazar in a 5 galllon now, too high for light, next grow back to 3 gallon.
smaller tent as a extra for males or extra plant etc need space fooling with males and females.

What are the negatives of a 5 gallon? I wanna just water once a day and i heard anything less than a 5 gallon will require 2+ watering a day.

jguit said:

5 gallons is pretty darn big.. why not consider something like ProMix HP? In 3 gallon pots I had to water once every 2-3 days at the plants highest demands. ProMix is a pretty forgiving medium as well.

From what I understand, you lose the benefits of coco when you start treating it like soil.

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I’m growing in a 5x5 tent. Never heard of promix hp but it looks like some good stuff, I heard I shouldn’t switch mediums during a grow though so if that’s the case, Ill try it next grow for sure. I have some 3 gallon fabric pots so I might just transplant to those after the 1 gallons if 5 gallons isn’t ideal. Only thing is I will probably need an auto watering system right? The seem like a pain in the ass to setup.

Zombierider said:

What are the negatives of a 5 gallon? I wanna just water once a day and i heard anything less than a 5 gallon will require 2+ watering a day.

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5 gallons is a whole lot of media and suited for growing really big plants but if you have the vertical space in a 5x5 and train your plants, why not i suppose? It'll be a learning experience, if anything. If you don't have the height, you'll want to avoid over vegging. Things can get out of hand in no time. As for watering frequency? I've never grown in coco in anything bigger than 1 gal containers (automated), so i can't answer your question. I'm sure another grower might have some tips.

I didn't realize you were switching mid grow. I agree stick with whatever media you're using this grow and if it suits your grow style, keep using it and learn it.

Zombierider said:

I’m growing in a 5x5 tent. Never heard of promix hp but it looks like some good stuff, I heard I shouldn’t switch mediums during a grow though so if that’s the case, Ill try it next grow for sure. I have some 3 gallon fabric pots so I might just transplant to those after the 1 gallons if 5 gallons isn’t ideal. Only thing is I will probably need an auto watering system right? The seem like a pain in the ass to setup.

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Setting up an auto-watering system isn't really much of a pain and PVC is really easy to work with. I'd never go back to hand watering in my flower tent. I still keep mother plants and plants and grow out seeds in ProMix though.

At least do a couple runs in coco and if you don't like it for whatever reason, consider another media. I switched from ProMix to coco for the benefits of hydroponics, automation and using less media. That said, if you wanted to water less frequently and coco was proving to be difficult, ProMix is a decent choice!