Coco with organic nutes...?

[Funkadelic]

Hello all, I'm experienced with and committed to my organic feeding cycle / nutes. Harvest Moon is phenomenal for plants.

I'm approaching a new round and want to do trees, harvest moon organic feeding regimen, vertical lighting, using loads of activated tea. I use the Xtreme Gardening stuff, both tea and granular mykos. It works.

** QUESTION **... I plan to dilute nutes to 1/4th approx strength ( to water daily with RO water), since Coco requires much hydration.... should this work?

If need be, I will use chow mix or hp soil, grow stones or some combo to make this work with soil. Not interested in salts.

Thoughts? How would you approach it?

 

[Funkadelic]

* work with organic nutes (soil or not)

 

[Seamaiden]

I think it should work fine for feeding. You haven't mentioned what brand of coir you're planning to work with, so I'll just make mention of the need to pre-charge some brands with Ca, Mg, and a mild vegging feed. Get those empty sites filled up, so what you give your plant isn't locked by the media.

 

[Mtngrown]

Talk to true grit about organic coco.if I remember I read that he was getting great results with biobizz in coco.

 

[Funkadelic]

MtnGrown- thanks bud. Def will do. Just started acct on here. I tried search on mobile device and read a lot of unrelated info.

SM - thank you for all your posts here. Been a fan of yours for some time.
The Coco brand my local shop recommends is Canna. They say almost all Coco comes through a facility in AZ. Many people report gnats in nearly every brand.

Canna is supposedly from a different place or processed differently. Supposedly no gnat eggs/larvae. I plan to pre soak ALL media in rich active Tea. Good bugs compete with bad ones.

Canna a good choice? Does it need to amend with magnesium? Any other amendments you recommend for an organic soil farmer converting...?

 

[Mtngrown]

I use the canna coco line in canna's coco medium. Works amazing. ....get ready for some super fast growth
I have great results keeping ph at 6.0
hope this helps

 

[Seamaiden]

I have yet to figure out how and why fungus gnats end up in coir. It makes no sense to me.

I hear that Canna is a very good coir, very expensive, but a really good product and very consistent, no need for pre-charging.

The most important nutrient (mineral) you need to keep in mind when growing in coir is calcium. Magnesium yeah sure, but it's highly mobile and so any deficiencies or toxicities are easily remedied. Not the case with calcium. Get it in the plants from the get-go and you'll be fine, but if you wait to see problems you've waited too long.

 

[Funkadelic]

Hey MtnGrown - that's fantastic you have great results. I've read the Canna line is very popular as nutes to work with their coco. I will keep the pH range tighter than I'm used to.... 5.8-6.8 is the range I'm accustomed to, but will be sure to dial in to a legit 6.0 every time.
Can't afford pH lockouts, and coco coir will be less forgiving than soil. I definitely expect that.

Seamaiden - not sure about gnat eggs either, and I've battled them in soil. My local hobby shop services commercial producers, so I tend to believe their feedback. They explained how/why Canna coco coir is processed differently/elsewhere, but I forgot the specifics. It seems worth it to pay the extra since its such an inexpensive product relatively.

Organic liquid bone is a mainstay of the Harvest Moon system. You go through gallons of it each round. Check it out....

 

[Mtngrown]

Cannas line is pretty easy
Just start low and adjust to your plants needs.
here is some ukhem x cataract grown with canna in canna coir

 

[Funkadelic]

Damn. That's a top shelf nug, right there Mtngrown. Real talk.

I'm completely enamored by Harvest Moon organics foods. Otherwise I'd switch to Canna for a try. Your results are legit.

"You've got a killer scene there, man" -Queens of the Stone Age

 

[Funkadelic]

That is a seriously happy plant. Nice nice job.

 

[mmmdankbuds420]

I have yet to figure out how and why fungus gnats end up in coir. It makes no sense to me.

I hear that Canna is a very good coir, very expensive, but a really good product and very consistent, no need for pre-charging.

The most important nutrient (mineral) you need to keep in mind when growing in coir is calcium. Magnesium yeah sure, but it's highly mobile and so any deficiencies or toxicities are easily remedied. Not the case with calcium. Get it in the plants from the get-go and you'll be fine, but if you wait to see problems you've waited too long.

This "charge" everybody refers to is basically the addition of calmag to the coco before use to prevent deficiency later on? And the deficiency is caused because the coco is greedy and likes to hold onto the nutrients? And if I charge my coco previous to use I should be able to feed regularly as if with soil? Thanks maiden :)

 

[Seamaiden]

This "charge" everybody refers to is basically the addition of calmag to the coco before use to prevent deficiency later on? And the deficiency is caused because the coco is greedy and likes to hold onto the nutrients? And if I charge my coco previous to use I should be able to feed regularly as if with soil? Thanks maiden :)

Yes, but also a mild vegging feed, too. I was using some PBP at about 250ppm (.5 scale), so that's what, about .4-.5 EC..? The Cal-Mag I previously used would, for charging, be used at a rate of around 20-30mls/gal, rather than the usual 5mls for typical hydroponic feeding. Going lower seemed to leave me playing that old catch up game again.

Coco does special things with calcium and magnesium, chemically speaking. That's why the precharge of those two nutrients is so vital, otherwise while you're trying to give it to the plants the media is locking onto it. If you load up all available sites with Ca and Mg, then what you feed will then be available to the plant. Feeding is somewhat like soil, but not quite--special attention must be given to the previously mentioned minerals, and to not give too much K since coir is already rather high in available K. Adding in some vegging feed of mild NPK + micros means that it's a bit more like soil in that it will have something to give up to the plants.

I should mention that, for me, soil doesn't mean regular feedings, it's more a set it and forget it kind of media for me. Coir requires regular feedings. In fact, in my experience, using a regimen that includes some water-only 'waterings' along with feeding doesn't seem to work well, it's better to always feed, but at a lower rate.