Best Brand Coco Coir

[smirkis]

I strictly grow with coco only in smartpots and I hand water them. While my yields were always better than average when using ss #4, castings and perlite, they have really exploded with coco. Coco is quite an exceptional medium. I have tried many many different brands of coco. B'cuzz, botanicare, earth juice, royal gold, teufel (local landscaping supply co), and bio-bizz just to name a few off the top of my head. Royal gold was the worst by far, it has great porosity but is still full of salts. My smartpots became stained with white salt dust at the bottom after watering to run off the first few times. Botanicare and Earth Juice are quite similar and are the better ones that I have used, no lingering salts and a similar particle size and porosity. Earth Juice is the best that I have used. It appears to be of a slightly larger particle size than the botanicare, and in side by side comparisons the plants seemed to have enjoyed it most. Now the B'Cuzz and Bio-bizz are by far the most expensive coco that I have used. IMO the steaming process used by b'cuzz is costly and actually causes the coco to underperform by killing bene's. The b'cuzz coco isn't good and is a HUGE waste of money. I should say that I use mostly bio-bizz nutes and have found them to be of a superior quality if properly used. If improperly used, you'll have out of control deficiencies. With that being said, the bio-bizz coco is an inferior product. I have experienced lower yields and lower quality with the bio-bizz coco. At first I was sure it was my fault, but after more side by side comparisons of the same strains and feed, it appears that it is the biobizz coco itself. Ive just started using the teufel coco, its cheap and has a wide size range of the particles. It seems to work really well. Now the botanicare, ej, and teufel dont come precharged and are much cheaper. Imo opinion they outperform both the b'cuzz and biobizz. So this is the order from best to worst, of coco brands that I have used:
1. Earth Juice Companion Pro-Coir Bricks
2. Botanicare Coco-Gro Bricks
huge difference in quality between above and below
3. Atami B'cuzz (purple bag)
4. Bio-bizz Coco-Mix
5. Royal Gold

A hint on hydrating the 5kilo coco bricks. If you have access to a saw cut the bricks into 8ths. It'll make your life a lot easier.

what nutes are you using in combination with these mediums?

 

[IVIars]

Riococo Green Starters. It has chunky coco, coco fibers, and coco pyth. Already ph'd, ec is a little high though

 

[osidecannabis]

you cant beat the price and quality of general hydroponics, i have been using these 5kg bricks for a while, BUY THEM HERE, they expand to 2cuft, but it always fills up my 18gallon container. cant beat that price

 

[ChickenJoe]

Botanicare!

 

[ProdigyGrower]

I like royal gold I've had great results using RG it holds plenty of water and dries nicely the atami is packed with salts didn't like it or the price tag I would have got canna but they dnt Carrie canna in my state

 

[Bud Spleefman]

Canna, I've tried most, and I think Canna is worth it.... B'Cuzz is too expensive, and Royal Gold and the rest I thought weren't rinsed enough.

 

[treehugger]

I've used most of the compressed block brands over the years, and would only add that the Botanicare is by far the easiest to rehydrate. It basically fluffs as you add water. Some of the other brands need to be broken down, then hours of soaking, and as noted above, some then require manual crushing to finish.

 

[Mmmmasonite]

My best coco run was when i used equal amounts of Bcuzz coco, Big and chunky perlite, and hydroton. Believe it or not I ran H&G Aqua flakes A&B, not coco A&B, on a recirculating top drip and killed it....Peace

 

[yts farmer]

i use canna.

have also used bcuzz,B.A.C and even some compressed bricks from bio nova and had good end product on all.

i like to have an inch or so of hydroton in the bottom of my pots,not with the bricks though.

 

[Bud Spleefman]

The gave me a free bag of Coco, I think it's Sunlight Supply brand, at the hydro store today. I got it home, and was going to use it, and it has gray mold growing on it!!!!!! Now that, I had not seen before! WTF!!!! No wonder it was free! Guess I'll throw it in the flower bed.......

 

[SofaKingHigh]

Mold or mycorrizae? If the later, in Martha Sterwart's words, "It's a good thing."

I use Canna coco, Canna nutes and AN Overdrive for weeks 5 and 6 for that extra kick. Have some root mites or springtails in this current batch, no harm caused.

 

[GanjaGardener]

Does anyone have a line on the plantation and processing locations for the various distribution companies? (repackaging/contract packaged) Some might be sharing the same sources- not sure. Main reason I ask is the salt/purity factor- coastal groves being more prone to salt, although processing can alter the quality of a substrate as well. Anyways, I know from buying bulk organic minerals, meals etc that source is a good thing to know if possible.

 

[Paul Nepal]

most of the coco mediums come from Sri Lanka

IMO B'cuzz makes the best coco

 

[purpleberry]

I just got some Royal gold coco, I think its to wet in the bag, makes it heavy and harder to work with, I feed them with 650 ppms and the run off was 850-900, So i guess some salt in there. Guess im going to stick with canna.

 

[GanjaGardener]

most of the coco mediums come from Sri Lanka

IMO B'cuzz makes the best coco

Thanks. I've got that part down- meant the question to be a little more specific, ie groves along the coast and interior plantations. Coir coming from the interior doesn't require the leeching that coastal sources do where there's less room for error and more potential of getting a bag from a bad batch or from a generic, off brand source that just doesn't care. The biggest problem I see from what I've picked up in discussions is a lack of consistency. One guy's dream coir frequently turns out to be another guys nightmare.

 

[smirkis]

I just got some Royal gold coco, I think its to wet in the bag, makes it heavy and harder to work with, I feed them with 650 ppms and the run off was 850-900, So i guess some salt in there. Guess im going to stick with canna.

whats your runoff when using canna coco? ive been using RG tuper and haven't noticed any ill effects from the runoff being slightly higher then what i feed.

 

[purpleberry]

I dont know what the run off is with canna, i just checked the RG because i never used it and seen a few people complain about the hi salt. Im not worried about it, I dont like it because it was to wet and heavy. I did like that i got it for $10 bag compaired to $19 for canna.

 

[smirkis]

wet n heavy sounds inconsistant from your provider. mine are dry. buy a bunch and leave em out? thats what i do. u should read runoff on the canna coco for comparison.

 

[Mmmmasonite]

The gave me a free bag of Coco, I think it's Sunlight Supply brand, at the hydro store today. I got it home, and was going to use it, and it has gray mold growing on it!!!!!! Now that, I had not seen before! WTF!!!! No wonder it was free! Guess I'll throw it in the flower bed.......

Yeah....man that is just the beneficials goin ta work....No problem ....use it.....But .....if it's gonna stress you out don't..lol...It's only $15.... I will pay that for piece of mind any day....From my experience Sunlight Supply is the most legit distributor around...Workin at the old shop in the receiving dept....They always were the easiest to work with and had the more quality products available at the drop of a hat so we were able to give our custys the same service......Just sayin.....Peace

 

[ibTheMan]

Im pretty sure this mix is best= Sunshine Advanced with w/ 1/6 extra Coco core(b'cuzz pure coco) and 1/4 coarse perlite.
im hopen to prove it soon.