Botanicare COCO bales

[og dmc]

I'll go into more detail but the batch of botanicare coco I just recieved is packed with salt. I suffered severe losses due to this. Plants planted in pure canna coco are thriving with roots reaching the bottom of the pot in days. Plants in botanicare coco have all but died. I could tell with in ours that the salt content was so high that the osmotic pressure was treversed and water was being sucked from the roots. At best there product is inconsistent. I'm convinced its worthless shit.

 

[mastacheeser]

Which coco did you use?
Their bricked stuff is pretty terrible but I've used their bagged stuff without issue

You should wash the bricked stuff anyway

 

[og dmc]

The only advantage botanicare has is lower cost. And after I spent the time to flush it with clearex or calmag it doesn't even have that advantage anymore.

 

[og dmc]

And yes it was the bricks. To be honest, I've used it with great results in the past and was happy with it. But that doesn't make me feel any differently after using this last batch. I lost several plants including the seeds I won here in the Og raskal contest and my prized snow dog plant from rez dog.

 

[KennyPowers]

this is a pretty well known issue with the bricks to be honest....

 

[og dmc]

Hey kenny, its meant to inform people getting into coco. To be honest, glad you were aware of it. :)

 

[jessejames12345]

Yea , those bricks gave me issues as well .Canna from now on...

 

[ttystikk]

...and now is another chance for me to insert a shameless plug for being ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND BY NOT THROWING YOUR OLD MEDIA AWAY!

WTF is it with people who gotta ditch their perfectly good INERT MEDIA after just one use?! It worked once, it's not single use, why are people throwing their money away- and then gambling that the new stuff will be the same?

I've been reusing my coco and hydroton for YEARS with no ill effects. It's cheaper and I know what I have... and don't.

 

[altitudefarmer]

Ty, pumping any medium full of chemical nutrients makes for a lot of work (flushing) to re-use... But I'm with you. I re-use everything I possible can, and give it a small amount of organic amendments. It took me a while to trust myself and get it dialed in. Now it just seems retarded to go drop $20/1.5cf on some mass-produced soil...

 

[ttystikk]

Ty, pumping any medium full of chemical nutrients makes for a lot of work (flushing) to re-use... But I'm with you. I re-use everything I possible can, and give it a small amount of organic amendments. It took me a while to trust myself and get it dialed in. Now it just seems retarded to go drop $20/1.5cf on some mass-produced soil...

..except that I spend the same two weeks flushing my plants as everyone else, so where's the build-up?

In my case, I don't get one- and I don't try to rinse or sterilize, either. I crown feed with Cap's bennies and those guys will remain, ready to lend a hand with the next crop.

I think there is such a thing as being too clean, and that line is easy to cross when using beneficial microbes. I have a very stable rhizosphere within and between crops, both in my substrate of 80% hydroton/20% coco and in the water of my RDWC beneath. I don't sterilize my RDWC system between runs, either. Usually, they just get a blast with the hose and that's it.

I've been doing it this way for years now, with no ill effects. And no ongoing costs to buy more- or to dispose of 'used' media. As nasty as rockwool is for you, the worst thing about it for me is having to buy more every run.

 

[og dmc]

Damn good input Ty and attitude. I enjoyed reading these posts. Very good contribution.

 

[Seamaiden]

I'm too cheap to lay out for the prepped coirs, I use the Botanicare bricks. I lay an old sheet in a large plastic bin, toss the brick in there, then start the soaking process. I always measure pH and EC. I save rainwater and I've found that's best for getting the coir cleaned out, I don't use Clearex and I don't keep water running, I soak, then drain, rinse and repeat.

All that said, you're 100% correct, it's important to know what you're getting when you buy coir.

 

[og dmc]

Thanks seamaiden. Good post. I wish i could alter the title, this turned into a very positive thread with valuable info.

 

[og dmc]

Guys, so I contacted botanicare. They used the pachaging and numbers on a barcoad used for inventory to track how old , and from what batch the coco came from. They apologized and informed me that the batch was several years old and had been recalled. Apparently they're are a few bales of it out there still. Now the fact is, I am to blame for this on many levels. I really should have rinsed and tested it. I just got complacent. With that said, I suffered the consequences and I'm kicking my self in the ass. I have been making beans to send in. Some of you may have tried my real OG as freebies. I really wanted to send in Urkle x skywalker ( purple sky) , and Snowdog x Urkle but I have lost my snowdog and Urkle mother. Sorry guys.

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

...and now is another chance for me to insert a shameless plug for being ENVIRONMENTALLY SOUND BY NOT THROWING YOUR OLD MEDIA AWAY!

WTF is it with people who gotta ditch their perfectly good INERT MEDIA after just one use?! It worked once, it's not single use, why are people throwing their money away- and then gambling that the new stuff will be the same?

I've been reusing my coco and hydroton for YEARS with no ill effects. It's cheaper and I know what I have... and don't.

Hells yeah buddy. Gotta reuse that media. If you keep it clean it'll be clean. I flush 21 days so I know what my plants are getting when they go in..... On my nutrients coming from my jugs.

 

[KitsapGrapeApe]

I'm too cheap to lay out for the prepped coirs, I use the Botanicare bricks. I lay an old sheet in a large plastic bin, toss the brick in there, then start the soaking process. I always measure pH and EC. I save rainwater and I've found that's best for getting the coir cleaned out, I don't use Clearex and I don't keep water running, I soak, then drain, rinse and repeat.

All that said, you're 100% correct, it's important to know what you're getting when you buy coir.

I feel where you're coming from with the rinsing. For me though the thing I have the least of is time, it's also the most valuable thing I have also. Washing bricks is putting my time way in the red so I stick with bags and reusing which I love.

 

[Seamaiden]

Fair enough! I am one who's got the time to do stuff like that, so, there ya go. It's actually an argument my husband and I have not infrequently. Due to his paycheck, his time is worth a whole lot more than mine, so I try to aim for endeavors that don't use up so much of his time. Not so sure how successful I am with that...

Thanks seamaiden. Good post. I wish i could alter the title, this turned into a very positive thread with valuable info.

Guys, so I contacted botanicare. They used the pachaging and numbers on a barcoad used for inventory to track how old , and from what batch the coco came from. They apologized and informed me that the batch was several years old and had been recalled. Apparently they're are a few bales of it out there still. Now the fact is, I am to blame for this on many levels. I really should have rinsed and tested it. I just got complacent. With that said, I suffered the consequences and I'm kicking my self in the ass. I have been making beans to send in. Some of you may have tried my real OG as freebies. I really wanted to send in Urkle x skywalker ( purple sky) , and Snowdog x Urkle but I have lost my snowdog and Urkle mother. Sorry guys.

I'm happy to be your thread genie. Just let me know what you want it to say and I shall make it so. Considering this information you gleaned from Botanicare...?
And I'm sorry you lost those moms!

 

[KennyPowers]

How long do the rest of you re-use coco for? I rocked the same stuff, regularly adding a new bag or two if need be, for about a year until I started pulling my hair out to nute problems. Replaced the media and rocked on for another year.

 

[og dmc]

I haven't been reusing it in the garden. But I do use it for house plants and outdoor plants. The Tap water here runs about 550-600 ppm. I have been using an RO unit to treat the water, then adding cal mag to bring it up from 20 ppm to 200-250. I have heard many people use 1/2 to 1/4 tap water. Anybody doing this? Also, there was a time my filter went out and I had to use tap water. I used it throughout the entire grow without any real problems. I'm not sure anymore just how necessary using an RO unit is.

 

[Thoth]

I always flush my coco before using it, irrespective of the brand. Might be a little extra work, but at the end of the day it's better to put some hard work in at the beginning that to cop losses later on.