Atami COCO Pros/Cons

[OGReggieBUSH777]

Just switching over from Sunshine Mix #4 over to Atami Coco... I run Heavy 16 nutes with RO water... My question is what are the things i need to look out for... what ppm range am i looking for and why are ppm's important

 

[seaslug]

I prefer EC (in millisiemens, actually mS/cm) because otherwise we have to ask what conversion factor is being used. I've used Atami a couple times with Blumat drippers and I mix solid nutes into soft tap water. To keep me on course, I refer to the lower range on the GH Maxi DTW chart which uses a conversion factor of 0.5.

Short answer: for my setup, 1.6mS (=800ppm) works well. Too low of ppm starves the plants, too high burns the tips of the young leaves.


Atami and Canna are supposed to be "precharged" so the cations behave themselves and the coco can be used right out of the bag.

 

[OGReggieBUSH777]

@seaslug thanks for the info bro what would be to high +2200ppm ???

 

[seaslug]

Well, "too high" of a nute solution ppm depends on a few things. A sativa dominate plant will have its tips burnt more easily than a typical Afghan. The Blumat system has no runoff so I want things at the lower end. I never do a fresh water "flush".

Last grow, tips were burning slightly but I had my Lumigrow Pro leds too close and 1.7mS seemed like too much. I'm at one month veg right now and I just bumped my solution to 1.7mS but these are under fluorescents.

Most additives will increase ppm as well. I just started adding potassium silicate solution and that bumps up the ppm a little. I've only seen 2000ppm used in DWC (deep water culture) setups.

 

[seaslug]

You haven't asked about pH but I keep the reservoir between 5.8 and 6.0.

 

[seaslug]

To help clarify what I mean about ppm conversion factors: My Hanna meter can be set to use either the 0.5 or the 0.7 conversion from EC (electrical conductivity). I can switch the readout between EC and ppm but I leave it on EC. (This is a sensitive instrument and the readout is actually in microsiemens so I mentally convert to milliseimens by multiplying 1000). So right now the meter says 1.7mS, I can push a button and it reads 850ppm. (Half the mS readout because I'm using the 0.5 conversion factor, which is what the GH chart uses.)

 

[OGReggieBUSH777]

yes @seaslug i am running a rope tote bucket with 10 inch net pot and i am running DWC... but I'm working with coco and heavy 16 nutes advanced additive

 

[seaslug]

So coco is your medium in the net pot? I was planning a hydroton DWC until it became obvious I would need water chillers.

 

[shoestring]

In my experience Atami coco coir is some nice high quality stuff that is good to go rite out the bag. Very similar to canna, cyco, readygro (loose), nutrifield, and the rest of the coco ''brands'' (i bet but am not sure that the all come from the same place - sri lanka). What you need to be looking for especially early on with coir is a classic calcium or magnesium problem. Certain varieties i have grown in the past have shown a calcium problem especially when first transplanted into coir. The dry bricked stuff especially. The loose bags of coir are much more forgiving. This is usually fixed up if you use a quality base nutrient with a full profile (try to pick one with lower potassium levels and stick with it.) and staying within the 400 to 600 ppm range of total dissolved solids. Assuming you use the 500 conversion scale (or just use ec of .8 to 1.2). Keep your ph anywhere from 5.7 to 6.1 and you SHOULD have very little problem with gardening in coco coir. If you still do then you might want to analyze your starting waters tds and hardness. Using pure r.o. water or super hard water high in dissolved soilds could cause headaches and problems either way. Good luck.