Coco Mixed With Perlite Or Not?

[Rootbound]

Well, just hydrated a brick of coco and flushed it good. Was going to use just straight coco, but thinking of mixing some perlite in and worm castings. 25% Perlite and 10% worm castings. Been running coco for a while now. But lately I was using botanicare readygro bagged coco and perlite.
Trying to figure out what size of perlite to blend in the coco if I do it?? Thanks, RB

 

[Saguaro]

I wouldn't add anything to coco unless you are in larger pots.

 

[Dillan]

Well, just hydrated a brick of coco and flushed it good. Was going to use just straight coco, but thinking of mixing some perlite in and worm castings. 25% Perlite and 10% worm castings. Been running coco for a while now. But lately I was using botanicare readygro bagged coco and perlite.
Trying to figure out what size of perlite to blend in the coco if I do it?? Thanks, RB

It up to you mate per light makes you have some good roots I would some peeps have different ideas per light Iss all ways a good idea in my eyes

 

[Seamaiden]

Well, just hydrated a brick of coco and flushed it good. Was going to use just straight coco, but thinking of mixing some perlite in and worm castings. 25% Perlite and 10% worm castings. Been running coco for a while now. But lately I was using botanicare readygro bagged coco and perlite.
Trying to figure out what size of perlite to blend in the coco if I do it?? Thanks, RB

The plants appreciate the castings, but go easy because they really impact the permeability of the coir. I moved away from perlite in favor of rice hulls. The perlite always manages to float to the top. And, in coir, it's really not necessary, unless your goal is to stretch the volume of coir.

 

[Rootbound]

Thanks for the replies! Going to just go with straight coco and mix just a little castings in with it.

 

[Power OG]

Its definitely a preference ive also moved away from perlite, rice hull of you can get them, i cant so i use grow stones for added aeration and imo aeration is definitely important to improve to root zone and the growstones dn float and give a perfect house for microbes to colonize. But its a preference my protégé doesn't use any aeration and does ok, i still he could do better.
Respect

 

[Seed Buyer]

I have always felt growers use perlite as a crutch when growing in coco instead of learning how to just properly water the coco. BUT, the Royal Gold Tupur has really got me rethinking things.

 

[Rootbound]

I have run it with and without perlite. Just was trying to get other opinions on it. Thanks all, RB

 

[symbiote420]

Using only coir as your medium you shouldn't need a pot bigger than a 3 gallon to grow tree size plants..... use plastic pots, the theme for coir in the smart pot types is "the dawning of the age of aquarius" lol you'll be set up to be a waterboy, especially if you've added perlite and are hand watering! Most of my pals use drippers with all coir/coir blends in pots < 2 gallons and they're growing monster bushes!! I've heard of peeps adding vermiculite to coir to keep it saturated a lil longer.

My boy says coco works better without the perlite, something about the CEC.... dunno too much about that I'm a soil guy just going off what my coco bros talk about!

 

[RalloD.Eno]

i mix in 20% perlite and 20% ewc with 1 brick (9L) of coco. i grow in 1/2 gallon pots and plants grow to 6 feet. i use drip feed. works great. i never used any large pots to grow in sorry. i can't tell you what happens in a larger pot than 1 gal.

 

[cocoJoe]

I have used 50/50 and 75/25.. now straight 100% coco.. Remember coco does vary..
I use three different grades,, in three different layers.. The coarsest on the bottom and finest on top..
This works well for me..

Peace,,
cocoJoe

 

[CaliShark]

I've used coco straight, coco with perlite, coco with hydroton, perlite and hydroton...I've never noticed a difference with the quality of the plant or root mass. Only difference is the amount of watering. If the 100% coco is taking too long to dry out either go down in pot size or add perlite or hydroton.

I like the hydroton. I think it also adds something for my bacteria to colonize onto. I always add worm castings. And I usually go heavy with the castings. But now after reading what @Seamaiden has said about permeability, I will change that and lighten my use next time. Always learning!

 

[Skunked]

By all means correct me but shouldn't those three things be equal parts? Say you're making a cubic foot of soil or 7.5 gallons it'd be safe to say that those three things your base, aeration and humus should equally be 5 gallons so about 2 gallons of each? Leaving room for things such as kelp meal and tomato tone etc etc? Again correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know much about coco or anything at all honestly I'm just relating it to my use of peat moss.

 

[Skunked]

Again though not making a statement more or less asking if anything because I have no idea lol

 

[Seamaiden]

By all means correct me but shouldn't those three things be equal parts? Say you're making a cubic foot of soil or 7.5 gallons it'd be safe to say that those three things your base, aeration and humus should equally be 5 gallons so about 2 gallons of each? Leaving room for things such as kelp meal and tomato tone etc etc? Again correct me if I'm wrong, I don't know much about coco or anything at all honestly I'm just relating it to my use of peat moss.

Aeration, permeability really, isn't an issue in coir. So whether or not you should actually depends on a couple of factors, most important being your goals and how the plants are going to be fed. If it's gonna be a Lucas run, for example, all those other ingredients are extraneous. But if you're going for an organic coir grow, then I think that, yes, you'd want to add more 'food' to the mix. Like I said, in my experience it doesn't actually need better permeability (aka aeration).

Using things like perlite (or my preferred rice hulls) is really a way of stretching the coir itself, kinda like adding potatoes to the soup.

 

[jumpincactus]

The plants appreciate the castings, but go easy because they really impact the permeability of the coir. I moved away from perlite in favor of rice hulls. The perlite always manages to float to the top. And, in coir, it's really not necessary, unless your goal is to stretch the volume of coir.

Rice hulls are the schizzz Will never go back to perlite

 

[jumpincactus]

How you doing this morning lady sea. Hope you and hubby are ok

 

[Skunked]

That's what I was going to say is wouldn't you have to feed your plants nutrients and more or less be on top of things as coir itself is rather plain...but I guess I am a little more organic and didn't quite take in the fact of others using coco on a nute level. Appreciate the corrections though, and wisdom.

 

[Seamaiden]

We're super smoked out, but still here in our home, intact. Turns out our insurance company/bank, USAA, does this thing where they hire 'strike teams' who go out to customers' homes to help them with whatever they need. They're coming back this morning to help clear weeds and brush, clean off the roof of pine needles, etc.

I stood there almost a full 10 minutes yesterday waiting for the catch. It never came.

Thank you for asking. :)

 

[Seamaiden]

That's what I was going to say is wouldn't you have to feed your plants nutrients and more or less be on top of things as coir itself is rather plain...but I guess I am a little more organic and didn't quite take in the fact of others using coco on a nute level. Appreciate the corrections though, and wisdom.

You'll still have to feed your plants because this is not a mineralized mix, and so there's not a lot there for microbes to fix. Make sense? Now, IF you added in a lot of rock dusts, maybe some compost, a bit of peat, and those worm castings? You've got yourself a nice little potting mix that's all lot like soil. Probably still would need feeding, but not because it's bereft but because the plant blew through it growing so quickly.

Which is one of the really great things about growing with coir--everything happens very, very quickly. Make a mistake? You should be able to correct it quickly. Except for the immobile minerals, those are always a pain in the ass.