Coco Coir And Potential Pests

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MissBotany

MissBotany

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I am making the switch to coco coir and am doing a lot of reading on it as a growing medium. I could barely find any information on pests that thrive in coco coir. Other than fungus gnats, what pests have you ever had or heard of having in coco?
 
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Enforcer

Enforcer

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I do multiple feeds daily so I have only had Fungus Gnats. Gnat Nix is the best stuff I’ve found for getting rid of them and keeping them out. I’ve done 7 runs in coco and that’s the only bug I’ve ever had.
 
ethcan

ethcan

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As the first part of my IPM, I drench the coco heavily for the first week with a beauveria bassiana product such as Botanigard.

A product like this will annihilate anything that came in on the coco, and if used regularly will prevent anything from being able to establish. I believe a product like OG Biowar Root Pack will do the same.
 
TerpyTyrone

TerpyTyrone

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Diametecous earth often works well for me. Preventative maintenance in a sense.
U use organics right? I had gnats when I tried a tea in COCO.
Why the switch? I like to see the growth and water by hand and burn a fatty before and after work
 
MissBotany

MissBotany

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TerpyTyrone said:
Diametecous earth often works well for me. Preventative maintenance in a sense.
U use organics right? I had gnats when I tried a tea in COCO.
Why the switch? I like to see the growth and water by hand and burn a fatty before and after work
Click to expand...

I currently use GH Flora series which is not considered organic.

I’ve been wanting to switch to coco. I feel it’s “cleaner” than soil and I would like to eventually run a DWC system and this is a good test for me to see if I can handle that level of maintenance. Also, based on what I’ve read, it’s a lot more resistant to soil pests (I’ve discovered what appears to be bulb mites in my soil) and that convinced me to switch ASAP.
 
P

Pass2TheLeft

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Hi miss bottany ive been using coco for years only pest ive had is fungus knats easiest prevention ive found is to have a 2inch layer of perlite on the top.fungus knats lay there eggs in the top 2 inchs of medium if you use perlite or similar on the top of medium it prevents them ;)
 
Mass Meds

Mass Meds

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Hmm this is interesting and perhaps we've been lucky. We have not had any pests to contend with and have only used coco for our indoor grows.

We found a good supplier for the roots organic line and ended up just pulling the trigger on it. These 'premixed' bags are a little more pricey then doing it yourself. But for the price we pay per 1.5 cuft it just saved us a lot of time and extra work. Not to mention less messy and helps prevent brining bugs into the grow area. We don't have the space to mix inside. Can't risk the mess that could happen.

Coco coir from our research is also naturally resistant to pests, as there isn't a lot of decaying matter for them to feed off of. However if your pest are enjoying the plants then this is a different matter completely. But for the former, that's what led us to use it and really enjoy it. We didn't have the expertise to run a multi-plant rDWC.

Not yet at least :cool:

We feed once every couple of days, using GH Maxi grow/bloom, and calmag and armorSi. Mainly just the first 3.
 
MissBotany

MissBotany

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TerpyTyrone said:
Impenetrable to pests. And helps retain moisture
Click to expand...

Would DE have the same effect? What I find appealing about coco coir is that compressed coco brick is basically sterile (I’m buying canna coco compressed). So if I add a barrier of sand or even DE, it is basically impossible for soil dwelling pests to penetrate.
 
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TerpyTyrone

TerpyTyrone

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Without it , I find the water runs right through the coco. I use the DE weekly. The play sand is sterile and the coco should be rinsed a couple times before use and keep watching the ppm diminish gradually each flush
 
elcolombiano

elcolombiano

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could spider mites be a problem using 100% coco coir that is fed once a day (so it's always wet... moist before next watering)??????

a friend bought a bunch of really dry cococoir and now he has mites in his tent... not many, but enough to be noticed and this wasn't a problem before. the previous coir he used didn't come so dry as this one, so i was thinking maybe the new coco brought the mites in??

this coco was rinsed with tap water, then prebuffered (2x 1 hour soaks in calmag soultion) before it was used, so no sure if mites could survive that.
 
crimsonecho

crimsonecho

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MissBotany said:
I currently use GH Flora series which is not considered organic.

I’ve been wanting to switch to coco. I feel it’s “cleaner” than soil and I would like to eventually run a DWC system and this is a good test for me to see if I can handle that level of maintenance. Also, based on what I’ve read, it’s a lot more resistant to soil pests (I’ve discovered what appears to be bulb mites in my soil) and that convinced me to switch ASAP.
Click to expand...

You have probably found hypoaspis miles. A beneficial mite. Predator of fungus gnats and thrips pupae. Any damage to the plants?
 
chillywilly

chillywilly

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Coco grower for 18 years now, ummm be seen mostly fungus nats ...but I got one for you, I take paper towel an put around base of plant, stops gnats from coming up an stops them going down do to the fact that they have no access up or down, also weed fabric on surface...Canna Coco is the most worst coir to use IMO because I've used last two years and gnats in it the bag version not bricks...
cw
 
Enforcer

Enforcer

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chillywilly said:
Coco grower for 18 years now, ummm be seen mostly fungus nats ...but I got one for you, I take paper towel an put around base of plant, stops gnats from coming up an stops them going down do to the fact that they have no access up or down, also weed fabric on surface...Canna Coco is the most worst coir to use IMO because I've used last two years and gnats in it the bag version not bricks...
cw
Click to expand...
I like canna coco but I agree with you, the bag stuff had gnats. The Canna compressed brick I used after the bag was gnat free.
 
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