Can I buffer coco with Epsom salt and gypsum? If not, how bad is it to grow in unbuffered coco?

[LouReed]

Can I buffer coco with Epsom salt and gypsum?

I have just found out you need to buffer coco coir with calmag but I unfortunately do not have calmag or access to it, and will need to put my sprouts in the coco before I am able to get any.

I currently have 4 autoflower seeds floating in water which will likely germinate in the next 12-24 hrs and need to be planted soon after, so I don’t have time to get calmag. I have found a bag of epsom salt and a bag of gypsum in my house and had thought I was saved as I believed gypsum would work for calcium but have since discovered gypsum is calcium sulfate dihydrate, and calcium nitrate is what’s normally used for buffering.

So I am wondering whether or not the gypsum will work? Or if the Epsom salt alone is enough? I will be feeding the plants megacrop 2 part but have also discovered I only have part a of the 2 part (didn’t realize they were sold separately), and won’t have part b which contains all the calcium nitrate until at least a day after the plants will most likely need to be put in the coco.

Am I screwed? Or will the Epsom salt and gypsum work? Or is Epsom salt alone enough for the first 1-2 days until I can feed the plant calcium through the megacrop?

If gypsum will not work for buffering, would I get a better yield just growing the plants in soil than unbuffered / only buffered with Epsom? Or would the unbuffered coco still give me a greater yield than soil?

Because I will be growing autos, I was planning on putting the sprouts directly in their final 3 gallon container so buffering the coco after a transplant doesn’t seem to be an option as I’ve read transplanting autos is unadvisedly and can stunt them and destroy yield. If it’s not that risky though I do have solo cups and/or 1 gallon fabric pots I could plant them in first and then buffer the coco upon transplanting.

Thank you for anyone who answers or can give any insight or help!

 

[mike88]

I grow in Coco and perlite, I didn't buffer mine I just give cal mag with ever feed, you should be okay to plant straight away and add cal mag as soon as you can get some, I'm no expert tho so someone with better knowledge will hopefully be able to help you out more with your other questions.

 

[LouReed]

I grow in Coco and perlite, I didn't buffer mine I just give cal mag with ever feed, you should be okay to plant straight away and add cal mag as soon as you can get some, I'm no expert tho so someone with better knowledge will hopefully be able to help you out more with your other questions.

Do you know if the coco you have used has already been buffered? I’m using Mother Earth coco brick which isn’t buffered but I think most coco is buffered already and am worried all the people that haven’t had a problem despite not buffering, may have been using pre buffered coco so they didn’t need to. Thank you sm for answering though! Hopefully if I’m not able to get a hold of calcium nitrate before planting the seeds I can have success like you did if I feed calmag as soon as I get it

 

[GroLex]

I grow in Coco and perlite, I didn't buffer mine I just give cal mag with ever feed, you should be okay to plant straight away and add cal mag as soon as you can get some, I'm no expert tho so someone with better knowledge will hopefully be able to help you out more with your other questions.

I've only done 10 runs in coco. Didn't buffer the first time but still had some success. Salt build up was an issue. Coco naturally has a ton of sodium and potassium in it, so I'd flush the sht out of it before putting younglings in there. Check the EC of the runoff. The coco will steal a lot of the calcium and magnesium from the fertilizer to satisfy the cations so keep an eye out for deficiencies and you'll be alright.

 

[LoveGrowingIt]

I currently have 4 autoflower seeds floating in water which will likely germinate in the next 12-24 hrs and need to be planted soon after, so I don’t have time to get calmag.

If your seeds are germinating just now, you should have 2 to 3 weeks till you need to feed them.

 

[mike88]

Do you know if the coco you have used has already been buffered? I’m using Mother Earth coco brick which isn’t buffered but I think most coco is buffered already and am worried all the people that haven’t had a problem despite not buffering, may have been using pre buffered coco so they didn’t need to. Thank you sm for answering though! Hopefully if I’m not able to get a hold of calcium nitrate before planting the seeds I can have success like you did if I feed calmag as soon as I get it

I don't think the one use is buffered, I just looked at the packaging and it's not saying it's pre buffered so I think mine is like yours just straight up Coco coir, have you looked up making your own nutrients? I hear you can use egg shells and a couple of other things to make your own cal mag might be worth a look on YouTube or Google.

 

[mike88]

I've only done 10 runs in coco. Didn't buffer the first time but still had some success. Salt build up was an issue. Coco naturally has a ton of sodium and potassium in it, so I'd flush the sht out of it before putting younglings in there. Check the EC of the runoff. The coco will steal a lot of the calcium and magnesium from the fertilizer to satisfy the cations so keep an eye out for deficiencies and you'll be alright.

I'm half way through growing a few plants now but next run I'll flush the Coco first, I did watch some guy on YouTube that soaked the Coco in cal mag water over night after washing it, I've been lucky so far only had a few small deficiencies but nothing to bad yet

 

[GroLex]

I'm half way through growing a few plants now but next run I'll flush the Coco first, I did watch some guy on YouTube that soaked the Coco in cal mag water over night after washing it, I've been lucky so far only had a few small deficiencies but nothing to bad yet

Soaking it is crucial when you have the chance to do it. I do it even if it says it's pre buffered. It helps get the EC and pH where you want it too. Cation exchange is everything.

 

[yamrvi3]

Here is an excellent reference resource.

Coco Coir Bricks - How to Prepare and Buffer Coco Coir - Coco For Cannabis

This tutorial covers the process of selecting, preparing & buffering coco coir. Includes perlite ratios & tips to make coco the best media for cannabis

www.cocoforcannabis.com

 

[hoobastank_enthusiast]

Most high-quality prebagged mixes are already buffered for you; gambling on that fact is usually a relatively safe one. Almost all compressed, 'brick' style products are not; the result of failing to buffer that kind of medium yourself then ranges between unfortunate to catastrophic.

In the absence of CalMag I would say soaking/rinsing with distilled/RO water would be better than nothing, with the understanding that this is a far less effective method of removing the salts and as such will have its limits.

A bad starting EC starts you down all kinds of difficult roads and makes it really hard to understand what your runoff EC actually means. I consider it good practice to perform a slurry test of any media prior to using it, regardless of its origins or quality.