coco vs soil or both?

Power OG · Jan 17, 2014

Hello farm! so im growing in soil and thinking about switching to coco or possible a 50/50 mix of coco and soil. Wanted to get everyones opinion, so lets begin.

fractal · Jan 18, 2014

I was wondering that as well. My first thought is don't mix them because you are inviting problems. Coco retains nutrients differently than soil as well as h2o. What would be overwatering for soil would be fine with coco.

If you're set on organics, go with soil. If using mineral nutes/hydro nutes go with coco and use something like Heavy 16 which has plenty of calcium so it will work well with coco. Or Canna Coco nutes, that stuff is excellent. And never use cheap coco! It's not always washed properly and can have lots of salt in it. . . My friend once had problems with supposedly high quality Botanicare branded coco bricks.

Gamrstwin36 · Jan 18, 2014

Couldn't have said it better Fractal! I have seen coco soil mixes that kicked ass bernie Mac style, but in person ive seen it mixed with alot of unnecessary hiccups. So i agree. And Roger on never using cheap coco, i treat it like ive treated selecting women. Never go for cheap and easy. Go for smart durable and proven!! OG this plant allows us to become scientists so if anything Test your hypothesis and see what you can get! GL Bro!!

Jalisco Kid · Jan 19, 2014

Cheap and easy can be your friend if you need a lot,you just have to know how to handle the slut. Then again some of the fineist out there can make things shrivel up and die. I am not and more then likely never will be a dirt farmer. But i must say using Soil Vs Coir will get you nowhere. Is it me running the coir you want to compare to or some new grower. Big diff in outcome. Is the soil from socal, or from oregon were at my friends garden where I can sink in up to my elbow this hardly any friction. I have never seen soil produce size and speed of growth like coir. I have never seen coir out produce soil when left unattended. A lot of variables.JK

WalterWhiteFire · Jan 19, 2014

Mix for the win. Make sure you mix in lots of PH stabilizer, oyster shell or dolomite, when approaching the 50/50 threshold.

BTW, good luck finding soil that hasn't already had coco mixed in.

ronvmpc · Jan 19, 2014

Good info. Never go for cheap easy girls. Got it.

I agree with JK. I've gone full coco with aqua flakes, compost teas, and CO2 recently and can't be happier. And when I thought it couldn't get any better I added blumats. Holy smokes those suckers are awesome.

Power OG · Jan 19, 2014

thank you for info everyone, i use foxfarm ocean forrest soil, and have seen some pretty nice plants being grown in 50/50 mix on the farm, ive also seen great stuff in just coco, and ive seen great thing in soil for years now myself. so just thinking of testing a coco/soil mix 4my next grow,test the mix vs straight soil, and possibly a straight coco. so i shall see. keep opinions coming guy. the farm is a great resource

fractal · Jan 20, 2014

You can do much better that FFOF, that stuff is pure filler and sawdust. Figuratively, but it is crap designed to sell because of the name and the cute looking bag. Even happy frog is better, not by much. Black Gold rules on either of those. I'd go with Sunshine "just coir" over either of the first two soils and that is about the cheapest coco there is.

Gatelee · Jan 20, 2014

I've been running soil for a few years and just made the switch to 100 % coco. My coco plants are kicking ass. I don't think I'll ever go back to soil. Ive never tried 50/50 mix so I can't give my opinion on that.

LexLuthor · Jan 25, 2014

I use coco indoors and soil outdoors....I'm sure it works, but I wouldn't mix, thats just me though....good luck

Delerium · Jan 28, 2014

lex0415 said:
I use coco indoors and soil outdoors....I'm sure it works, but I wouldn't mix, thats just me though....good luck

Have you repurposed your coco in a raised bed or anything for other outdoor grows?

sixstring · Jan 28, 2014

I have tried alot of different soils and coco mixes and ran them both separately. Coco made the bigger plants but soil ftw on flavor.that being said I'm now mixing them fidyfidy with great results.best of both worlds imo.promix bx and house & garden coco.no special additives needed and I run my ph between 5.8 and 6.2 which gives me a ton of flexibility and options with nutes.gl

LexLuthor · Feb 10, 2014

Delerium said:
Have you repurposed your coco in a raised bed or anything for other outdoor grows?

no, never re-used it for anything

NightShift · Feb 26, 2014

Call me crazy but I use both. First xplant is roots organics in cups. Next xplant is into 2 gallon coco mix called Royal Gold basement mix. I add some biozeus and rooters mycorrhizae and a pinch of castings then the final xplant is back into the roots organics 7 gallon. The coco in the center seems to wick water from the soil around the edges of the pot and they drink heavy. I get fast growth like in coco but the finished has the quality and smell of a good organic soil grow. I can also get that extremely good flush with the coco in the center so that my buds have a lighter color when finished.

justanotherbozo · Feb 26, 2014

Delerium said:
Have you repurposed your coco in a raised bed or anything for other outdoor grows?

...yeah man, i re-use my coco maybe for 3 cycles indoors afterwhich the rootballs go into the compost pile out in the yard.

...i've been growing straight coco hempy style for the last 2 or 3 years and i love the shit, far, far easier and more forgiving than soil and my flavors are mighty fine.

...btw, i feed KISS style with Jack's Pro Hydro.

peace, bozo

saltwater · Nov 30, 2015

Gatelee said:
I've been running soil for a few years and just made the switch to 100 % coco. My coco plants are kicking ass. I don't think I'll ever go back to soil. Ive never tried 50/50 mix so I can't give my opinion on that.

I agree with you. Once I switched to coco my plants are very healthy. I see better growth from my plants in coco

eastcoastjoe · Nov 30, 2015

sixstring said:
I have tried alot of different soils and coco mixes and ran them both separately. Coco made the bigger plants but soil ftw on flavor.that being said I'm now mixing them fidyfidy with great results.best of both worlds imo.promix bx and house & garden coco.no special additives needed and I run my ph between 5.8 and 6.2 which gives me a ton of flexibility and options with nutes.gl

so that's your secret huh sixer LOL.

Harrypottery · Feb 1, 2017

What are the difference in yield between coco and promix?

Chillihead · Feb 11, 2017

During flowering what nutrients do you use? I done a similar style thing where I grew them in 10L. Coco then transplanted into 20Lr surrounding the coco rootball in plagron batmix.

NightShift said:
Call me crazy but I use both. First xplant is roots organics in cups. Next xplant is into 2 gallon coco mix called Royal Gold basement mix. I add some biozeus and rooters mycorrhizae and a pinch of castings then the final xplant is back into the roots organics 7 gallon. The coco in the center seems to wick water from the soil around the edges of the pot and they drink heavy. I get fast growth like in coco but the finished has the quality and smell of a good organic soil grow. I can also get that extremely good flush with the coco in the center so that my buds have a lighter color when finished.

h

KC Creations · Feb 15, 2017

I have been an organic soil gardener for years and right now I am using a 5050 soil/coco mix with decent results. I have been wanting to try str8 coco, what would be a good nute line up for str8 coco? I use the Happy frog dry ferts right now and was wondering if I could stick with that as long as I ph the water... Any advice for me?

coco vs soil or both?

coco vs soil or both?

Power OG

fractal

Gamrstwin36

Jalisco Kid

Guest

WalterWhiteFire

ronvmpc

Power OG

fractal

Gatelee

LexLuthor

Delerium

sixstring

LexLuthor

NightShift

justanotherbozo

saltwater

eastcoastjoe

Harrypottery

Chillihead

KC Creations

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