coco confusion

[tenacious]

coco chaos

i'm about to transfer seeds that just starting crackin open 24hrs ago. i'm going to transplant them this morning & was going to use a combo of coir, worm castings & perilite.
i use sunleaves coirblock & have never flushed or measured run-off ppm/ec. i have noticed that the coir actually smells salty & reminded me of the ocean hmmmmmmmzzzzzz......now i'm scared to use the coir on my babies!!!
i could flush & use, but w/o a meter, i wouldn't know when i was done. also i don't have cal-mag to add-in. i recently started using a RO machine. should i always add cal-mag????i usually add lime to my soiless-mix. i think it best for me to just leave the coir out this time & use worm dirt/perilite only.

 

[tngreen]

i would definitely recommend flushing the coir atleast once and you shouldnt need a meter for that. Cal-mag is a must to me using coir. not sure if the lime could work instead but im thinking not.

 

[Shack]

q1

I Use the sunleaves coir and it definely needs to be flushed. I have never used anything other than straight coco and it has worked fine for me.

 

[Rootbound]

I measured the coco brick runoff of the sunleaves recently and it was 800ppm. Definately flush good. If you are using ro water i would definately use calmag!! RB

 

[tenacious]

i decided to flush the hell out of the coir & included it in the mix b/c i did not like the consistance w/o it.
i will be buy'n cal-mag today to add to the RO h20. so far, i'm alittle disappoited in the RO water w/ soil. i know it is a must for hydro, though.

 

[tricky]

if you can get the canna cocco ur good to go !

 

[tngreen]

botanicare too, ready to go after fluffing

 

[tenacious]

my local store sells bags of bio-biz coco & grodan-coir, as well<<<<<do these fair any better[than sunleaves brick]???? i'll buy a ec/tds meter & check run-off h20 from now on.

 

[pigfarmer]

I have found Sunleaves coco to contain the highest salt content out of all the different coco products I have tried. I actually killed my plants within 2 weeks in the stuff.

If you looking for easy of use & no preflushing required I'd go with the Canna coco or the loose 50L bags of B'cuzz. I have been using B'cuzz for almost 2yrs now & have never prerinsed or had any problems. Makes my coco life much easier.

 

[Bud Garret]

Pigfarmer sorry about yout plants. IF I rember right sunleaves has 3 different types of coco. One was like dust and yes that one sucked I belive it was the classic. The other is chunks and the 3rd is long strands. I have used the last 2 with great results but I did have to rinse it real well. On the up side the coir block are easy to store I make a trip once a year get all I need rinse it during the summer and I am set for the year. tenacious I have been using sunleaves for 2 or 3 years and only use a ph meter coco rocks

 

[tenacious]

the sunleaves coir i have is a combo of all 3 types [strands/chunks/fine ground].
i remember seeing[at the store] just chunks or w/o any chunks, but i have not used those. after rinsing most of the finely ground coir is gone & all is left are the strands/chunks anyway.
i agree the blocks are great for storage, but from what i've read in these fourms.......
i'll be buying coir in bags & not from sunleaves.

 

[Bud Garret]

I to have read all the bad reports it gets just relaying my experince with it, Now it does take a fair bit of work to rinse it, but I have had no problems with the chunky or the long strand the classic is the one that I didnt care for it was way to fine. Please let me know which kind you decide on as I am curious as to the difference in other brands.